SMC³’s National Traffic Database (NTD) provides participating LTL carriers with confidential benchmarking information that can be used to optimize operations and strategic decisions. With NTD, carriers can compare their shipment metrics against industry participants and mine aggregate data to perform shipment, operational and business analytics.
Participating carriers supply individual shipment data–including weight, revenues, mileage, ton-miles, shipments, and pieces–and receive monthly, quarterly and annual reports to compare their operations to the marketplace. Carriers receive composite data of the entire group, as well as their own company data.
Any LTL carrier, regional or nationwide, can be involved in the NTD program. SMC³ also accepts and analyzes freight bill data from Canada and Mexico, as well as other nations worldwide.
NTD reports are generated monthly based on the previous month’s data. Before data release, SMC³ makes uniform minimum edits to ensure data integrity and then processes the data into standardized formats. SMC³’s data analysis system excludes records that are improperly formatted or incomplete, which might skew the individual or group results.
The intelligence generated from the NTD reports can be used by carriers to:
1
Compare expansion and contraction of industry volume
2
Evaluate potential market penetration
3
Observe revenue gains and losses geographically
4
Analyze national freight flows for operational planning purposes
5
Measure the effectiveness of marketing activities
Secure Server
Carrier data is stored on a secure server with severely limited access
Individual Delivery
Individual participant data is only provided to that individual
Restricted Lane Data
Aggregate industry data is provided for a lane if the lane contains a minimum of three participants, and the sum of any two participants’ data does not exceed 83 percent of the total
Encryption Schemes
All data leaving SMC³ is encrypted using a 128-bit encryption scheme. The password to decrypt the data is sent separately via email
SMC³ will provide the following:
A Microsoft Access database with traffic data at various levels of detail, 19 standard reports
Two map images showing participant and industry traffic volumes by weight and revenue
Three text files showing traffic in three-digit ZIP code, metropolitan area and statewide lanes
A copy of the freight bill file supplied to SMC³, and a copy of the errors encountered during the initial data import
Getting started in the NTD program is easy. Simply contact SMC³ sales.
Submit the specified data within the required time frame to be included in the next report.
1-800-845-8090
