J.B. Hunt, JDA to integrate technology platforms

Lowell-based carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. will integrate its technology platform with the platform of technology company JDA Software Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.

J.B. Hunt and JDA announced Monday (Dec. 9) the integration of technology platform J.B. Hunt 360 and JDA’s Supply Chain Management Platform will provide customers with greater pricing visibility and access to available capacity. The combined processing power of the technology platforms will allow customers using JDA Transportation Management to receive dynamic quotes, detailed pricing and real-time updates.

“Customers want a more efficient way to do business, and integrating these two platforms will provide JDA and J.B. Hunt 360 users with the information needed to make timely decisions,” said Shelley Simpson, executive vice president, chief commercial officer and president of highway services at J.B. Hunt. “Many of our customers already use JDA Transportation Management, so uniting it with J.B. Hunt 360 modernizes our connectivity to allow carriers and shippers to see rate updates and get dynamic quoting in real-time.”

As a result of the integration, users of JDA Transportation Management can access the marketplace within J.B. Hunt 360 through the app when seeking capacity on the spot market. Rates and pricing will be generated by considering the historical and industry information captured by both platforms. J.B. Hunt 360 is a technology platform that allows shippers to find capacity and carriers to find goods that need to be shipped. It uses artificial intelligence to match capacity with freight and was developed as part of J.B. Hunt’s $500 million investment into technology improvements. J.B. Hunt 360 also determines the estimated time of arrival of shipments. In 2018, J.B. Hunt started to work with project44 to integrate its visibility platform with J.B. Hunt 360.

The JDA integration will allow J.B. Hunt to use artificial intelligence capabilities within JDA’s platform.

“Integrating J.B. Hunt 360 with the JDA [Supply Chain Management] Platform showcases the criticality of a continuous supply chain and the ability to tap into previously inaccessible data streams to create efficiencies,” said Terry Norton, vice president of 3PL/distribution at JDA. “This joint offering for J.B. Hunt’s customers — and our own — unlocks real-time information for carriers and shippers for the first time, while aiding an integrated logistics strategy for J.B. Hunt.”

A pilot of the integrated platforms is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2020, according to JDA. Preliminary design work on the web-based platforms started early in the fourth quarter of 2019.