Driving Rapid Expansion with Robust, Scalable TMS

Yellow Diamond Logistics, a leading TSA-certified third-party logistics (3PL) company, implemented the combined cloud-based solution of Descartes Aljex™ transportation management system (TMS) with Descartes MacroPoint™ for real-time load visibility and AI-driven capacity sourcing. The integrated, stable platform streamlined and simplified Yellow Diamond’s logistics workflow to increase productivity, tame operational costs, and enhance its customers’ delivery experience while growing aggressively. 

With the goal of achieving a 99% on-time rate, Yellow Diamond leverages one of the country’s largest sprinter and cargo van networks with TSA-approved drivers for moving screened and unscreened freight to and from every airport in the U.S. The company is aiming to double revenue in 2024 and grow aggressively over the next five years. Without the benefit of an IT team, the 3PL couldn’t rely on a proprietary TMS and unreliable legacy code to facilitate its growth target— Yellow Diamond required a stable TMS platform integrated with real-time visibility and automated capacity sourcing to confidently book more loads in less time and deliver the first-class, secure delivery performance its customers expect.    

“Descartes Aljex is enabling us to compete with billion dollar brokerages without having to rely on millions of dollars of investment or acquisitions. We don’t need IT staff; we don’t need an implementation manager. The user-friendly system gives us the cloud availability, ecosystem connectivity, and capacity sourcing we need to operate efficiently and cost-effectively—and scale exponentially—while still delivering a superior customer experience.” 

- Milburn Miranda, Chief Operating Officer, Yellow Diamond Logistics

The market-leading expert in air freight services, Yellow Diamond Logistics is more than a third-party logistics company. Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Yellow Diamond is a strategic partner with a full suite of transportation services and logistics solutions delivered with the perfect blend of quality, performance, and affordability. 

Yellow Diamond offers air, ocean, and over-the-road (OTR) freight services, including customized complex shipments (e.g., time-sensitive food products, temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals) with cargo monitoring from pickup through customs clearance to final destination. “As an Indirect Air Carrier (IAC) facilitator, many of the world’s largest logistics companies rely on us to meet their service delivery promises to key global accounts,” explained Milburn Miranda, Chief Operating Officer at Yellow Diamond. 

“Given the credibility built with our existing shippers, they called on us to facilitate additional transport modes,” said Miranda. To support expansion plans, Yellow Diamond implemented the cloud-based Descartes Aljex TMS in 2018 with five initial users. Today, the multimodal 3PL has 70 users: “Thanks to Descartes Aljex, we’ve been able to scale quickly, expanding into contract truckload, LTL, managed transportation, and international air, which has really helped us grow from an annual recurring revenue standpoint.” 

Miranda added, “The stability and information security of the platform was an important factor in our choice. Logistics is an industry where any sort of downtime or data security issues are just not acceptable, and having a reliable TMS helps us focus on our customer relationships and supports our growth.” 

Yellow Diamond also integrated Descartes MacroPoint. “It’s the industry-leading solution for truckload visibility,” said Miranda. “In the past, customers would email us for tracking updates and responding was very time-consuming. With Descartes, we’ve seen a huge increase in productivity and customer satisfaction because we can provide them with a self-serve link to track load status. We’re also excited to bring in capacity sourcing, as it will help drive high standards of carrier execution which ultimately contributes to customer success.” 

The combined Descartes solution drives efficiencies and productivity gains across Yellow Diamond’s transportation operations. Seamless integration with third-party partners unifies the 3PL’s tech ecosystem in a single location, and the advanced TMS enables Yellow Diamond to connect via EDI and/or APIs to thousands of companies. “Plus, because MacroPoint is connected to a prolific range of ELD and TMS providers, we can quickly access different carrier data sources from a single platform,” noted Miranda. 

With Descartes Aljex, Yellow Diamond quickly executes shipments from a single screen, increasing productivity without increasing personnel; books and covers more customer freight thanks to improved up-time; and saves time and resources by replacing manual tracking with real-time load visibility. 

Yellow Diamond relies on Descartes Aljex to boost delivery performance as it expands its customer base and service offerings. By easily scaling to handle increasing volumes across multiple transport modes, the solution helps the 3PL to focus on relationship-building and revenue-generative activities. 

With Descartes MacroPoint, customers can easily check the status of their load at any point during its journey, and Yellow Diamond can manage potential disruptions by exception. Descartes Aljex automates and expedites logistics workflows to ensure the company’s shipper customers can meet their service promises.

The combined Descartes solution protects Yellow Diamond’s data with industry-leading security standards. With robust monitoring and response capabilities, rigorous auditing and compliance, enterprise-class security protocols and programs, the 3PL can move freight more securely.