Princeton TMX Launches New Rail Products to Simplify and Accelerate Rail Freight Transportation

Princeton TMX, an industry leading transportation management system built for industrial supply chains, today announced the launch of two powerful new capabilities; Rail Patterns and Rail ASN (Advanced Shipment Notifications), that streamline rail operations for North American shippers. These innovations are part of Princeton TMX’s ongoing commitment to making rail shipping smarter, faster, and more resilient for manufacturers.

Both features are now live across the Princeton TMX platform and are delivering measurable results for customers managing rail across steel, lumber, building products, chemicals, forest products, and food industries.

Patterns: Reducing Complexity in Rail Routing

Rail freight is inherently complex. Shippers must provide precise routing information, including origin and destination station codes, carrier paths, and special handling requirements. Missing or incorrect data leads to delays, rejections, and unnecessary dependency on internal tribal knowledge from rail experts.

Rail Patterns from Princeton TMX solves this challenge by automatically populating critical shipment details based on pre-configured logic and shipment behavior. All the shipper needs to enter is the commodity, origin, and destination; Patterns handle the rest.

With Rail Patterns, shippers gain:

• Automated population of routing data including station codes and carrier paths
• Significant time savings in shipment creation
• Fewer rejections and errors from incorrect data
• Reduced reliance on internal experts for complex routing requirements

“Rail has traditionally required significant tribal knowledge to navigate. With Patterns, we’ve removed that complexity with automation,” said Mark McEntire, CEO of Princeton TMX. “It’s the most efficient way to create error-free rail shipments at scale.”

Advanced Shipment Notifications: Enhancing Inbound Freight Visibility

In traditional rail operations, shippers often wait for the railroad to send status updates on inbound freight, usually too late to optimize production planning or labor requirements. Rail ASN flips that script.

With Rail ASN, suppliers can now send Advanced Shipment Notifications directly into Princeton TMX via EDI or API. These notifications include shipment details, quantities, routing, and expected arrival times, well before updates are received from the railroad.

With ASN, shippers can:

• Improve production planning with accurate inbound visibility
• Allocate labor and dock resources more efficiently
• Avoid surprises that lead to costly operational disruption
• Enhance coordination across suppliers, carriers, and facilities

“ASN puts shippers back in control of their inbound rail operations,” said Jeff Durham, Chief Technology Officer at Princeton TMX. “By giving customers a head start on what’s coming, we’re helping them plan, produce, and ship with confidence.”

One Platform. Fully Integrated.

Both capabilities are built natively within Princeton TMX’s multi-modal TMS platform and operate seamlessly alongside truck, fleet, barge, and intermodal functionality. Combined with innovations from strategic partnerships, Princeton TMX continues to lead the market in delivering modern, mode-agnostic transportation tools for complex industrial supply chains.

“These releases are part of our broader vision to eliminate complexity in freight,” said McEntire. “We’re delivering rail enhancements that save time, reduce errors, and unlock more efficient operations, all from a single platform.”

For more information about Rail Patterns or Rail ASN, or to schedule a product demo, visit www.princetontmx.com/request-demo.