May 29, 2025 • 47 mins
In this episode, Joe Ohr and Holly Taylor let us explore the powerful features of NMFTA’s new freight classification tool, the ClassIT+! Don’t miss out on this discussion to hear how ClassIT+ can help navigate NMFC changes!
Here’s What to Learn From This Episode:
- ClassIT+ Launch: Significant focus on the upcoming NMFC code changes with a rollout date of July 19, 2025 and industry urged to prepare using new tools.
- User-Centric Development: ClassIT+ aims for modernized classification with a user-friendly interface. Positive beta feedback shows high intuitiveness; the knowledge base supports with 150+ articles to assist users.
- Operational Readiness: Organizations need proactive communication regarding NMFC changes, especially for packaging/density impacts. NMFTA provides resources for shippers, carriers, and brokers to avoid disruptions and ensure smoother transitions.
Visit the Links Below!
- https://info.nmfta.org/2025-nmfc-changes/nmfc-item-lookup-tool
- https://info.nmfta.org/2025-nmfc-changes
- https://info.nmfta.org/classitplus
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, we are going to start in 3, 2 and 1. What is up? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another Freight Coach podcast. We're doing one of these rare pre recorded episodes out there, you guys, and that's because like I always say, all of my guests have day jobs. So sometimes we can't make the schedules align with the live show. But you know, we go out here and we get it done no matter what. And you know, we've done a few of these episodes already and we're going to continue to drive this message home, you guys, because the NMFC code changes are coming. All right. It's getting closer by the day out there and we need to be more and more prepared for this.
(00:37):
And my friends over at the NMF TA have a Class IT plus already put together for us to help bring some more knowledge and everything out there. And we're going to talk about that a little bit more today. So I have Mr. Joe or back on the show and I want to have a special welcome to Holly Taylor, the first time attendee on the show today. So you guys, thank you so much for taking the time to join me today.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So Holly, I got to start with you and I'm going to try not to make any jokes about your first name and my last name being Holly and it's one of those ones that I kind of giggle every time I say it but. So Holly, like what is your role over at the NMWTA? Kind of like what are you spearheading over there?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, absolutely. I am the director of product. So I have been living and breathing Class IT plus for a very long time. So all of the efforts that our team is doing, it's just been amazing. And so we're really excited for that July 15th date there for the release.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
July 15th for the plus it's getting up and ready. So you know, what does it go to? Kind of like building something like this up. Right? Because obviously the code changes and everything that are coming up, like this doesn't just happen overnight. And it seems like it's kind of been a multi faceted approach to kind of build that out. So like, you know, putting this together any. And before we, you know, kind of talk about the structure of the Class IT plus of it, like what can users expect when they're going in there for the first time?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, we really focused on, you know, just bringing Class IT and to Class IT plus making it modern, making the tools that are needed for classification more modern. We're focused on the performance. You know, we really went out there and we just talked to people, we talked to our current users, our current class IT users, and we did the research and we talked to people within the industry, we talked to our own members and we really took their feedback to heart and we focused on what they wanted and they wanted something modern and they wanted something that the performance was, you know, just near real time. They really wanted that experience that you expect whenever you go out to any search engine, right? It's like, we want modern. And so that's what we really focused on.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So, you know, with all of that being said, what is some of these, like, what are some proactive steps, do you think? You know, with the NMFC rollout happening here in, you know, July 19th. Right. So again, you guys, I got to remind your July 19, 2025, be ready. It's all coming out. What are some proactive steps that, you know, leaders can take out there in the industry to better prepare their customers? Because, you know, if there's anything I've learned inside of the business, we need to reiterate these changes and this information on like a weekly, if not a daily basis because it's inevitably somebody's going to be, where did this come from? Why weren't we ready for this?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, we've really put a lot of effort into just educating the public and getting the message out there. So we have a lot of tools. And so if you go to, you know, nmfta.org you'll be able to access all of these tools. We have NMFCchanges.com it's just a complete list of everything you need to know about the changes that are going to take effect on July 19th. We have a free tool that we just launched back in April. It's called if you go to getclassification.com you can access the NMFC item lookup tool. All you have to do is register, enter your email address. It's a free tool. You can actually enter your item numbers that you know, the most common ones that you use. Now you're like, how do I prepare for this? Right?
(04:35):
And go out there, enter your item numbers and we'll actually let you know what's going to happen to that item number. Is it going to change? Is the density going to move to full density? Was a note just updated. We're going to actually give you a little heads up, like, hey, this is what the change is. And then that'll help you prepare and we'll even tell you if there are no changes. So then if you have a list of 500 item numbers that you and your business use and you see that 200 of them won't change, then you know that you don't have to worry about those 200. So it's just really, it's a really great tool and it is free and it'll really help people get prepared.
(05:17):
And then Obviously we have classitplus.com, which is just going to list out all the features and benefits to Class IT plus so that you can then get prepared to transition to that product as well.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Okay. So Joe, how do you think people, you know, like they should be. Is there anything that you've talked about with any of your guys' you know, current kind of like or beta users on any of this stuff about any maybe stress tests that they've done where it's like, hey, are, is our organization ready for this from a provider standpoint?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, we've. Right now we are in our third week of beta and the feedback has been really positive. One of our goals is to make it more intuitive. And so one of the things we wanted to do is say, hey, let us know what the learning curve is. If you're going from the old class it to the new class it plus what is the learning curve? So it's not just the stress test of the application itself, but what's the stress on the organization learning a new tool. And what we've heard in the feedback we've got from beta is it's intuitive and it doesn't put a lot of stress on the organization. The other thing is we've launched at the same time a knowledge base or a KB system. And so typically when you launch a product, you don't have KBS.
(06:47):
And so we've launched this with over 150 KBS. So if you do have a question, you can look at the KBS and find your answers. So that is helping train also. And so from a support perspective, we're not getting a lot of questions during the beta. We're getting some feedback which is expected, but we're not getting the how to questions because either they're using the knowledge base, which we keep analytics on the knowledge base and we can see that, but we're not getting a lot of questions as far as how to and then as far as performance of class it, not only are they performance testing it because we're not limiting the users. So we've got big customers performance testing it. You know, we didn't limit IT to small customers. We wanted small, medium, large shippers, brokers, carriers.
(07:48):
But we told them, hey, you want to let 20 people use it, go for it. And were monitoring this also. So we know that 120 people could log into beta at once. But we're also doing a lot of performance testing on our own. We really also took a look at first we're going to launch class it before classification, after classification. But we really saw it as a tool, not just an application, but a tool to enable the transition to the classification changes. So we took a really different approach to it because the people that are using classification now are different than the people that use classification 20 years ago that utilize an MSC book. They grew up with technology, they grew up with Windows, they grew up with applications, they grew up with browsers.
(08:50):
So you know, when Holly talks about a search engine, you know, these are people that grew up with the Bing and Google and whatever your search yahoos, whatever your search engine of choice is. So we wanted to give them that type of experience where if you're like me, you misspell words all the time, you start to type in a misspelled word, it'll actually tell you or if you know, it'll give you suggestions. So we really want to replicate that experience.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
So what are some things, you know, and maybe you guys have heard this from, you know, feedback from some of your beta users as well, like what can companies do to avoid or minimize any potential operational disruptions out there? Right? Like, you know, like we talk about, you know, maybe doing some stress testing and stuff like that. But is there anything where, you know, hey, we move is it like the finding that consistencies inside of their operation of the shippers that they're working with, right? Like they're always moving X dimension X commodity x weight and then really trying to build that process around it early on. If you guys found that, you know, that they are, you know, maybe doing something like that.
(10:06):
And again, I'm just trying to think from an operational standpoint here because as a broker, myself, as a service provider, no matter what changes go on out there, like, we have to be prepared for this, we have to get ahead of this. Our customers are going to look at us of like, hey, you know, we did our own research. We've known about this for a year. Why weren't you ready? You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
From a carrier and shipper perspective and a broker perspective, I think it's all about knowing what commodities you're shipping, look at your packaging, making sure, it's optimized and knowing what the changes are. So going ahead and looking, using that lookup tool and knowing the change and if you're a, if you're talking to that carrier, if you're a broker, having those discussions, but also look at one of the things that we've said is, you know, are you packing air? You know, look at how you're packaging and having the community have that communication open up that communication between the shipper, the carrier and the broker. Don't get caught off guard by these changes. Go ahead and do your research. When were talking to Mark earlier in your show at Averitt, you know, he had commented and I think his comment was spot on.
(11:30):
You know, if you get caught off guard but you're working on it and you made a mistake, the carrier is going to work with you in most cases. But if you go into this block and you haven't done any research and you just don't know what's going on and you haven't had any discussions, then they're not as likely going to work with you. But really look at how you're shipping the commodity, have the, have those discussions but really look at how you're packaging. Are you optimizing? Are you shipping air? And if you go to our website, we've guidance for the shipper, for the carrier and for the broker. And look at those steps and really look at what you can do. But look at what's going to density and look at what's staying the same. But be prepared and do your research.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Do you think like, you know, some of the, you know, if we're looking at it from like an LTL provider or like a large broker that's out there, is there any, you know, like cross functional collaboration that they should be thinking about? Right. Cause if we're talking contracts, if we're talking a lot of changes that are going on out there and especially from like an insurance, potential insurance standpoint as well, you know what collaboration should be going on right now. Do you think like again, like we're coming up here and I'm pushing this because I want people to think about this in the sense of like we're less than 60 days away from a rollout and you sometimes, you know, legal takes a while, you know, like, and if there's any changes that need to happen, we got to get ahead of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, you definitely need to look at your contracts because there may be things in A contract that do change depending on whether or not what you're shipping and depending on the commodity and how that was, how that we don't deal on pricing but sometimes the price may go up, sometimes it may go down, but you want to look at that. A lot of people think that there are things in classification that have to do with freight of all kinds that's not mentioned in classification. But if that's in the contract, but you're going classification, you're going to want to look at that. So you're really going to want to look at the contracts and see how it's reflected in the new NMFC changes.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
So when we're talking about a lot of, you know, all of these changes, you know, and then from like an internal structural standpoint, working with your customer and everything. Holly, what can people like, what can people expect when they're coming in here to get into the class IT plus platform? Is any of the stuff that we've been kind of talking about going to be in there? Like what is that user experience? What can they expect to do when they're, you know, signing up for this?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah, they can expect transparency and usability. So you know, Joe was mentioning earlier that we really focused on the intuitiveness of the product. We also focused on what I, you know, data transparency. What are the changes? So one of the really great new features that we have is it's just the what's new feature. Essentially what we're going to be doing is we're going to be telling you what's changed. So the more you use the system and the more, you know, we track your search history, we you can have favorites, the more you use the system, the more it becomes beneficial to you. And what do I mean by that?
(15:10):
I mean that we're going to let you know when the items that you look for, that you search for, that you have as a favorite, when those items change, we're going to let you know. And so we've set up a system of notification system that you can have on screen notifications. So if you're actually in class, IT plus you'll get a notification when something you've searched for, something that's your favorite, something that you have a comment on, if that has changed. You know, the NMFC does changes a few times a year. In 2025 we're going to do two changes. So whenever something that you search for your favorite or whatever, whenever something changes, you're going to be notified. We also have a setting in there where you can go in and you can actually set it up so that you receive an email.
(16:01):
So if I have a list of favorites and I want to get an email when anything on that list changes, I can set up an email notification for myself. We hope that our users really take advantage of these features because it's really going to help them grow and come to understand the changes as the NMFC continues to evolve, that these notifications are really going to become, you know, that first line of defense for them as they, you know, want to be prepared. We're going to give you those notifications so that you can easily find your changes.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So when you're saying changes like when these changes happen on July 19, like this isn't going to be a, hey, they're going to be updating this like on a biannual or annual. This is like essential. I don't want to say a one time thing, but for the foreseeable future when these changes do roll out, users can expect to see this for the foreseeable future. Correct?
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Correct. Yeah. And actually when you log in in July for the first time, you're still going to get to go to that what's new feature and see all of the changes right there in one place. So not only are you going to be able to see what's new or what's changed, but you're also going to be able to see what was canceled. And if something was canceled with a reference or replaced, then we're going to actually tell you what replaced that item as well. So it's going to be listed right there where it's going to be very in your face. It's just we really want people to embrace this feature and make that your first stop so they can really see what the changes are.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
So how does this, in what ways does this support more accurate and faster classifications?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah, so in, you know, like I said, in the future the more you use class it plus the more accurate your classifications are going to because we're always going to let you know when something has changed. So if you're searching for an item and that item was canceled, we're going to let you know what replaced it. So if you're searching for that old, you know, let's say something is canceled in July and you search for that item, we're going to let you know, hey, that's canceled. You're going to want to use this instead. So we're going to point you to what replaced it. So you know, it's just going to keep you up to date. It's going to keep you current with the latest data changes.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So, I mean, is this go. Do you think that this is going to expedite kind of like digitizing and modernizing the, you know, the entire LTL space at the end of the day? I mean, because there's been, you know, there's been some pushes that are coming on out there, but this, you know, to the best of my knowledge, is the only specific tool, you know, regarding this. So do you see this in pushing to digitize more of these transactions, do you think?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Oh, absolutely. And I know Joe can go into this a little bit deeper, but I mean, just off the start with Class IT plus, were, we're building a really robust API as well. And so that's really pushing those integrations with, like you said, automating the data, making it more accessible. We're really looking. It's not just us. People are looking to modernize, to really go digital and they're looking to use our APIs to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, just to add that, Holly, really, that's why he's getting ready to say so. I'm glad you brought up the APIs. We are really focused on visualization and really a path towards paperless. And whether it's for classification, one scenario is, hey, I want to build something lighter that my sales folks can use. You can build that through the APIs, or I want to build something for my bill lighting. You can build that and make the API calls, or I want to use something for my billing, you can build that also. Or I want to integrate it into my tms. You know, one of the things that we're doing is, you know, we're giving the TMS as the opportunity to go ahead and play in the sandbox that we stood up last week. And so, you know, we really want the feedback.
(20:15):
So we're really launching a lot of APIs because we think that the future is moving towards the APIs. You're always going to have a need for the website because you've got the people in the docs, you got the people in the back office. But there is a really big need for the integration to tie all this data together. Even if you're a dimension or company, you may want this data. We want to have a robust set of APIs that you can utilize so that you can start to transition to more of a paperless integration system. And so that's why we really looked at the APIs.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
So is your guys API documentation published already on your website where people can go in. When you say go in and play in a sandbox, is there a way for people's teams to go out there and see? Because when we're taught everybody company essentially has their own TMS system. Right. Some have proprietary, some have off the shelf style products and you know, the, you know, some API integrations can, you know, take a little bit of time. It might not be the most complex thing for some of the most seasoned, you know, IT professionals out there and people who have a basic understanding of how to do it. So what can people expect during that implementation, during testing and everything?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, they're all documented on. If you go to NMFC changes, there's a link out there and we've got all the documentation out there. You'll also here shortly see the swagger that's out there. The API beta started starts this week and we opened up the sandbox integration users and so you know, it may change slightly but the documentation is out there and it's a full set of documentation documents, all our APIs. So if you're an API user at a shipper, a broker or a carrier, or if you're an integration person, take a look at it because it really is a, it will get you going. And we know a lot of people have already started to utilize it to start to integrate their APIs.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Okay, what, obviously all of my experience with you guys has always been at the cyber security conference. And when I hear API, when I hear a lot of this stuff, when we shift to a digital anything, cyber security is, you know, now thanks to you all is the first thing that comes to my mind with literally everything. So you know, what are some cyber or data integrity considerations that people can be aware of when we're going on out there? And how are you guys protecting everybody's data? Because data, obviously data is everything.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah. So we don't, you know, with the data. So we took the approach of, you know, first of all, the way we're connecting is really secure. You know we change the license model when you connect to class it, so we use okta. So we in cybersecurity we always push that two factor, that multi factor authentication. So it is okta. Second of all we focus on secure by design and the secure by design is what we enforce. We also when you go cloud based we say hey, everybody owns security. And so we've just rolled out another third party security that monitors it in addition to us. Therefore you know, something goes bump in the Night it looks at it. We do geographical security. So you know, we pretty much know what country should be logging in, what shouldn't and then the other thing.
(24:21):
So we do internal pen test or we do internal penetration testing. We've recently had cisa. One of the things we advertise is CISA does free pen testing. We had CISA do pen testing. Then we actually pay to have a third party come in and do penetration testing. And, and they're actually doing that right now on our beta system and they'll do it on production also. But they're doing penetration testing which you know, they're coming in trying to break it and trying to, and let us know where the vulnerabilities are and then we'll fix all those vulnerabilities. And as part of our go to market or I'm sorry, part of our go to production criteria is to fix the things that the penetration team finds. And so that way it's getting penetration tested multiple times.
(25:19):
So you know, we're definitely using best practices, secure by design. And we're also penetration testing and using that multi factor authentication. And then as far as when we roll out the APIs, it's a brand new product so we don't have to worry about it yet. But we're documenting everything that we do with the APIs. We'll make sure when we retire APIs we actually turn them off. That's one of the biggest threats that we see in cybersecurity is these old orphaned APIs that they don't turn off. That's a lot of bad guys, bad actors get in because they don't update them. And then we're making sure that, you know, we're keeping track of our patches and everything from a cyber security. But I am really excited. We, like I said, we just rolled out a new third party monitoring system at from a cybersecurity perspective.
(26:16):
So I think all those things together really help keep us as safe as possible. I don't ever want to say 100% safe because there's no such thing, but as safe as possible.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
No, I mean, I think that's always going to be the, you know, top of mind with everybody and anytime there's any changes or any advancements in technology that's going on out there, I feel like, you know, protecting the integrity of your organization because I mean, I, you know, you see this now when you know, essentially businesses can be shut down with the, you know, literal click of a button. Now that's why we don't click any external links, you guys, when they come in through your emails, avoid any of that stuff out there. And if you guys want a greater in education on that, you guys just need to follow the cybersecurity conference and come to it and have a better understanding about really what's going on out there.
(27:03):
Because I feel like the more and more all of this is brought online and we move away some from some of those old and antiquated processes that we're you know, kind of used to here inside of transportation there's just more vulnerabilities that can be, you know, that can kind of arise and you know, but to kind of shift away from that a little bit though, like can class it. Is there any analytics or insights that you know, can help out with strategic decision making, you know, then just beyond you know, freight classification at that point.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Holly, you want to answer? You want me to go for it? Yeah. So you know, one of the things that we're looking at in a second phase of that's going to use more AI. But one of the things we're looking at is most people use about 20% of the book in a company. So we are looking at what people search for, we're looking at what freight people are carrying. And so we are looking at those analytics to say okay, what makes the most sense? What are people hauling? We're also creating partnerships and we're looking at potential partnerships to say okay, how can this help us as far as how we look at how things get classified?
(28:32):
We always want to look at classification itself and you know, how we make it better and so you know, whether so through our partnerships and through the data in class, IT+ and through what people are getting classified and what people are searching for, those analytics will help us make sure that we are focused on the right things. And so we're always looking at that from analytical perspective.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Okay. So Holly, when we're shifting more towards the user experience of this because that's got to be the top of your guys mind with all of the testing is how easy can we make this right? Because I, you know, as somebody probably the least technological, I didn't even techno technical person that's out there, right. And I want that ease of use to come along as most as, you know, as best as possible. So was that kind of like behind the scenes when you guys were designing this? Is this like how do we make this interface and this program as simple as possible? And you know, you guys have brought up examples, right of you know, Joe brought up the fact that, well, Joe and I are very similar, that I spell a lot of things wrong too.
(29:49):
And if it wasn't for autocorrect, I don't know if I'd even be able to operate as an individual. So how did you guys take that into consideration as you're kind of designing the flow of the user interface?
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah, we looked at a lot of different areas. So we'll start with search. Right. So we want to make sure that search is simple, but we also don't want to limit. So not only do we have, you know, internally, we kind of call it the simple search or the default search. And if I enter something and I search on it, I want to see the best possible match. So that's number one. Right. So if I'm going to enter an item number, I want to see that item number. I don't need to see everywhere where that item number is listed in the book. I just want to go straight to that item number. If I enter a keyword or a phrase, I want to see the best possible match for that keyword or phrase that I entered. We also offer suggestions.
(30:47):
So as you're typing and as you're entering those keywords, we're going to make suggestions as you type. So it's like, you know, are you looking for this? And we're going to, we're just going to have that list of suggestions changing as you type. We're also going to allow you. We didn't want to take away anything. So we have what we call a detailed search. So the detailed search is just that. If I enter an item number and I want to see every single spot in the, you know, in the data in the old school book where that item number is mentioned, then I'm going to do a detailed search and I'm going to see every mention of that item number, of that keyword, whatever I entered to search on.
(31:27):
We're also going to give you the opportunity to search by, you know, different filters and dates and effective dates. And you know, we just, we didn't want to, we didn't want to take anything away, but we did want to make it really simple and then give you the opt to expand upon your search results if you'd like to. When we started looking at just the usability of what are you going to do once you get these search results, we really wanted people to have the opportunity to save their searches. And so that's, we're going to give you the opportunity to mark it as a favorite. So if you have a specific search or specific item that you're constantly looking for, then you're going to favor that. Perhaps I have an account who maybe has some quirks when it comes to a specific item.
(32:18):
Well, let me add a comment so that I can remember that from now on. Then what about, oh, last week I found this item. I don't remember what the number was. Let me go back and look. So we're going to track your search history so that you can go back to your previous search results and you can find what you were looking for. We're going to give you complete control on how you access everything. We're going to have a dashboard so that you know, and that dashboard is customizable to the user, to you and your needs. So you can customize it, make sure that what you're looking for, what you need is right there on that dashboard. We're going to actually give you access to the NMFC book.
(33:05):
And what I mean by that is key sections in the book you're still going to have access to, but it's just going to be online. So if you want to see some sample forms, bill of lading, you want to see a sample, we're going to give you access to those samples. The book has some really great, you know, information on procedures and best practices. We're going to give you access to those procedures and best practices. And those specific items are going to be available as a PDF and we're going to allow you to bookmark those. And so it's just really about ease of use and accessibility. Speaking of that, we're going to make, we want to make sure that no matter what device you're on, you're going to have the same wonderful experience.
(33:47):
So if you're on your desktop or your laptop or a tablet or your phone, you're not going to lose any of these great features. And it just goes on from there. If you're actually a company and you have multiple users, you can actually set up what we call the company Common. And it allows your users to share things across the board with each other. So if you have comments or favorites or a search history or something that you want to share to the company Common, then you can. And then everyone has access to that same favorite, that same comment, and you can actually make comments back and forth with each other. Now you can keep everything private. Again, you don't have to share, but we give you that ability.
(34:35):
We haven't gotten rid of Synonyms is a really great feature that we've used that we have currently and we've retained synonyms. Not only can you create synonyms for yourself, but then you can share those synonyms across the board with your company. The great thing about that is the minute you share the synonym within your company, that synonym is immediately searchable by anyone in your organization. There's nothing you need to do other than share it. And each one of these features contain other smaller features and action items that are universal across the board. Again, it's all about simplicity, that usability and intuitiveness that we really focused on. So you learn it once and you know it across the board.
(35:22):
You're not going to go into search and see a feature that you're not, that you don't see somewhere else, you know, so it's all about that intuitiveness.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
So do you see, like, this is how things evolve, right? Because it, you know, you, everything you just described right there, Holly, people are going to hear this and they're listening to this and they're like, you're literally saving me 40 hours a month right there. Right? Like, and it's a massive time save. And I feel. So do you feel like this is like where the big evolution comes next? Right? Because obviously I, I mean, I could be completely off base here, but I don't think the codes are going to change anytime soon after this rolls out here. So do you feel like this is how things are going to evolve? This is.
(36:05):
You guys are going to really focus on delivering operational efficiencies to help streamline a lot of this process out there behind the scenes for most teams, whether you're a shipper, broker or a carrier.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Yeah, spot on what you just said. I mean, our goal is to continue to grow the product so that your business can be more efficient. So it's, it doesn't stop here. It doesn't stop with 2025. We're going to continue to hone the features, to really pay attention to our members, to the industry and what they need. We're going to start to implement even greater tools on the search side, bring in that AI element to really customize the experience and give better results and better suggestions. It's just going to continue to grow. Like I said earlier, we really are building class IT plus to be the more you use it, the better it's going to be for you.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
So do you think, like, you guys can put a stamp on it that the nmfta, this is what they're doing to Help the industry adapt to these rapid changes, you know, from a regulatory and from a technical standpoint. Right. Because I mean, obviously you guys are streamlining the EBOL as well. So I feel like, do you guys think like, hey, we're putting our flag in the sand here, that we are going to help the industry move forward from those who are in that multi pronged approach, you know, over the next, you know, again, five to 10 years?
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, I mean we're. And again, you said it perfectly. I mean, we're really looking at the big picture. It's not just about, you know, Class IT plus and the classification. We're looking at that whole digital experience with the EBOLs and with additional standards that we're going to be providing. And, and so, yeah, our goal is to just make things more efficient for your business and it's going to start here.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
No, I love it. And you know, from my perspective, this is, and I've said this on multiple episodes now, there are very few opportunities that go out that come about in business where you can literally make your customer's life even easier. Right. And I'm just coming from like a service provider standpoint here from, for my role as a broker, there's very little we can do or say in the beginning with a customer that like, they haven't heard before. This is one of those rare moments where you can legitimately change the trajectory of your customer's business by bringing a lot of this information to them and setting them up for success. Because how many companies out there strictly just move LTL across the country? Lots. Right. And then are you that service provider?
(38:52):
Whether you're an LTL carrier, an asset based carrier or broker, did you like educate your customers and bring them up to Speed? So when July 19 happens, it is as seamless as humanly possible. Right? Like, it's not going to be perfect. Anytime there's any changes, there's going to be things that pop up. But we had a long Runway here, right? Like a lot can happen over 60 days. You can run as many stress tests as we've talked about. You know, on this episode. You can get signed up for Class IT Plus. Like all the resources are at your disposal and you guys have legitimately taken this from that approach to really bring the industry up to speed on this.
(39:27):
So, you know, I guess with that being said, outside of July 19, 2025, where else can people go to be in contact with you guys to sign up for Class IT plus to get a hold of any of the, you know, any of the changes from the nmfc so they can print all of that stuff out and just better prepared for it.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Yeah, we have a lot of webinars. So we have a lot. In fact, we have one coming up on May 29th. Well, this week on May 29th, we have, it's called an Ask Us Anything webinar. And you know, I'm going to make us a joke here because this is, you know, we like to have fun. Joe set this up. It was a very brilliant idea. We don't like to tell him that very often, but these Ask Us Anything webinars, it started off as a 30 minute webinar where literally we just sat there and people sent in their questions. We, we now we had to extend it to 60 minutes and we still can't ask, we still can't answer everyone's questions. So. But we do this week we have another Ask Us Anything webinar and they're free. All you everything.
(40:34):
All of our webinars are free. So please join us. Ask us anything that has to do with the NMFC changes classification, Class IT plus transitioning or transitioning over to Class IT plus purchasing Class IT plus whatever you need to know, we're here. We're going to continue to hold more of those events throughout June and into July. We also have another webinar, I believe it is June 11th and that will be kind of about the beta experience. We're going to be interviewing and just kind of talking with some of our beta participants and going over the beta experience and the program itself. But we're going to continue to have more webinars throughout June as well. And not only the ones that are coming up, we have an entire library of webinars that we've held over the last several months. They're all free.
(41:27):
Just go out there to classitplus.com NMFCchanges.com really, anywhere you go, you'll get access to these webinars. Again, everything is free. We just really want, you know, people to get the information they need. And if you're interested in purchasing Class it plus if you're interested in learning more about the changes, if you're a current class IT subscriber and you want, you know, your interested in transitioning over. Hopefully you've already received a lot of communication from us. But you know, just reach out. We're here and we're ready to answer your questions.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Perfect. I love it. Jody, have anything to add to that or Holly Kind of summed that up pretty good.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
She summed it up well. Again, we do the webinars every two weeks now, at least we're doing a webinar. And so it's the answer classification changes, Class IT plus. And the thing is, if you get Class IT now, it does. The license just transitions over to Class IT Plus. So it gives you a heads up on what's coming up. So, you know, that's one of the ways you can go ahead and stay ahead of things and really start to be prepared. So, you know, we really want to help and this is a, this is a big change for the industry and, you know, we're excited and we take it serious. You know, we'd all be lying if we'd say, you know, hey, we're not anxious about it. But, but we're, we're super excited about it also.
(43:14):
And so we think it's the right change for the industry and it was driven by our membership. And when we go out and talk about it, we get great feedback. So we're really excited for the changes and to get the feedback on Class IT plus that we're already receiving.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
No, I am too. Right. You guys have truly built up a phenomenal library for people to utilize, to go out, check out those past webinars, to get signed up for all of this stuff, to get prepared for it. And, you know, it is, it's a very big thing, but it's an exciting change. Right? I feel like everything Holly was talking about there, from an automation streamlining process like that's going to just be music to people's ears who have been like, banging their heads against the wall trying to keep stuff organized. And, you know, it's an exciting time and especially inside of the industry and, you know, the people just need to get prepared. They need to get ready. You got to get ready for July 19, 2025, ladies and gentlemen. But that's going to be it for this episode today.
(44:21):
If you guys cannot find any of this information that the NMWTA has just talked about, please hit me up. I will gladly put you guys in direct contact with them. We'll have links to everything out there in the show, notes and posts and all of that stuff, you guys, to make it as easy and seamless as possible for you to find what you need. But again, if you cannot, for whatever reason, hit me up, I will gladly put you guys in direct contact with them. That is going to be it. As always, if you guys got value in what you heard, subscribe to the show.
(44:46):
You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious after this one, which you should because this is a massive opportunity, rank the show on itunes and Spotify, because if you saw value, that's how your network's going to see value as well. I appreciate you guys. I love you guys, and we'll be talking to you soon. And.
All right, we are going to start in 3, 2 and 1. What is up? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another Freight Coach podcast. We're doing one of these rare pre recorded episodes out there, you guys, and that's because like I always say, all of my guests have day jobs. So sometimes we can't make the schedules align with the live show. But you know, we go out here and we get it done no matter what. And you know, we've done a few of these episodes already and we're going to continue to drive this message home, you guys, because the NMFC code changes are coming. All right. It's getting closer by the day out there and we need to be more and more prepared for this.
(00:37):
And my friends over at the NMF TA have a Class IT plus already put together for us to help bring some more knowledge and everything out there. And we're going to talk about that a little bit more today. So I have Mr. Joe or back on the show and I want to have a special welcome to Holly Taylor, the first time attendee on the show today. So you guys, thank you so much for taking the time to join me today.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
So Holly, I got to start with you and I'm going to try not to make any jokes about your first name and my last name being Holly and it's one of those ones that I kind of giggle every time I say it but. So Holly, like what is your role over at the NMWTA? Kind of like what are you spearheading over there?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah, absolutely. I am the director of product. So I have been living and breathing Class IT plus for a very long time. So all of the efforts that our team is doing, it's just been amazing. And so we're really excited for that July 15th date there for the release.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
July 15th for the plus it's getting up and ready. So you know, what does it go to? Kind of like building something like this up. Right? Because obviously the code changes and everything that are coming up, like this doesn't just happen overnight. And it seems like it's kind of been a multi faceted approach to kind of build that out. So like, you know, putting this together any. And before we, you know, kind of talk about the structure of the Class IT plus of it, like what can users expect when they're going in there for the first time?
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, we really focused on, you know, just bringing Class IT and to Class IT plus making it modern, making the tools that are needed for classification more modern. We're focused on the performance. You know, we really went out there and we just talked to people, we talked to our current users, our current class IT users, and we did the research and we talked to people within the industry, we talked to our own members and we really took their feedback to heart and we focused on what they wanted and they wanted something modern and they wanted something that the performance was, you know, just near real time. They really wanted that experience that you expect whenever you go out to any search engine, right? It's like, we want modern. And so that's what we really focused on.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So, you know, with all of that being said, what is some of these, like, what are some proactive steps, do you think? You know, with the NMFC rollout happening here in, you know, July 19th. Right. So again, you guys, I got to remind your July 19, 2025, be ready. It's all coming out. What are some proactive steps that, you know, leaders can take out there in the industry to better prepare their customers? Because, you know, if there's anything I've learned inside of the business, we need to reiterate these changes and this information on like a weekly, if not a daily basis because it's inevitably somebody's going to be, where did this come from? Why weren't we ready for this?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Yeah, we've really put a lot of effort into just educating the public and getting the message out there. So we have a lot of tools. And so if you go to, you know, nmfta.org you'll be able to access all of these tools. We have NMFCchanges.com it's just a complete list of everything you need to know about the changes that are going to take effect on July 19th. We have a free tool that we just launched back in April. It's called if you go to getclassification.com you can access the NMFC item lookup tool. All you have to do is register, enter your email address. It's a free tool. You can actually enter your item numbers that you know, the most common ones that you use. Now you're like, how do I prepare for this? Right?
(04:35):
And go out there, enter your item numbers and we'll actually let you know what's going to happen to that item number. Is it going to change? Is the density going to move to full density? Was a note just updated. We're going to actually give you a little heads up, like, hey, this is what the change is. And then that'll help you prepare and we'll even tell you if there are no changes. So then if you have a list of 500 item numbers that you and your business use and you see that 200 of them won't change, then you know that you don't have to worry about those 200. So it's just really, it's a really great tool and it is free and it'll really help people get prepared.
(05:17):
And then Obviously we have classitplus.com, which is just going to list out all the features and benefits to Class IT plus so that you can then get prepared to transition to that product as well.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Okay. So Joe, how do you think people, you know, like they should be. Is there anything that you've talked about with any of your guys' you know, current kind of like or beta users on any of this stuff about any maybe stress tests that they've done where it's like, hey, are, is our organization ready for this from a provider standpoint?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, we've. Right now we are in our third week of beta and the feedback has been really positive. One of our goals is to make it more intuitive. And so one of the things we wanted to do is say, hey, let us know what the learning curve is. If you're going from the old class it to the new class it plus what is the learning curve? So it's not just the stress test of the application itself, but what's the stress on the organization learning a new tool. And what we've heard in the feedback we've got from beta is it's intuitive and it doesn't put a lot of stress on the organization. The other thing is we've launched at the same time a knowledge base or a KB system. And so typically when you launch a product, you don't have KBS.
(06:47):
And so we've launched this with over 150 KBS. So if you do have a question, you can look at the KBS and find your answers. So that is helping train also. And so from a support perspective, we're not getting a lot of questions during the beta. We're getting some feedback which is expected, but we're not getting the how to questions because either they're using the knowledge base, which we keep analytics on the knowledge base and we can see that, but we're not getting a lot of questions as far as how to and then as far as performance of class it, not only are they performance testing it because we're not limiting the users. So we've got big customers performance testing it. You know, we didn't limit IT to small customers. We wanted small, medium, large shippers, brokers, carriers.
(07:48):
But we told them, hey, you want to let 20 people use it, go for it. And were monitoring this also. So we know that 120 people could log into beta at once. But we're also doing a lot of performance testing on our own. We really also took a look at first we're going to launch class it before classification, after classification. But we really saw it as a tool, not just an application, but a tool to enable the transition to the classification changes. So we took a really different approach to it because the people that are using classification now are different than the people that use classification 20 years ago that utilize an MSC book. They grew up with technology, they grew up with Windows, they grew up with applications, they grew up with browsers.
(08:50):
So you know, when Holly talks about a search engine, you know, these are people that grew up with the Bing and Google and whatever your search yahoos, whatever your search engine of choice is. So we wanted to give them that type of experience where if you're like me, you misspell words all the time, you start to type in a misspelled word, it'll actually tell you or if you know, it'll give you suggestions. So we really want to replicate that experience.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
So what are some things, you know, and maybe you guys have heard this from, you know, feedback from some of your beta users as well, like what can companies do to avoid or minimize any potential operational disruptions out there? Right? Like, you know, like we talk about, you know, maybe doing some stress testing and stuff like that. But is there anything where, you know, hey, we move is it like the finding that consistencies inside of their operation of the shippers that they're working with, right? Like they're always moving X dimension X commodity x weight and then really trying to build that process around it early on. If you guys found that, you know, that they are, you know, maybe doing something like that.
(10:06):
And again, I'm just trying to think from an operational standpoint here because as a broker, myself, as a service provider, no matter what changes go on out there, like, we have to be prepared for this, we have to get ahead of this. Our customers are going to look at us of like, hey, you know, we did our own research. We've known about this for a year. Why weren't you ready? You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (10:27):
From a carrier and shipper perspective and a broker perspective, I think it's all about knowing what commodities you're shipping, look at your packaging, making sure, it's optimized and knowing what the changes are. So going ahead and looking, using that lookup tool and knowing the change and if you're a, if you're talking to that carrier, if you're a broker, having those discussions, but also look at one of the things that we've said is, you know, are you packing air? You know, look at how you're packaging and having the community have that communication open up that communication between the shipper, the carrier and the broker. Don't get caught off guard by these changes. Go ahead and do your research. When were talking to Mark earlier in your show at Averitt, you know, he had commented and I think his comment was spot on.
(11:30):
You know, if you get caught off guard but you're working on it and you made a mistake, the carrier is going to work with you in most cases. But if you go into this block and you haven't done any research and you just don't know what's going on and you haven't had any discussions, then they're not as likely going to work with you. But really look at how you're shipping the commodity, have the, have those discussions but really look at how you're packaging. Are you optimizing? Are you shipping air? And if you go to our website, we've guidance for the shipper, for the carrier and for the broker. And look at those steps and really look at what you can do. But look at what's going to density and look at what's staying the same. But be prepared and do your research.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Do you think like, you know, some of the, you know, if we're looking at it from like an LTL provider or like a large broker that's out there, is there any, you know, like cross functional collaboration that they should be thinking about? Right. Cause if we're talking contracts, if we're talking a lot of changes that are going on out there and especially from like an insurance, potential insurance standpoint as well, you know what collaboration should be going on right now. Do you think like again, like we're coming up here and I'm pushing this because I want people to think about this in the sense of like we're less than 60 days away from a rollout and you sometimes, you know, legal takes a while, you know, like, and if there's any changes that need to happen, we got to get ahead of this stuff.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yeah, you definitely need to look at your contracts because there may be things in A contract that do change depending on whether or not what you're shipping and depending on the commodity and how that was, how that we don't deal on pricing but sometimes the price may go up, sometimes it may go down, but you want to look at that. A lot of people think that there are things in classification that have to do with freight of all kinds that's not mentioned in classification. But if that's in the contract, but you're going classification, you're going to want to look at that. So you're really going to want to look at the contracts and see how it's reflected in the new NMFC changes.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
So when we're talking about a lot of, you know, all of these changes, you know, and then from like an internal structural standpoint, working with your customer and everything. Holly, what can people like, what can people expect when they're coming in here to get into the class IT plus platform? Is any of the stuff that we've been kind of talking about going to be in there? Like what is that user experience? What can they expect to do when they're, you know, signing up for this?
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Yeah, they can expect transparency and usability. So you know, Joe was mentioning earlier that we really focused on the intuitiveness of the product. We also focused on what I, you know, data transparency. What are the changes? So one of the really great new features that we have is it's just the what's new feature. Essentially what we're going to be doing is we're going to be telling you what's changed. So the more you use the system and the more, you know, we track your search history, we you can have favorites, the more you use the system, the more it becomes beneficial to you. And what do I mean by that?
(15:10):
I mean that we're going to let you know when the items that you look for, that you search for, that you have as a favorite, when those items change, we're going to let you know. And so we've set up a system of notification system that you can have on screen notifications. So if you're actually in class, IT plus you'll get a notification when something you've searched for, something that's your favorite, something that you have a comment on, if that has changed. You know, the NMFC does changes a few times a year. In 2025 we're going to do two changes. So whenever something that you search for your favorite or whatever, whenever something changes, you're going to be notified. We also have a setting in there where you can go in and you can actually set it up so that you receive an email.
(16:01):
So if I have a list of favorites and I want to get an email when anything on that list changes, I can set up an email notification for myself. We hope that our users really take advantage of these features because it's really going to help them grow and come to understand the changes as the NMFC continues to evolve, that these notifications are really going to become, you know, that first line of defense for them as they, you know, want to be prepared. We're going to give you those notifications so that you can easily find your changes.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
So when you're saying changes like when these changes happen on July 19, like this isn't going to be a, hey, they're going to be updating this like on a biannual or annual. This is like essential. I don't want to say a one time thing, but for the foreseeable future when these changes do roll out, users can expect to see this for the foreseeable future. Correct?
Speaker 3 (16:57):
Correct. Yeah. And actually when you log in in July for the first time, you're still going to get to go to that what's new feature and see all of the changes right there in one place. So not only are you going to be able to see what's new or what's changed, but you're also going to be able to see what was canceled. And if something was canceled with a reference or replaced, then we're going to actually tell you what replaced that item as well. So it's going to be listed right there where it's going to be very in your face. It's just we really want people to embrace this feature and make that your first stop so they can really see what the changes are.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
So how does this, in what ways does this support more accurate and faster classifications?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Yeah, so in, you know, like I said, in the future the more you use class it plus the more accurate your classifications are going to because we're always going to let you know when something has changed. So if you're searching for an item and that item was canceled, we're going to let you know what replaced it. So if you're searching for that old, you know, let's say something is canceled in July and you search for that item, we're going to let you know, hey, that's canceled. You're going to want to use this instead. So we're going to point you to what replaced it. So you know, it's just going to keep you up to date. It's going to keep you current with the latest data changes.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
So, I mean, is this go. Do you think that this is going to expedite kind of like digitizing and modernizing the, you know, the entire LTL space at the end of the day? I mean, because there's been, you know, there's been some pushes that are coming on out there, but this, you know, to the best of my knowledge, is the only specific tool, you know, regarding this. So do you see this in pushing to digitize more of these transactions, do you think?
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Oh, absolutely. And I know Joe can go into this a little bit deeper, but I mean, just off the start with Class IT plus, were, we're building a really robust API as well. And so that's really pushing those integrations with, like you said, automating the data, making it more accessible. We're really looking. It's not just us. People are looking to modernize, to really go digital and they're looking to use our APIs to make that happen.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yeah, just to add that, Holly, really, that's why he's getting ready to say so. I'm glad you brought up the APIs. We are really focused on visualization and really a path towards paperless. And whether it's for classification, one scenario is, hey, I want to build something lighter that my sales folks can use. You can build that through the APIs, or I want to build something for my bill lighting. You can build that and make the API calls, or I want to use something for my billing, you can build that also. Or I want to integrate it into my tms. You know, one of the things that we're doing is, you know, we're giving the TMS as the opportunity to go ahead and play in the sandbox that we stood up last week. And so, you know, we really want the feedback.
(20:15):
So we're really launching a lot of APIs because we think that the future is moving towards the APIs. You're always going to have a need for the website because you've got the people in the docs, you got the people in the back office. But there is a really big need for the integration to tie all this data together. Even if you're a dimension or company, you may want this data. We want to have a robust set of APIs that you can utilize so that you can start to transition to more of a paperless integration system. And so that's why we really looked at the APIs.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
So is your guys API documentation published already on your website where people can go in. When you say go in and play in a sandbox, is there a way for people's teams to go out there and see? Because when we're taught everybody company essentially has their own TMS system. Right. Some have proprietary, some have off the shelf style products and you know, the, you know, some API integrations can, you know, take a little bit of time. It might not be the most complex thing for some of the most seasoned, you know, IT professionals out there and people who have a basic understanding of how to do it. So what can people expect during that implementation, during testing and everything?
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Yeah, they're all documented on. If you go to NMFC changes, there's a link out there and we've got all the documentation out there. You'll also here shortly see the swagger that's out there. The API beta started starts this week and we opened up the sandbox integration users and so you know, it may change slightly but the documentation is out there and it's a full set of documentation documents, all our APIs. So if you're an API user at a shipper, a broker or a carrier, or if you're an integration person, take a look at it because it really is a, it will get you going. And we know a lot of people have already started to utilize it to start to integrate their APIs.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Okay, what, obviously all of my experience with you guys has always been at the cyber security conference. And when I hear API, when I hear a lot of this stuff, when we shift to a digital anything, cyber security is, you know, now thanks to you all is the first thing that comes to my mind with literally everything. So you know, what are some cyber or data integrity considerations that people can be aware of when we're going on out there? And how are you guys protecting everybody's data? Because data, obviously data is everything.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah. So we don't, you know, with the data. So we took the approach of, you know, first of all, the way we're connecting is really secure. You know we change the license model when you connect to class it, so we use okta. So we in cybersecurity we always push that two factor, that multi factor authentication. So it is okta. Second of all we focus on secure by design and the secure by design is what we enforce. We also when you go cloud based we say hey, everybody owns security. And so we've just rolled out another third party security that monitors it in addition to us. Therefore you know, something goes bump in the Night it looks at it. We do geographical security. So you know, we pretty much know what country should be logging in, what shouldn't and then the other thing.
(24:21):
So we do internal pen test or we do internal penetration testing. We've recently had cisa. One of the things we advertise is CISA does free pen testing. We had CISA do pen testing. Then we actually pay to have a third party come in and do penetration testing. And, and they're actually doing that right now on our beta system and they'll do it on production also. But they're doing penetration testing which you know, they're coming in trying to break it and trying to, and let us know where the vulnerabilities are and then we'll fix all those vulnerabilities. And as part of our go to market or I'm sorry, part of our go to production criteria is to fix the things that the penetration team finds. And so that way it's getting penetration tested multiple times.
(25:19):
So you know, we're definitely using best practices, secure by design. And we're also penetration testing and using that multi factor authentication. And then as far as when we roll out the APIs, it's a brand new product so we don't have to worry about it yet. But we're documenting everything that we do with the APIs. We'll make sure when we retire APIs we actually turn them off. That's one of the biggest threats that we see in cybersecurity is these old orphaned APIs that they don't turn off. That's a lot of bad guys, bad actors get in because they don't update them. And then we're making sure that, you know, we're keeping track of our patches and everything from a cyber security. But I am really excited. We, like I said, we just rolled out a new third party monitoring system at from a cybersecurity perspective.
(26:16):
So I think all those things together really help keep us as safe as possible. I don't ever want to say 100% safe because there's no such thing, but as safe as possible.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
No, I mean, I think that's always going to be the, you know, top of mind with everybody and anytime there's any changes or any advancements in technology that's going on out there, I feel like, you know, protecting the integrity of your organization because I mean, I, you know, you see this now when you know, essentially businesses can be shut down with the, you know, literal click of a button. Now that's why we don't click any external links, you guys, when they come in through your emails, avoid any of that stuff out there. And if you guys want a greater in education on that, you guys just need to follow the cybersecurity conference and come to it and have a better understanding about really what's going on out there.
(27:03):
Because I feel like the more and more all of this is brought online and we move away some from some of those old and antiquated processes that we're you know, kind of used to here inside of transportation there's just more vulnerabilities that can be, you know, that can kind of arise and you know, but to kind of shift away from that a little bit though, like can class it. Is there any analytics or insights that you know, can help out with strategic decision making, you know, then just beyond you know, freight classification at that point.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Holly, you want to answer? You want me to go for it? Yeah. So you know, one of the things that we're looking at in a second phase of that's going to use more AI. But one of the things we're looking at is most people use about 20% of the book in a company. So we are looking at what people search for, we're looking at what freight people are carrying. And so we are looking at those analytics to say okay, what makes the most sense? What are people hauling? We're also creating partnerships and we're looking at potential partnerships to say okay, how can this help us as far as how we look at how things get classified?
(28:32):
We always want to look at classification itself and you know, how we make it better and so you know, whether so through our partnerships and through the data in class, IT+ and through what people are getting classified and what people are searching for, those analytics will help us make sure that we are focused on the right things. And so we're always looking at that from analytical perspective.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
Okay. So Holly, when we're shifting more towards the user experience of this because that's got to be the top of your guys mind with all of the testing is how easy can we make this right? Because I, you know, as somebody probably the least technological, I didn't even techno technical person that's out there, right. And I want that ease of use to come along as most as, you know, as best as possible. So was that kind of like behind the scenes when you guys were designing this? Is this like how do we make this interface and this program as simple as possible? And you know, you guys have brought up examples, right of you know, Joe brought up the fact that, well, Joe and I are very similar, that I spell a lot of things wrong too.
(29:49):
And if it wasn't for autocorrect, I don't know if I'd even be able to operate as an individual. So how did you guys take that into consideration as you're kind of designing the flow of the user interface?
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yeah, we looked at a lot of different areas. So we'll start with search. Right. So we want to make sure that search is simple, but we also don't want to limit. So not only do we have, you know, internally, we kind of call it the simple search or the default search. And if I enter something and I search on it, I want to see the best possible match. So that's number one. Right. So if I'm going to enter an item number, I want to see that item number. I don't need to see everywhere where that item number is listed in the book. I just want to go straight to that item number. If I enter a keyword or a phrase, I want to see the best possible match for that keyword or phrase that I entered. We also offer suggestions.
(30:47):
So as you're typing and as you're entering those keywords, we're going to make suggestions as you type. So it's like, you know, are you looking for this? And we're going to, we're just going to have that list of suggestions changing as you type. We're also going to allow you. We didn't want to take away anything. So we have what we call a detailed search. So the detailed search is just that. If I enter an item number and I want to see every single spot in the, you know, in the data in the old school book where that item number is mentioned, then I'm going to do a detailed search and I'm going to see every mention of that item number, of that keyword, whatever I entered to search on.
(31:27):
We're also going to give you the opportunity to search by, you know, different filters and dates and effective dates. And you know, we just, we didn't want to, we didn't want to take anything away, but we did want to make it really simple and then give you the opt to expand upon your search results if you'd like to. When we started looking at just the usability of what are you going to do once you get these search results, we really wanted people to have the opportunity to save their searches. And so that's, we're going to give you the opportunity to mark it as a favorite. So if you have a specific search or specific item that you're constantly looking for, then you're going to favor that. Perhaps I have an account who maybe has some quirks when it comes to a specific item.
(32:18):
Well, let me add a comment so that I can remember that from now on. Then what about, oh, last week I found this item. I don't remember what the number was. Let me go back and look. So we're going to track your search history so that you can go back to your previous search results and you can find what you were looking for. We're going to give you complete control on how you access everything. We're going to have a dashboard so that you know, and that dashboard is customizable to the user, to you and your needs. So you can customize it, make sure that what you're looking for, what you need is right there on that dashboard. We're going to actually give you access to the NMFC book.
(33:05):
And what I mean by that is key sections in the book you're still going to have access to, but it's just going to be online. So if you want to see some sample forms, bill of lading, you want to see a sample, we're going to give you access to those samples. The book has some really great, you know, information on procedures and best practices. We're going to give you access to those procedures and best practices. And those specific items are going to be available as a PDF and we're going to allow you to bookmark those. And so it's just really about ease of use and accessibility. Speaking of that, we're going to make, we want to make sure that no matter what device you're on, you're going to have the same wonderful experience.
(33:47):
So if you're on your desktop or your laptop or a tablet or your phone, you're not going to lose any of these great features. And it just goes on from there. If you're actually a company and you have multiple users, you can actually set up what we call the company Common. And it allows your users to share things across the board with each other. So if you have comments or favorites or a search history or something that you want to share to the company Common, then you can. And then everyone has access to that same favorite, that same comment, and you can actually make comments back and forth with each other. Now you can keep everything private. Again, you don't have to share, but we give you that ability.
(34:35):
We haven't gotten rid of Synonyms is a really great feature that we've used that we have currently and we've retained synonyms. Not only can you create synonyms for yourself, but then you can share those synonyms across the board with your company. The great thing about that is the minute you share the synonym within your company, that synonym is immediately searchable by anyone in your organization. There's nothing you need to do other than share it. And each one of these features contain other smaller features and action items that are universal across the board. Again, it's all about simplicity, that usability and intuitiveness that we really focused on. So you learn it once and you know it across the board.
(35:22):
You're not going to go into search and see a feature that you're not, that you don't see somewhere else, you know, so it's all about that intuitiveness.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
So do you see, like, this is how things evolve, right? Because it, you know, you, everything you just described right there, Holly, people are going to hear this and they're listening to this and they're like, you're literally saving me 40 hours a month right there. Right? Like, and it's a massive time save. And I feel. So do you feel like this is like where the big evolution comes next? Right? Because obviously I, I mean, I could be completely off base here, but I don't think the codes are going to change anytime soon after this rolls out here. So do you feel like this is how things are going to evolve? This is.
(36:05):
You guys are going to really focus on delivering operational efficiencies to help streamline a lot of this process out there behind the scenes for most teams, whether you're a shipper, broker or a carrier.
Speaker 3 (36:16):
Yeah, spot on what you just said. I mean, our goal is to continue to grow the product so that your business can be more efficient. So it's, it doesn't stop here. It doesn't stop with 2025. We're going to continue to hone the features, to really pay attention to our members, to the industry and what they need. We're going to start to implement even greater tools on the search side, bring in that AI element to really customize the experience and give better results and better suggestions. It's just going to continue to grow. Like I said earlier, we really are building class IT plus to be the more you use it, the better it's going to be for you.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
So do you think, like, you guys can put a stamp on it that the nmfta, this is what they're doing to Help the industry adapt to these rapid changes, you know, from a regulatory and from a technical standpoint. Right. Because I mean, obviously you guys are streamlining the EBOL as well. So I feel like, do you guys think like, hey, we're putting our flag in the sand here, that we are going to help the industry move forward from those who are in that multi pronged approach, you know, over the next, you know, again, five to 10 years?
Speaker 3 (37:34):
Yeah, I mean we're. And again, you said it perfectly. I mean, we're really looking at the big picture. It's not just about, you know, Class IT plus and the classification. We're looking at that whole digital experience with the EBOLs and with additional standards that we're going to be providing. And, and so, yeah, our goal is to just make things more efficient for your business and it's going to start here.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
No, I love it. And you know, from my perspective, this is, and I've said this on multiple episodes now, there are very few opportunities that go out that come about in business where you can literally make your customer's life even easier. Right. And I'm just coming from like a service provider standpoint here from, for my role as a broker, there's very little we can do or say in the beginning with a customer that like, they haven't heard before. This is one of those rare moments where you can legitimately change the trajectory of your customer's business by bringing a lot of this information to them and setting them up for success. Because how many companies out there strictly just move LTL across the country? Lots. Right. And then are you that service provider?
(38:52):
Whether you're an LTL carrier, an asset based carrier or broker, did you like educate your customers and bring them up to Speed? So when July 19 happens, it is as seamless as humanly possible. Right? Like, it's not going to be perfect. Anytime there's any changes, there's going to be things that pop up. But we had a long Runway here, right? Like a lot can happen over 60 days. You can run as many stress tests as we've talked about. You know, on this episode. You can get signed up for Class IT Plus. Like all the resources are at your disposal and you guys have legitimately taken this from that approach to really bring the industry up to speed on this.
(39:27):
So, you know, I guess with that being said, outside of July 19, 2025, where else can people go to be in contact with you guys to sign up for Class IT plus to get a hold of any of the, you know, any of the changes from the nmfc so they can print all of that stuff out and just better prepared for it.
Speaker 3 (39:45):
Yeah, we have a lot of webinars. So we have a lot. In fact, we have one coming up on May 29th. Well, this week on May 29th, we have, it's called an Ask Us Anything webinar. And you know, I'm going to make us a joke here because this is, you know, we like to have fun. Joe set this up. It was a very brilliant idea. We don't like to tell him that very often, but these Ask Us Anything webinars, it started off as a 30 minute webinar where literally we just sat there and people sent in their questions. We, we now we had to extend it to 60 minutes and we still can't ask, we still can't answer everyone's questions. So. But we do this week we have another Ask Us Anything webinar and they're free. All you everything.
(40:34):
All of our webinars are free. So please join us. Ask us anything that has to do with the NMFC changes classification, Class IT plus transitioning or transitioning over to Class IT plus purchasing Class IT plus whatever you need to know, we're here. We're going to continue to hold more of those events throughout June and into July. We also have another webinar, I believe it is June 11th and that will be kind of about the beta experience. We're going to be interviewing and just kind of talking with some of our beta participants and going over the beta experience and the program itself. But we're going to continue to have more webinars throughout June as well. And not only the ones that are coming up, we have an entire library of webinars that we've held over the last several months. They're all free.
(41:27):
Just go out there to classitplus.com NMFCchanges.com really, anywhere you go, you'll get access to these webinars. Again, everything is free. We just really want, you know, people to get the information they need. And if you're interested in purchasing Class it plus if you're interested in learning more about the changes, if you're a current class IT subscriber and you want, you know, your interested in transitioning over. Hopefully you've already received a lot of communication from us. But you know, just reach out. We're here and we're ready to answer your questions.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Perfect. I love it. Jody, have anything to add to that or Holly Kind of summed that up pretty good.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
She summed it up well. Again, we do the webinars every two weeks now, at least we're doing a webinar. And so it's the answer classification changes, Class IT plus. And the thing is, if you get Class IT now, it does. The license just transitions over to Class IT Plus. So it gives you a heads up on what's coming up. So, you know, that's one of the ways you can go ahead and stay ahead of things and really start to be prepared. So, you know, we really want to help and this is a, this is a big change for the industry and, you know, we're excited and we take it serious. You know, we'd all be lying if we'd say, you know, hey, we're not anxious about it. But, but we're, we're super excited about it also.
(43:14):
And so we think it's the right change for the industry and it was driven by our membership. And when we go out and talk about it, we get great feedback. So we're really excited for the changes and to get the feedback on Class IT plus that we're already receiving.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
No, I am too. Right. You guys have truly built up a phenomenal library for people to utilize, to go out, check out those past webinars, to get signed up for all of this stuff, to get prepared for it. And, you know, it is, it's a very big thing, but it's an exciting change. Right? I feel like everything Holly was talking about there, from an automation streamlining process like that's going to just be music to people's ears who have been like, banging their heads against the wall trying to keep stuff organized. And, you know, it's an exciting time and especially inside of the industry and, you know, the people just need to get prepared. They need to get ready. You got to get ready for July 19, 2025, ladies and gentlemen. But that's going to be it for this episode today.
(44:21):
If you guys cannot find any of this information that the NMWTA has just talked about, please hit me up. I will gladly put you guys in direct contact with them. We'll have links to everything out there in the show, notes and posts and all of that stuff, you guys, to make it as easy and seamless as possible for you to find what you need. But again, if you cannot, for whatever reason, hit me up, I will gladly put you guys in direct contact with them. That is going to be it. As always, if you guys got value in what you heard, subscribe to the show.
(44:46):
You guys, if you're feeling really ambitious after this one, which you should because this is a massive opportunity, rank the show on itunes and Spotify, because if you saw value, that's how your network's going to see value as well. I appreciate you guys. I love you guys, and we'll be talking to you soon. And.
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