ORLANDO, Fla. — Truckstop.com will launch within three weeks the industry’s first rate-forecasting tool, a move that underscores the advantage of posting rates on the spot market, a company executive said April 10.

Since Scott Moscrip founded Internet Truckstop in his basement 22 years ago, the company that became Truckstop.com has grown quietly. Its lack of heraldry is partially deliberate, CEO Paris Cole says, but toiling in little New Plymouth, Idaho, a town of 1,513, doesn’t draw much attention, either.

DALLAS — As emerging technologies and new business models transform the way freight moves, transportation firms will need to undergo a metamorphosis of their own to compete in this new world, executives said.