Business area digitalisation analysis

Freight transport digitalisation

How to better manage orders, transport capacity, trips, drivers, documents and margin

Digital maturity

Typical digital maturity

Shows the level of technological and process digitalisation at which companies in the sector or business area typically operate today.

A typical market situation is assessed, not the most advanced companies.

The assessment consists of five equally weighted dimensions:

Core system usage
Whether ERP, CRM, WMS, MES, customer portals or other operationally important systems are widespread in companies.
Process digitalisation
How many core processes run in systems and how many are still managed manually.
Systems integration
Whether core systems exchange data between themselves or whether employees transfer information manually.
Data quality and readiness
Whether core data is structured, up-to-date, consistent and suitable for automation and analytics.
Advanced data use
Whether real-time analytics, forecasting, automated alerts, optimisation models or AI are used.

The final score is the average of the five dimensions.

1–5 scale

  • 1 very low maturity
  • 2 low maturity
  • 3 medium maturity
  • 4 high maturity
  • 5 very high maturity

A low maturity score does not necessarily indicate low potential. On the contrary, low maturity and a high level of manual work may indicate significant untapped digitalisation value.

medium
Skaitmenizacijos potencialas

Digitalisation potential

Shows how much significant business value a typical sector or business area company can create by systematically digitalising core processes.

The rating is calculated on a 100-point scale across five dimensions:

Process frequency and scale 20 %
An assessment of how frequently the digitalised processes recur and what proportion of operations they represent.
Manual work intensity 20 %
An assessment of the extent to which processes depend on email, telephone, Excel, paper documents and repeated data entry.
Impact on revenue and costs 25 %
An assessment of the potential effect on sales, margin, customer retention, administrative costs, errors, downtime or inventory.
Growth and scale potential 20 %
An assessment of whether digitalisation would enable operational capacity to be increased without expanding headcount and costs at the same rate.
Impact on decisions and risk 15 %
An assessment of the potential effect on data reliability, decision-making speed, customer experience, and the reduction of errors and operational risk.

The final score is calculated according to the assessments and weights of all dimensions.

100-point scale

  • 0–20 very low potential
  • 21–40 low potential
  • 41–60 moderate potential
  • 61–80 high potential
  • 81–100 very high potential

A high score does not mean the solution will be easy to implement. It indicates the size of the potential value, not the implementation complexity.

83/100
Biggest challenge
Orders are manually transferred to TMS
Biggest opportunity
Integrated trip and capacity management

Freight transport digitalisation must be assessed through empty running, fleet utilisation, document cycle and actual trip margin.

How freight transport works

The business area covers local and international freight carriers managing their own, subcontractor or mixed fleet. The core process connects the order, tariff, vehicle and driver capacity, trip execution, documents and settlement.

Limited vehicle and driver capacity

Growth is constrained not only by sales, but by the fleet and working hours actually available.

Low trip margin

Empty running, waiting or additional charges can quickly eliminate profit.

International context of documents and regulations

Requirements depend on the route, cargo and countries.

The plan is constantly changed by real events

Traffic, borders, loading delays and breakdowns alter trip execution.

Market and technology context

Electronic CMR, telematics and estimated time of arrival forecasts are becoming an important part of the transport process. The electronic freight transport information (eFTI) regulation will be fully applicable from 9 July 2027, but value to the business only arises when documents are linked to orders, journeys and finance.

  • Electronic transport documentsElectronic CMR reduces the circulation of paper waybills, whilst the electronic freight transport information (eFTI) regulation creates a common basis for presenting structured data.
  • Driver and planner shortageAutomatic order intake and decision support increase the capacity of individual employees.
  • Fuel and road tax pressureEach additional kilometre or waiting hour carries greater financial significance.
  • Client real-time expectationsClients expect reliable estimated time of arrival and proactive notification of deviations.

Typical operational chain

01

Order receipt and verification

Cargo, route, time and special requirements data are received.

02

Rate and margin calculation

Mileage, tolls, fuel, driver, subcontractor and additional conditions are evaluated.

03

Capacity and driver assignment

A vehicle, driver or subcontractor is assigned.

04

Journey execution

Statuses, estimated time of arrival, exceptions, working time and customer communication are managed.

05

Document collection

CMR, proof of delivery and additional work documents are obtained.

06

Settlement and profitability analysis

Invoice and actual costs are linked to a specific order.

Digital maturity model

0

Orders and journeys managed by phone and documents

Order data, driver statuses and documents depend on phone calls, email and paper.

1

Transport management and telematics operate separately

Journeys are planned in the system, but orders, driver actions, documents and costs are transferred manually.

2

Digitised individual parts of the journey

A driver app or electronic documents are in use, but there is no unified journey from order to actual margin.

3

Integrated order and trip execution Typical current situation

Order, transport, driver, key statuses, documents and costs linked by a single identifier.

4

Real-time capacity and margin management Siektina

Plans are adjusted according to actual events, whilst order margin and deviations are visible during execution.

5

Predictive and partially automated planning

Models forecast demand, delays and breakdown risk, and provide controlled planning recommendations.

Key finding

The greatest value lies between order acceptance and actual trip execution. Manual data re-entry and fragmented capacity visibility directly reduce planner productivity.

TMS, telematics, driver app, electronic documents and actual costs must operate as a single order workflow.

It is worthwhile to first select one frequent trip type and connect order receipt, driver execution, documents and trip margin.

Related topics

Transport management systemDriver appElectronic CMR
Next step

Let's assess where the most mileage and margin is being lost in your trips

We will review order capture, capacity planning, driver operations, documents, estimated time of arrival, and actual costs, and help select the first stage.