Vesta Freight is a startup freight brokerage founded by industry veterans who recognized a significant market opportunity. Their collective experience had taught them to establish strong business processes before ever booking the first load and Vesta was committed to building a solid foundation for scalable, and sustainable business growth starting day one. For Vesta, the first investment was the right TMS. While most freight brokerages follow a typical “start with spreadsheets, move to accounting software, find a ‘starter TMS’” path, Vesta knew that even a pre-revenue brokerage would grow faster with the right technology strategy in place at launch.
After an exhaustive search, the Vesta team selected 3G’s TMS and leveraged its Smart Start templated implementation. It was an ideal fit for the company’s needs because it brought the basic brokerage workflows, functions, and integrations virtually every broker needs with a rapid implementation (Vesta was live within nine days!). Not only was implementation fast, but it left the Vesta team feeling truly prepared to begin brokering freight. 3G’s implementation team was always on hand, ready and waiting to answer questions, provide guidance, and set appropriate configurations. Importantly, Vesta and 3G shared a philosophy on what makes a TMS the right fit: An ability to grow with the brokerage in terms of both volume and offerings.
Vesta has a lot riding on the success of its TMS deployment: Not only is it a new name in the market, but its founders are their own initial customers. As leaders of established reverse logistics businesses, they all have freight to move and ideas on how to move it better – first for themselves and then for additional customers. In this business reputation is everything, and the team was committed to technology that would help it do right by customers and carrier partners. They made a bold move in selecting a TMS before even opening for business, but even in those first few days it began proving itself as the right technology infrastructure for them.
The investment made in 3G’s TMS represents another important Vesta value: Doing right by carriers, too. When it comes to supporting carrier partners, good intentions alone aren’t enough – technology plays a significant role. Accurate, timely communications. Speedy invoice processing & settlement. Superior reporting. These allow Vesta to easily receive invoices and make payments immediately upon proof of delivery. Establishing a reputation for being a carrier-friendly broker is not something every TMS can handle.
Vesta’s founders have used their industry experience to go from concept to fully functioning, revenue-positive freight brokerage in three months. From selecting a TMS, to booking that first load, to the thousands of loads per month they anticipate, every decision and every transaction is about one thing: Growing this business. After perfecting the approach with their own freight, Vesta expects to be moving ten times its current volume going into 2023 and has even begun exploring service expansion ideas.
Nobody is in a better position to recognize the opportunities associated with entering freight brokerage than those moving lots of freight themselves. However, actually establishing a new brokerage is no small task, particularly in an industry where relationships and reputation are everything. Fortunately, Vesta has managed to leverage its existing relationships, built trust based on its founders’ many years in logistics, and deployed a TMS capable of supporting the team’s fulfillment of each and every promise made to customers and carriers.
“When we made the decision to start Vesta Freight, we knew we needed a real TMS that could take us from our first load to thousands of loads per month. And that’s 3G: Simple enough for our start-up, comprehensive enough for our ambitions, and a partner to us for the entire journey because each load may be a transaction, but each customer and carrier relationship is anything but.”
-Matt Connelly, CEO