Transplace’s OptiPro focuses on shipment collaboration and LTL pooling

Earlier this month, Frisco, Texas-based Transplace, a non-asset-based third-party logistics services provider and subsidiary of Uber Freight, rolled out a new addition to its Transplace Network Services offerings, with a new tech-enabled service—entitled OptiPro—that identifies cross-customer opportunities for both LTL (Less-than-Truckload) and partial truckload freight.

Transplace officials said that OptiPro is comprised of what it described an on-demand, effective freight consolidation strategy with two key elements, including shipment collaboration and LTL pooling. They added that OptiPro’s shipment collaboration program combines multiple shippers’ freight to create multi-stop truckload shipments through either load to ride (LTR) or Transplace’s cross-dock network. And Transplace added that the LTL pooling program utilizes Transplace’s strategic cross-docks in regions across the U.S. to consolidate LTL freight.

Transplace CEO Frank McGuigan provided LM with an overview of OptiPro in a Q&A below.

LM: What drove the need for Transplace to roll out OptiPro? How long had it been planned/in the works?

McGuigan: Since our founding, Transplace has built technology to ensure that shippers can source capacity quickly and keep businesses moving. The logistics industry is plagued with challenges and technology is crucial now more than ever to keep supply chains optimized. With current market challenges in mind, we found advancing multi-shipper collaborations would help meet today’s most pressing business needs for shippers. 

The launch of OptiPro builds upon years of Transplace solutions in the LTL space and is the latest expansion within our Network Services suite. It was piloted in late 2021 and is available to shippers across the Midwest, Southern California, Chicago, Dallas/Houston metro and Mid-Atlantic regions. OptiPro will soon be expanding into all regions across North America, including Canada and Mexico.

LM: What are the main benefits of OptiPro for shippers? What does it provide that was needed, or missing?

McGuigan: The main benefits of OptiPro include improved network optimization and transit times, increased cost savings, and reduced carbon footprint. We’ve seen the biggest success with OptiPro in high density areas—such as multiple shippers consolidating freight instantly with shared trailers across the Midwest—where shippers need optimized avenues to get goods from point A to point B successfully. OptiPro gives shippers the boost of confidence needed to plan and move freight quickly amid uncertainty. 

GOJO Industries, Inc., a health and hygiene product manufacturer and the makers of Purell sanitizing products, is among the companies seeing immediate benefits from OptiPro. As a company on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s crucial to maintain supply chain operations for timely product shipments. By utilizing OptiPro, the company saw 7% in savings on shipments moving through the OptiPro network in 2021. The service has allowed the company’s supply chain to be more efficient and optimized, successfully transporting critical hygiene supplies across the country.

LM: What are the main competitive advantages/benefits of OptiPro, from a Transplace perspective? 

McGuigan: OptiPro is an on-demand freight consolidation strategy for shippers featuring two key programs: partial truckload consolidation and LTL pooling. It’s able to easily identify opportunities with any shipper from all verticals, including higher-density industries such the chemical industry or consumer packaged goods that have unique shipping requirements and time-sensitive demands. In the midst of demand shifts for both shippers and carriers, OptiPro is a significant driver in challenging supply chain constraints with partial truckload consolidation and LTL operations, providing a quick and efficient alternative compared to full truckload freight.

OptiPro complements the other solutions within our Network Services suite, which includes Dynamic Continuous Moves, Static Continuous Moves, Dedicated Capacity, Capacity Review. The product suite leverages the power, scale and flexibility of Transplace’s vast shipper network (about $17 billion freight under management) to advance multi-shipper collaborations and identify opportunities for optimized shipments.