How to better manage orders, capacity, routes, shipment statuses, partners, documents and profitability
Transport and Logistics Business Areas
Transport modes, service models, infrastructure and regulatory requirements differ within the sector, therefore a separate analysis applies to each business area.
Transport orders and their changes are received through too many channels
Retyping errors, planning delays and the risk that the client and operations team work with different order versions increase.
Biggest opportunity
Integrated order and fulfilment process
Connect customer order, pricing, capacity selection, routing, fulfilment statuses, partner actions, documents, exceptions, actual costs and settlement.
Recommended first step
Connect one transport order scenario
For a selected service and multiple clients, integrate order receipt, transport management system, execution statuses, proof of delivery, actual costs and invoice preparation.
The greatest result is created not by yet another separate tracking tool, but by a reliable process in which every order event immediately changes the plan, task, customer status and financial picture.
Complete sector analysis
The full digital sector analysis is presented below. A more detailed analysis tailored to the specific operating model is available on the business area pages.
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How this sector works
The sector comprises road, rail, sea and air transport, forwarding, courier services, warehousing, terminals and multimodal logistics. Operations differ, but all require coordination of limited capacity, multiple parties, real-time events, documents and low error tolerance.
Multiple organisations participate in one shipment
The sender, freight forwarder, several carriers, warehouses, terminals, customs and the recipient must exchange the same information.
Capacity is limited and time-dependent
Vehicles, drivers, terminals, warehouse spaces and delivery windows cannot be freely increased through software alone.
The plan is constantly altered by real events
Loading, border crossing, traffic, terminal queues, delays or cargo damage can immediately change subsequent execution.
International operations require numerous documents and regulations
Requirements for transport mode, customs, security, working time and cross-border documentation apply.
Low margins are sensitive to every exception
Waiting, empty running, incorrect tariff, additional reloading or a late document can eliminate the profitability of an order.
Partners' digital maturity varies greatly
Large operators use APIs and advanced systems, whilst some smaller carriers still rely on telephone, email and document photographs.
Market and technology context
Transport documents and event data are being gradually standardised. Electronic CMR, eFTI, DCSA container tracking and IATA ONE Record standards provide the foundation for reducing the need for paper documents and individual integrations, but a company only gains real benefit when this data is linked to the internal order, planning, execution and billing process.
Electronic transport documents and readiness for eFTIElectronic CMR and digital proof of delivery shorten the document cycle, and the Electronic Freight Transport Information Regulation will be fully applicable from 9 July 2027.
Clients expect reliable real-time statusA vehicle dot on a map is no longer sufficient for the client – they expect estimated time of arrival, reason for deviation and a plan of further action.
Common data standards across transport modesDCSA container tracking and IATA ONE Record air cargo data standards provide the foundation for more consistent shipment event transmission between different parties.
Shortage of staff and capacityThe shortage of drivers, planners and warehouse workers increases the value of automatic order acceptance, planning and document processing.
Growing cost and sustainability pressureFuel, road charges, waiting and empty running costs drive more accurate route and resource planning.
Large clients demand direct integrationsOrders, status updates, documents and invoice data increasingly need to be transferred automatically between systems.
Digital maturity model
0
Logistics managed by phone and documents
Orders, status updates and documents depend on phone calls, email and paper.
1
Core operational systems
TMS, WMS, ERP or telematics are used, but data is transferred manually.
2
Individual processes digitalised
A portal, driver app or document solutions are in place, but there is no seamless chain.
3
Core order fulfilment processes integrated Typical current situation
Order, shipment, key execution status updates, documents and cost data are linked in core processes, but data exchange with partners and across different transport modes is not yet seamless.
4
Logistics managed by real-time data Siektina
ETA, exceptions, capacity, margin and quality are monitored in real time.
5
Predictive and partially autonomous logistics
AI dynamically plans capacity, forecasts disruptions and executes limited optimisation.
Key conclusion
In the transport and logistics sector, a large proportion of costs and risks arises not in the physical movement itself, but in accepting the order, coordinating capacity, changing the plan, transferring statuses and collecting documents.
A typical business already uses TMS, telematics, WMS or partner portals, but the information for a single order is still fragmented. TMS sees the trip, telematics sees the vehicle, the partner sees their own status, and the customer is still searching for an answer by phone or email.
First, it is worth selecting one frequent order scenario and connecting its acceptance, planning, execution, statuses, documents and margin. Only then is it worth expanding into dynamic planning, ETA forecasts or AI.
Transport orders and their changes are received through too many channels
Critical
Orders, tariff enquiries, loading times and changes are received by email, telephone, customer portals or files and manually transferred to TMS.
Consequences
Retyping errors, planning delays and the risk that the client and operations team work with different order versions increase.
Own and partner transport capacity is not visible in one place
Critical
Own fleet, subcontractor capacities, drivers' working hours, terminal utilisation and order priorities are planned in different tools.
Consequences
Empty kilometres, urgent subcontracting, downtime and orders whose profitability only becomes clear later increase.
Shipment status and estimated time of arrival are insufficiently reliable
Critical
GPS, carrier, terminal, port, airline and warehouse events have different formats, and some statuses are still received by telephone.
Consequences
Clients and the operations team learn about deviations too late, increasing the costs of waiting, storage and production downtime.
Consignment notes and proof of delivery still move manually
Critical
CMR, customs documents, temperature records and delivery confirmations are collected on paper, by email or in unconnected applications.
Consequences
Invoice issuance is delayed, document searches, disputes and administrative work increase.
Routes and schedules fail to respond quickly enough to changing conditions
High
Plans do not always account for traffic, delivery windows, road restrictions, driver working hours, vehicle type and new orders.
Consequences
Mileage, fuel costs, delays and planner workload are increasing.
Order cost and margin become clear too late
High
Fuel, road tolls, waiting time, transhipments, subcontracting, additional work and claims are not linked to specific orders in a timely manner.
Consequences
The business accepts unprofitable orders and cannot accurately compare the profitability of customers, routes or partners.
Subcontractor and partner data is presented inconsistently
High
Carrier order acceptance, statuses, documents, tariffs and quality KPIs are managed via email, portals or different file formats.
Consequences
It is difficult to quickly select a partner, control quality and provide the customer with unified information.
Delays, violations and claims lack a single management workflow
High
Incidents are recorded via phone calls, messages or separate processes, and responsibilities and deadlines are not always assigned automatically.
Consequences
The team responds late, the customer receives inconsistent information, and the same causes recur.
Vehicle maintenance often only begins once a fault occurs
Medium
Mileage, telematics, fault and repair data are not linked to planned trips and vehicle availability, so maintenance needs are often only noticed once a disruption occurs.
Consequences
Unplanned downtime, urgent repairs and the need for replacement vehicles increase.
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Integration of a single transport order scenarioVery high impactFor a selected service and several customers, connect order receipt, transport management system entry, trip statuses, electronic proof of delivery, actual costs and invoice preparation.
Reliable shipment status and exception managementVery high impactConnect carrier, terminal, GPS and warehouse events, calculate ETA and automatically identify which shipments require employee attention.
Capacity, Route and Journey OptimisationVery high impactPlan orders, vehicles, drivers, partners, delivery windows and return loads collectively.
Electronic Transport DocumentsHigh impactTransition to electronic CMR, digital proof of delivery, eFTI readiness and automated document verification.
Digital Partner and Subcontractor CollaborationHigh impactStandardise the exchange of capacity, order, status, document, tariff and quality data.
Delay, Breach and Claim ManagementHigh impactAutomatically detect deviation, assign the responsible person, inform the client and collect evidence required for resolution.
Order and Customer Profitability AnalyticsHigh impactLink tariff to actual mileage, fuel, waiting time, subcontracting, road charges, additional work and claims.
Biggest opportunity
Integrated order and fulfilment process
Connect customer order, pricing, capacity selection, routing, fulfilment statuses, partner actions, documents, exceptions, actual costs and settlement.
Higher utilisation of transport and partner capacity
Less empty running, waiting and manual coordination
More accurate order margin control
More reliable shipment status for the customer
Faster document collection and invoicing
Fewer delays, disputes and claims
Expected impact on operations and financial performance
Better utilisation of transport capacityA unified view of orders, own fleet and partners reduces empty running, idle time and urgent subcontracting.
Greater planner productivityAutomatic exchange of orders, statuses and documents enables the same team to manage more trips.
More reliable deliveryMore accurate ETA and early detection of deviations help to adjust the plan faster and inform the customer.
More accurate order marginActual costs are assigned to the order in real time, enabling tariffs, customer terms and partner selection to be adjusted.
Shorter document and cash cycleElectronic proof of delivery and document verification reduce the time from delivery to invoice.
Lower operational and compliance riskUnified statuses, documents and event history help to detect violations earlier and manage accountability more clearly.
Less customer effortSelf-service ordering, reliable status and proactive notifications reduce the number of calls and emails.
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Problema
Transport orders and their changes arrive through too many channels
→
Sprendimo kryptis
Integrated transport management system
Manages orders, tariffs, capacity, trips, subcontracting, statuses, documents, actual costs and settlement.
Problema
Own and partner transport capacity is not visible in one place
Empty kilometres, urgent subcontracting, downtime and orders whose profitability only becomes clear later increase.
→
Sprendimo kryptis
Integrated transport management system
Manages orders, tariffs, capacity, trips, subcontracting, statuses, documents, actual costs and settlement.
Problema
Routes and trips do not respond quickly enough to changing conditions
→
Sprendimo kryptis
Integrated transport management system
Manages orders, tariffs, capacity, trips, subcontracting, statuses, documents, actual costs and settlement.
Problema
Order cost and margin become clear too late
The business accepts unprofitable orders and cannot accurately compare the profitability of customers, routes or partners.
→
Sprendimo kryptis
Integrated transport management system
Manages orders, tariffs, capacity, trips, subcontracting, statuses, documents, actual costs and settlement.
Problema
Transport orders and their amendments are received through too many channels
→
Sprendimo kryptis
Customer order and shipment self-service portal
Enables the client to submit an order, view its version, status, ETA, documents, deviations and actions taken by the responsible team.
Problema
Shipment status and estimated time of arrival are insufficiently reliable
Clients and the operations team learn about deviations too late, increasing the costs of waiting, storage and production downtime.
→
Sprendimo kryptis
Customer order and shipment self-service portal
Enables the client to submit an order, view its version, status, ETA, documents, deviations and actions taken by the responsible team.
Recommended digital solutions
Solutions must connect the commercial, operational, document and financial parts of the order. A customer portal, driver app or analytics tool should not become yet another separate system.
Integrated transport management system
Manages orders, tariffs, capacity, trips, subcontracting, statuses, documents, actual costs and settlement.
Customer order and shipment self-service portal
Enables the client to submit an order, view its version, status, ETA, documents, deviations and actions taken by the responsible team.
Shipment status and exception management platform
Integrates telematics, partner, terminal and warehouse events, calculates ETA, identifies deviations and creates tasks for the responsible team.
Driver and execution mobile application
The driver receives the trip, instructions and documents, records statuses, photographs, signature, temperature and exceptions.
Electronic transport documents platform
Manages electronic CMR, eFTI readiness, proof of delivery, document verification, signing and archive.
Carrier and subcontractor management portal
Manages partner qualification, capacity, order acceptance, tariffs, statuses, documents and quality KPIs.
Transport profitability and operations analytics platform
Links order revenue with transport, fuel, waiting time, road charges, subcontracting, maintenance and claims costs.
Investment priorities
Connect one transport order scenarioFor a selected service and multiple clients, integrate order receipt, transport management system, execution statuses, proof of delivery, actual costs and invoice preparation.
Standardise order, shipment and trip dataDefine common identifiers for order, shipment, trip, stop, load unit, status, document and exception.
Create a reliable shipment status and exceptions processConnect events, estimated time of arrival, deviations, responsible employee tasks and customer notifications.
Connect partners and electronic documentsProvide APIs for large partners, a portal or app for smaller ones, whilst implementing electronic consignment notes and proof of delivery.
Only then expand optimisation, forecasting and AIDeploy dynamic planning, arrival time and maintenance forecasts only once reliable data on orders, events, constraints and root causes of deviations is available.
Key implementation conditions
The same order must be identifiable consistently across all systems
Order, shipment, trip, stop, cargo unit and document must have clear interrelationships.
Integrations must work even with poor connectivity
Driver and partner solutions require local data storage, retry logic and conflict management.
Estimated time of arrival quality needs to be measured continuously
Predicted and actual arrival must be compared by route, partner, terminal and reason for deviation, with important decisions left to a responsible employee.
Different partners require different connection methods
Large partners can use API, smaller ones a portal or app, but the required data minimum must be the same.
Use of electronic documents and eFTI depends on legal context
Electronic CMR, eFTI, signature and archiving requirements must be verified by country, mode of transport, contract and process participants.
Recommended implementation sequence
01
Single order process analysis
Establish how a selected service order moves from customer to delivery, documents and invoice.
Order process and responsibility mapping
Systems and integrations mapping
Document and exception flows
Initial KPIs
02
Data model and first version boundaries
Define common identifiers, statuses, selected customers, partners and integration boundaries.
Unified order, shipment and trip objects
First version boundaries
Integration agreements
Pilot criteria
03
Building an integrated order and fulfilment process
Automate order receipt, TMS creation, fulfilment statuses, core documents and actual cost recording.
Customer order integration
TMS workflow
Telematics connectivity
Electronic proof of delivery
04
Pilot with real customers and routes
Migrate selected customer orders to the new process, train users and resolve the most common exceptions.
Pilot usage
Integration monitoring
Exception log
KPI comparison
05
Expansion of partners, documents and advanced planning
Connect partners, electronic documents and centralised deviation management, and use accumulated reliable data to improve margin, capacity, routes and estimated time of arrival.
Partner portal and APIs
Electronic CMR and eFTI readiness
Shipment status and exception management
Order profitability and planning analytics
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Recommended KPIs
Share of transport orders received automatically%
Measure the use of customer integrations and self-service.
Number of manual corrections per orderactions / order
Assess order data quality and level of automation.
Transport capacity utilisation%
Measure the planning efficiency of own fleet and subcontractors.
Share of empty running%
Assess the planning of routes, trips and return loads.
Share of on-time deliveries%
Measure service reliability.
Estimated time of arrival forecast errormin.
Assess the accuracy of estimated time of arrival by route, partner and reason for deviation.
Time from delivery to invoice issuancehrs.
Measure the time from receipt of proof of confirmed delivery to invoice issuance.
Difference between planned and actual order marginpercentage points
Assess tariff and actual cost control.
Key risks
A disorderly process is replicated in the systemUnclear states, responsibilities and exceptions are transferred to the new system without being resolved.Kaip suvaldyti Standardise process states, responsibilities and data owners before implementation.
TMS replacement becomes too broad a projectAn attempt is made to replace all transport modes, clients, partners and documents in one phase.Kaip suvaldyti Start with one service, one unified order scenario and a limited number of clients and partners.
Partner data remains unreliableExternal carriers provide statuses and documents late or in different formats.Kaip suvaldyti Define a mandatory data minimum, quality KPIs and several connection methods.
Incorrect estimated time of arrival is shown to the clientThe forecast does not account for terminals, borders, partners or other real events.Kaip suvaldyti Display the forecast update time, reliability level and continuously measure the deviation.
Electronic document is unsuitable for a specific routeThe document does not meet the requirements of a specific country, transport mode, contract or institution.Kaip suvaldyti Verify document suitability by route, document type and process participants.
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Advanced solutions create value only when order, status, address, vehicle, partner and document data are already reliable. AI recommendations must comply with safety, working time and customer priority rules.
Market expansion5
AI Support for Dynamic Transport Planning
Highly urgent
Models recalculate routes and capacities based on new orders, delays, traffic, drivers' working hours and transport restrictions.
How it is applied The system provides recommendations to the planner or automatically changes only clearly predefined parts of the plan.
What value can be created
Fewer Empty Kilometres
Higher Utilisation
Faster Response
Lower Planner Workload
What is needed for this to work
Reliable Order Data
Geographical Rules
Driver and Asset Restrictions
Human confirmation
Medium-termCommercial solutions are available
More accurate arrival time and delay risk forecasting
How it is applied Used to identify risky shipments in advance, inform the customer and adjust the further plan.
What value can be created
More accurate promises
Less waiting
Earlier exception management
What is needed for this to work
Standardised events
Historical data
Telematics and partner status
Short-term perspectiveCommercial solutions are available
Standardised data exchange across different modes of transport
Highly urgent
Models based on eFTI, electronic CMR, DCSA and IATA ONE Record principles enable more uniform transmission of order, document and event information.
How it is applied Used to create a common integration layer for multi-modal shipments.
What value can be created
Fewer individual integrations
Faster partner onboarding
More reliable documentation
What is needed for this to work
Unified identifiers
API architecture
Data management
Medium-termApplied in practice
Vehicle maintenance based on failure risk
Relevant
Telematics, mileage, failure and repair data are used to predict potential failures and optimal maintenance timing.
How it is applied Beneficial for companies managing their own fleet, when maintenance recommendations are linked to actual trip schedules.
What value can be created
Reduced downtime
Improved fleet availability
More accurate repair planning
What is needed for this to work
Telematics
Repair history
Failure classification
Link to trip schedule
Medium-termCommercial solutions are available
Automated terminal and warehouse movement
Moderately urgent
Automatic gates, yard management, robots and autonomous equipment coordinate the movement of transport and cargo.
How it is applied Relevant for large terminals and warehouses where processes, asset identification and safety rules are already standardised.
What value can be created
Less waiting
Greater throughput
More consistent safety
What is needed for this to work
WMS or terminal system
Accurate asset identification
Safety processes
Long-term perspectiveApplied in practice
Early stage1
Logistics network scenario modelling
Relevant
A virtual network model simulates the impact of terminals, warehouses, routes, capacities and disruptions.
How it is applied Suitable for large operators evaluating terminal, network or capacity changes before investing.
What value can be created
Better capacity planning
Scenario testing
More accurate investments
What is needed for this to work
Unified network model
Historical and real-time data
Capacity rules
Long-term perspectiveApplied in practice
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Where to start with transport and logistics digitalisation?
Select one frequent order scenario and analyse its entire journey: intake, pricing, planning, execution, status updates, documents, actual costs and invoice. This quickly reveals where data is re-entered and which integrations would deliver the greatest benefit.
Does the transport management system (TMS) currently in use need to be replaced immediately?
Usually not. It is first worth assessing whether the existing TMS can reliably accept orders, transmit statuses, documents and actual costs. A bespoke solution is often needed between TMS, customers, telematics, partners and finance systems.
What should the first version of the project include?
It should cover one service, several customers and a limited number of partners. For example, automatic order intake, trip creation, driver statuses, electronic proof of delivery, actual cost allocation and invoice preparation.
How to forecast shipment arrival time more accurately?
Telematics need to be connected with route, historical stops, traffic, terminals, borders, weather and partner events. The quality of estimated time of arrival (ETA) forecasts must be continuously measured by route, partner and deviation cause.
When is it worth implementing electronic CMR and preparing for eFTI?
Electronic CMR is worth implementing where the collection of paper documents slows down invoicing, causes disputes or requires significant manual checking. Preparation for the electronic freight transport information (eFTI) regulation should be treated as a process of structured data submission via certified platforms. Full application of the regulation is scheduled from 9 July 2027; the suitability of a specific document still needs to be verified by country, mode of transport and process participants.
How to assess the return on investment of a digitalisation project?
Measure the number of manual corrections, planner working time, empty running, transport utilisation, delays, document cycle, order margin and volume of customer queries. The number of shipment tracking portal users alone does not demonstrate financial benefit.
Next step
An assessment of where the most time and margin is lost in the order process
A review of order intake, planning, execution status, partner performance, documents, exceptions and actual costs will be conducted to help select one initial stage where the benefit can be clearly measured.