Superior transportation management planning is characterized by optimized planning, proactive carrier management, improved visibility, and comprehensive control over operations and freight accounting. This white paper explores five essential elements that can transform the transportation management function into a source of strategic business advantage:
- Optimized multi-modal shipment planning and carrier selection
- Real-time transportation visibility in shipment management
- Financial risk mitigation in freight accounting
- Rules-based automation and management by exception
- Trading partner communication and stakeholder collaboration

These elements drive game-changing capabilities that help the transportation team meet, and beat, the company’s crucial business goals. Costs are reduced through more efficient load building, multi-mode optimization and carrier selection, better load tendering, inbound shipment visibility, and more. Service is improved by reducing lead times, shortening planning cycles, and better shipment tracking, among other factors. Productivity is enhanced through task automation, management-by-exception, and increased trading partner compliance.

This paper delineates the key ingredients necessary to create an advanced transportation management solution.