, Eric Johnson asserts that the logistics industry has made significant investments in visibility advancements but has yet to see any impactful outcomes from that investment. Reading that piece made me realize that we need to do a much better job of educating the market about what Terminal49 can do - we solve all of these problems and more for our customers already, and we have even bigger plans for the rest of this year. 

It's crucial to acknowledge that not all visibility providers are created equal. Terminal49 stands apart from the competition due to our unwavering focus on providing complete, accurate, and timely shipment tracking data. We are committed not only to ensuring the highest possible data quality, but using that data to provide actionable insights and improve outcomes for shippers and LSPs. 

Data Quality: Terminal49's Key Differentiator

The article suggests that many visibility providers struggle with data quality, particularly in accurately tracking container terminal milestones and offering insights into modal handoffs and transshipment points. Terminal49 is the only visibility provider connected directly to all US and Canada terminals (with more markets coming soon!). By sourcing data directly from steamship lines and terminals, we ensure that our customers receive the most reliable and up-to-date information available. This direct access eliminates the delays and inaccuracies associated with relying on third-party intermediaries, delivering a significant advantage to cargo owners and logistics service providers.

Actionable Insights: Solving Supply Chain Pain Points

One shipper quoted in the article expressed frustration with visibility solutions that fall short in providing complete, accurate, and timely data, resulting in wasted time and decreased operational efficiency. Terminal49 recognizes these pain points and has built its platform around addressing them head-on. By automating container tracking and surfacing containers at risk, Terminal49 enables shippers to take proactive measures to mitigate potential issues, such as detention and demurrage fees. The focus on actionable data empowers shippers to make informed decisions that save time, reduce costs, and enhance overall supply chain efficiency. 

 time and money and improved their end customer experience. 

Direct Access to Data: Empowering Customers 

The article mentions that some shippers spend a great deal of time and effort going to steamship, rail, or terminal websites for shipment milestone updates because their providers make those updates available infrequently or unreliably. Terminal49 understands that firsthand access to aggregated data is crucial for its customers - as is getting that data where it needs to be, in the tools where operators are expediting their cargo. Whether through a user-friendly dashboard, an API, or direct data synchronization with existing tools, Terminal49 offers the flexibility to deliver data in the format most suited to our customers' needs. 

Terminal49's primary focus on ocean visibility sets it apart from providers who offer visibility as an ancillary service. 

Gartner has listed us as a notable vendor

 in this space. With our laser focus on ocean freight, Terminal49 ensures unparalleled expertise and dedication to providing the highest-quality ocean visibility solution for this part of the supply chain. 

Terminal49 is not just another visibility provider; we are a game-changer in the freight tracking space. While the market may have experienced disappointment in the past, Terminal49's commitment to data quality, actionable insights, and direct access sets us apart. We empower our customers to make informed decisions that save time, reduce fees, and enhance operational efficiency. The transformative outcomes sought by shippers and logistics providers can be realized through Terminal49's innovative platform. The era of reliable and efficient supply chain visibility has arrived, and Terminal49 is leading the way.

From Frustration to Efficiency: Why Terminal49 is the visibility solution shippers have been seeking

Today, we’re thrilled to announce our $6.5m Series A led by Stage 2 Capital, co-led by Grand Venture Partners, and with participation from existing investors. The term ‘milestone’ has a specific meaning in our industry, but for the Terminal49 team, securing our Series A is a significant company milestone that puts us one step closer to advancing our mission of automating global trade.


“We are excited to support Akshay and Terminal49 on their journey to automate global trade. They have built a product that customers value, and that hundreds of organizations rely on to manage ever-increasing complexity and costs within their global supply chains. They have a tremendous opportunity to accelerate and expand into exciting new territories to make an even bigger impact.” - Dan Heck, Board Member and Partner at Stage 2 Capital.


Terminal49 began by operating our own drayage trucking company out of a trailer in the Port of Oakland, where we moved thousands of containers for our customers. The software we built eliminated the manual container tracking that truckers, importers, and brokers were forced to do in order to run their operations. We reduced costs like demurrage and per-diem charges by improving the overall container delivery process thanks to automated container tracking and faster collaboration.


In 2020, we decided to double down on the container tracking software and released our ocean freight visibility dashboard and API. Ocean freight data isn’t standardized, but we standardize it for our customers - we’ve built tight integrations with carriers and terminals, consolidating the data and making it more accessible for those who depend on it, however they want to use it.

It’s incredibly tedious and cumbersome to keep track of shipping containers and coordinate all the steps in a container's journey. Everyone involved in the supply chain - suppliers, cargo owners, customs brokers, freight forwarders, trucking companies - relies on often-outdated milestone updates that they seek across dozens of steamship lines and terminal websites. These updates are then entered manually in spreadsheets and relayed to partners, customers, and coworkers for handoffs and coordination. Human dependency means this process is prone to human error. These errors can cause thousands of dollars in fees - demurrage, per diem, etc. - and can be detrimental to a company’s reputation.

This is where we can help. Terminal49 automates all container tracking and provides instant access to up-to-date container statuses, helping companies more quickly identify containers at risk and make cost-saving decisions faster. Customers can view all milestones in a shipment's journey, from the empty container at the point of origin all the way to the empty container returned at the destination. All information is pulled directly from the steamship lines and terminals, standardized and formatted nearly for easy consumption. This data is available through their Terminal49 dashboard, or they can leverage our API to push container data into their own system of record.


“Terminal49 has made our team more efficient and productive,” says Spencer Strader, co-founder and CEO of Trade XCelerators. “We now have access to accurate ocean freight information in one place, which lets us proactively share reliable information with our customers and vendors. Terminal49’s automation has saved us thousands of dollars a year, but more importantly it’s helped improve customer trust.”

Today, Terminal49 is tracking over a million containers per year for hundreds of customers worldwide. Customers rely on Terminal49’s dashboard and API data to track, manage, and optimize ocean freight operations. Our customers consistently tell us that since adopting Terminal49, they’ve improved process efficiencies, eliminated hundreds of hours of manual work, and saved thousands in demurrage fees.


“Terminal49 allows us to stay on top of the ever-changing schedules for all vessels we use to ship our customers' cargo,” says Armin Frey, Director of IT at Jaguar Freight, which tracks about 5,000 shipping containers each year. “We’ve reduced manual shipment tracking by 90%, which saves us about 20 hours a month per person. That time can now be spent on high-value projects for our customers.”

While supply chain congestion began easing in the latter part of the year, port congestion still remains much higher than pre-COVID levels. Ever-increasing inflation rates sent the cost of goods and transportation soaring higher than they’ve been in years. Concerns of an impending recession put most freight operators and logistics companies on the offensive, scrambling to reduce costs where they could while still trying to manage the complexities of tracking and scheduling containers.


The best way for us to support our customers dealing with economic uncertainty and global trade complexities was to continue to prioritize data quality. We hold ourselves to high standards and measure our data quality across three vectors:


. We provide comprehensive coverage of milestones directly from 100+ shipping lines and terminals. We cover 98% of all global container traffic.

. We’re continuously improving and filtering out inaccurate and incomplete data.

: We provide container events as quickly as possible. Terminal data is available in near-real time and ocean carrier data updates multiple times per day.

We’ve been busy building functionality to improve ocean freight visibility, while efficiently scaling the company to support our growing customer base. Some recent highlights include:

Three new shipping line integrations in Q4 - Transfar, SeaLead and T.S. Lines

At Terminal49, we’re on a mission to automate global trade. Our recent raise helps us accelerate our efforts and hire the best talent in order to do so - take a look at 

 and please share them with your network.

We’re so excited for what’s ahead, and in many ways we feel like we’re just getting started 🚀

Terminal49 has raised a Series A 🎉

TXC’s brokerage management team moved from a manual, outdated, cumbersome, and costly container tracking workflow to an automated, accurate, and reliable process with Terminal49. As a result, they:

Saved roughly 300 hours per month in employee time

Eliminated thousands of dollars in demurrage, rescheduling and late fees per year

Built stronger value for their customers, improving customer trust

 (TXC) provides ocean and air freight transportation and logistics services to SMB and mid-market U.S. importers. TXC is a U.S. Customs Broker and licensed NVOCC that was founded in 2022 by logistics industry veterans Spencer Strader, CEO, and Dan Gardner, EVP.

TXC’s goal is to bring freight visibility to small and mid-sized U.S. importers (typically importanting fewer than 1,000 containers each year) who don’t have the IT infrastructure, budget, or industry experience to efficiently manage freight and customs logistics. “Small to medium size importers live by their shipments so if a container is two or three days late, or if there are delays which they are not immediately alerted to,  it will have a significant impact on their business,” said Spencer. “These companies aren’t well versed in the complexities of freight timing, delivery scheduling, and terminal requirements. Our customers depend on us to be their trusted partner in freight logistics.”

A Cumbersome, Outdated, and Costly Workflow

Today, there is no industry standard method for collecting, aggregating, and searching freight data. Anyone needing access to shipment information has to manually search through dozens of websites to uncover container milestones. They use this data to respond to any changes in ETAs, log container statuses (typically in spreadsheets), and then share status updates with impacted vendors and customers. It’s an outdated and inefficient process.


Several of TXC’s staff, including Brokerage Manager Jon Shellabarger and his team, would spend countless hours a week tracking customer containers across steamship, terminal, and rail websites. “One person on my team would spend about 3 hours each day trying to track down container statuses and ETAs, and then put the data into the customer's preferred format,” recalled Jon. With data fragmented across multiple sites, and often outdated and incomplete, team members would need to constantly check and recheck container statuses before relaying updates to their customers. It was a cumbersome and time-consuming process, and error-prone.

“Someone on my team showed me how they managed their process and they had 27 tabs open in their browser,” said Spencer. “It was very reactive, duplicative, and didn’t quickly highlight what was at risk.”


Being able to identify containers at risk of delay is critical to the health of the customer’s business, and TXC’s. If a customer’s import container was missed, or not picked up on time, the customer could incur demurrage and rescheduling fees. Even a small amount of human error in ETA or status updates could have costly consequences for both the customer, and TXC. “We would absorb thousands of dollars a year in customer demurrage,” recalled Spencer.


While impactful to the business’s bottom-line, Spencer and his team were more concerned about the longer-term impacts on customer trust. They needed a reliable way to track and manage customer containers at scale.

Automating Container Tracking and Management

TXC believed that with recent visibility on the global supply chain congestion, that there had to be strides in innovation to improve container tracking. They set out to find a modern solution, and were eager to find a company who could feel like a long-term partner. They had clear requirements for the solution. It needed to:


Have accurate and reliable container milestones from carriers and terminal data

Different views of the data, in particular they needed to be able see real-time ETA alongside original ETA

An API that would allow them to pull in data into their own systems

Be easy to use for everyone in their team


Spencer and Dan evaluated a few solutions and ultimately decided that Terminal49 (T49) had the most comprehensive offering. While they found T49 easy to use and intuitive, what really convinced them was the centralized and searchable dashboard - a single view of terminal and carrier data built from tight integrations with steamship and terminal sources. They were also impressed with how quickly they could 

They began testing Terminal49 with the brokerage management team to see how those on the frontlines of managing customer container data would respond. The initial feedback was resoundingly positive. “It’s extremely time-consuming to search terminal, steamship, and rail websites just to get an update on a container’s status,” said Jon. “When we tested Terminal49, I was amazed to see everything in one place.”


Because container data has historically been unreliable and difficult to access, there was some initial skepticism about the integrity of T49’s data. Inaccurate data can be costly, so the team needed to be convinced that T49 wasn’t too good to be true. “We use this data to make important decisions on behalf of our customers, so we need to be able to trust and depend on what we’re seeing,” said Spencer.

Terminal49 measures container data across three vectors - completeness, accuracy, and latency - which helped alleviate some of the initial concerns.

. We offer a wide coverage of data sources and milestones directly from ports and terminals. We cover 98% of all global container traffic.

. We’re always improving and filtering out inaccurate and incomplete data.

: We provide container events and milestones as quickly as possible. We guarantee 2hr terminal data freshness and 6hr steamship data freshness.

The team cross-referenced the T49 data with various websites, “we actually tried to break T49,” joked Spencer, and ultimately determined the efficacy of what they were seeing. “Having the ability to view terminal data separate from ocean carrier data, with time stamps, gave my team confidence to trust the data and use it to make more informed decisions,” he said.

About 15 people are responsible for tracking and managing TXC’s customer’s freight cargo, and each person has access to T49. They filter data by client so that they can quickly track their customers' containers and mitigate any risks.


“In logistics, you have to expect that things will go sideways,” said Spencer. “How quickly you react saves time, resources, and money. I check ‘containers at risk’ first thing every morning so that we can address and prioritize any known issues.”

Saving Hundreds of Hours, Thousands of Dollars, and Improving Customer Trust

T49 has become an essential part of TXC’s services, and checking the dashboard is a natural part of the brokerage management team’s workflow. “We now have one location with detailed information on each of the shipments we need to track, which helps us easily identify and prioritize where we need to spend our time,” said Jon. They can now confidently plan and schedule deliveries, minimize demurrage, advise customers of changes in timelines, and complete U.S. Customs Clearance based on T49 data.


Moving from a manual, reactive workflow to an automated and proactive discovery of container ETAs has allowed each team member to get back at least one hour in their day, saving the company roughly 300 hours per month. That time is now spent on more valuable and meaningful work. “Adding Terminal49 to our workflow has been a huge time saving for our team,” added Jon. “And it reduces costly human error.”


But for TXC’s CEO, the benefits go beyond time savings. For Spencer, it comes down to improving customer trust and satisfaction. “A mistake or error can cost our business thousands of dollars, but it can also damage a customer relationship, or worse, we could lose the customer completely,” he said. “Terminal49 has saved us thousands of dollars in demurrage, but more importantly it makes us more credible partners, and helps us build value with our customers.”


TXC has gone from a cumbersome and reactive workflow of pulling, collating, and displaying data in each client’s preferred format, to being able to proactively notify customers based on real-time ETA updates from T49.

Case Study: How Trade XClerators Saved 300+ Hours and Thousands of Dollars a Month

Due to popular demand, we have added data for two terminals in the UK: Southampton and London Gateway. These are the first European terminals on Terminal49!

Terminal data includes container availability status, holds, demurrage and other fees, LFD (last free day), container yard location, and more. Terminals usually begin updating container data within a week of a shipment's arrival at port. We push updated container data to you within minutes of new information becoming available, so you always know the latest status of your container.

Do you have containers at terminals that are not yet supported on Terminal49? Add your requests 

 so our team can look into integrating those for you!

Terminal49 has integrated data for UK's Southampton and London Gateway terminals for improved container visibility.

Southampton and London Gateway terminal data now available on Terminal49

Terminal49 CEO Akshay Dodeja will be speaking on a panel about 

No-Code and Low-Code: The Future of Logistics Applications

 on Friday afternoon. Find out more about the talk and his co-speakers 

We will be at TPM with our entire team. Our team would love to meet you - if you are in the area or planning to attend the conference, 

use this link to set up some time with us

Terminal49 at TPM Tech 2022 in Long Beach, CA

Meet Terminal49 at TPMTech 2022

More articles from Terminal49

From Frustration to Efficiency: Why Terminal49 is the visibility solution shippers have been seeking

Terminal49 has raised a Series A 🎉

Case Study: How Trade XClerators Saved 300+ Hours and Thousands of Dollars a Month

Southampton and London Gateway terminal data now available on Terminal49