5 Myths About Freight Forwarding Software
Myth #2 - Freight Forwarding Software is Too Expensive to Deliver Return on Investment (ROI)
Countering Commonly Held Myths
Many freight forwarders tell us that they have historically viewed software as a cost rather than an investment. Purchasing a modern freight forwarding platform often raises questions about implementation costs and subscription models, making it easy to focus on the upfront expense rather than the achievable business value. The reality is that the greatest costs that reduce profit are often not technology investments, but rather an organization’s existing manual processes, disconnected systems, and operational inefficiencies. Forwarding software can optimize manual processes and connect internal systems, which reduces inefficiencies and helps companies improve profitability.
The Reality: Implementing Freight Forwarding Software Generates Costs Savings by Reducing Manual Processes
Freight forwarder customers are seeking real-time shipment visibility and real-time quotes with 24-hour access. These expectations raise the customer experience bar in a way that can only be addressed with technology. The race to improve productivity while protecting margins is here.
Whether managing hundreds of shipments each month or thousands, many forwarders continue to operate with manual processes that create significant operational costs. For example, the same data is entered multiple times across different applications. Shipment updates are handled manually. Quoting is handled by salespeople, taking significant time away from the time they spend selling. Regulatory and compliance processes require significant administrative effort researching the latest requirements and filing entry and export documents with the appropriate government agencies.
The time spent on these manual processes is not often quantified yet collectively consumes valuable employee time, increases the likelihood of errors, slows customer response times, and makes it more difficult to scale business efficiently.
Why Does the Myth Persist?
The primary reason the perception persists that freight forwarding software is too expensive is that software costs are highly visible while the costs of inefficient manual processes are much harder to quantify.
Subscription fees and implementation costs can be calculated before a purchase is made. The cumulative cost of manually creating documents, correcting data entry errors, responding to shipment inquiries, or managing multiple disconnected systems is not often measured and, instead, is accepted as part of normal business operations.
Bart van Apeldoorn, Global Sales Account Executive, from Descartes, shares insights from conversations with small and mid-sized forwarders:
“Given these organizations are operating in a structural low-margin environment, service, speed, and proactivity are their only real differentiators. When forwarders use three or four separate systems just to save a bit of upfront budget, they overlook their most expensive asset, which is time. Time is the one thing a forwarder cannot save for later. They either use it well and productively right now or it is gone forever."
Many organizations also continue to evaluate software based primarily on purchase price rather than the broader operational improvements it can deliver. As a result, discussions around return on investment frequently overlook the significant gains in productivity, customer service, and business scalability that modern platforms provide.
What Has Changed in Regard to Technology?
Modern cloud-based platforms automate quoting, documentation, shipment management, and regulatory compliance while bringing critical business information together within a single ecosystem. These capabilities reduce repetitive administrative work, improve visibility, and provide employees with better information to make faster, more informed decisions. These capabilities allow for reallocation of employee efforts to growth-focused activities.
Perhaps most importantly, modern freight forwarding software enables organizations to process more shipments, serve more customers, and support business growth without increasing operational complexity. The ability to digitize workflows also opens the door to customer self-service options that can significantly increase service availability hours. Providing self-service options allows customers to access information, perform transactions, or resolve issues independently, anytime and anywhere, without waiting for an available agent or a call-back.
Where Does the ROI Come From?
The strongest return on investment lies in leveraging technology to optimize operational performance across the business.
Automated quoting enables sales teams to respond faster while improving pricing consistency. Centralized rate management eliminates time spent searching through spreadsheets and email chains. Automated documentation and compliance workflows reduce errors and administrative effort. Real-time shipment visibility allows teams to proactively manage exceptions before they impact customers.
Combined, these improvements reduce operating costs while enabling employees to spend more time supporting customers and developing new business opportunities.
Customer Perspective
Many companies may begin their technology evaluation focused only on software costs. It's once they begin to understand the bottom-line impact of replacing manual processes that the true ROI impact begins to materialize. Rather than adding staff to manage increasing shipment volumes, companies discover they can automate routine activities, consolidate multiple systems into a single platform, and significantly improve productivity across their operations. AMC Transportation, a licensed Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI), highlights how Descartes’ solution helped them cut costs by automating manual processes and integrating disparate systems:
"Descartes is helping us save costs. As a freight forwarder, our biggest cost is labor, and solutions that can save time essentially lead us to higher profits. The technology also seamlessly integrates with our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, which saves us further time and money. We are using the reduced costs to reinvest in technology and focus on customer service which increases long-term client stickiness.”
- Wilson Huang, Head of Product & Marketing, AMC Transportation
How Can Descartes Help?
Descartes Freight Forwarding Software helps logistics service providers optimize their operations by automating manual activities and digitizing customer-facing processes. Our solution enables efficient coordination of shipments from origin to destination, facilitates real-time customer tracking, streamlines communication between stakeholders, automates documentation processes, and provides valuable insights through rich accounting and analytics.
Our customs clearance capabilities automate routine or high-volume work and seamlessly transmit and receive data from government agencies. By providing access to connected carriers and leveraging spot rates, our rate management and quoting capabilities allow you to quote customers in real-time via a self-serve digital platform, email or phone. Key capabilities include:
Automation That Increases Productivity
Automate repetitive, manual tasks including quoting, document management, milestone tracking, and compliance workflows. With AI-assisted capabilities that help to streamline quote creation and data entry, operations teams can be efficient and accurate while focusing on higher-value customer activities.
A Unified Operational Platform
Alleviate the pain of applications that aren’t well-integrated with a single source of truth. By bringing together shipment management, customs compliance, and accounting into a single solution, freight forwarders can eliminate duplicate data entry, improve collaboration across teams, and provide management and customers with greater operational visibility.
A Connected Logistics Ecosystem
The Descartes Global Logistics Network™ (Descartes GLN™) connects forwarders with carriers, customs authorities, ports, terminals, and logistics partners among others. Instead of developing and maintaining hundreds of individual connections, forwarders gain immediate access to a broad logistics ecosystem that improves visibility, accelerates communication, and simplifies compliance.
Modular Deployment
Implement the functionality you need today, whether freight operations, customs compliance, customer portals, or price management and quoting, and expand with additional capabilities as they are required. This phased approach minimizes disruption while delivering value faster.
Scalable Platform Architecture
Support multiple locations, entities, currencies, and local regulatory requirements, such as security filings, from a single platform. As your business grows through new customers, acquisitions, or geographic expansion, your technology grows with you without requiring a costly system replacement.