ISO: The Freight FICO Journey with COO John Stauffer

In 2020, while the world was hoarding toilet paper and decoding Zoom, John Stauffer and his co-founder Brian Cristol, CEO, launched Isometric Technologies. Their ambition? To revolutionize the freight industry by ushering in a new era of data integrity and service-level performance rigor.

The Pandemic’s Silver Lining for ISO

Surprisingly, the pandemic proved advantageous for ISO. "Starting remotely was all we ever knew,” John remarks. ISO astutely responded to the shaky supply chains by focusing on shippers of high-demand, everyday items (think toilet paper or bottled water), catalyzing their network growth.

OTIF: The Most Feared Letters in Shipping (After IRS)

ISO set out to tackle the problem of shippers having poor visibility into the total costs of transportation procurement. The inception of big retailers’ vendor compliance programs (and OTIF penalties) added fuel to the fire. As John emphasized, OTIF (‘On Time and In Full’) has real teeth. Imagine Walmart docking 3% of your total order value for tardiness, and you can see why ISO’s centralized data platform is more than a fancy tech toy—it’s the industry’s new best friend.

"We're basically a scorecarding solution. Our goal is to streamline this data reconciliation process that exists between shippers and carriers and brokers and carriers, to get everybody aligned on a central source of truth,” John details.

ISO Scores: The FICO of Freight?

• Data Aggregation: Collects vast amounts of performance data across shipments from TMS, ERP, and visibility providers.
• ISO Scoring System: Creates a reliability 'score' based on actual service-level performance data for freight brokers and shippers, similar to a FICO credit score.
• Industry Benchmarks: ISO provides the first Service Index, benchmarking performance on a standard set of KPIs and ISO scores for every carrier, lane, facility, and consignee in the ISO network.
• Marketing Magic: High-scoring carriers and brokers can flaunt their score as a badge of excellence, attracting more business. As John explains, it's not just a selling point; it's data-backed evidence of performance and reliability.
  

Benefits abound for various industry players:

• Shippers get a neutral source for logistics performance, dynamic carrier scorecards and visibility into the total costs of service, and defense against retailer chargebacks.
• Brokers & 3PLs can gauge their industry standing relative to the entire industry and the ability to find and source top carriers for every load and lane.
• Carriers collaborate with shippers and brokers and gain clarity on their performance for each load. Additionally, ISO aids in resolving discrepancies and demystifies how you stack up across all your shipping partners.

Funding and the Road Ahead

Securing their Series A funding, backed by industry leaders Maersk and Blackhorn Ventures, ISO is confidently carving a path forward, not just following trends. John expressed their ambition, emphasizing their global vision with the intention of establishing ISO scores as the industry-wide benchmark.

Starting amidst the challenges of a pandemic, overcoming hurdles like OTIF compliance and performance management, and pioneering a distinctive scoring system for brokers, Isometric Technologies is leading a transformative charge in the freight industry. “We aim to be the definitive reference for quality and performance data across the logistics sector,” John states.

Hear John's complete insights on ISO's journey and vision on FreightCaviar via Spotify or Youtube.