Transportation Management Software (TMS)

What is Transportation Management Software?

Transportation management software helps users plan and execute deliveries across the supply chain. Efficient deliveries depend on informed route planning, freight consolidation, and enhanced visibility. By providing managers with appropriate tools like route optimization, load building, and track and trace, the right transportation management system (TMS) can improve fleet performance and reduce supply chain expenditures. Along with warehouse management software, TMS software constitutes the logistics side of an overall supply chain management system.

TMS Features & Functionality

TMS software offers a number of important tools to maximize efficiency and reduce costs associated with product shipping and transportation. Some of these features include strategic freight sourcing tools, multi-modal planning functionality, route optimization, freight consolidation, and dock scheduling.

These features provide the following functionality:

Evaluating Transportation Management Systems

Demand for high-quality systems has gone up as organizations realize their cost-saving potential. But their historical lack of use means there’s no one truly dominant leader in the small and mid-size business markets.

Important considerations when selecting a TMS program include:

• Is your organization interested in an on-premise or SaaS deployment?
• Is your organization a small to midsized business? If so, does the vendor have an established reputation for serving the needs of business of this size?
• Does the system support all modes of transportation within your supply chain?
• Can the system offer specialized functionality to meet the unique delivery needs of your vertical market?
• Does your organization engage in global trade? Not all TMS systems include functionality for international logistics.