Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Solutions
Freight management software that runs under your brand, connects to your clients’ systems and protects the margin on every load you move.
The Freight Management Software Behind 3PLs
Banyan Technology’s LIVE Connect® freight management platform gives third-party logistics providers (3PLs) a comprehensive transportation management system (TMS) or the flexibility to integrate with existing TMS, ERP and WMS systems through direct API connectivity.
With 3x more carrier connections than any other provider, automated freight execution and white-labeled customer portals, LIVE Connect helps 3PLs streamline operations, expand services and scale efficiently.
ShipDNA embedded LIVE Connect into its existing TMS to expand its parcel-focused business into LTL shipping. Trinity Logistics uses the platform to automate order-to-invoice workflows across Truckload, LTL, warehousing, intermodal, drayage and expedited freight.
BUILT FOR
Brokers, managed transportation providers, warehouse-enabled 3PLs, freight forwarders adding domestic OTR, and hybrid asset/non-asset operators.
STRONGEST FIT SIGNAL
You co-broker OTR freight and it is a real part of your net revenue.
MODES
TruckloadLTLParcelFinal Mile / Expedited
3x
More carriers than any other provider
50%
Output growth with no added headcount
90%
Reduction in dispatch time
#1
First-to-market API carrier connectivity leader
Where 3PL Margin Actually Goes
A 3PL’s margin doesn’t disappear in one place. It gets chipped away by the connectivity you have to maintain, the charges that go unaudited and the growth your team isn’t staffed to support.
1Your IT team can build carrier APIs. We help make 400 of them manageable.
Building a carrier integration is a project. Maintaining hundreds of them through every tariff change, spec update and endpoint change is an entirely different undertaking. And for many 3PLs, that reality becomes clear only after the work has begun.
WHAT LIVE CONNECT DOES
Banyan maintains the carrier connections. When a carrier changes a rate structure or an endpoint, that is Banyan’s problem, not a sprint on your roadmap.
2Rate tables that were accurate last quarter may not reflect what carriers are charging today.
Manual rate updates create a window for pricing to fall out of sync. When that happens, the rate confirmation may not match the invoice, expected margin can shrink and your team is left resolving the difference with the client.
“We have to order rates or ask for rate tables in a certain structure and then manually enter it, and it really nickel-and-dimed the customers… Going the API route means that the customer is always up to date. As soon as Carrier rates change and are uploaded into the Carrier’s servers, it is automatically adopted, consumed and exposed by Banyan, so they are always current and compliant, which is important because when you’re quoting, billing or reconciling, you want to make sure your rates are accurate.”
Rick Gomez, VP of Sales, ShipDNA
WHAT LIVE CONNECT DOES
Live API rating pulled from carrier systems at the moment of quote. ShipDNA now recommends it to every client running more than five carriers.
3Accessorial charges can quietly erode margin, especially when audits only capture a portion of shipments.
Reweighs, reclassifications, detention, liftgate, limited access and redelivery can look insignificant one shipment at a time. Across a full book of business, they can materially affect the margin you expected to keep. Partial auditing makes those costs harder to see.
RIM Logistics automated freight charge validation through Freight Bill Management and recovered six figures, from a tool that was not even on their original requirements list.
WHAT LIVE CONNECT DOES
Validates every freight bill against quoted and contracted charges automatically, so exceptions come to you instead of being found by sampling.
4Growth gets harder when every new client requires more people to support it.
A large managed transportation win should expand your business, not your staffing requirements at the same rate. When execution relies on manual portal work and carrier follow-up, every new account can add operational complexity and headcount pressure.
RIM Logistics expanded its domestic freight business by 50% without increasing headcount, leveraging LIVE Connect to improve operational efficiency.
Trinity Logistics saw similar gains in dispatch:
“Through its auto load tendering function, LIVE Connect helped reduce Trinity’s dispatch time by 90% to only half a second, rather than minutes. Also, gathering quotes previously took 10-15 minutes by phone or email, now it takes just one minute total to pull and view all carrier rates.”
Stacey Howell, VP of LTL, Trinity Logistics
WHAT LIVE CONNECT DOES
Takes the manual steps out of rating, tendering, tracking and billing so capacity scales with volume instead of with headcount.
5Keep your brand front and center across the client experience.
Clients should experience the technology as part of your brand, not someone else’s. A white-labeled platform keeps your business front and center, strengthens the client relationship and makes your technology offering feel fully integrated into the service you provide.
WHAT LIVE CONNECT DOES
Branded customer portals and co-branding options let your clients access the full feature set under your identity, on your domain, as part of your service.
6RFP season rewards teams that can turn freight data into answers quickly.
Clients increasingly expect carrier performance data, cost trends and lane analysis to be part of the ongoing relationship, not a one-time request. When that insight requires pulling data from multiple systems and building spreadsheets manually, it becomes harder to deliver consistently, quickly and at scale.
“Banyan’s Business Intelligence Suite gives us and our customers access to dashboards full of quality carrier performance and operational data.”
Stacey Howell, VP of LTL, Trinity Logistics
WHAT LIVE CONNECT DOES
A centralized data store and reporting engine across all clients and all modes, so carrier performance, cost and lane intelligence are standing reports rather than a fire drill.
What 3PLs Run on LIVE Connect
| 3PL REQUIREMENT | LIVE CONNECT CAPABILITY |
|---|---|
| Deploy a complete TMS or enhance existing technology | LIVE Connect TMS for centralized freight management and execution, or API Connectivity to integrate with an existing TMS, proprietary platform or business systems |
| Carrier connectivity you do not maintain | 3x more connections than any provider; 10,000+ Final Mile drivers |
| Execution under your brand | Branded and co-branded customer portals |
| Fit into your existing stack | API into McLeod, MercuryGate, Revenova, Turvo, Descartes; EDI 204, 210, 214, 990 |
| Connect to your clients’ systems | Direct integration with NetSuite, Oracle, SAP, Infor, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Sage, and WMS platforms |
| Protect margin per load | Margin management, Freight Bill Management, contract audit, accessorial validation |
| Price competitively on TL | Predictive Truckload pricing, matrix rating, spot quote, Trucker Tools and Truckstop load boards |
| Add Parcel to your client offering | Lower Total Shipping Costs: Rate shop carriers and modes, expand carrier access and uncover savings opportunities. Streamline Execution: One integrated workflow with AI workflow automation, configured to your business rules and processes. Ship with Confidence: Domestic and international shipping with required documentation and package-level visibility. |
| More volume without adding headcount | Automated load tendering, BOL and document generation, and streamlined freight execution workflows |
| Reduce exception handling | AI agents for tracking updates, missed pickup/delivery and missing documents |
| Create a cost story for clients | LTL-to-Truckload consolidation, lane intelligence, carrier performance dashboards |
| Support RFPs and client reporting | Business Intelligence Suite, centralized data store, carbon impact reporting; 50+ built-in reports plus custom reporting |
Which 3PLs Get the Most Out of Banyan
STRONGEST FIT SIGNAL
Co-brokered OTR shipping is a meaningful part of your net revenue.
This is the single strongest fit signal. OTR shipping is where carrier connectivity depth converts directly into margin, and it is the mode most often left running on portals and rate tables.
02
You run managed transportation programs with governance expectations.
Clients who buy managed transportation expect standardized execution, defensible pricing and reporting they can take to their own leadership.
03
You are warehouse-enabled and freight is fragmenting.
Multi-client, multi-facility operations generate freight density and inconsistent execution at the same time. Standardizing that across clients is the whole job.
04
You are a freight forwarder adding domestic OTR.
RIM Logistics, an air and ocean forwarder with 300+ employees, used Banyan specifically to stand up a domestic over-the-road offering it did not previously have.
05
You own your technology roadmap.
Banyan is API-first, which matters when you have a proprietary platform or a client-facing portal you are not going to give up.
Should a 3PL Build Carrier Integrations or Buy Them?
Whether you’re evaluating a complete TMS or extending your existing technology, carrier connectivity is a critical consideration. Building integrations internally offers control, but maintaining them across changing carrier requirements can create significant ongoing resource demands.
LIVE Connect provides an established carrier connectivity network, available through its TMS or API Connectivity, so your team can focus on growing the business rather than maintaining integrations.
| BUILD IN-HOUSE | BUY CONNECTIVITY | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first carrier | Weeks per carrier | Live on the existing network |
| Ongoing maintenance | Every tariff change, spec revision and deprecation is your sprint | Handled by the provider |
| Coverage ceiling | However many you can staff | 3x more carriers than any provider |
| Rate accuracy | As current as your last update | Live from carrier systems at quote |
Most 3PLs who have built it will tell you the same thing: writing the API was never the hard part. Maintaining hundreds of them, forever, is what breaks the model.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ask our experts now. Send us a message and our team will gladly reach out to you.
Grow Your 3PL Business with Intelligent Freight Technology
Banyan’s LIVE Connect freight management software equips 3PLs with the broadest carrier network in the market, branded technology that extends under your business identity, and the operational efficiencies needed to scale margins and elevate client service.