MachShip is the best software for 4PL providers. But we would say that, wouldn’t we? The only opinions that really matter come from our clients who use the platform day-to-day.
Freight brokers might be managing freight deals for dozens or even hundreds of clients. That’s a lot of plates to keep spinning. It takes robust, intuitive software to keep you in control with an all-seeing eye on revenue, margins, and customer satisfaction.
We asked 4PLs where they get the most game-changing value out of MachShip. Here’s what they had to say.
CONTENTS
3. Carrier invoice reconciliation
4. Market-leading support team
5. Revenue by carrier dashboard
1. ‘Control tower’ visibility
Good freight broker software should provide a clear view of the playing field to help you call the shots. From the outset, MachShip enables brokers to plug in all their customers in a parent-child structure within the platform. Your business as the ‘parent’ and your customers as the ‘child’ companies, meaning you can keep an eye on all of them, they can keep an eye on themselves, but each one can’t view any data belonging to your other businesses.
This allows you to view crucial freight data — for example, how much volume each customer is moving, the tracking statuses of any active consignments, order history, and so on. Basically, you get a clear snapshot of all your clients’ freight operations. This helps you better understand their transport behaviours, patterns, and volumes so you can tailor your expert service offering to their needs.
| For brokers, MachShip isn’t just a carrier management system, it’s also a customer management system. |
You have visibility on a macro or granular scale, to get a full picture of your entire customer base, of a segment, or a specific customer. MachShip provides a ‘control tower’ view – giving you the ability to filter between sites, customers and carriers. The fact you can monitor carrier performance — not just customer data — is huge. This means you can see how specific carriers are performing for your customers in a particular month, what your margins are with them, as well as what percentage of shipments are being delivered in full and on time. Imagine being able to see that detail across your entire customer portfolio.
For 4PLs, MachShip isn’t just a carrier management system, it’s also a customer management system. This visibility makes it so much more intuitive to manage margins and ensure they’re allocated appropriately.
| “If we have a customer call up and say ‘I’m tracking my parcel. I’ve got the reference number 12345.’ We can just jump into MachShip, punch that number in, and it’ll show us the information straight away. There’s no guessing.” Toby Drane Logistics Dispatch Manager Grant Walker Parts |
2. Carrier rate modelling
If you’re trying to win new business, MachShip allows you to upload all the shipment data from a particular prospect’s warehouse in the last month. From this, you can very quickly show prospective customers how much they would have saved if they’d been sent using the rates you’ve already negotiated with carriers. Being able to highlight exactly how much a business could be saving with you over six months or a year, for example — that kind of tangible data can be your most effective sales tool.
You can generate similar carrier modelling retrospectively for existing customers, showing among all the freight that was consigned over a given period, where there were cheaper or faster options they could have used. This is a great tool for managing client expectations against what was originally quoted, or even running the reports more regularly to proactively point out where those customers could be doing better and making bigger savings on freight carriers.
In this way, it’s extremely useful to help train user behaviour towards margin improvement. When you do bring in new business, MachShip can run modelling around what carriers they should be using to optimise their freight. This all helps to highlight value, not only for your own business, but to uphold broker integrity and transparency in the eyes of clients.
| “The ability to save regular items, so our sales team – instead of having to ring back a customer to provide them with a shipping quote, we’re able to do that over the phone immediately.” Craig Coulton General Manager Global Truck Imports |
3. Carrier invoice reconciliation
A common thread in the feedback we get from 4PLs is the ease of carrier invoice reconciliation with MachShip. You can reconcile all invoicing data digitally by uploading soft copies directly in the system. As an all-in-one FMS, you can spot any discrepancies in an instant for easy review so you avoid leakage — not to mention time-consuming back and forth with carriers.
When overcharges are identified, MachShip enables you to generate a PDF report of all claimable discrepancies on an invoice to be emailed to carriers. You’re also able to designate invoices as being ‘part paid pending credits’. This way, you can stay up to date with suppliers on accepted charges, without having to process disputed amounts until all parties are aligned.
| “It takes the guesswork out of reconciling invoices. Carriers won’t tell you if there’s extra charges sometimes. MachShip picks that out, flags it in our system. That makes it easier for us to create a second line and advise customers on costs. It avoids all freight leakage.” Chris Searl Freight Broker Branched National Logistics |
4. Best-in-class support team
Not to be underestimated, customer service is a huge opportunity to gain a competitive edge. As 4PLs, you’re the point of contact providing frontline support for your customers. If those customers are pushing you for answers, MachShip’s dedicated support team is responsive to clarify and resolve any issues so brokers can stay on the front foot and keep their own customers happy.
| “The response times that we get from the support team are within a few minutes. We’ve just felt like we’re a valued customer since day one.” Chris Searl Freight Broker Branched National Logistics |
This makes brokers look good and offers peace of mind, relieving the pressure on their end in terms of tech support and managing customer expectations. MachShip’s response time enables brokers themselves to be responsive, giving them a competitive edge in terms of their own customer service.
| “The great thing about MachShip is the training. And the responsiveness of their support desk is out of this world. It’s next level.” Scott Noakes Managing Director Benchmark Logistics |
5. Revenue by carrier dashboard
‘Revenue by carrier dashboard’ is a great snapshot for brokers. It shows the performance of the carriers. While there’s a lot of focus on the relationship between clients and brokers, it’s key for brokers to also manage relationships with carriers on an ongoing basis.
This view shows really clearly how carriers are performing, how much money’s being spent with them, how much they’re delivering in full and on time, and so on. This gives brokers (or any user for that matter) an enormous amount of choice and, importantly, the visibility to make informed decisions. The fact that MachShip is connected with so many carriers means users can optimise transport options easily to suit their freight needs and budget at any given time.