A TMS (transport management system) is the software that organises and tracks shipments: it prepares the transport plan, chooses the carrier, sends the orders, tracks deliveries and checks invoices. For a manufacturer shipping products or receiving components, it brings to light costs and delays that are often scattered across emails and spreadsheets.
Shipper TMS or carrier TMS
There are two families of TMS, mainly in road transport:
- The shipper TMS serves the company that has its goods transported, such as a manufacturer: it prepares shipments, chooses carriers and checks their invoices.
- The carrier TMS serves the transport company: it manages trucks and their maintenance, drivers' driving hours, routes and invoicing.
This guide covers the shipper TMS, the one that concerns a plant.
What a shipper TMS does
- Transport planning: consolidating shipments, optimising truck fill and routes.
- Carrier selection: comparing cost, lead time and service quality, based on negotiated rate cards.
- Execution: sending transport orders to carriers by electronic data interchange, printing labels, booking pick-up and dock appointments.
- Tracking: shipment status, delays, exceptions, proof of delivery.
- Freight audit: comparing the carrier's invoice with the expected price before paying it.
- Measurement: costs by customer, product or carrier, service level, greenhouse gas emissions.
TMS, WMS, ERP: who does what?
- The ERP holds customer orders and purchasing: it says what must leave and arrive.
- The WMS prepares goods in the warehouse.
- The TMS organises their transport outside the warehouse, then reports shipping and cost information back to the ERP.
The three exchange data continuously: the WMS needs to know which truck arrives at which dock, the TMS needs to know the weight and volume prepared. Our WMS guide covers the warehouse side.
CO2 information for transport services in France
In France, article L1431-3 of the Transport Code requires any company that sells or organises a goods transport service to inform its customer of the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted. The obligation has applied since 01/10/2013 for CO2 and has covered other greenhouse gases since 01/06/2017. The calculation is well-to-wheel, counting both energy production and use, and the information is due no later than two months after the service, unless another date is agreed.
The shipper therefore receives this information from its carriers. A TMS makes it possible to collect it, attach it to each shipment and track it over time, for example for a carbon footprint.
What manufacturers said at Tech for Industry Show
At Tech for Industry Show 2026, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles:
- Renault explained that optimising transport against rate cards, or loading according to part weight, also requires engineering and purchasing data, and that its data lake feeds models such as estimating the cost of an urgent shipment. Read the article
- Accenture described continuous replanning: a late truck or a surge in demand, and the plan adjusts in real time. Read the article
Outside the show, Manitou connects its spare parts WMS to its ERP and its TMS (Le Monde Informatique, 22/02/2024).
How much does a TMS cost?
TMS vendors for industrial shippers generally do not publish their prices: they depend on the number of shipments, carriers to connect, sites and modules (optimisation, freight audit, tracking). Some vendors publish monthly rates, but mostly for offers aimed at small carriers. The cost of a project also depends on connections with carriers and the ERP.
How to choose a TMS
1. Measure your flows: shipments per day, modes (full truckload, groupage, parcel, express, sea), destinations, number of carriers.
2. Quantify the problem: transport cost, unchecked invoices, delays, time spent organising shipments.
3. Check the connections: with the ERP, the WMS and each carrier (data interchange, portal, tracking).
4. Check the emissions calculation and how information supplied by carriers is integrated.
5. Test on a real flow: one site or one transport mode, before extending.
2027 exhibitors equipping transport
To meet at Tech for Industry Show 2027 (in alphabetical order):
- Elisa Industriq: supply chain platform including a TMS module;
- Sensolus: connected trackers to follow containers, pallets and equipment across sites and supply chains.
Frequently asked questions
What is a TMS, in one sentence?
The software that organises, tracks and checks a company's shipments, from the transport plan to the carrier's invoice.
What is the difference between a shipper TMS and a carrier TMS?
The shipper TMS serves the company that has its goods transported; the carrier TMS serves the carrier to manage its trucks, drivers and routes.
What is the difference between a TMS and a WMS?
The WMS manages operations in the warehouse; the TMS manages transport once goods have left.
Must a manufacturer calculate its transport emissions?
In France, its carriers must inform it of the emissions of each service. The TMS helps collect and track this information.
How much does a TMS cost?
For an industrial shipper, the price is generally quoted on request, depending on volumes, the carriers to connect and the modules chosen.
