Princeton TMX turned 10 this year, and we celebrated by hosting NEXT 2026 in Las Vegas. We spent three days with shippers across steel, packaging, agriculture, and more, discussing multimodal challenges, what AI actually changes for supply chain leaders, and the future of logistics.
Here are the highlights:
- Ten years back, ten years forward: CEO Carole Smets and founder Tim Minnich opened with Ten + Ten, sharing that in 2016, our first year of business, PTMX handled 1.2 million truckloads. In the last 12 months, that number exceeded 2.8 million. Across the decade, we’ve moved more than 16.3 million loads by truck and rail. Carole closed with, “I’m honored to be leading us into the next 10 years, and I look forward to building with you.”
- DEX 2.0 debut, live on stage: Sam Tielker, VP of Cloud Engineering and one of our original team members, demoed our latest iteration of DEX, the AI agent built into our platform. He showed us how to query loads, see exceptions in real time, and use brand-new optimization tools to cut costs and maximize efficiency.
- Super users shared productivity hacks: Shippers from Steel Dynamics, Packaging Corporation of America, Nucor, and Gerdau walked through the workflows that save time day to day. Leigh’R Slates of Nucor put the takeaway plainly: “Using the work queues to put what you need to look at right in front of your face is the biggest driver to reducing costs.”
- Execs talked about the realities of managing logistics today: Leaders from Green Bay Packaging, Nucor, Richardson International, and Cleveland-Cliffs took on the 2027 market outlook, running truck and rail in one system, where ERP-TMS integrations break, and where AI has to prove itself before anyone trusts it with freight spend. Trevor Jackson of Richardson said a good integration means clear data ownership and near-real-time movement, so teams stop “working from yesterday’s picture.”
Looking to the Future of Princeton TMX
Amy Compton and Alexandra Hench recapped 12 major releases from 2026. Then we dove into what’s on deck for 2027. Kevin Meyer, our Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, laid out four key themes we’re focused on as we speed toward the new year:
- One load experience: a new, role-aware load layout that rolls out one mode at a time.
- Deeper multimodal coverage: get ready for barge with rating and pay, demurrage, and track and trace, plus rail car ordering and car-centric visibility.
- The five A’s (ask, advise, act, access, autonomous): In 2027, DEX moves from answering questions to executing moves, with your sign-off and a human in the loop.
- An open platform: tighter integration controls, plus the ability for DEX to read emails and documents directly instead of waiting on manual entry.
Then, the room at NEXT got a direct say in what moves up the list in our favorite session of day two, Voice of the Customer: You’re NEXT.
What Customers Want
Princeton TMX’s Sr. Director of Revenue Operations and Sales Development, Eric Mugol, kicked off interactive table discussions, and 10 tables worked through six questions on how Princeton TMX shows up as a partner across onboarding, support, and communication. Carole Smets and Kevin Meyer then shared back what the room said and how it’s influencing our priorities.
Here’s what you told us you value most:
- Proactive communication: This includes frequent updates and ETAs, helpful explanations, and fast response times.
- Multimodal platform: There’s a big appetite for being able to see and work across even more modes inside a central platform.
- AI and automation: Teams want to automate routine work, automatically flag exceptions, and get timely alerts so they can stay on top of changes.
- Training for customers and carriers: You shared that go-live planning, carrier onboarding, and ongoing collaboration are top priorities.
You also asked for a bigger Princeton TMX presence across the industry, with market insight, niche events, and new-feature showcases.
Ten Years Down, Many to Go
We’re grateful to have customers willing to share candid feedback and have productive discussions that help shape the future of what we’re building to support industrial shippers.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, and to our sponsors: Emerge, Freight Lane Solutions, MileMaker, and OpenTug. It’s been a wild ride, and we can’t wait for what’s next.
