Start-up Transportpreis.com Digitizes Freight Pricing

“The price is hot” was once a quiz on RTL. This is also true for the start-up Transportpreis.com by Thomas Seiler. With the open-interface web application, freight forwarders and transport companies have a tool at their disposal that customers can also access from the outside to calculate prices.

(Everswinkel) Thomas Seiler has been a passionate freight forwarder for over 20 years. As the owner of Speditionsagentur.de, he is closely connected to customers from various sectors. From private to commercial shippers, from agricultural machinery dealers to their customers, the farmers.

The expectations for services are increasingly changing and can be somewhat simplified to the formula “NOW – is the new normal.” This refers less to the relatively quick transports already in place, but rather to the phase before the transports, the inquiry phase. The question “how much will a transport cost” is one that more and more customers want answered immediately. Waiting several hours or even until the next day is becoming less and less acceptable, especially for future customers who are digital natives.

Therefore, small and medium-sized transport companies need to take the next step towards digitization. Thomas Seiler was aware of this and founded Transportpreis.com as a brand of his start-up WebZeit-Freighttech GmbH.

Create Quotes in Your Sleep

The software aims to achieve three main goals:

1. Make prices constantly accessible online – whenever the customer wants
2. Create a uniform calculation basis to enable independent and yet consistent sales
3. Ensure revision-secure communication for efficient and pleasant collaboration

The basis is the transport price calculator, in which various truck types and rates can be integrated and equipped with additional options. This means that depending on the input of the relation, the customer is shown a selection of rates. Tiered by prices, individual special requests can be added, which the transport company has pre-priced.

And for its regular customers, it can offer its own prices and options via a protected access that no one else can access. This calculator is a true 24/7 online sales tool. According to Thomas Seiler, over 40% of all offers are now sent to customers fully automatically outside of business hours.

However, if someone does not want to show their prices publicly, they can also use the calculator as a non-public application exclusively for internal use. This allows offers to be made independently of personnel but uniformly according to specifications. No wheel stands still just because person A or B is not there today, or person C is not fully informed on the topic.

Customizable and Commission-Free

The software can also be used as a white label and additional and own truck types can be integrated. Everything can be color-customized to the customer’s corporate design.

From the beginning, it was out of the question for Thomas Seiler to link his software to a revenue-sharing model for users. Fixed and calculable costs with a monthly cancellation option were important. Additionally, more cautious representatives of the freight forwarding industry should be motivated and addressed to actively engage with the topic of digitization. Therefore, everyone has the opportunity to get their money back after three months if they find that this application is not for them. More planning security with less risk is hardly possible.

[caption id=”attachment_15166″ align=”alignnone” width=”1024″> Simple and clear: The platform Transportpreis.com

Price Remains Crucial in Awarding Contracts

“The price is hot” still applies today in transport and is a decisive factor in awarding contracts. Services such as punctuality, transparency throughout the entire transport route, load safety, etc., are expected by customers. Thus, the price remains at the center, and it is advantageous if the calculation and creation of calculations and quotes occur automatically or at least semi-automatically.

This is where the start-up Transportpreis.com by Thomas Seiler comes into play. Somewhat unusual, but therefore no less promising, is the fact that the founder does not come from the “young, dynamic, unsuccessful” corner. On the contrary; Thomas Seiler is a freight forwarding merchant with many years of experience. So to speak, “From the professional for the professional.”

Recently, he was finally able to present his tool personally to a broader audience at the Logistics Summit in Berlin.

Photos: © Transportpreis.com / Image Caption: Founder Thomas Seiler and Guido Lanari from Transportpreis.com at the Logistics Summit in Berlin