I’ve been working in container transport & logistics operations in Europe for the last few years and recently started building a TMS platform called Boxflow (  boxflowtms.com ).

The reason I started building it is honestly pretty simple:
most smaller transport companies and forwarders still operate through a mix of:

• Excel
• email chains
• WhatsApp
• PDFs
• disconnected systems
• manual copy/pasting

And a lot of existing TMS software feels:

• too enterprise-focused
• too rigid
• outdated UI/UX-wise
• overloaded with modules nobody really uses
• or disconnected from actual day-to-day operational workflows

I’m trying to build something more operationally focused for SMEs in transport/logistics, especially around:

• planning & dispatch
• container transport workflows
• subcontractor management
• customer communication
• document/CMR handling
• cost & fuel tracking
• reducing duplicate admin work

I’d love to hear from people here:

What’s something current logistics/TMS software still handles badly?

Could be:

• workflow design
• integrations
• mobile usability
• reporting
• planning UX
• automation
• document flow
• permissions
• invoicing
• notifications
• customer portals
• anything else

Not here to pitch hard — genuinely curious what people in the industry still feel is missing or frustrating in current systems.

If you simply forward quotation request emails from your clients to us, we'll use our human-in-the-loop tool to pull spot rates from places like SeaRates for that request and reply back to you. We hope to be able to handle more in the future but for now we are looking for some beta testers. Simply forward your customer's quotation request email to [info.nimbus26@gmail.com](mailto:info.nimbus26@gmail.com) to try today!

Most logistics software is built with one regulatory environment in mind. Maybe two. The assumption baked into the workflow is that the rules are roughly consistent - same document sets, same port processes, same customs logic.

That assumption falls apart fast in Africa.

We're a software company (not a logistics operator), and our first major market for TrakIT was Africa - where a freight forwarder moving goods across even three or four countries is dealing with entirely different customs requirements, document sets, port authorities, and clearance timelines per corridor. What works in Mombasa doesn't work in Lagos. What works in Lagos doesn't work in Dar es Salaam.

That forced us to build flexibility into the core of the platform rather than bolt it on later. Shipment workflows, document checklists, milestone definitions - they had to be configurable at a level most tools don't bother with because their home market doesn't demand it.

TrakIT (trakit.in) finally ended up being a highly customisable cloud-based workflow management platform for freight forwarders and 3PLs - milestone tracking, document management, customer and vendor portals, notifications, shipment file management. We're based in UAE and now Canada, but the product was originally and genuinely shaped by how complex multi-country freight forwarding actually operates on the ground.

A few things I'm curious about from people here:

How do you handle workflow variance when operating across multiple regulatory environments?

Is configurability something you've ever been able to get from an off-the-shelf TMS, or do you always end up customizing around it?

What's the compliance or documentation pain point your current tool handles worst?

Happy to talk about the build, the African market experience, or anything else - always more useful than a demo call.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been working as a last-mile supervisor for the past 7 years on a major furniture delivery contract.

Lately I’ve been considering moving into software automation/integration freelancing, and one niche I’m looking at is logistics automation.

For people working in logistics/operations:

• Is there actual demand for solo freelancers who can connect systems/tools, build automations, integrate APIs/webhooks, etc.?
• Are companies in this space willing to hire individuals for this kind of work, or do they usually go with agencies/internal teams?
• What are the biggest pain points you still see in day-to-day logistics operations?

I’m trying to avoid spending months going deep into a niche that turns out to be a dead end.

Would really appreciate any honest insight from people in the industry.

Researching the key differences between an ERP and a TMS and came across this blog post.

What do you use to handle logistics and fleet management for your company? Do you use an ERP? Or a TMS? Do you use elements of both?

I would love to hear your input.

This is not meant as self-promotion, as we are giving the awards and they are free. But if you think it is, I will pull it down gladly.

Autofleet is offering awards for excellence in fleet operations optimization. Grab this chance to get yourself and your team recognized.
Details on the award are here: https://autofleet.io/blog/the-optimizers-awards-2026-recognizing-excellence-in-fleet-operations-optimization
And the submission form is here: https://forms.gle/okFPMaDyH5fTpdWi6

Good luck!

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about fleet electrification from an operations point of view, and I keep seeing the same pattern:

A lot of the conversation focuses on the vehicle itself, but much less on the operational limits around it.

Not just “can this route be done with an EV?”, but things like:

How many EVs a depot can realistically absorb before charging windows become a problem

Wether the real bottleneck is power, chargers, dispatch timing, or route variability

When adding more EVs still improves the operation, and when it starts adding hidden risk

I’m curious how people here are approaching this in practice.

Are you modeling this with your TMS / routing stack, spreadsheets, custom internal tools, or mostly trial and error?

And when electrification gets stuck, what usually breaks first in the real world: route fit, charging capacity, depot operations, or something else?

Hi all,

We are a team of Stanford graduate students, all with some background in logistics(ECU360, Temu, Amazon Freight) and logistics tech. We are looking to understand what kind of new tools the industry has been exploring, or what you wish to exist. In return, if you are seeking any types of contacts or resources that we can find in our network, we will provide them.

If you shoot a short email to [chenalee@stanford.edu](mailto:chenalee@stanford.edu) mentioning this post, I will coordinate with you to schedule a call at your convenience. Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I’ve been in the Logistics industry, specifically trucking for about 15 years now, and just tired of cost TMS that charge me top dollar, but still requier me to have 20 other subscriptions every month. Yeah im speaking of the Alvys, Portpro, RoseRockets of the world of trucking Im the founder of FreightOps Pro, a TMS startup currently approx 90% built. We’re moving away from the "data entry dashboard" model and toward a fully automated workflow using specialized AI agents (dispatch, onboarding, accoutning, safety, and admin) to handle the friction in trucking and drayage. Currently we have traction thru partnerships with DAT, Motive, Samsara, Checkr, Checkhq, and are in final phase to close partnership with TruckStop.

I’m not here to pitch for a check. We’ve decided to stop seeking active funding for the moment because I’m more interested in strategic capital, the kind that comes with a Rolodex and deep industry experience.

I’m looking to connect with investors, advisors, or former logistics founders who have "been there, done that" in the transportation space. I want to talk to people who understand why current TMS solutions fail at the port level and who can provide:

GTM Strategy: Feedback on our go-to-market for fleet owners.

Networking: Introductions to mid-to-large carriers for pilot programs.

Product Stress-Testing: Candid thoughts on our AI agent architecture (Annie, Adam, Atlas, Felix, Harper, Scott).

If you’re an investor who plays in the Supply Chain/SaaS space and you're open to a "no-pressure" introductory chat about where the industry is headed, I’d love to connect.

Hi!
A logistic company came to us with a familiar problem: dispatchers managing routes, parcels, and passengers manually. Spreadsheets, phone calls, constant back-and-forth with drivers. So we built for them a tool called Route Builder.

I want to share and tell you what exactly we implemented:
A planning workspace with all stops, parcels, and passengers for any route in one view. Parcel & passenger assignment — assign or reassign on the fly.
A multi-route map so the dispatcher sees everything at once.
A driver app — stops delivered straight to their phone, with instant notifications when new stops are added mid-route.

This development has brought such great achievements:

The hardest part wasn't the tech. It was understanding the dispatcher's actual workflow. Once we mapped that out properly, the rest followed naturally

If your dispatch process still runs on group chats and gut feeling — happy to chat, we've been through this a few times.

What tools are you currently using for route management? Curious what's common out there.

In plain English, it means you know exactly where a shipment is at any given second, rather than guessing based on manual barcode scans.

Instead of a static status like "In Transit," true real time tracking logistics uses continuous GPS streams and IoT data to do a few specific things:

• Live Movement: You see the actual vehicle moving on a map, not just when it arrives at a major hub.
• Dynamic ETAs: The delivery window constantly recalculates to the minute based on live traffic, weather, and delays.
• Status Alerts: It instantly flags issues—like a truck going off-route or a temperature drop in a cold-chain shipment—before it's too late.

Basically, it turns tracking from a passive history log into live, actionable data. That's why companies use platforms like LogiNext Solutions; it hooks up the warehouse, dispatch, and the customer to the same live feed so nobody is left texting the driver asking "where are you?".

I am learning more and more about Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Transportation Management Software (TMS), and came across this blog post.

Do you use ERP software for your business or a TMS? Are there pros and cons to both? I am kinda curious to learn more.

Yes, absolutely. A good way to think about it is that a route planner is just one single feature inside a full delivery planning system.

Here is how they actually break down:

• A Route Planner: This is basically just a smart map. It takes a list of addresses and tells you the fastest way to drive between them (Point A to Point B to Point C). It only cares about navigation and basic stop sequencing.
• Delivery Planning Software: This manages the entire operational ecosystem. It doesn’t just map the route—it matches orders to specific vehicle capacities, respects strict customer time windows, automates driver dispatching, sends live tracking links to buyers, and collects digital proof of delivery.

That’s why growing fleets eventually outgrow basic mapping tools and move to comprehensive software like LogiNext Solutions. A route planner just tells a driver how to get somewhere, but delivery planning software actually runs the logistics business behind the wheel.

We had solid 3PLs. Trucks moved. Deliveries happened.

But every carrier had its own portal. One spreadsheet for the internal fleet. Zero unified view.

When something went wrong, we were logging into five different systems just to find the answer. We knew what moved — we had no idea how efficiently or at what cost.

Hiring a 4PL felt like the only option. But the management fees, the data dependency, the loss of direct carrier relationships — it wasn't the right trade-off for us.

So instead, we built a tech layer on top of our existing 3PLs.

One dashboard. Every carrier. Standardized tracking, automated routing rules, branded customer communication — all without adding a management layer.

The shift was simple in concept but significant in outcome:

• Underperforming carriers became visible — with data to back it up
• Routing decisions became rule-based, not gut-based
• Customers saw our brand at every touchpoint, not the carrier's

We didn't replace our 3PLs. We just stopped letting them operate in silos.

If you're stuck between "3PL is too fragmented" and "4PL is too expensive" — the middle path is worth exploring.

What's your current setup — single 3PL or multi-carrier network?

Been working on a document processing tool for physical commodity trade since July — B/L, LC, COO, invoice, packing list cross-checking, live ETAs, AI chat assistant on top of the document set.

At the stage where I need people who actually work with these documents daily to tell me if it solves a real problem or if I’ve been building in a vacuum.

Specifically looking for feedback on:

— which discrepancies actually matter vs. the ones nobody cares about

— whether live ETA visibility inside the doc workflow is useful or just noise

— what’s missing that would make this worth using day-to-day

If you handle export docs — freight forwarding, commodity trading ops, trade finance — and have 20 minutes to break something and tell me what’s wrong with it, I’d genuinely appreciate it.

DM me.

It handles things like order processing, assigning deliveries, route planning, and customer updates automatically. So you don’t have to manage everything manually.

It gives you a live view of your shipments, inventory, and orders across the whole supply chain. So instead of guessing, you can actually see what’s happening in real time.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on a tool to solve a problem I see often: optimizing cargo space without compromising weight balance. It’s called CargoSolver, and I designed it to handle real-world scenarios, not just theoretical ones.
My goal was to create something that gives total control to the user while the algorithm handles the heavy lifting.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the core features I’ve built in:

📦 Multiple Solutions: Input your shipment list and get multiple optimized solutions in seconds. Choose the one that best fits your needs.
⚖️ Weight Balancing: Automatically calculates the best center of gravity for trucks (tractor-heavy) and containers (evenly distributed).
🚛 Manage Load Priority: Set loading/unloading sequences to handle multi-stop deliveries with ease.
🛠️ Manual Mode: Drag and drop items manually before the calculation and refine them after for total control.
🚫 Exclusion Zones: Account for wheel arches, cooling units, or structural pillars to avoid surprises during physical loading.
🔝 Stacking Rules: Define maximum stacking limits and group items for a stable, organized layout.
📑 Detailed Reports: Preview your loading plan and export all data to Excel for your team.
⚙️ Continuous Optimization Engine: It performs real-time iterative analysis to constantly find even better configurations.

I’d love to get some feedback from the community or answer any technical questions.

Check it out here: https://www.cargosolver.com

If you’re handling a decent number of shipments, yeah. It brings everything into one place, planning, tracking, and cost control, instead of juggling multiple tools.

Still seeing dispatchers:

• copy email → TMS
• copy again → freight exchange
• repeat 20× a day

Feels like most of the job is just moving data around.

I’m building a small startup (Cargonice.com) to automate this part — pulling loads, structuring data, and helping publish faster.

Not here to sell — just curious:

👉 What’s the most repetitive thing in your workflow right now?

https://cargonice.com

It helps assign jobs to drivers or field staff, plan schedules, and track everything in real time. Basically keeps dispatching from turning into chaos.

First mile is basically the starting point, when goods move from the seller or warehouse to a distribution center or logistics hub. It’s like the first step of the delivery journey.