Bidvest International Logistics (BIL) has launched a new road-freight portal that will allow clients to manage deliveries from start to end.
“It takes away the pain of having to procure transport service providers and still manage them,” says BIL road freight director Marcus Ellappan.
BIL is owned by services, trading and distribution group Bidvest.
The Bidtrans Portal provides real-time collaboration and interaction between clients and their deliveries, via an online platform that streamlines compliance matters, tracking, proof of deliveries (PODs) and invoicing.
The portal will allow the company to source loading capacity, and meet client demand throughout the year.
This, in turn, will allow BIL to offer an automated booking service through the portal.
Phase 1 of the platform’s launch is aimed at contracted customers, while phase 2 will target the broader business-to-consumer market, and will have more of an ad-hoc tariff structure.
BIL promises that the portal will be flexible in how it responds to client requests, by conforming to agreed service-level agreements that may differ from one client to the next.
Should clients still prefer to liaise with key personnel at BIL, they have the option to do so, and as before, the relevant staff are available on a 24-hour basis.
Addressing the issue of multiparty involvement in moving shipments, a driver will be briefed on new collection points and any special requirements, but the process will remain basic: client – BIL – consignor – transit – consignee – POD – invoice.
“The market has to start eliminating the huge amount of manual administration involved with simply booking a load, and we’re under no illusions about that,” says Ellappan.
“The phone calls to various parties trying to secure space, or emailing a delivery instruction, can be a very lengthy process when compared to the seamless nature of online ordering.”
The Bidtrans Portal will eventually launch an application for mobile use as well.
“As with any new product, users may take a while to warm to it because of an ingrained tendency to use what’s familiar and tested, but we’re of the firm belief that once [our clients] experience the reduction in manual activities, the track-and-trace function, the ease of online ordering, and, equally important, its ability to uphold solid compliance management, people won’t want to go back to the manual way of working,” says Ellappan.