PlanTools

Transportation Route Optimization & Planning

Shippers, carriers, brokers, forwarders, and 3PLs use PlanTools™ state of the art transportation planning technology to Maximize service and Minimize Cost. With PlanTools™ they can evaluate all the possible transportation modes, routes, and consolidation opportunities to produce the best overall plan every day – with the speed and flexibility to stay in tune with fast-changing customer requirements. PlanTools™combines a revolutionary optimization engine with FastPlan™, an easy to use web interface, and ActivePlan™, an innovative continuous planning tool, to deliver powerful, comprehensive and practical transportation solutions.

PlanTools Intuitive Multi-Modal Optimization & Planning

Designed by transportation professionals for transportation professionals.

  • Web-based system avoids capital expenditure, reduces IT infrastructure, implementation and maintenance cost
  • Adds muscle to any proprietary or commercially available Transportation or Fleet Management System
  • Becomes an integral part of your supply chain processes allowing planners to respond instantly to changing requirements
  • Powers through real-world challenges using a robust set of routing parameters to produce practical transportation plans
  • Supports tactical and strategic transportation analysis
  • Accesses a wide variety of freight rates in real time directly from carrier via web rating

PlanTools™ solves complex real-world transportation problems

  • Consolidated LTLs into Multi-Stop Truckloads
  • Direct LTL
  • Multiple Pool (cross-dock) options, at origin, destination or both
  • Dedicated Fleet vs. Common Carrier
  • Intermodal vs. Truckload pool
  • Continuous Truckload moves for backhaul or interplant movements.
  • Drayage to Intermodal
Learn more about internet Load Planning & Continuous Load Planning in our white papers.
Optimize Your Routes, Modes and Carriers

PlanTools™ provides route optimization as a stand alone application or integrates with your existing TMS.

How PlanTools™ Works

PlanTools™ route optimization software takes input information about a set of shipments due to be delivered within a limited time frame (typically a couple of days in the future, or maybe up to a week from now) and determines the lowest cost combination of those shipments over a variety of transportation modes including LTL, full or partial truckloads, intermodal and pool distribution or common carrier vs. private fleet to take advantage of the economies.

Multiple origins to multiple destinations–either inbound or outbound or a combination. Supports planning “continuous moves” in which an outbound truck empties, then picks up inbound freight for a round trip combines freight based on weight, cubic volume or trailer length utilization factors.

FastPlan™ is a flexible and easy to use planning interface that lets the user review and edit the optimization results. Users may add, move or delete shipments from loads or even manually build completely new loads.

ActivePlan™ is PlanTool’s™ innovative continuous load planning tool that integrates computer aided optimization all the way through the daily transportation planning cycle. ActivePlan™ lets load planners react to changing requirements in real time where loads may be dispatched and shipments are added, updated and cancelled. ActivePlan™ facilitates the process of continuous optimization route planning by allowing the user to:

  • Respond quickly to added, deleted or modified shipments during the load planning cycle
  • Rapidly slot last minute shipments into existing loads
  • Pre-dispatch partial loads to get carrier capacity commitment, while still adding shipments to them
  • Re-optimize the plan repeatedly with only selected loads, and shipments
Scroll to Top