Inbound Logistics | May 2026

were working with a modern carrier, not just a capable one. That’s a shift worth paying attention to.” Here is how providers of some of the top TMS solutions on the market help their shipper clients excel when managing today’s complex supply chains. help their shipper managing today’s CDM WEB FREIGHT: MANAGING SHIPMENTS FROM ‘ANYWHERE’ Darrell Ortiz, founder and CEO of CDM Software Solutions, a Texas- based provider of software solutions for logistics, supply chain, global trade compliance, oil and gas asset tracking and asset utilization, has seen a notable evolution in how transportation management systems support shippers over the years. His company has been at the forefront of that evolution. “Initially, the TMS was used to simply manage documents; it then evolved into a customer service mechanism and then to global customs compliance,” Ortiz says. “Today the TMS must be able to access data from various sources multiple times throughout the shipment cycle through automation. It then must validate the quality of data by utilizing multiple sources, and cleanse the data so that operations and customers are able to easily view key milestones in a single dashboard from rst mile to in-transit to last mile.” CDM’s TMS offering, CDM Web Freight, is distinctive because it is exible and can be congured out of the box to meet the operational, compliance, customer service (including shipment tracking), and accounting requirements for freight forwarders, ocean carriers, and large retailers with in-house logistics departments. The solution encompasses air freight and ocean freight, and warehouse receipts integrate into air and ocean shipments. In addition, customers are able to log in to CDM Web Freight and view current inventory. “Our TMS is easy to use and intuitive,” Ortiz says. “Most customers can be up and running within three to were working just a capable paying attention Here is how the top TMS CDM WEB MANAGING Darrell Ortiz, CDM Software based provider for logistics, supply compliance, and asset utilization, evolution in how management over the years. the forefront “Initially, the manage documents; into a customer

CDM Web Freight’s TMS solution provides shippers and logistics providers real-time visibility, automated freight management, carrier connectivity, and streamlined dispatch operations through a cloud-based platform.

When they lack a robust TMS, organizations often react to costs after the fact, relying on invoices to understand what happened. A modern TMS shifts that paradigm. It enables shippers to plan, execute, and validate transportation decisions in real time, before they incur costs. “In that sense, a TMS is no longer just an operational tool, it is a nancial governance platform that brings structure, predictability, and accountability to freight spend,” Dunsmore says. CONNECTED TRUCKING The modern TMS serves as the central nervous system of connected trucking, says Hill, adding that he means that “literally.” “The connected truck generates enormous amounts of data such as location, capacity, hours of service, fuel, and load status,” he says. “Without a TMS that can process and act on that data intelligently, the value of all those sensors and systems is mostly lost.” There has been a marked shift in the TMS landscape around integration.

“The best TMS platforms today don’t just manage loads; they connect dispatch, accounting, safety, driver management, and back-ofce workows in a single system,” Hill says. “That’s where the compounding value comes from.” TMS solutions have shifted from being on-premise to more SaaS-based and API-driven. “Old TMS systems provided limited visibility, and now true end-to-end visibility is expected,” says Brian Scott, EVP of sales for CTSI-Global. There has been a notable change on the carrier side, too. “We hear this directly from customers right now: Shippers are starting to ask their carriers to demonstrate their technology,” Hill says. “Not as a nice- to-have conversation, but as part of evaluating whether they want to work with them at all. “One of our carrier customers had a shipper ask, ‘Show me what you’re running, how you will communicate with me, how I’ll have visibility into my loads,’” he adds. “They wanted proof they

40 Inbound Logistics • May 2026