Primelink hits the trifecta with LoadStop SmartTMS

LoadStop transportation management system is efficient, easy to integrate with a modern, user-friendly interface

Sunny Vraitch had three criteria in mind when his team started searching for a new transportation management system: “Ease of use, as well as the ability to do support and integration,” said Vraitch, chief financial officer for Primelink Express, a Stockton, California-based carrier specializing in refrigerated transport.

Primelink’s existing TMS was outdated and cumbersome, according to Vraitch, making training new hires a laborious task. Integrating other technology platforms was also a challenge.

Primelink operates 180 trucks and 200 reefers on routes from California to the Southeastern United States. Like many carriers, the company uses multiple transportation providers to manage operations, from load-tracking systems and ELDs to temperature and fuel monitoring.

“Each of these were individual portals, and the TMS we were using didn’t have the ability to easily integrate all of that,” said Vraitch.

Primelink’s provider was willing to upgrade the system, he said, but at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars and a long lead time.

In recent years dozens of companies have flocked to the trucking software space, offering carriers and shippers advanced technology solutions that automate manual services while adding value with visibility and predictive analytics capabilities.

Among the new digital offerings are state-of-the-art transportation management systems that digitize and integrate a wide variety of logistics services.

In the process of looking for a new TMS, the Primelink team considered using a legacy provider with “powerful software,” Vraitch said. But the system was enormously expensive, and even though it offered the integrations Primelink required, the user interface was awkward, resembling “a Windows 95 spreadsheet,” Vraitch said.

Enter LoadStop, a logistics technology startup that launched last year. The company was young enough that at first Primelink didn't consider them a serious contender as a TMS provider.

It didn’t take long for the team to change their minds. “We realized these guys get it,” said Vraitch. Get trucking, that is.

LoadStop co-founder Raza Khan grew up in a trucking family. He decided to launch the company after surveying the market and finding a gap in technology services targeting small-to-midsize carriers.

The company’s SmartTMS is a next-generation transportation system that automates client operations, from dispatch to compliance, invoicing, load management and freight matching.

Among the draws for Primelink was LoadStop’s ability to filter information to focus on specific workflows, said Vraitch.

“The mental model they have is not of the software developer but the end user,” Vraitch said.

Elaborating on that claim, Vraitch said although all the information is contained within the LoadStop SmartTMS, the easy-to-navigate interface customizes data for specific users.

“The person doing the planning doesn’t care about fuel,” said Vraitch. “They want to know about the load: where it is picking up and where it is delivering. Those are the important things to them.”

Primelink signed on with LoadStop in January 2021. To date the team has integrated the company’s ELDs and EDI partners and is working on integrating temperature and location data. The team is easy to work with and quickly fixes bugs when they come up, according to Vraitch.

In addition to the carrier-focused TMS, LoadStop offers an autonomous dispatcher and a Visibility 360 tool provides end-to-end real-time visibility of transportation operations.

Specific features include customizable workflows, load planning, detention monitoring, auto check calls via geofencing and notification configuration.