Mastery Logistics Systems makes entrance into Transportation Management Systems (TMS) market

There is a new TMS entrant into the freight transportation and logistics market that is led by two accomplished and established supply chain veterans.

Entitled Mastery Logistics Systems, the company is positioning itself at a TMS provider for brokers, carriers, and shippers to manage all modes and geographies. According to the company’s website, Mastery’s platform will bring centralized and automated appointment making management through the creation of a new automated tracking system based on very low-cost trackers attached to the freight and reported directly to shippers, and introduce widespread block chain-based bills of lading to accompany shipments and eliminate paperwork processing and invoice settlement.

Mastery’s founders Paul Loeb and Jeff Silver are well-known leaders and innovators in the freight transportation and logistics sectors.

Loeb launched American Backhaulers in 1981 and is widely viewed as the “pioneer of freight brokerage.” Silver joined American Backhaulers in 1984 and with Loeb developed innovative information systems and business processes that are still widely used today. American Backhaulers was sold to C.H. Robinson in 1999. Loeb founded Command Transportation in 2005. Command’s main focus was on back office automation and internal load booking optimization. The company was acquired by Echo Global Logistics in 2015.

In 2006, Silver and his wife, Marianne, co-founded freight transportation brokerage Coyote Logistics, which was sold to UPS in 2015. After the sale, Silver spent time working with the broader UPS group on automation and advanced technology.

Mastery Logistics Systems’ product offerings include:

• AppointmentMaster, which will integrate via standard API’s with BrokerMaster, ShipperMaster, and CarrierMaster, as well as with other significant TMS, WMS, and OMS systems, while a stand-alone scheduling system will also be available for all parties;
• AppointmentMaster will allow shippers and brokers to tender batches of orders to brokers and carriers with a set of pre-set appointment times based on carrier preferences and AI, and carriers and brokers will be able to accept those appointments that work and ask for modifications on the few that need changing;
• TrackMaster, which Mastery said will finally deliver full transparency across the freight transportation industry while eliminating work, error, and the potential for inaccuracy from the process. Disposable smart labels will provide tracking information on the load itself, no longer relying on carrier or driver reporting or GPS tracking of drivers’ smart phones; TrackMaster will also interact with AppointmentMaster to minimize inefficiencies for loading docks and drivers. As soon as AppointmentMaster  ascertains that a shipment will be late for an appointment, it will offer to reschedule the appointment while at the same time seeking to utilize the failed appointment slot for a shipment that has or could arrive early or for a dropped trailer if one is available. It will also provide reporting on service levels to all parties as well as driver dwell times at docks; and
• BillMaster, which Mastery said over time, should eliminate the use of paper bills of lading and invoicing, creating a set of private blockchain based documents that are available for all involved parties to see and agree upon while protecting the financial arrangements of brokers

In a research note, Ben Hartford, senior transportation analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., noted that Mastery should be closely monitored, given Loeb and Silver’s track record of success in the industry. 

And he added that according to Silver, Mastery is “attempting to fill the void of highly capable, scalable transportation management system software in the domestic U.S. truck brokerage space, noting that Mastery is not a provider of truck brokerage services.

Industry stakeholders told LM they were optimistic about Mastery’s future prospects.

One described it as a “smart play,” given the “big available market in TMS,” and noting that Silver “knows how to use technology to enable a process better than anyone” and that Silver and Loeb can capitalize on the opportunities in the market.

Another stakeholder explained that the approach Loeb and Silver are taking with Mastery makes a lot of sense. 

“For guys like this, recreating a straight brokerage would probably seem pretty boring,” he said. “Working in the streamlining of back office, visibility and invoicing areas will certainly have some appeal. There are others working on the same areas who would seem to have a head start on Mastery.”