Opus9 Blog

Today, we launched our Transportation Management System (TMS), a tool that enables shippers to manage all of their freight in a centralized place. The new TMS builds on the success of our award-winning Marketplace, which currently allows shippers to get instant freight quotes, book with high quality Opus9 carriers and track their shipments in real-time.

The sweet smell of love is in the air and with it is the excitement of celebrating Valentine’s Day with loved ones. Valentine’s Day is incomplete without one specific item: Roses.

The death toll from the coronavirus has now passed 1,100, and its impact is being felt around the world. Cruise ship occupants are being quarantined off the coast of Japan, nine people have been diagnosed in the U.K., and even the Mobile World Congress in Spain was cancelled. 

The logistics of shipping can be difficult to plan and manage. Full Truckload shipping can be especially challenging. Unlike Less Than Truckload (LTL) shipping, FTL shipping requires you to consider factors such as weight, space, transit times, and the possible need for specialized equipment.

Technological developments are shaping the way shipping logistics professionals manage daily business processes. From real-time tracking to reducing costs, the industry is rapidly gravitating toward innovative tools that help its people accomplish more with less.

The last few months has been a year of unprecedented change in the freight market. Rates are high and continue to rise. The driver shortage is climbing above 50,000 and threatening to hit 100,000 by 2021. And if natural disasters aren’t tightening capacity, then a booming economy is. Here at Opus9, we believe that a shipper’s best defense is to partner with a 3PL whose expertise and knowledge of the industry can mitigate some of these real challenges.

The freight market is volatile by nature, but more so now than ever. After all, capacity is tight and all evidence points to an ever-increasing crunch. A whopping 50,000 shortage of drivers could well exceed 100,000 by 2021 due to an aging driver population, long, lonely hours on the road, and pay that isn’t commensurate with a demanding lifestyle. Couple this with a strong US economy expecting more growth, and you have a recipe for disruption.

We, at Opus9, take supply chain visibility seriously. That’s why when businesses book their freight with us, they can expect to get free GPS tracking on all shipments.

Drayage is a transportation method that helps get freight from a sea or airport to a local warehouse and vice versa. It is commonly used in overseas shipping. Due to increasing competitive demands to cut costs and delivery items quickly, selecting the best drayage partner is a standard go-to for logistics professional shipping items by air or sea.

Anyone who ships within the continental United States has likely heard of less than truckload (LTL) shipping. LTL shipping is a freight class that falls somewhere between full truckload (FTL) and small package. It is a shipping solution that addresses that awkward, in-between stage of shipping where there is a load that is too much or too little for other commonly used classes.