FourKites and Tive partner up for integrated transit data-focused platform

Earlier this month, Chicago-based FourKites, a provider of real-time tracking and visibility solutions across transportation modes and digital platforms, and Boston-based supply chain visibility services provider Tive announced that they have partnered up in an effort to provide an integrated platform for mutual customers that combines various types of in-transit data—beyond shipment visibility—that will give customers a more complete end-customer experience.

The types of in-transit data that comprise the platform include: location, market-leading ETAs, and temperature and light exposure, shipper load location and condition, according to FourKites and Tive. What’s more, citing strained supply chains, coupled with increases of consumer packaged goods, the companies said that this platform will help to ensure shipments arrive on-time and in full.

FourKites and Tive said that the Open Visibility Network partnership and integration meshes FourKites’ capabilities with Tive’s real-time in-transit load sensing data to “deliver immediate value to the global supply chain.” Tive’s Solo 5G trackers stream temperature, light, shock and other critical real-time load sensing data to the Tive Data Cloud, they said, and FourKites’ connectivity to telematics and GPS providers, coupled with its market-leading machine learning-based ETA engine provides a true depiction of when freight will arrive.

“Although both FourKites and Tive provide visibility for in-transit freight, they are complementary in their offerings and value,” explained Nimesh Patel, VP of Global Business Development at FourKites. “Tive provides real-time data of the product inside the trailer, which includes location, temperature, impact and light exposure, through their proprietary multi-sensor trackers, while FourKites provides end-to-end predictive visibility and market-leading ETAs using machine-learning algorithms, which are then integrated into its yard and appointment management solutions. We found we had numerous mutual customers using our solutions for different reasons, which helped us realize there's a larger opportunity for our companies to partner to share data so customers could gain comprehensive in-transit visibility of their freight through a single dashboard. By sharing data, we can enhance each other's core offerings and drive more ROI for our customers.”

This is not the first time FourKites and Tive have collaborated, as Patel pointed a previous partnership in which they built a simple one-way integration, which was driven by a specific customer who wanted to collect temperature data for loads in the FourKites platform.

When asked what the primary benefits of this partnership are for shippers, Patel observed that the Open Visibility Network is the logistics industry's first collaborative supply chain visibility partner program.

“It connects shippers, logistics service providers (LSPs), brokers and customers through collaborative data sharing, adding a layer of in-transit visibility beyond what's available today and eliminating cumbersome data silos,” said Patel. “The OVN enables providers and customers to collaborate with instant access to data from a network of leading supply chain visibility providers.”

Tive CEO and Founder Krenar Komoni added in a statement that collaboration and open access to visibility data benefit everyone in the supply chain.

“Tive trackers are deployed on shipments worldwide, which means insightful data on carrier and route performance is growing every second of the day,” said Komoni. “We are excited to partner with FourKites, the visibility market leader in the Food, Beverage, and CPG industries, among others, where the condition of an in-transit load is paramount. I’m proud to partner with FourKites to bring the industry-best ETA to Tive customers.”