{"id":19855,"date":"2017-07-10T13:36:55","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T17:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/01b.797.myftpupload.com\/?p=19855"},"modified":"2020-05-30T11:40:35","modified_gmt":"2020-05-30T15:40:35","slug":"ltl-trucking-api-web-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/blog\/ltl-trucking-api-web-services\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two Technology Terms Every Carrier Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">With so many new forms of technology being discussed in the trucking and logistics industry, it can be tough to figure out which are truly relevant to your operation. To help, here are two technology terms every carrier needs to understand, because they will play an important role in the future of trucking. So let&#8217;s discuss &#8211; what is an API and what is a Web Service?<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">First, what they are.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>Web Service<\/strong> enables communication between two electronic \u201cthings\u201d over a network.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>An<strong> API<\/strong> (Application Program Interface) is a blueprint that documents how to configure one \u201cthing\u201d so that it can communicate with another \u201cthing\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using the internet as a network between two electronic \u201cthings,\u201d such as a software\u00a0<em>application<\/em> and a <em>server<\/em>, an <strong>API<\/strong> enables a programmer to configure the application so that it can communicate with the server using a <strong>Web Service<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Next, what they do. <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Hopefully, the following example using Roadvision LTL <a href=\"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/transportation-management-system\/trucking-dispatching-software\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dispatching Software<\/a> and The Weather Channel API will\u00a0help illustrate what\u00a0Web Services and APIs do, and how they can help your trucking business.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s say that you want Roadvision LTL Dispatching Software to automatically report forecasted weather alerts to dispatchers. Using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wunderground.com\/weather\/api\/?MR=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Weather Channel API<\/a> <em>\u201czip code forecast request\u201d <\/em>we can configure Roadvision to do just that.<\/p>\n<p>During load planning, while building a trip\u00a0in Roadvision LTL Dispatching, the zip code for each stop is sent from our dispatching application to The Weather Channel server by a Web Service we configured using the Weather Channel\u2019s API (blueprint).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>The Weather Channel API allowed us to configure a web service so that we send the \u201czip code forecast request\u201d in\u00a0<\/em><em style=\"background-color: transparent;\">a format that The Weather Channel server is expecting.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As The Weather Channel\u2019s server receives each \u201c<em>zip codes forecast request<\/em>\u201d it processes the zip code and then generates the forecast result.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>This processing occurs just as if you were to manually enter the zip code directly into The Weather Channel website using \u201c<span style=\"color: #000000;\">Show me the weather in\u2026 city, zip, or place<\/span>\u201d entry field.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19858\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/twc-api.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1102\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/twc-api.jpg 1102w, https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/twc-api-300x33.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/twc-api-768x84.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/twc-api-1024x112.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1102px) 100vw, 1102px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After each forecast result is generated by the Weather Channel, the result is then sent to our dispatching application using a Web Service configured by The Weather Channel.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>The Weather Channel API allowed us to configure our Dispatching application so that it knows how to process the formatted \u201czip code forecast request\u201d results returned<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the forecast result for each \u201czip code forecast request\u201d (i.e. stop) is received by our dispatching application, Roadvision LTL Dispatching is configured to activate The Weather Channel icon &#8211; converting it from being grayed out, to The Weather Channel blue.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>If the stop is associated with a weather Alert, then the Dispatcher is presented with a Roadvision Dispatching Application Warning.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong style=\"background-color: transparent;\"><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19857\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/warning-api.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1102\" height=\"120\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/warning-api.jpg 1102w, https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/warning-api-300x33.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/warning-api-768x84.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/warning-api-1024x112.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1102px) 100vw, 1102px\" \/><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong style=\"background-color: transparent;\"><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">Hopefully, you found this helpful.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">This example is just one illustration of how APIs and Web Services can be used. Web Services enable trucking businesses to connect in real-time with customer supply chains, logistics partners and 3rd parties such as The Weather Channel. These types of strategic connections enable businesses to advance the exchange of information on-demand, live and in the moment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roadvision.com\/trucking-software\/web-services\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"button color-1 large \" style=\"border-radius: 2px;\">Learn More<\/a>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With so many new forms of technology being discussed in the trucking and logistics industry, it can be tough to figure out which are truly relevant to your operation. To help, here are two technology terms every carrier needs to understand, because they will play an important role in the future of trucking. So let&#8217;s discuss &#8211; what is an API and what is a Web Service? First, what they are. A Web Service enables communication between two electronic \u201cthings\u201d over a network. An API (Application Program Interface) is a blueprint that documents how to configure one \u201cthing\u201d so that it can communicate with another \u201cthing\u201d. Using the internet as a network between two electronic \u201cthings,\u201d such as a software\u00a0application and a server, an API enables a programmer to configure the application so that it can communicate with the server using a Web Service. &nbsp; Next, what they do. Hopefully, the following example using Roadvision LTL Dispatching Software and The Weather Channel API will\u00a0help illustrate what\u00a0Web Services and APIs do, and how they can help your trucking business. Let\u2019s say that you want Roadvision LTL Dispatching Software to automatically report forecasted weather alerts to dispatchers. Using The Weather Channel API [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19856,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Two Tech Terms Carriers Should Know - Roadvision: Trucking Software<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New forms of technology are being discussed frequently within the LTL trucking industry. 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