Within every freight forwarding operation, there is a system known as a Transportation Management System (TMS), which serves as a cornerstone of global logistics. This system records cargo-related events, maintains connections with carriers, and stores the history of shipments. For most freight forwarders, TMS has become an indispensable tool.

Despite its importance, TMS remains a closed system, controlled by a limited number of major providers. As the industry’s reliance on these solutions grows, so does the pricing power of the vendors. In recent years, there has been a trend of regular price increases for TMS services, with few viable alternatives available.

Structure and Role of TMS

At its core, a TMS functions as an event log for cargo, reflecting the main stages of transportation: cargo identification, progress through checkpoints, loading, transit, arrival, and delivery to the customer. Over time, this data is supplemented with information from carriers, customs authorities, and operational comments. The event log also acts as a bridge between forwarders, carriers, customs systems, and partners involved in joint shipments. Integrating TMS with national and international systems requires significant technical effort, making this layer especially valuable for large providers.

Challenges of Closed TMS

When software becomes critical infrastructure, its provider gains a significant advantage, largely independent of competition. As a result, forwarders face high switching costs when changing TMS: retraining staff, reestablishing integrations, migrating historical data, and recertifying with carriers and customs authorities. The very integrations that make TMS valuable also become barriers to switching systems.

Platform-based solutions are inherently prone to monopolization: the more participants, the greater the platform’s value and the harder it is to leave. This is true not only for logistics software but for the platform economy as a whole.

Opportunities of Open Source and the Role of AI

The emergence of AI-driven agent solutions has made the question of TMS openness even more relevant. Modern AI agents can automatically process rate sheets, booking confirmations, reconcile invoices, and detect discrepancies without human intervention. However, these agents do not replace TMS; instead, they enhance the interface layer, which has traditionally resisted automation.

As the intelligence layer evolves, TMS itself is becoming more of an infrastructural element. If competitive advantage is determined by the quality of AI agents and the depth of carrier integration, the basic event log becomes a shared utility that does not require private ownership.

Openness and Data Privacy

Not all logistics data is the same by nature. Contracts between forwarders and shippers or carriers are commercial secrets and should not be placed on a shared platform. At the same time, information about events—such as container loading or arrival at port—are operational data needed by all supply chain participants. These are the data that should be open.

Industry Experience and Lessons from TradeLens

In 2018, the TradeLens data exchange platform, based on blockchain, was launched. Despite its technical sophistication and ability to solve real-world problems, forwarders distrusted the platform because it was owned by a carrier and a technology giant, both of whom were also competitors. The project was closed in 2022. This experience demonstrated that platform ownership is as important as technology: shared logistics infrastructure can only realize its potential if no single party dominates.

Governance Model for Open TMS

The most logical governance model for an open-source TMS is a foundation structure. A neutral, non-profit foundation would maintain the core platform, integration libraries, and connectors to customs systems, with development funded by proportional contributions from participants. Each participant also becomes a co-owner, and management and voting rights on key issues are distributed among users. No single forwarder, carrier, or tech company can unilaterally change the rules.

Competition and Ecosystem Development

Such a structure enables the creation of a competitive ecosystem at the level of intelligent solutions, where value is generated by the quality of AI agents, the accuracy of invoice reconciliation, and the depth of integration. The question of who owns the event log becomes irrelevant.

Industry Outlook

The freight forwarding industry is increasingly open to considering alternatives to existing TMS platforms, driven by rising costs and the advancement of AI agents. Open infrastructure could become the foundation for future development, reducing the importance of the TMS core and elevating the role of the intelligence layer.

Possible Steps and Discussion Points

Before implementing open solutions, it is important to define which data should be open and which should remain private. It is also necessary to develop a minimal viable standard for cargo event exchange and a structure for collective management of integrations with carriers. The key challenge remains ensuring that no single party can take control of the platform.

The technologies needed to implement an open TMS already exist, participant motivation is clear, and the window of opportunity is open. For the industry to move forward, all that is needed is the will to seize this chance.