The Descartes Systems Group Inc. and Descartes Systems Group announced that the combination of their solutions has the ability to provide freight brokers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) with greater visibility and management of transportation risk. The combined solution of Descartes MacroPoint™ Capacity Network and WeatherOptics Impact Scores gives freight brokers and 3PLs access to granular weather impact insights, designed specifically for transportation management operations. By integrating WeatherOptics' wide variety of weather-related risk scores into the Descartes solution, including road conditions and overall business disruption, organizations can identify which loads and lanes are at risk of disruption up to seven days in advance.

WeatherOptics reduces weather impact data down to a simple risk score or delay time that allows businesses to easily understand how upcoming weather will affect their key operations. The company works with some of the larger shippers and supply chain software companies in North America to help predict and mitigate issues like trucking delays, warehouse disruptions, and changes in consumer demand. The Descartes MacroPoint Capacity Network allows freight brokers and 3PLs to access over 320,000 carriers and their assets on more than 1 million truckload transportation lanes in North America.

By using machine learning to match potential carriers in near real-time to open loads, the solution helps freight brokers and 3PLs to better rank carrier matches. They can send load offers to carriers either manually or automatically via configurable business rules that can incorporate considerations such as market indicators, pricing and company preference notifications. Through this use of intelligent automation, freight brokers and 3PLs have achieved on average 15 times more loads matched than processed manually.