Transportation management software is used by organizations to administer, control, and manage the transportation aspect of the supply chain, as well as logistics. Transportation management software has become an essential part of supply management; it is a set of tools that allows suppliers, carriers, and customers to automate logistics, reduce transportation costs, and save valuable time. Transportation management has become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic, and every sign indicates that this trend will continue.

If you are looking for the right transportation management software for your business, you should add custom transportation software development to your list of options – here are some of the pros and cons.

The Basics of Custom Transportation Management Software

Most of the transportation management system on the market today has three basic functions:

  • Rate shopping and transportation mode optimization
  • Transportation execution and shipping document creation
  • Online shipment visibility, status tracking, and reporting

The best transportation management software will optimize tasks such as managing staff, forwarding agents, drivers, and workers in the field which typically leads to better business outcomes and positive revenue growth. Many of the software options out there are going to provide different variations of the three functions listed above, but they don’t usually offer much customization. This can put you in the position of paying for features and services you do not need.

With a custom transportation management system, you can decide what features are most important to you and focus on designing software that fits in with your existing processes, rather than requiring you to change everything to fit an out-of-the-box software. Designing your own software allows you to create a system that seamlessly optimizes modern logistics needs by developing supply chain management systems, optimizing warehouse facilities, and distributing capabilities that are always on-time, cost-reducing transportation services and efficient route mapping.

Keep in mind that it is very important that you are aware of the potential costs of custom transportation software development before you get too far down this path. The costs are going to be variable based on the set of functions in software.

On the surface, building a custom transportation management can seem very expensive – there is definitely a larger upfront cost. Just make sure you compare it to the long-term costs of an out-of-the-box software option, which is going to consist of an implementation fee and monthly charges. In addition, once you build a custom transportation software, it typically will need very little updating, so there are few ongoing costs.

Data security is another important consideration. With a custom-designed transportation management software, you can make sure your data storage is adequately protected and don’t have to rely on a 3rd party to keep your valuable information safe.

That should give you enough information to help you decide on the best option for your transportation management needs. One final tip – if you decide to look into the custom transportation management software option, be sure to find a development team that has experience with that specific type of software. Transportation management can be complicated, so you need your development team to have the right set of skills.