Inbound Logistics | May 2026

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PCS SOFTWARE: DELIVERING TOTAL OPERATIONAL VISIBILITY

TMS EVOLVES: MODERN CAPABILITIES VS. LEGACY SYSTEMS TMS capabilities expand each year, providing new benefits for shippers. Looking back a decade, for instance, conversations around supply chain technology focused on faster API connections and integrations with ERP and accounting systems, with the goal of streamlining information. That type of connectivity is now standard for most current platforms. “Today, AI dominates the conversation, but the core purpose of TMS evolution remains the same,” says Jason Will, senior sales executive for Trinity Logistics. “A TMS o‚ers shippers the ability to work faster and smarter by leveraging data to gain an informational advantage. The tools to attain this goal are always evolving with advancements in technology, but that fundamental principle remains constant.” Modern TMS solutions deliver far greater visibility across the supply chain, giving shippers real-time insight into shipment status, costs, and exceptions. They also capture and leverage detailed historical shipment data, allowing companies to identify trends, improve forecasting, and make more informed decisions going forward. “The integration of AI-driven capabilities has taken this a step further, enabling predictive analytics, smarter routing, automated decision-making, and continuous optimization,” says Ron Dodig, SVP, sales and logistics for CT Logistics. “As a result, a modern TMS is no longer just about managing freight; it’s about driving intelligence and performance across the entire transportation network.” Ten years ago, a TMS was primarily a rate-shopping and load-tendering tool used to select a transportation provider and generate a bill of lading. Although that functionality is still important, it is only a fraction of what modern platforms should deliver. “Today’s TMS must operate across the full transportation lifecycle, from inbound supplier management and purchase order visibility through outbound fulfillment, customer delivery, and post- shipment analytics,” says Stewart Dunsmore, senior vice president of supply chain services, nVision Global. Tellingly, the industry has seen a shift in who owns the TMS conversation, too, Dunsmore says. While it used to be primarily a logistics IT decision, today CFOs and supply chain executives are driving the conversation. The reason? They recognize that transportation intelligence directly impacts working capital, customer satisfaction, and EBITDA. “The evolution is clear: from execution-centric systems to integrated platforms that connect planning, execution, audit, and analytics,” Dunsmore says. “The TMS is no longer just moving freight; it is managing the financial signals behind every shipment.” planning, says. “The rate-shopping transportation Although that fraction of supplier through post- senior nVision Global. Global. who says. decision, driving transportation customer execution-centric

PCS Software, a Houston-based company, provides an all-in-one TMS that is built for its customers’ entire operation, not just one piece of it. That means dispatch, accounting, safety, and eet management are all native to the PCS platform, as is the Cortex AI tool. “No integrations to babysit, no data falling through the cracks between disconnected systems,” says Mark Hill, CEO of PCS. “When everything lives in one place, decisions happen faster and nothing slips.” PCS’s core market comprises carriers running 25 to 500- plus trucks, asset-based brokers, and shippers operating private eets in the 100 to 1,000 truck range. Over 1,000 transportation companies run on PCS today. “What they have in common is that they’re running lean,” Hill says. “They don’t have sprawling IT departments or army-sized back-ofce teams. They need software that works without a lot of hand-holding—and they need it to actually move the needle on protability, not just digitize paperwork.” PCS built Cortex AI natively into its TMS platform because “when AI is an add-on, it’s also an afterthought,” Hill says. While bolt-on AI means that operators have to leave their workow to consult it—meaning they rarely bother—when Cortex surfaces a dispatch recommendation or ags a backhaul opportunity, it does it inside the screen the dispatcher is already using. “The AI shows up where the decision happens, not somewhere adjacent to it,” Hill says. A third-party AI layer also works with a ltered, delayed, and incomplete version of data, but Cortex AI has direct, real-time access to everything from dispatch history to customer requirements.

Dispatch Metrics, part of PCS Software’s TMS for carriers, delivers AI- powered dispatch management with real-time visibility, driver and load matching, and performance analytics that help fleets streamline operations, reduce empty miles, and improve profitability.

52 Inbound Logistics • May 2026

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