Freight forwarding automation without an IT overhaul: how to integrate new tools with your existing TMS



Today, we are witnessing a digital paradox in the transport industry: freight forwarders know they need to automate their processes, yet they fear months-long implementations. As a result, they continue to operate in an analogue environment, unnecessarily wasting resources. Meanwhile, technological progress has changed the game—freight forwarding digitalisation can now be carried out in a completely different way: without an IT revolution and without disrupting day-to-day transport operations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Why automation doesn’t have to mean an IT overhaul

Freight forwarding digitalisation doesn’t have to mean an IT revolution or months-long system implementations.
Flexible integration models (APIs, no-code automation, data imports) make it possible to adapt logistics tools to an existing TMS.

• Less manual work: Automating the handling of rate enquiries and the publication of freight offers significantly reduces forwarders’ workload and minimises manual data re-entry.
• More efficiency without bigger IT: Integrating logistics systems boosts efficiency—without the need to expand IT teams.

TMS market shift: what’s driving change

According to Gartner analyses, the global Transportation Management System (TMS) market grew from USD 1.32 billion to USD 2.11 billion between 2019 and 2024.
This growth was driven mainly by the replacement of on-premise software (a deployment model where applications run on a company’s own infrastructure rather than in the public cloud)
with SaaS applications, whose share increased from 37% in 2019 to over 60% in 2024.

But this trend raises an important question: how do you integrate a new tool with what you already have?
It’s possible—thanks to solutions tailored to a company’s technical capabilities and business needs.

Three integration models from Trans.eu

The Trans.eu platform answers this question through three different integration models—designed for companies with different levels of IT resources and different operational needs.

Model #1: For companies with in-house development resources – API integration

For businesses with an IT department or working with a TMS software provider, Trans.eu offers full API-based integration.
In practice, this means that a forwarder enters a load into their internal system and then publishes it to the Trans.eu Platform with a single click as an offer.

Data flows automatically in both directions: once a carrier is selected, the subcontractor’s details (company name, tax ID numbers such as NIP and REGON, contact details, price)
are automatically pulled from Trans.eu into the TMS, eliminating the need for manual data entry.

According to Timocom, such integration can generate savings of up to PLN 54,000 per year for a five-person team spending an average of one hour a day on freight exchanges.
Some platforms, including Trans.eu, go a step further by enabling negotiations directly within the TMS—so the forwarder doesn’t have to switch between systems to close the deal.
This is particularly important in the context of IT bottlenecks—points where a lack of automation causes task backlogs and delays across processes.

Model #2: For companies without development resources – automation with no coding required

For companies that lack development capacity and don’t have the time for months-long integration projects, Trans.eu offers automatic conversion of customer email enquiries
into ready-to-publish freight offers on the platform.

The mechanism is straightforward: additional enquiries from trusted customers arrive by email to the forwarder.
The system automatically extracts the key data (route, cargo, date, dimensions, weight), converts it into a shipment order, and publishes it on Trans.eu—either to selected partners,
to a private exchange, or publicly, depending on the forwarder’s needs.

What’s more, the algorithm suggests carriers who should receive the offer, based on completed-job history, ratings, location, and specialisation.
The forwarder doesn’t need to review the email, retype details into a form, or search for carriers in the contact database—the system does it for them.

Model #3: For small and mid-sized companies without IT – bulk posting

The third model is designed for companies that want to publish freight offers in high volumes quickly, but don’t have the development capacity for full API integration.
It addresses a real challenge: many small and mid-sized freight forwarding companies use TMS solutions, but these systems are often basic, niche, and their vendors do not provide
ready-made integrations with freight exchanges.

Trans.eu enables semi-automated freight posting via export from the TMS in CSV or XLS format.
The forwarder downloads a file from their transport management system, imports it into the platform, and within 30 seconds can publish, for example, 200 offers.

A key advantage of this solution is that there is no need to stick to a fixed file layout.
The forwarder maps export columns to the relevant fields in Trans.eu just once (e.g., the “trailer_type” column in the TMS corresponds to the “body type” field in Trans.eu),
and the system saves this configuration. With subsequent imports, the entire process runs automatically.