In the age of globalisation, businesses are used to shipping inventory from afar. However, when your inventory consists of big, expensive items – such as cars – the shipping process takes on a whole new level of complexity.
ShipCars is a leading auto transport logistics company that offers a wide range of tools, aimed at streamlining and automating the entire car hauling process from start to finish. As the company experienced rapid growth, however, the workload on its system grew exponentially. ShipCars saw an opportunity to improve its offering and provide its users with an ever smoother overall experience.
After partnering with Dreamix, the US-based transport partner now owns a market-leading load management solution with new and improved business-critical functionalities.
Pioneering Disruption
ShipCars was created in 2017 to disrupt the stagnating processes dominating the vehicle shipping industry. The company has a singular goal – to build a flexible platform that empowers everyone involved in the vehicle transportation process.
Since its creation, ShipCars has consistently been at the forefront of hauling innovation. In 2019, the company publicly unveiled a powerful suite of solutions for car shippers and carriers alike. And in 2022, ShipCars went a step further in its mission to transform the auto-transport industry by partnering with Monk AI to streamline parts of the process. Today, the hauling leader works with 23,000 verified carriers and has delivered a staggering 1.5 million vehicles to their destinations.
The Opportunity
One of ShipCars’ main selling points is the interconnectedness of its tools. It offers solutions for car shippers and car carriers alike, forming an end-to-end ecosystem that’s revolutionarily straightforward to use.
As the company saw more users streaming in, however, they recognized an opportunity to improve the client-facing part of their solution. While their solution was performing admirably, the exponentially growing business demand dictated the need for a new, more scalable and efficient system.
The Solution
The Dreamix and ShipCars teams joined forces to prepare an MVP within a short timeframe. They designed a microservices-based infrastructure, calculating capacity and required resources for future scaling.
From their combined efforts, LoadMate was born – a streamlined, easy-to-use integrated solution. The platform’s back-end was created using Java with Spring, while React provided a user-friendly front-end. The development team chose PostgreSQL as a robust data management system, and the entire solution was hosted and deployed in the Google Cloud Platform.
The system also includes a number of third-party integrations:
- DataOne decodes vehicle information, aiding in load creation by specifying vehicle details.
- Google Matrix/ Distance enhances route planning and map drawing through geolocation
- Stripe keeps billing and payment processes secure
- Keycloak ensures secure login and keeps track of users across different ShipCars tools
- Mixpanel keeps track of events and actions to facilitate data-driven improvements
- Freshsales CRM serves to enhance customer interactions and improve the user journey
A Logistical Transformation
As a result of the collaboration between ShipCars and Dreamix, the vehicle-hauling leader got a solution that, in addition to meeting all their needs, was primed to scale as much as they needed it to.
The solution offers a wide range of features:
- Self-service load creation and management: Users can create, post and dispatch haul loads independently
- Operational dashboards: The system provides real-time KPIs and load metrics, enabling informed decision-making
- Reporting: It also generated detailed reports for tracking and analysis, covering various aspects of shipments and logistics
- Live chat with carrier/driver: Real-time communication with carriers and drivers helps quickly resolve issues and clarify delivery instructions
- Shareable tracking link: Stakeholders have access to real-time tracking information, enhancing transparency and improving trust
- Inventory management: Delivery managers can keep track of vehicles being transported, gaining increased control over inventory and planning
- Predictive pricing: The platform analyzes shipment and route details, and uses historical data to estimate a price for each delivery.
- Pro and normal versions: Different plans cater to the varying needs of users, ensuring everyone gets a solution that meets their requirements and budget
Using those improved functionalities, ShipCars stands to see even wider adoption for its tool suite. And, thanks to the solution’s scalability, the hauling company is confident their system will handle it.
This partnership, however, was about more than increasing KPIs. Both companies have a shared commitment to forward-thinking solutions and technological innovation. ShipCars’ vision has resulted in a solution that aims to revolutionize the way cars are transported and transform its industry. We at Dreamix are proud to have been part of such a collaboration and to contribute to our partner’s efforts.
