Guide ยท Broker
Choosing a TMS without starting from a vendor list
Which TMS should a $60 million brokerage move to?
Not the one we name on a webpage. The right TMS depends on your freight mix, your customers' integration demands and what you'll do yourselves, and a selection done right spends a few weeks writing that down before any demo.
ASSUMEDWe assumed a mid-size brokerage on a TMS it has outgrown, with customer EDI already in place.
Your stack, as you described it
Where people are the glue
- Every partner connection has to be rebuilt when the TMS changes
- The requirements live in people's heads
Three ways through
- Use what you haveStart here
Keep what you have until objectives, process and data are written down. Half of 'we need a new TMS' is a configuration or integration problem in the one you own.
- ConnectWhat we'd do next
Put an integration layer between the TMS and your partners now, so the migration moves data, not every customer connection.
- BuildOnly if it's your edge
A custom TMS is a decade-long commitment. It pays only when the workflow is the business, which is rare and real.
What happens next
- A Transformation conversation: objectives, freight mix, must-have integrations, what you'll run yourselves.
- A scored shortlist and demos against your own loads, not the vendor's.
- A migration plan that counts the partner connections.
Have a different stack? Ask the guide.
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