Transport planning is…

It is the process of organizing everything related to the delivery of goods: from choosing a carrier to the route, from loading to arrival at the warehouse or customer. Its task is to make delivery as efficient as possible in terms of time, costs, and resources.

Those involved in transportation planning answer the following questions: Who will transport the goods? How much will it cost? When should the cargo be picked up? Which route should be taken? Is it possible to combine several shipments into one trip? Where is the cargo now and when will it arrive? Who is responsible for the documents and payment?

All of this is part of transportation planning. And the larger the company, the more variables there are. That is why modern businesses are moving away from manual Excel spreadsheets and notebooks to digital solutions such as CONSOLID.AI.

There are many planning strategies, but the most common tool is transportation management systems (TMS). These are software solutions that help optimize transportation operations, select carriers, plan routes, track shipments in real time, audit and pay for transportation, and perform analytics and reporting. 

What does transportation planning consist of?

To better understand this, let's break the process down into five simple steps.

Route planning

The company creates a transportation request, selects a vehicle or driver, and plans the loading and delivery times. In CONSOLID, this happens automatically: the system itself offers flight options for delivering the cargo.

Route optimization and consolidation

If there are several shipments in similar directions, the system will help combine them into one flight. This is called consolidation, and it significantly reduces transportation costs. Instead of three vehicles, you need only one.

Search for a carrier 

If there is no available transport, you purchase free space from carriers. To do this, you either launch a tender among carriers. In CONSOLID, this is very easy to do — the system sends an offer to your contractors or offers new ones from the marketplace. You see all the bids in one window and choose the best one.

Monitoring the trip

During transportation, it is important to know where the vehicle is and what is happening with the cargo. CONSOLID has a built-in GPS tracker that shows the status in real time: you can see when loading began, where the vehicle is now, and when to expect its arrival.

Document processing and payment

After delivery, it is important to quickly process documents, check the signing of the consignment note, and control payments. In CONSOLID, this is electronic document management, automatic creation of consignment notes, control of completed trips and expenses. Less paper — more control.

What problems does transport planning solve

If you still manage logistics manually, you have probably encountered situations where a vehicle arrived too early or too late; the driver did not provide a waybill, the accounting department cannot close the trip, the customer does not know where their cargo is, and the carrier is driving away with a half-empty vehicle. 

Transport planning allows you to avoid all these issues. Because all the information is collected in one place, systematized, and under your control.

What transport planning looks like in CONSOLID

We created CONSOLID as a simple and flexible platform that covers the entire transport cycle:

• Transport request — generated in minutes

• Consolidation — the system combines loads from different orders into a single trip, taking into account the type of cargo, weight, volume, and direction

• Tender platform — allows you to invite carriers, conduct competitions, and quickly select the best offer

• Tracker — tracks transport in real time

• Electronic waybill — generated automatically and without errors

• Financial control — automatic payment reconciliation, cost confirmation

And most importantly, all of this integrates with your ERP or CRM system so you don't have to duplicate data manually.

Who needs transportation planning?

If your company delivers goods, you need planning. But this is especially relevant for:

• distributors and manufacturers working with large networks

• logistics companies that manage a fleet of vehicles

• e-commerce businesses with their own delivery services

• companies with frequent long-distance freight shipments

The bottom line is that the more trips you have, the greater the savings through planning. After implementing CONSOLID, one of our clients reduced the number of trips by 18% and logistics costs by 22%.

The benefits of proper planning 

Transport planning allows you to optimize logistics operations and increase the efficiency of the delivery chain. And when you have everything under control, you can scale up, launch new projects, and work with new customers without fear that logistics will fail.

So, 

• by optimizing routes and choosing the right carrier, you can reduce fuel consumption, minimize transportation costs, and reduce emissions. 

• Transportation planning allows you to use more efficient delivery schedules, reducing transit times and increasing customer satisfaction. 

• Real-time tracking increases transparency and control over transportation operations, allowing you to respond quickly to any unexpected situations. 

If you want your transportation to run like clockwork, you need to plan it, not just manage it. That's what CONSOLID is for.