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Quality Transportation Services: Experts in Rail Logistics
In the current dynamic and ever-changing supply chain market, outsourcing to third-party logistics service providers has become prevalent. While numerous companies deliver “off-the-shelf” logistics solutions, many of these providers lack the proficiency to offer competent business support. Standing apart from other logistics technology providers, Quality Transportation Services (QTS) supplements its comprehensive rail logistics software solutions with extensive support services, driven by a team of industry experts. QTS’ uniqueness lies in its dedicated offerings that are targeted toward rail services—unlike others that provide multi-modal transportation services—making them specialists in the domain. “Some of our support team professionals have spent more than a decade in rail, as shippers, fleet managers, plant managers, or transportation engineers, thus backing the company’s core offerings with a strong support system,” says Eric McMackin, director of sales and marketing, QTS. The company provides extensive services for fleet administration, shipment management and tracking, freight procurement, freight auditing, plant management, and reporting and analytics. Each of the services offered by the company represents one constituent fragment of the overall process, designed to maximize the value and cost-effectiveness of the rail mode. Further, with QTS team’s constant vigilance and daily proactive intervention, logistics firms go through a continuous improvement cycle which helps them witness a net gain to their bottom line.
On the other side, QTS’ dedicated software solution for rail services, SmartRail, aims to optimize an organization’s operational profitability from the railroad network. The software is equipped with essential tools to manage all stages of the shipment lifecycle—from the moment it is loaded into railcars, till delivery. SmartRail’s dashboard provides the necessary information: real-time location of railcars, estimated time of arrival, and also detailed reports in case of delays. SmartRail is also powered by business intelligence that analyzes a company’s day-to-day operational data and identifies areas that can be leveraged to gain a competitive edge in the market.
We provide extensive services for fleet administration, proactive shipment tracking, freight procurement, freight auditing, plant management, and reporting and analytics
In addition, the software is also equipped with toolsets that allow shippers to digitally maintain a complete portfolio of their railcars. From details of the mechanical condition of the car, record of its maintenance service jobs, to managing its taxes and depreciation value, the software allows companies to control all their logistics assets.
McMackin explains how QTS’ wide-ranging offerings helped one of its clients reduce the fleet size for operationalizing shipments. The client had a fleet of 608 tank cars and had to expend thousands of dollars to maintain the heavy fleet size. Employing QTS’ software and shipment management services, the company improved the transit time of its tank cars. By optimizing the transit time and improving fleet management services, the company was able to accomplish its tasks using fewer tank cars—effectively reducing its fleet size from 608 to 400. The reduction of 208 railcars helped the client save thousands of dollars that went in managing the expenses of the fleet and simultaneously made its operations more efficient with on-time deliveries.
As a roadmap for the future, McMackin mentions, “We have a series of next-generation software applications lined up for development.” QTS has also instituted a service delivery team to facilitate regular communication with clients to understand their day-to-day challenges and efficiently cater to those requirements. “Marching ahead, we shall continue to bend the norms and offer unique and holistic solutions that redefine the rail transportation market,” ends McMackin.
