HOUSTON, Texas – Kicking off its in.sight User Conference in Houston, Texas today, Trimble stressed the importance of advanced analytics, data security, and data democratization in its ongoing effort to optimize the transportation supply chain lifecycle.

As part of its goal, Trimble announced the promotion of James Langley as its senior vice-president of Trimble Transportation to help lead the company forward.

“We want to revolutionize the way we supply our world,” said Langley, adding that maximizing resource utilization is key to any company’s success. “From new regulations related to the ELD mandate and data privacy, to disruptive technology and broader macroeconomic forces—it is more important than ever for transportation companies to have the right mix of solutions in place. We are focused on continued innovation to provide customers with access to data that enhances decision making and drives better business outcomes.”

Trimble revealed three new capabilities for shippers, carriers, and service providers through the company’s transportation applications and solutions.

These new additions include a Trust Center that provides a secure and centralized location for controlling data access permitted to visibility providers. Market Insights is an analytics tool that enables customers to view aggregated industry level pricing and transit time data. And a Developer Network will act as a unified location for documentation and code samples, allowing customers and third-party visibility providers to use standardized automatic programming interfaces for integrations with the Trimble Transportation Management System (TMS) and mobility platforms.

“With the profound amount of data being shared between entities in the transportation industry, it’s more important than ever to be vigilant and proactive about secure data-sharing practices,” said Mark Botticelli, chief technology officer for Trimble Transportation. “Our new set of capabilities not only protects customer data, but it provides unmatched visibility into this data to inform decidedly better decisions.”

Several enhancements have also been made to Trimble’s TMW.Suite, TruckMate, and Innovative IES TMS solutions.

TMW.Suite will now offer risk management that combines TMS and telematics risk and safety data, such as incidents, collisions, claims, violations, and speeding citations.

TruckMate enhancements include Container IQ so carriers can track containers in near-real time. An Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) add-on module allows customers to compare EDI-tendered loads and automate changes like time or quantity. And Trimble Freight Link means carriers can accurately provide dispatch information to third-parties, such as owner-operators, while receiving updated information like GPS and load updates from those organizations.

Trimble’s Innovative IES platform will now provide a lane commitment module to specify contract commitments and lane preferences. Innovative Brokerage allows for easy access and management of brokered loads, while Agricultural Zone Billing provides accurate billing and carrier payment for logistics operators that utilize a zone-based approach to billing when hauling certain kinds of freight.

“Trimble’s focus is to continue building on our dynamic TMS solutions to provide additional value to customers,” said Langley. “These enhancements and upgrades will allow customers to do even more with their data, including maximizing resource utilization, retaining drivers, and creating efficiencies.”

Rounding out its opening day announcements, Trimble will now offer its existing transportation customers free access to a selection of tools found in its Visibility platform.

Through this new, light-weight version of Visibility, carrier will be able to better view, track, and manage customers’ shipments through the platform, enabling users to individually share tracking view with customer with hyperlinks and text messages.

“The request for real-time visibility, is not going away, it’s only going to get stronger,” said Zack Gibbs, senior product manager for Trimble Transportation.

Gibbs said during a media roundtable that the company wants to provide a singular location to view this information both for Trimble customers and those they are servicing.

The complimentary version available to customers using a combination of Trimble Mobility solutions, including Innovative, TMW.Suite, and TruckMate.

“By introducing this complimentary version of Trimble Visibility for our customers, we are providing our users with a platform to improve freight visibility and enhance how they serve their customers,” said Bryan Coyne, general manager of Visibility for Trimble Transportation. “We believe carriers should have access to the same data as third-party tracking services, not only to level the playing field but also to allow Trimble carriers to set themselves apart in a competitive market.”

In addition to U.S. customers, Trimble’s complimentary version of Visibility, along with its TMS enhancements, are also available to Canadian carriers.

The premium version of Visibility offers enhanced options, such as integrations to non-Trimble TMS solutions, dynamic ETAs, proactive weather and risk alerts, rich data down to the SKU level, temperature control tracking, exception management and final mile functionalities, and efficient workflow automation.