ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Motor Freight Traffic Association Inc. (NMFTA) is assuming management of the Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC).
SSC will now be part of NMFTA’s Digital Standards Development Council (DSDC). DSDC is an industry-led initiative that includes both the digital less-than-truckload (LTL) council and the digital full truckload (FTL) council.
“NMFTA chose to move forward with this strategic and very intentional obtainment for a more streamlined and logistics-focused process that provides secure and dependable results,” said Debbie Sparks, executive director for NMFTA. “The current SSC members are enthusiastic about this strategy and champions our effort to ensure digital standards
are developed.”
Improving Communication Across the Trucking Industry
This new development will support NMFTA’s efforts to create standards that improve communication between carriers, shippers, technology providers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) by creating and sharing application programming interfaces (APIs) for a fully digital logistics process, according to NMFTA
“NMFTA’s digital efforts have mainly been recognized in the LTL space,” NMFTA said. “In October of 2022, the association launched a first-of-its-kind electronic bill of lading (eBOL) standard, adopted by many LTL shipping companies. Partnering with the SSC is a key opportunity to boost the association’s digitization efforts, engage industry leaders, and share knowledge that improves ease of use and visibility across the supply chain.”
Scheduling Standards Consortium
The SSC was formed in 2022 to help simplify the integration of systems across the fragmented ecosystem between shippers, carriers, and 3PLs to create a more efficient appointment scheduling process.
“The SSC was founded to create efficiency for everyone in the logistics industry,” said Stuart Scott, chairman of the digital FTL council and executive vice president and CIO for J.B. Hunt Transport Services. “Given NMFTA’s expertise and history in standards development, it was an easy choice to seamlessly transition. J.B. Hunt and several other SSC council members are joining the Digital FTL Council to further our partnership and bring more digital standards to the logistics industry.”
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
