Princeton TMX empowers industrial manufacturers with a purpose-built, intuitive transportation management solution (TMS), enabling these shippers to move freight smarter, faster and more profitably.

With a perfect blend of advanced technology and transportation expertise, Princeton TMX turns transportation management into a competitive advantage for shippers. The premium TMS automates transportation planning and execution and simplifies complex transactions. It equips industrial manufacturing customers, primarily in steel, lumber, forest products and paper and packaging, with its multi-modal TMS.

The ability to plan optimal freight rates and lanes boost overall client satisfaction. Customers can ensure complete visibility of their supply chains and glean real-time insights into transportation operations.

“We have a deep understanding of the industries we serve, which is invaluable for our customers and prospects,” says Mark McEntire, CEO. “We speak their language.”

Feature-Rich Solution Set for High Performance

From order to cash, Princeton TMX’s TMS offers a comprehensive suite of modules that transforms every facet of transportation management, driving efficiency, reducing errors, and empowering better decision-making.

The multi-modal TMS is a strategic advantage for customers. Recognizing that many customers operate a wide range of private fleets and third-party carriers, Princeton TMX integrates truck, fleet, rail, barge, and intermodal capabilities under a single pane of glass. Customers can overcome the inefficiencies of toggling between systems, maximizing efficiency and scalability.

Real-time visibility and actionable insights arm customers. From the moment freight leaves their facility to its final destination, the TMS empowers customers with end-to-end visibility using its built-in real-time tracking feature.

Integrated reporting capabilities deliver critical insights, facilitating a centralized, comprehensive view for smarter decision-making. Customers receive detailed cost analyses based on cost per hundredweight, ton, or mile. These customizable reports are delivered daily, weekly or monthly. This enables decision-makers to use critical supply chain and transportation metrics.

A sustainability feature of the TMS helps customers assess the environmental impact of their orders and loads in real-time rather than relying on retrospective reporting.

Packed with robust and innovative features, the TMS powers a streamlined and sustainable transportation network. Customers operate at different levels of technological sophistication, often relying on spreadsheets and manual processes. Princeton TMX meets them where they are and helps them advance along the maturity curve by automating key functions, from order receipt to optimization and scheduling. It has launched a partnership program that allows customers to engage with multiple tech solutions and unlock greater value within the ecosystem beyond what a single or limited partnership could offer.

Prioritizing speed to value, the company enables customers to implement the TMS and go live in typically 60 days or less and unlock benefits.

Operational Efficiency is the ROI

Optimizing freight spend is one of Princeton TMX’s key strengths. Central to its TMS is an optimization engine that intelligently considers transportation modes and rates for efficient, cost-effective operations.

Customers also benefit from advanced freight procurement capabilities, facilitating spot and network bids. By setting up a routing guide within the system, they can monitor and report whether freight volumes are being allocated to the desired carriers based on cost, service and tender acceptance rates. This dual approach ensures volume is directed to the optimal carriers, driving the most cost-effective and efficient outcomes. The transportation process is considered well-optimized when the lane acceptance rate reaches 90 percent or higher. The TMS re-evaluates the lanes below this threshold through targeted mini bids to enhance cost efficiency and service performance. Its freight audit and payment accurately verifies and reconciles freight invoices before payment is made, ensuring that carriers are billed accurately according to contracted rates and services rendered.

A testament to its continued excellence is an impressive track record of a zero client attrition rate and high-quality, trusted outcomes, leaving an indelible mark on the transportation arena. The voice of the client guides its every move. Princeton TMX convenes a customer advisory board of 12 influential customers, meeting them regularly to ensure its technology roadmap aligns perfectly with their evolving needs. In one instance, client feedback highlighted a strong need for mobile access to core functionalities, prompting Princeton TMX to significantly enhance its mobile app capabilities.

Numerous customers have successfully reimagined their transportation management and achieved tangible business growth through the utilization of its TMS. In one instance, a large cement and ready-mix manufacturer was looking to digitally transform its operations and integrate entire transportation data for enhanced visibility and reporting capabilities. The client also needed a mobile app solution to improve revenue collection, as its overdue payments had reached $26 million. It lacked an efficient method to capture proof of delivery, forcing it to wait for carriers to manually submit documentation before billing customers.

The TMS served as a complete solution, solving all challenges for customers. It delivered immediate value by helping the client quickly choose the best carrier at competitive rates. It also provided better real-time visibility, enabling the client to successfully turn data into better business outcomes and achieve a 28 percent drop in freight rates in the first year of working with Princeton TMX. The team developed a mobile app feature that enabled drivers to scan and instantly upload the bill at the point of delivery. This improved the client’s access to real-time data that helped with carrier invoicing and payment. The mobile app reduced the overdue payments to only $561,000.

Client centricity is ingrained in Princeton TMX’s DNA. Walking the extra mile, it goes beyond being just a help desk by embracing a “SaaS Plus” approach. It acts as a strategic partner and thought leader. Through quarterly business reviews, it collaborates with shippers to understand their evolving needs, providing industry expertise and ongoing value rather than simply responding to support requests.

Fueling Client Success with Innovation

A commitment to delivering real-world AI solutions helps customers secure a competitive edge. Currently conducting discovery work to identify the most impactful use cases, it plans to embed AI into the system. The initial foray into AI is intended to allow customers to input queries such as “How has this lane performed over the last 30 days?” and receive actionable highlights that elevate business performance.

Determining the optimal time to go to market for better freight rates is a key challenge that Princeton TMX will be helping customers solve in the coming days. Its TMS will assess the performance of individual shipping lanes, providing insights into whether it's beneficial to renegotiate contracts for all lanes or focus only on those underperforming. Carrier managers can quickly generate a list of lanes that have underperformed over the past six months, based on cost and service metrics, for a mini bid. This functionality, available monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual, is designed to eliminate manual legwork while suggesting which top-performing carriers on similar lanes should be invited to bid.

Steering ahead, the team stays on top of tech trends and pivots its methods to promptly address client requirements. It fosters a culture of continuous innovation by encouraging each employee to dedicate 20 hours per year to professional development and contribute as industry thought leaders. Princeton’s TMS is more than software; it’s a market differentiator for shippers.