Frequently Asked Questions

Princeton TMX is a transportation management software that gives shippers one platform for truckload, LTL, rail, intermodal, fleet, and barge freight. It automates rating, booking, tracking, and freight audit, and gives you visibility into spend, carrier performance, and the other KPIs that run your logistics network.

A transportation management system, or TMS platform, is software that shippers use to rate, book, track, audit, and report on freight. The purpose is automation and cost savings: the platform makes the routing and carrier decisions your team would otherwise make manually, and it keeps a record of what each shipment should have cost. For more detail, see a shipper's guide to a TMS platform and our overview of the role of transportation management in the supply chain.

An ERP is your central system of record for the whole business: finance, HR, procurement, manufacturing, and core inventory. A TMS platform is the specialized operational layer for freight. It optimizes routes, selects carriers, tracks shipments in real time, and audits freight bills. The two work together rather than competing. Princeton TMX integrates with your ERP so orders flow into the TMS platform and approved invoices flow back out for payment.

A TMS platform is software your own team uses to run shipping operations. Managed transportation is an outsourced service where a third party supplies both the technology and the people to run those operations for you. Which one fits depends on how much of the work you want to keep in house. We walk through that decision in managed transportation or a TMS platform.

Princeton TMX customers are shippers, from single-plant organizations to companies running freight out of dozens of facilities. Our customers treat us as a partner rather than a vendor, and we are happy to connect you with several of them as references. You can also read what shippers say about Princeton TMX on Gartner Peer Insights.

Princeton TMX has been operating as a business since 2016. Before that, we operated under the name TransWorks. The company was originally founded by Norfolk Southern and served as a technology arm for the railroad in the early 2000s. Our role was primarily to help shippers manage the truck portion of their freight after it came off the rail. We are now owned by the Stephen’s Group out of Little Rock, AR.

A visibility platform will monitor where your orders and loads are, however transportation management software, like Princeton TMX, allows you to manage your carriers, automate the rating of each lane based off carrier service and cost, and tender to those carriers outside of managing all this on spreadsheets and emails. The Transportation management software will also provide reporting helping drive cost and time savings.

Princeton TMX supports truckload, LTL, rail, intermodal, fleet, and barge on a single platform. You manage all six in one system rather than logging into separate tools and reconciling reports between them.

Princeton TMX includes a carrier module that tracks carrier insurance and safety ratings, with a CarrierWatch integration for automatic updates. Private fleet drivers are assigned to loads through our Timeblox feature, and drivers can be committed to a set number of hours or miles so you can see whether your own equipment is being used to capacity. Third-party and fleet freight sit side by side in the same load base.

Yes. Carriers can connect to Princeton TMX via the portal, EDI, API, and Driver app to enter in their times. Princeton TMX also partners with Macropoint, FourKites, and Project44 for the breadcrumb level tracking. In addition, we can integrate with the carrier's ELD devices as well.

Yes. In the Princeton TMX tendering module, you set rules as specific as shipping point to customer, and those rules support multi-level tendering for touch-free execution. A preferred carrier can get first right of refusal on a lane. If that carrier declines, the system automatically starts waterfall tendering to the next carrier in line. If every carrier in the sequence declines, the load goes out to your full carrier base for a spot rate. None of it requires a user to touch the load.

When a user logs into Princeton TMX, they land on a dashboard that gives them an overall view of their entire load base, with drill-downs into statuses and details. Exceptions are surfaced automatically through configurable work queues, so users know exactly what needs their attention that day without building reports or setting up alerts manually.

Princeton TMX can receive carrier invoices through the carrier portal or via EDI. Each invoice is matched to its load and compared against the tendered price. If it matches, or falls within a set tolerance, it's approved automatically and sent to the customer's ERP for payment. If it does not, the invoice drops into an invoice review work queue, where a user can approve, dispute, or reject it. Approved invoices are then sent to the ERP for payment.

Princeton TMX uses AI to make transportation management more intelligent, proactive, and automated. Its capabilities include AI-powered load optimization and consolidation, predictive analytics, carrier and route optimization, automated exception management, and Dex, an AI agent built directly into the TMS platform that can analyze transportation data, answer questions in natural language, identify issues, and recommend actions.

You send Princeton TMX your loads, the orders you want consolidated, and your master data. Princeton TMX sends back rating, tracking, documents, and invoice information. Available integration methods are EDI, API, or flat file.

Typical integrated implementation runs between 12-18 weeks, however Princeton TMX can move faster or slower to match your timeline. Without integrations, the platform can be implemented in 3-4 weeks.

Using our open APIs or our other integration methods, Princeton TMX can integrate with any platform. If the system we are connecting to also has their own set of API’s we can connect using those as well.

IT will need to be involved from your side if a Princeton TMX integration is required.

Princeton TMX holds SOC 1 Type II. SOC 2 Type II is on our roadmap. The underlying AWS infrastructure maintains SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3 attestations, covering the physical data center, hardware, and network layer under the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.

You do. Your data is yours, and you can export it into your own BI tool at any time, or opt in to the Princeton TMX AI functionality if you would rather work with it in the platform.

Princeton TMX has experience working with data from a variety of systems and formats. During implementation, our team evaluates, cleanses, validates, and maps data to the required TMX format. We can accommodate common data formats and structures, and our integration capabilities allow us to transform and normalize data as needed. Throughout implementation, we work closely with you to identify data quality issues, establish the right business rules, and get data accurate and ready for use in the TMS.

Princeton TMX prices on a monthly volume based pricing model determined by the modes needed. You pay a fixed monthly amount that includes a defined shipment volume, plus a per-transaction cost above that volume. There is also a one-time implementation fee, which varies with the scope of the rollout.

Included in the pricing are all modules required for the mode selected, access to 100% US-based support, Princeton TMX’s standard integration, and our robust reporting tool. There is a one time implementation fee for the setup of the TMS platform and varies depending on the scope of the implementation.

There is no cost to carriers to use Princeton TMX.

Yes. US-based customer support is Monday to Friday, 7am to 7pm, as part of the monthly subscription fee. 24/7 support is also offered as a premium support option.

Organizations implementing Princeton TMX typically see a 4% to 14% reduction in transportation spend in the first year through carrier optimization, consolidation, carrier performance management, and automated freight audit.

Princeton TMX bases pricing on shipment volume. You can have an unlimited number of users.

Yes. With Princeton TMX you monitor carrier cost and performance in one place, analyze which tender methods are actually driving your spend, and consolidate orders into multi-stop loads. Your team spends its time managing exceptions instead of spreadsheets and email, which is where the service improvement comes from.

Princeton TMX brings truckload, LTL, intermodal, rail, fleet, and barge into one platform, so users aren't juggling multiple logins or pulling reports from separate systems. The platform is also configurable by user, so occasional users see only what's relevant to them, with tools like advanced search and saved reports to get to the information they need quickly. Beyond the platform itself, Princeton TMX treats customers as partners, with US-based customer support, quarterly QBRs, and direct input into the product roadmap through customer advisory groups and beta programs.

Yes. Princeton TMX supports enterprise shippers running complex, high-volume freight operations across multiple modes and facilities, without the long implementation timelines or rigid configurations typical of legacy enterprise platforms. Approximately 10% of the current customer base carries $10M to $50M in annual freight spend, reflecting that fit.

Princeton TMX is built for shippers utilizing truckload, rail, LTL, intermodal, fleet, and barge modes. Our software provides a solution for all types of shippers regardless of industry.

Princeton TMX offers a user-friendly solution for shippers that will not break the bank and can be implemented in a short period of time.

Princeton TMX is a shipper transportation management system. We do have a carrier portal for our customers carriers and can also integrate with our customers carriers.

Users with a link will be able to request log in access from the Princeton TMX portal. An Admin user will be able to assign roles to that user and give them access to what they need to see. A carrier user will be assigned a carrier role, etc.

Princeton TMX users all use the same platform. The difference is in the roles created which are assigned to the individual user. Roles can limit access to modules and sections within the modules to allow users to only have access to the required portion of the system they need.

Carriers using the Carrier portal can be set up in a manner of minutes. Carrier profiles can be uploaded via excel spreadsheet making the process seamless. Carrier logins can be set up for these users in a matter of seconds. Carriers using EDI can be set up within a few weeks, but will have access to the carrier portal while the EDI connection is being made.

Carriers can accept or reject tenders, quote on loads being offered on spot, respond to RFQs, schedule appointments, enter ETAs and actual arrival and departure times, upload PODs, request accessorials, invoice, and even chat with the customers on the loads they are hauling or assigned to.

Yes, Princeton TMX offers a Mobile app. Drivers can scan a barcode on the bol, pull up the app, enter arrival and departure times, and take a picture and upload a POD.

Customers can connect to Princeton TMX through all the methods listed above and there is no charge to carriers to connect to the TMS platform.

Contact us and we will set up a demo.

Yes. Princeton TMX takes whichever implementation approach works best for you. If that means site by site, or mode by mode, we work at the pace you set.

Yes! Contact us to book one.

To have a meaningful demo of Princeton TMX for you, we will schedule a discovery call prior that will cover some of your basic transportation needs and processes:

• Mode detail: volumes, rating, tendering, booking, dock scheduling, carrier base, and invoicing for each mode you run
• How you decide which mode a shipment goes on
• Where your shipping locations are and how many
• Which Integrations you will need
• The pain points you most want solved