Sectors

3PL Providers

When your Flat Bridge team manages driver dispatch, tracking, load entry and load board management you can get back to the business of BUILDING your business.

Pain Points

Third-Party Logistics providers have proven themselves to be an invaluable part of the supply-chain process. Ever more, shippers and carriers are relying on these organizations to drive efficiencies. Effectively answering that call means that freight brokers must invest heavily in technology, staffing and business development, even as competitors pour into the marketplace. How does a company continue to make investments while margins continue to compress? The most obvious solution is to manage your operational costs.

Flat Bridge Background

Flat Bridge was built to service the third-party logistics industry. Each member of our team undergoes a 12-month training process to introduce them to the world of logistics and the 3PL industry specifically. During their first year, your Flat Bridge associate will have attended over 20 workshops on topics ranging from common carriers, hazardous material, intermodal shipments, contract carrier negotiation skills, and customs/border crossings. Our team has extensive TMS experience using products from Oracle, SAP, Transplace, Mercury Gate, BlueJay, One Network, and Realtime Freight. Our data-management team has built integrations allowing Flat Bridge to interact with over 100 load boards automatically and instantly. Every day we practice these skills while dispatching hundreds of drivers.

Flat Bridge Solution

Operations is a necessary “cost center” activity but not every 3PL has the same operational needs. The following list of services can be carefully curated to help clients focus on the “profit center” activities of business development.

TL and LTL

Data entry, scouring load boards and haggling with brokers does not build profitable trucking companies. Focus on clients, while we focus on the rest.

Pain Points

The priorities for any owner of a trucking company must be to find new customers, hire drivers and maintain a reliable fleet of equipment. Managing operational duties takes you away from those responsibilities that are key to your long-term success and growth. On the other hand, hiring a dispatcher takes time, and financial resources. How can you strike a balance between your day-to-day needs and your growth plan?

Flat Bridge Background

Every week, Flat Bridge’s associates spend hundreds of hours managing every facet of the day-to-day components that make up TL and LTL asset-based operations. These individuals spend the first year of their tenure with Flat Bridge learning the details of running a truck, interacting with shippers/receivers, managing relationships with brokers, and understanding the dynamic freight marketplace. Our experience with various transportation management software (TMS) and our team of IT professionals also leaves us ready to integrate with your current data management systems. For those clients who do not have a TMS solutions, Flat Bridge can offer access to our best-in-class software that allows for automatic integration with over 100 load boards, BOL generation, accounting functions and detailed reporting. All these tools are employed with one goal in mind: effective communication.

Flat Bridge Solution

Drivers are treated with respect and clients are treated with a sense of urgency. Our team stands ready to perform any or all the services below so that you have the time and money to grow your business.

Intermodal

Add capacity, improve efficiency, and reduce spend. Let us Bridge the gap between reliable railway strategies, increased productivity and profitable initiatives.

Pain Points

While the intermodal sector has continued to experience strong growth, challenges facing intermodal shipments, center on maintaining “high service levels” across an already congested rail system. With drayage operators finding it difficult to find drivers and as capacity tightens, increasingly more freight is moving to rail-intermodal for long-distance transportation in already competitive lanes. All these issues pose problems for traditional cargo movement options and ensure that the intermodal freight mode continues to become more attractive to shippers. Freight brokers and Third-party logistics firms (3PLs) are increasingly being asked by shippers to quote rail intermodal transportation options, at the exclusion of long-haul truckload alternatives and Flat Bridge connects our partners with the most efficient and profitable mode to ensure reliable movement of their cargo needs.

Flat Bridge Background

The Flat Bridge advantage provides a broad network of ramp locations, along with the human resources, facilities and equipment in place to move your freight door-to-door seamlessly. A single point of contact provides full asset control and end-to-end visibility of shipments. Our intermodal solutions are designed to help reduce operating costs for our clients. We take pride in offering convenient and cost-friendly logistics solutions to our customers while using updated shipping methods and technology. We are a one-stop-shop for intermodal services. Our staff works with your company from start to finish to put together a personalized plan based on your budget that positively impacts your business in the long run.

Flat Bridge Solution

Flat bridge Ltd offers logistics support services which have been specifically aligned to the railway industry to enhance processes and provide significant cost savings. Our services not only cater to the core elements of railway logistics, but also to copious supporting processes – providing a complete solution for railway logistics businesses. Select from the following list of services to suite your organization’s specific needs.

Shippers

Managing your transportation spend is time consuming. Ignoring your transportation spend shrinks your bottom line. Flat Bridge is your “AND” not “OR” solution.

Pain Points

As a manufacturer or distributor, transportation is likely one of your top 5 expenses. Added to that pure cost are the operational expenses associated with training and maintaining a logistics staff. The objective should be to coordinate your efforts across, logistics, business development, purchasing, manufacturing, and the shipping/receiving department. A breakdown in communication between any of these entities will have a direct negative effect on supply chain costs. All this effort is exerted for a business process that, very likely, is not your core competency.

Flat Bridge Background

Flat Bridge associates use a combination of human resources and data driven solutions to give shippers all the tools to manage their logistics needs. Our staff brings decades of relevant experience in all modes of domestic and international shipping to the table. Looking to grow your carrier base? Let our experienced staff negotiate tariffs and maintain carrier contracts on your behalf. The Flat Bridge Rate Engine can run all your carrier contracts against each other to allow for quick carrier selection. This saves your team from manually maintaining spreadsheets and comparing rates. No time to administer another RFQ? We make it easy to outsource these tasks and deliver organized results. Are you only using a fraction of your TMS’s capabilities? Our staff can make any system better suited for your business by adding proven process improvement and workflow.

Flat Bridge Solution

Having technically minded experts on your team can make all the difference. Through data gathering and best practice report modelling, let Flat Bridge demonstrate the tremendous advantage of big data combined with big talent.

Warehousing

Yours is literally a game of inches. Our processes handle back-office and data management, so your team can focus on maximizing profits per-square-foot.

Pain Points

Outsourcing the data management functions of your warehousing operations, frees up time and resources for actual core operations. Clerical duties such as order entry, BOL creation, and document management generate minimal revenue and involve substantial labor, yet the accuracy and timeliness of these functions is key to customer retention.

Flat Bridge Background

Providing back office support for our warehousing clients produces immediate, tangible cost savings. In the first month you should expect a 30% reduction in costs associated with inventory and data management expenses. At the same time you can count on your Flat Bridge team to provide accurate data entry, and seamless communication with your customers. For those clients who employ a Warehouse Management Software (WMS) solution, our staff has experience with a variety of platforms. Companies that do not currently use a WMS will have access to our software systems, customized for your business by adding proven process improvement and workflow.

Flat Bridge Solution

Engaging Flat Bridge allows you to eliminate distractions, focus your time, and hone your budget and other resources on the things you do best. Choose any of the services below to increase the quality of your services and reduce your overhead.

Freight Forwarding

Razor thin margins and ever-increasing operational costs make creating a competitive advantage paramount to success. Let our 25 years of freight forwarding experience give you that advantage.

Pain Points

Freight forwarders are encumbered by staying compliant with a myriad of international trade regulations and security protocols. Adding these complexities to a highly dynamic market place defined by constant pricing changes and service interruptions will leave your staff feeling like they are treading water. These factors make it difficult for many forwarders to maintain efficiency and profit margins.

Flat Bridge Background

Flat Bridge has provided logistics support for some of the top 100 freight forwarders in the world along with servicing the needs of our shippers who have international freight needs. Your Flat Bridge associates undergo a year long, industry specific, training program to ensure consistent, quality outcomes for your organization. Our services not only create more efficient operations at a reduced cost, we also focus on continuing education within the field in order to offer insights for enhancing the overall performance of your supply chain.

Flat Bridge Solution

Partnering with Flat Bridge allows freight forwarders to focus on the growth aspects of the organization. Refer to our suite of solutions below, aimed at providing you with a competitive edge.

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