How to Become EDI Compliant Without a TMS Integration

For many freight brokers, there’s an ever-increasing need to be EDI compliant. As more and more shippers demand it, being EDI compliant can be the determining factor when bidding for freight.

Traditionally, to be EDI compliant, you would need to have an integration with a TMS, which can cause all sorts of problems (more on this later). Luckily, there’s now an easy way to become EDI compliant without any TMS integration! 

TMS challenges

Relying on TMS integration to be EDI compliant poses many challenges. First, a broker may simply not have a TMS. In that scenario, they would just not be considered by a shipper that requires EDI compliance.

Even for those who do have a TMS, things aren’t always that straightforward. Some brokers have been using the same TMS for years, which is now old, clunky, and/or not fit for purpose. Others may be in a transition and looking at changing their TMS at some point in the near future. Then there are others still who simply hate their TMS!

In other instances, the time and cost of implementing a TMS can be a significant obstacle to becoming EDI compliant. 

Over the years, we’ve worked with hundreds - if not thousands - of brokers, and it’s fair to say that most brokers reading this will probably be able to relate to one or several of these challenges. 

EDI without TMS

“Shippers are asking us to do EDI, but we don’t have a TMS yet. Can you help!?”

This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive. And the short answer is, “yes!”

When we developed bitfreighter Managed EDI, we made sure that it would be as compatible and easy to use for as many people as possible. For example, we developed a game-changing pricing model that charges customers per client, with unlimited messaging - as opposed to the traditional, cost-prohibitive model of charging per character.

For the brokers described above, we also made sure that users were able to be EDI compliant without having a TMS. To achieve this, we designed a user interface that ultimately acts as a TMS in terms of housing EDI. 

This means that brokers can set up bitfreighter Managed EDI (which can usually be done in days with the help of our Concierge EDI team) and be instantly EDI compliant without the need for a TMS, or without integrating with their existing TMS. 

For those that need it, the bitfreighter Managed EDI interface can also export data into a spreadsheet or directly into their TMS so that there are no operational gaps or delays.

Learn more

To find out more about bitfreighter Managed EDI, get in touch.