New, improved Brokerware^TM

Cliff Claycomb

“I just wanted to take the time to mention how excited we all are about the new XML pricing feature. This will save us an incredible amount of time. In addition, XML makes us aware of lanes serviced by the carrier (and the transit times for that lane) that we may not necessarily have committed to memory. All in all it is a wonderful thing. On behalf of all of the staff here at MoveFreight, Inc and myself a sincere thank you.”

Nicki Sanders

“We have been using 3PL’s Brokerware since 2014. We knew from the start that it was a great product – functional and easy to use. But it was also the only TMS software that we knew…until recently. Our company’s largest customer recently was acquired by a larger corporation who had several other divisions already integrated with a different TMS provider. They strongly “urged” us to transition to that other software if we intended to maintain our business relationship. With a forced hand, we were not given much of a choice; our company’s livelihood depended on keeping this relationship intact. So we signed an implementation contract with the “other” TMS provider – for a dollar amount that was obscene, but could be paid out over a three year term. It was a hard pill to swallow – again, we had no other option- so we did it. They had recently released a brand new platform, but the software did not work as it should. It was a struggle to get their management team to acknowledge their software had ANY flaws or short comings. Their EDI and API capabilities were not capable at all. Data transmitted partially or not at all. The whole program was much more complicated than necessary. It was far from user-friendly. And over half of the functions only functioned after reverting to their “legacy” view – a “several-versions-ago” platform for which they no longer offered training or support. But “Oh, that can only be done in legacy” was a phrase we heard multiple times a day throughout our seven months of chaotic training and testing. There were also additional monthly fees for their MANDATORY supplemental carrier database software – whose challenges included vital data not syncing to accounting software, not communicating accurately with our carrier monitoring service, and the inability to recognize or utilize intra-state/DOT-only carriers at all! After 7 months of “training” and testing their inadequate product, we could not postpone going live with our customer any longer. Their new management (with whom we did not have an established rapport or relationship) assumed it was our company stalling, when, simply put, the software they insisted we use was junk. But we pushed ahead, against our better judgement. We transitioned this customer (and only this one customer) from 3PL to the new TMS, hoping for the best. We pulled members of our operations team away from 3PL, and literally relocated them to another office to give the situation the best possible chance of success. As expected, the live production environment was just as broken as the testing environment. And all of our employees and all of our customers faced the consequences. Throughout the failed testing and production phases of the other software, 3PL and its team continued to shine servicing the rest of our customer base. The 3PL development team asked for feedback and eagerly accepted suggestions and ideas for improvements – while continually adding new features and updating their already-functional software. It was truly a classic “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” situation. Whether it was our decision or not, what we “had all along” was clear as day. After over entirely too much money spent and easily 2,000 hours wasted on this terrible experiment, our ownership and management sat down to make the hardest decision to date –we would not put our staff or our valued customers through one more day of using this broken software that somehow managed to make US feel like WE were the failing factor! This decision likely meant losing this vital customer, and having to let go of employees in the wake of that loss. But our owner’s made the call, whatever the consequences. 3PL Brokerware would continue to be our tried and true software, and the other TMS was out. We held our collective breath and waited for their response. After some slight pushback to test our resolve, our decision to maintain our partnership with 3PL was ultimately respected and honored by the powers that be – and we are so very excited to be working out the final details of their 3PL integration! The entire 3PL team – from sales to development to technical support - has been responsive and fantastic from day one – but ultimately even more so when it came time to prove why we already know they are the best. And the fact that no one at 3PL had any idea of how high the stakes were when they unknowingly stepped up to the plate makes their involvement even sweeter! We look forward to our long-term partnership with the entire 3PL team. Keep up the great work!”