PortPro's product focus; TMS vendor news

Last week was a big week for the industry's landscape, which underwent significant changes - specifically as it relates to vendors in the drayage space. Most notably was PortPro’s announcement of its series A fundraise in a press release on the 26th that can be found here where the company showcased its commitment to modernization. As an aside, we’ve also released our new website - designed as a launch pad for new products, partnerships, and to communicate our brand value, including our mission to enable a more digitized supply chain.

There was other big news in the market as well. Envase Technologies - a large conglomerate of heritage TMS providers and data aggregation tools - was acquired by publicly traded WiseTech Global. While this news is certainly notable for a plethora of reasons, it's particularly rousing for drayage truckers and for PortPro as a vendor.

Because of these facts, we’re excited to see what direction the market for freight and for TMS vendors will head in 2023. We’re still in the early stages of the year, but there’s already so much happening in supply chain circles. TPM & TPM Tech are right around the corner. California compliance laws are putting drayage providers in a pinch. The Port of Los Angeles announced both a colossal off-dock support facility and a revival of its universal appointment mission manned by Wabtec. Freight volumes are speculated to come back to California after ILWU and ocean carrier contracts are inked. The list goes on and on. The short of it is, though, that this year should bring more of the same in terms of uncertainty and software providers will need to ensure they are serving their customers congruently.

There are fewer vendors in the market for appointment solutions, for operating systems (TOS/WMS), for TMS’, and for freight. Thus, market competition will get more staunch in some places and less so in others. Make no mistake, though; PortPro will continue to innovate along the door to door segment of the supply chain no matter where or what other products ultimately surface. The point of this blog post, then, is to illustrate that this uncertainty and these happenings in the vendor market are opportunities for fast moving and agile technology companies like PortPro to make real change for our partners operating the supply chain. Thinking through how best to evolve a product and how to interconnect various ones in the market is something that we will continue to make a priority in 2023. We strive to leave our partners and clients with a feeling that they are participants in the most forward thinking, agile, and innovative group of customers because of who and what their vendor - PortPro - can provide.

There is a lot of market news and are challenges to overcome in 2023; but the same, reliable, innovative, and dependable PortPro will help its customers and partners meet these challenges with technology top of mind.

Our new site can be found here: PortPro.io