QUICK FIX

Intramotev secures $14.4M to advance self-propelled electric railcar technology

St. Louis-based startup Intramotev has raised $14.4 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round to advance its innovative self-propelled, battery-electric railcar technology.

The company offers two main products: TugVolt, a retrofit kit for existing railcars, and ReVolt, a conversion kit enabling regenerative braking. With active deployments generating revenue, including three ReVolt cars in service at Iron Senergy’s Pennsylvania coal mine, Intramotev aims to transform rail freight efficiency.

The funding, led by Flybridge Capital Partners and Alpaca VC, will support further deployment of their technology in mines, ports, and plants, with plans to eventually expand across the entire U.S. rail network.

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THIS WEEK’S BIG BITE

Drumkit: Automating workflows for freight forwarders and brokers.

Drumkit.AI was born from a simple yet powerful belief: communication in freight forwarding should be simplified, but not at the cost of human involvement. Founded by Harvard graduate Dhruv Gupta, who studied computer science and transportation planning, Drumkit.AI showcases its commitment to augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing them. By automating factual logistics tasks, it frees up brokers and forwarders to focus on relationship-building and handling emotionally complex situations.

Product Highlights & Key Features

Drumkit.AI integrates directly into your email inbox as a sidebar, offering a unique approach to workflow automation:

• Smart Suggestions: The AI analyzes incoming emails and suggests appropriate actions, such as saving quotes or scheduling appointments

• Automated Tracking: Updates on shipments are automatically sent to customers, reducing manual follow-ups

• Human Oversight: While the AI handles routine tasks, humans retain control over decision-making, especially in complex situations

Drumkit.AI’s key features are:

• Email Integration: Seamlessly works within your existing email system

• TMS Compatibility: Sits on top of your Transportation Management System, using it as a data source

• Intelligent Automation: Handles quoting, scheduling, and tracking updates

• Analytics Dashboard: Provides insights on touchpoints, quote win rates, and user productivity

Pricing

• Two-week no-cost implementation period
• One-month pilot to experience the platform in action
• Full service enablement with pricing tailored to customer’s specific needs

Continuous Growth

• Expand capabilities to handle more complex cases, e.g., quote negotiation and LTL shipments

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FOOD FOR THE BRAIN

API in Layman’s Terms

For the non-technical cool kids in logistics: Have you ever found yourself scratching your head, sitting in the middle of a demo from a logitech startup engineer or product manager, and they suddenly mention their product can integrate with your current systems using an “API”?

Did you Google search the acronym and definition or did you just nod your head and say “interesting”?

Well, leave that in the past. Today, we break down API in simple logistics dialect.

What does API stand for?

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a set of protocols, routines, and tools that allow different software applications to communicate with each other. API is most commonly explained with the analogy of being a waiter in a restaurant:

• You (the customer) request a dish from the menu
• The waiter (API) takes your order to the kitchen (the server)
• The kitchen prepares the dish and gives it to the waiter
• The waiter brings the dish back to you

In software terms:

• Your application makes a request to another application
• The API processes that request
• The server application fulfills the request
• The API returns the data to your application

How do APIs work?

Simply put, APIs work by going through a series of steps:

• Request: Your application sends a request to the API endpoint (a specific URL)
• Processing: The API receives the request and processes it
• Server Action: The server performs the requested action (e.g., retrieving data, updating records)
• Response: The API sends back a response, typically in JSON or XML format
• Integration: Your application integrates the received data

Common API methods include:

• GET: Retrieve data
• POST: Create new data
• PUT: Update existing data
• DELETE: Remove data

APIs in logistics solutions

If you own your own logistics brokerage company or are a freight forwarder, chances are you have seen the outputs of APIs in action. Some examples are:

Real-time Tracking

• Integrate with carrier APIs to provide live shipment updates
• Example: A TMS uses FedEx API to fetch real-time package locations

Rate Quoting

• Connect to multiple carrier APIs to compare rates instantly
• Example: A freight marketplace uses APIs from various carriers to provide competitive quotes

Capacity Management

• Access real-time capacity data from carriers
• Example: A broker uses trucking company APIs to find available trucks in specific lanes

API benefits and challenges

Benefits

• Improved efficiency through process automation
• Enhanced supply chain visibility
• Better decision-making based on comprehensive data
• Increased scalability for partnerships
• Cost reduction via streamlined operations
• Faster adoption of innovative technologies

Challenges

• Can expose systems to security vulnerabilities
• Lack of standardization across different API providers forces logistics companies to adapt to varying structures and protocols, increasing integration complexity
• API downtime or changes can disrupt operations
• Reliance on external data sources through APIs may introduce data quality issues
• As the number of API integrations grows, managing and maintaining interconnected systems become more complex

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MORE TO CRUNCH

Fluent Cargo partners with DP World to transform global shipment tracking

Fluent Cargo has teamed up with DP World’s CARGOES to enhance global shipment tracking, offering a unified platform for customers to easily monitor shipments across more than 70 ocean carriers, 80 air carriers, and 1,100 parcel trucks or couriers.

Known as the “Google Maps for Freight,” Fluent Cargo’s solution aims to solve the challenges of fragmented data and inefficiencies in supply chain logistics. This partnership’s mission is to provide real-time, centralized tracking, reducing errors and costs while simplifying the complex process of freight management.