Terminal49
Terminal49 is a San Francisco-based ocean freight visibility platform that consolidates real-time container tracking data from 150+ ocean carriers, terminals, and Class 1 rail carriers into a single API and dashboard for freight forwarders, cargo owners, and drayage providers. It monetizes via tiered SaaS subscriptions (Free, Lite, Essential, Complete) and usage-based AI Document Hub credits, augmented by enterprise field sales.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Terminal49 does
Terminal49 is a San Francisco-based ocean freight visibility platform that consolidates real-time container tracking data from 150+ sources — ocean carriers, terminals, vessel AIS, and Class 1 intermodal rail carriers — into a single API and dashboard. The company's core products include the Container Tracking Dashboard, a RESTful API with webhooks, an AI Document Hub that classifies and extracts structured data from shipping documents, an intermodal rail tracking module with ML-powered Predictive Rail ETAs, an embeddable Track & Trace widget, and DataSync for data warehouse integrations. Its proprietary ML model reduces inland rail ETA prediction error by 42% (MAE 1.72 to 1.00 days) and covers ~99% of US and Canada rail shipments. The platform addresses fragmented, delayed container data that drives detention and demurrage costs, manual tracking overhead, and limited customer visibility for logistics operators.
Terminal49 targets freight forwarders, customs brokers, cargo owners (importers/exporters), and drayage providers across SMB, mid-market, and enterprise segments, with named customers including DB Schenker, Mazda USA, Wayfair, Hillebrand, ECU Worldwide, Jaguar Freight, Valor Victoria, and Yokohama Tire. The go-to-market is hybrid: a PLG/free tier (up to 100 containers, no credit card required) drives developer and SMB acquisition, while enterprise field sales targets the Complete tier — multi-year contracts with dedicated CSM, shared Slack channels, and SLA-backed uptime guarantees. Pricing spans Free, Lite (annual), Essential (annual or PAYG, with API access and intermodal rail), and Complete (predictive ETAs, automated workflows, dedicated support), supplemented by usage-based document-processing credits in the AI Document Hub. The company operates with 11-50 employees and over 10,000 registered operators, and serves North America, Canada, Mexico, LATAM, and the Caribbean, tracking 1B+ milestones for the North American import supply chain.
Terminal49 firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Terminal49
- Legal name
- Terminal49, Inc.
- Website
- https://terminal49.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Terminal49 is a San Francisco-based ocean freight visibility platform that consolidates real-time container tracking data from 150+ ocean carriers, terminals, and Class 1 rail carriers into a single API and dashboard for freight forwarders, cargo owners, and drayage providers. It monetizes via tiered SaaS subscriptions (Free, Lite, Essential, Complete) and usage-based AI Document Hub credits, augmented by enterprise field sales.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Terminal49 industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Supply Chain Visibility Software
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)
- SIC
- Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Port Data Exchange / Data Space & Master Data Management (MDM) (TLAHAOAO)
Keywords
Where Terminal49 is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Terminal49 business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (Tiered Plans): Terminal49 offers four tiered subscription plans: Free (limited users and features), Lite (annual contract with unlimited users), Essential (API access and intermodal rail, annual or PAYG), and Complete (predictive ETAs, automated workflows, dedicated CSM). Higher tiers include more features and support.
- Document Credits (Usage-based): AI Document Hub uses a credit model for document processing. Capture credits for classification and linking, with additional credits for Extract tier when structured data output is needed. Free tier includes 50 document credits; additional credits can be purchased.
- Freemium: Free tier allows tracking of first shipments with up to 3 users, basic notifications, and 50 document credits. This drives adoption and conversion to paid tiers for larger teams and advanced features.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier for individuals and small teams getting started with container tracking |
| Subscription | Annual | Full visibility and document management for teams with consistent volume |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Connect tools, collaborate with team, and scale operations with API access |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Complete container lifecycle automation with predictive ETAs and dedicated support |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Terminal49 product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Terminal49 is a container tracking and execution platform that consolidates real-time ocean, rail and terminal milestone data from 150+ sources into a single dashboard and RESTful API. The platform enables logistics operators (freight forwarders, cargo owners, drayage providers) to track containers, manage shipping documents via AI, predict inland ETAs, and automate downstream workflows in order to avoid detention and demurrage fees and reduce manual tracking effort.
Product overview
Terminal49 is a unified ocean freight visibility platform providing automated container tracking, shipment documents, and workflow automation. The platform consists of a core Container Tracking Dashboard and API (offered across Free, Lite, Essential, and Complete pricing tiers), enhanced by AI Document Hub for document management and extraction, Intermodal Rail Container Tracking for Class 1 rail visibility, Track & Trace Widget for embeddable customer portals, and DataSync for data warehouse integrations. Custom Fields brings business-specific data (POs, SKUs, workflow states) into the platform, while pre-built integrations connect to TMS (Descartes, CargoWise), ERP (SAP, Oracle, NetSuite), and data warehouses (Snowflake, BigQuery). The Complete tier adds ML-powered Predictive Rail ETAs and dedicated support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Container Tracking Dashboard Real-time shipment visibility dashboard providing container-level tracking across ocean, rail and inland destinations, with Containers at Risk view, Shipment Status, customizable reports, milestone alerts, vessel insights and sharing capabilities for logistics operators.
- Container Tracking API RESTful JSON:API providing real-time container tracking data including carrier milestones, terminal information, vessel schedules and rail tracking, with webhook push notifications and native integrations to ERP, TMS, data warehouses and custom platforms.
- AI Document Hub AI-powered document management platform with Capture (automated classification, PDF splitting, shipment linking) and Extract (structured data extraction from commercial invoices, packing lists and HBLs) tiers, operated via email forwarding, drag-and-drop or API and sold on a credit-based usage model.
- Intermodal Rail Container Tracking Real-time intermodal rail container tracking for Class 1 carriers (BNSF, UP, CSX, NS, CN, CPKC) with ML-powered Predictive Rail ETA, Last Free Day tracking and rail-specific milestones, sold as an add-on to the core tracking platform.
- Track & Trace Widget Embeddable white-label track and trace widget for customer websites and portals, delivering real-time container status, port/terminal events, vessel ETAs, milestone history and exception alerts branded as the customer's own, sold as an add-on.
- DataSync Native data synchronization service that pushes Terminal49 container tracking data directly into data warehouses (Snowflake, Google BigQuery, Microsoft SQL Server), BI tools (Power BI), spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel) and ERP systems via secure protocols with SOC2-compliant encrypted transfers.
- Free Global Container Tracking Free-tier container tracking offering for any company globally, covering up to 100 containers with 3 users and basic notifications, designed to drive self-serve adoption and conversion into paid Lite, Essential and Complete plans.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduce manual shipment tracking by 90%
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Terminal49
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Terminal49 technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration21 records
AI capability7 records
Feature8 records
Terminal49 partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Chain.iocoreNative integration partnership with Chain.io's pluggable component architecture. Enables connections between internal systems, latest SaaS platforms, and legacy customer systems. Seamlessly connects Terminal49 container data into Chain.io's network.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Terminal49 competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- project44: project44 is a global supply chain visibility platform that aggregates shipment data across ocean, road, rail, and air carriers — the most direct head-to-head competitor to Terminal49 in ocean and intermodal container tracking, with substantially more funding and broader modal coverage.
- FourKites: FourKites provides multi-modal supply chain visibility — including dynamic ocean and rail tracking — with predictive ETAs and TMS integrations. It directly overlaps Terminal49's core container and rail tracking use cases and competes for the same shipper and forwarder budgets.
- Vizion: Vizion (formerly Bluesoft) offers an API-first container tracking platform with standardized ocean carrier and terminal data — a near like-for-like competitor to Terminal49's API/dashboard product, often evaluated by the same developers and TMS integration teams.
- Ocean Insights: Ocean Insights is the visibility and tracking arm of ocean carrier ONE (Ocean Network Express), offering standardized container milestone data via API and dashboard. It competes directly with Terminal49 but as a carrier-affiliated platform that some shippers may prefer or be steered toward.
Broad incumbents
- Descartes Systems Group: Descartes is a long-standing global logistics SaaS incumbent (TMS, customs, routing) that has acquired multiple visibility platforms. Its broad logistics suite overlaps Terminal49's tracking capabilities, especially for buyers looking for a single-vendor contract across TMS and visibility.
- Flexport: Flexport is a digital freight forwarder that built its own container visibility tooling for shippers and NVOCCs. While broader in scope (forwarding + customs + visibility), its internal and customer-facing tracking capabilities place it in Terminal49's competitive set for mid-market and enterprise freight.
- CargoWise (WiseTech Global): CargoWise is a leading global TMS used by freight forwarders and customs brokers; it integrates with multiple visibility providers including Terminal49. As an enterprise incumbent, it competes indirectly by funneling visibility demand through its installed base and partner ecosystem.
- Kuehne+Nagel: Kuehne+Nagel is one of the world's largest freight forwarders with proprietary digital tracking platforms (KN Login, myKN). It represents both a potential customer and competitor for Terminal49, offering in-house container tracking for the largest shippers.
Emerging players
- Portcast: Portcast is a Singapore-based container and shipment visibility platform focused on predictive analytics for ocean and air freight. It overlaps with Terminal49 on AI-driven ETA prediction and tracking use cases, especially among APAC-based forwarders and shippers.
- Beacon: Beacon is a freight management platform offering container tracking, document management, and collaboration tools — directly comparable to Terminal49's tracking + Document Hub bundle and marketed to similar freight forwarder and customs broker personas.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Terminal49 social profiles
Digital presenceTerminal49 compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Terminal49 financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Terminal49 leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Terminal49 funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Terminal49 M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Terminal49
What does Terminal49 do?
Terminal49 is a container tracking and execution platform that consolidates real-time ocean, rail and terminal milestone data from 150+ sources into a single dashboard and RESTful API. The platform enables logistics operators (freight forwarders, cargo owners, drayage providers) to track containers, manage shipping documents via AI, predict inland ETAs, and automate downstream workflows in order to avoid detention and demurrage fees and reduce manual tracking effort.
Is Terminal49 a public or private company?
Terminal49 is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Terminal49 founded?
Terminal49 was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Terminal49 based?
Terminal49 is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Terminal49 make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscription (Tiered Plans) is the primary driver. The others are document Credits (Usage-based) and freemium.
Who are Terminal49's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are project44, FourKites, Vizion and Ocean Insights. Broad incumbents are Descartes Systems Group, Flexport, CargoWise (WiseTech Global) and Kuehne+Nagel. Emerging players are Portcast and Beacon.
Does Terminal49 have an API?
Yes. Terminal49 offers a public RESTful API using JSON:API schema that provides real-time container tracking data, shipment milestones, terminal information, vessel schedules, and rail tracking. The API supports push-based webhook notifications for container status changes, ETAs, and new data. Authentication uses Bearer token with 'Token' prefix. Available to all users with plan-based limits (Free tier offers up to 100 containers, Lite/Essential/Complete plans offer higher limits). The API is documented with code samples for Python, Ruby, Node, and other languages. Developer documentation is at terminal49.com/docs/api-docs/getting-started/start-here.
What industry is Terminal49 in?
Terminal49's product category is Supply Chain Visibility Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is TLAHAOAO, Port Data Exchange / Data Space & Master Data Management (MDM). Its NAICS code is 4883 and its SIC code is 4731.