Freight Tender Software

A freight tender sounds like a simple comparison at first glance: several carriers submit offers. The prices are compared. The best provider wins. In practice, the task is considerably more complex.

That's because a freight offer often consists of many lanes, modes of transport, weight classes, surcharges, cost components and different volume assumptions. A total price can heavily compress these differences.

A specialized freight tender software should therefore not just place offers side by side. It should help calculate the offers based on a company's actual transport structure, compare different scenarios, and thereby create a reliable basis for the award decision.

ShipCheck relies on real transport data at the shipment level for this. Tender offers are calculated by their cost components, applied to actual transports, and made comparable by mode of transport and lane, among other dimensions.

What is freight tender software?

Freight tender software is a tool for the structured analysis and comparison of offers from different transport providers. The focus is not just the question: "Which carrier has the lowest total price?" But rather: "How would the various offers affect our actual transport profile?"

This requires bringing together several data worlds: existing shipment data, offered freight rates, lanes, modes of transport, quantities or volumes, and relevant cost components.

ShipCheck describes its tendering tool as a platform with which offers can be compared line by line, total costs can be broken down, and different volume and route scenarios can be simulated.

Why freight tenders with a total budget can be problematic

In tenders, companies often receive a total price or a budget. That's easy to grasp. But this figure only shows to a limited extent where the costs come from.

A total price can, for example, simultaneously include: various routes, different modes of transport, surcharges and different service types. This makes it hard to see: On which lane is a provider cheap? Where are they expensive? Which cost component makes the difference? How does the result change if volume shifts?

ShipCheck describes exactly this problem: total sums often obscure modes of transport, routes and surcharges. The tendering tool therefore breaks offers down into their components and makes individual price components comparable by lane.

What data does a data-driven freight tender need?

An important foundation is the company's actual transport data. Historical shipping data shows, for example: which lanes are used, which transport volumes occur, which shipment structures are relevant, and which modes of transport are used.

ShipCheck uses real transport data at the shipment level to compare offers with each other. This is a decisive difference from a purely abstract rate comparison. A rate is only economically meaningful if it is applied to the transport structure it will actually be used for later.

How does a software-supported freight tender work?

The exact tendering process can vary by company. From the software's perspective, however, the ShipCheck approach can be broken down into several simplified steps.

1. Real shipment data forms the starting basis

Instead of calculating with just a flat budget, the existing transport information is used. ShipCheck evaluates offers based on actual shipment data and can break the results down to the individual transport.

2. Offers are broken down into their cost components

Carriers' offers are not viewed merely as a single total sum. What matters are the underlying lanes, modes of transport, cost components and rate elements. ShipCheck offers a side-by-side comparison of carrier offers and a breakdown of total costs for this.

3. Offers are applied to the transport profile

This makes it possible to calculate what each offer would mean for the company under the underlying shipment data. ShipCheck explicitly describes this approach as: comparing carrier offers based on actual shipment data – not on averages or budgets.

4. Results are broken down by lane and mode of transport

Instead of just creating a ranking based on total budget, results can be viewed granularly. ShipCheck enables drill-down by lane down to the individual transport and shows which lanes or modes of transport particularly influence the budget.

5. Scenarios are simulated

A tender concerns future transports. It can therefore make sense not to look only at the historical shipment profile. ShipCheck enables what-if scenarios with different volume and route combinations.

6. Different award models are compared

Not every tender has to end with a simple "one provider wins it all" decision. ShipCheck also supports different allocation models for shipments to providers and can create a best-case award scenario.

Feature 1: Compare offers line by line

A fundamental feature of freight tender software is the structured comparison of offers. ShipCheck describes this as a side-by-side comparison of all carrier offers. This turns Carrier A: €4.2 million, Carrier B: €4.1 million, Carrier C: €4.3 million into a more granular view. For example: which provider is cheaper on which lane, how individual cost components differ, and which modes of transport are driving costs.

Feature 2: Break down costs by lane and mode of transport

A carrier can't be equally strong on every lane. So it's not always enough to know just a total sum per provider. ShipCheck presents tender results by lane, mode of transport and cost component and enables a drill-down down to the individual transport. This makes it much easier to see where a provider performs particularly well or worse economically within your own transport network.

Feature 3: Use actual shipment data instead of averages

A rate comparison becomes considerably more meaningful when real transport data is included. ShipCheck calculates costs per individual transport based on the company's own data. This prevents the evaluation from depending solely on flat averages or budget assumptions.

The basic question is: what would our actual shipping profile have cost under each offer? That is the central calculation logic behind data-driven tendering.

Feature 4: Account for future volumes and sales forecasts

Historical shipping data is an important foundation. But the future doesn't have to look the same as the past year. A company might, for example, expect: higher volumes, new regions, different lanes, or a changed product structure.

ShipCheck therefore allows sales forecasts to be included in the tender calculation alongside past quantities. This makes it possible to calculate logistics costs based on planned quantities against the rates actually offered. This is especially relevant when the transport profile will change significantly during the upcoming contract period.

Feature 5: Calculate what-if scenarios

A good tendering tool shouldn't just output a single result. It's also interesting to know: what happens if the assumptions change? ShipCheck, for example, offers scenarios for volume growth, new lanes, different carrier mixes and fuel price changes. This makes it possible to examine how stable an award decision remains under changed conditions.

Feature 6: Compare different award models

Another layer is the question: which carrier should get which transports? The provider with the best total price doesn't have to be the economically best choice on every lane. ShipCheck therefore enables different allocation models for shipments and providers. In addition, a best-case award scenario can be created and compared with further variants.

Feature 7: Prepare results for management and controlling

A tender doesn't end with the calculation. The decision often also has to be explained and approved internally. ShipCheck therefore supports exporting CFO-ready reports for stakeholder presentations. This is especially relevant when logistics, procurement, controlling and management all need to evaluate the same decision from different perspectives.

What a best-price matrix delivers

A best-price matrix is a compact representation of the results of different tender participants. ShipCheck presents results by mode of transport and lane in such a matrix. The advantage: it becomes visible that a carrier doesn't necessarily have to be the cheapest everywhere.

A provider can, for example, be very strong on certain lanes, perform weaker on other lanes, or be particularly attractive for certain modes of transport. The matrix thus not only supports the offer comparison. It also creates a foundation for different award models.

Freight tender software vs. Excel

A tender can of course also be run in Excel. With few offers, simple rates and manageable lanes, that can be perfectly sufficient.

However, complexity increases with more carriers, more lanes, more rate components, multiple modes of transport, different scenarios, forecasts and alternative award models. Then many combinations must be recalculated and compared with each other again and again. The advantage of specialized software therefore lies mainly in mapping this calculation logic in a reusable structure.

Freight tender software vs. classic offer comparison

A simple offer comparison answers: which offer has which price? A data-driven freight tender goes further: what does the offer cost with our actual shipment profile? On which lanes is which provider strong? How does the result change with different volumes? Which award combination is cheapest under the chosen assumptions? This turns a static price table into a decision model.

How much does the software take over – and what remains up to humans?

Freight tender software can significantly improve quantitative analysis. It can, for example, calculate offers, make cost components comparable, apply real shipment data, simulate scenarios, and compare different award options.

However, it does not automatically replace every business decision. Besides the calculated costs, other criteria may be relevant to an award decision that the company must assess itself. The tool's benefit therefore lies in making the cost and data side of the decision transparent and comparable.

How does this article differ from a pure freight offer comparison?

The article "Comparing freight offers: why the lowest total price isn't automatically the best offer" primarily covers a specific question: how should different carrier offers be economically compared with each other?

Freight tender software has a broader purpose. It supports the entire data-driven analysis process around offers, shipment data, cost breakdowns, scenarios, forecasts, award models and reporting. Offer comparison is thus a core function of the tendering tool – but not its only function.

What should you look for when choosing freight tender software?

The requirements described above lead to several key selection criteria.

• Is real shipment data used? The software should not only compare rates abstractly but be able to apply them to the concrete transport structure.
• Can analysis be done down to the lane and individual transport level? Aggregated budgets alone are often not enough for complex networks.
• Are cost components presented transparently? Surcharges and other rate elements should not disappear into a single total sum.
• Can scenarios be simulated? The future transport structure can differ from the past.
• Can forecasts be taken into account? This is especially relevant when volume or structural changes are expected.
• Can different award models be compared? The best solution doesn't necessarily have to be a full award to a single provider.
• Can results be exported in an understandable way? The decision often also has to be comprehensible to finance, management or other stakeholders.

These points correspond to the core functions ShipCheck describes for its tendering tool.

How ShipCheck supports freight tenders

The ShipCheck approach can be summarized in simplified form as follows:

• Actual transport data as the basis: offers are evaluated based on the real shipment profile.
• Calculate offers granularly: tender offers are evaluated by cost component.
• Compare results by lane and mode of transport: this makes visible where individual providers are particularly strong or weak.
• Account for forecasts and scenarios: historical data can be supplemented with future volume assumptions and alternative scenarios.
• Compare award models: ShipCheck supports different allocations of shipments to providers and a best-case award scenario.
• Prepare results for decisions: best-price matrix and reports create a comprehensible foundation for logistics, procurement, finance and management.

Conclusion: freight tender software turns offers into a decision model

A freight tender is not just about placing several total prices next to each other. With more complex transport structures, the more important question is: what do these offers mean for our actual shipments and our future transport structure?

A suitable freight tender software should therefore take real shipment data into account, calculate offers by their cost components, make lanes and modes of transport individually comparable, incorporate forecasts, simulate scenarios and compare different award models.

ShipCheck combines these functions in its tendering tool and calculates the costs based on the company's own transport data. This changes the central question of a tender from "Which provider submitted the lowest budget?" to "Which provider and award combination best fits our actual and expected transport profile in cost terms?"