Blume Global offering helps port stakeholders better handle congestion-related challenges

Pleasanton, Calif.-based supply chain execution and visibility services provider Blume Global recently announced it rolled out a new, offering that equips shippers, motor carriers, and port terminal operators to ward off what it called unprecedented levels of supply chain congestion and book drayage capacity.

Entitled CarrierGo Live, Blume Global said this web-based service is available, for free, through January.

The company explained that CarrierGo Live provides shippers with real-time access to drayage capacity while also connecting shippers and motor carriers with hard-to-find chassis. And at marine terminals, Blume Global said that CarrierGo Live can improve port efficiency by allowing customers to expedite containers, adding that shippers use it  as a unique drayage marketplace populated with carriers on the expansive Blume Global Network and subsequently benefit from real-time access to drayage capacity on the spot market. 

Other key benefits of CarrierGo Live include:

• carriers that join the Blume Global Network use CarrierGo Live to generate new business opportunities, and shippers and carriers can also use the solution to uncover chassis capacity from DCLI (Direct Chassis Link Inc.), as well as from trucking companies offering chassis for rent; and
• it helps customers precisely tailor the delivery of their cargo, making container pickup at port terminals like the Fenix Marine Services terminal at the Port of Los Angeles more efficient for drayage carriers, enabling shippers to prioritize and expedite container retrieval when needed

“The port congestion issues we’ve been experiencing didn’t just materialize, and we believe there should be a holistic approach that encompasses shippers, dray carriers and marine terminals to unknot the supply chain,” according to Pervinder Johar, Blume Global’s CEO, in a statement. “There are deep-seated inefficiencies in the global supply chain that digitization can help solve, but only with the concerted efforts of all parties. Blume’s CarrierGo Live works to reduce congestion and improve the flow of freight around the world.” 

Glenn Jones, global vice president, product strategy, Blume Global provided LM with additional information about CarrierGo Live, in an interview below

LM: What drove the need for this drayage trucking marketplace?

Jones: The congestion issues we are seeing at our ports are nothing new. In fact, these recent developments have brought the problems long plaguing our supply chain to the surface. A large contributor to inefficiency in port operations is drayage management. NVOCCs, ocean freight forwarders and BCOs often face difficulty in finding drayage carriers and available chassis on demand. Smaller operators are especially affected by this since they don’t usually have access to the technology necessary to communicate digitally with shippers.

For those carriers on the Blume Global Network, the marketplace has two purposes: it allows them to both generate new business by marketing to shippers they previously weren’t able to access and to find much-needed chassis either thorough DCLI or by connecting with carriers that have their own chassis. Now all of that is easier said than done, and we are still facing a monumental struggle to get freight flows back on track, but CarrierGo Live will help by providing the technology needed to help start straightening out supply chain tangles.

LM: What are its main benefits for your shipper/provider/operator etc. customers?

Jones: Focusing on a single supply chain stakeholder will do little to get goods flowing again. What we’re doing is primarily connecting carriers and shippers, so they can work together on a common digital platform to uncover hidden capacity and unearth hard-to-find chassis. 

One of our large shipper customers took a look at the marketplace and saw that it could at least double the number of carriers they interact with when searching for capacity. We believe making connections like this will help the industry get back on the right track, and that’s why shippers can book drayage capacity using CarrierGo Live for free through the end of the year.  

For carriers, we’re focused on providing them a listing directory so they can generate new business and a marketplace where they can send excess capacity. I know it seems hard to believe that anyone would have excess capacity in this market, but carriers do still have last-minute cancelations and end up with unallocated capacity. With CarrierGo Live, they can easily and quickly respond to bids from shippers.

LM: What are the "next steps" for this marketplace in the future?

Jones: We are continually working on expanding the number of carriers on the platform and bringing new functionality to the system.