Freight Exchange

In contrast to the direct awarding of transport orders to forwarders already known to the carrier, a freight exchange serves to tender and broker transport services for freight goods. The freight exchange is a kind of online marketplace where orders can be openly tendered as well as directly assigned to a free and suitable subcontractor. Simply put, providers of cargo meet providers of loading space, and capacity surpluses and shortages. The offers can come from the logistics sector for vans, courier services, post, parcel services, transporters, loaders, senders, forwarders and trucks.

What is the best freight exchange?

There is no general answer to the question of which one is the best and which one you should use. Decision criteria are, for example, whether the exchange can be used online and whether an app or even special software is necessary. There are numerous freight exchanges and comparisons of them on the internet. Most freight exchanges in Germany are free of charge, but very few can be used without registration.

Why use it?

A freight exchange is advantageous for both sender and carrier. The senders post freight that needs to be transported, whereas the carriers post free vehicles. The advantage for carriers is improved capacity utilisation and a reduction in empty trips. Senders can achieve better prices. Both parties benefit, because ideally, freight documents, communication and other useful tools are available there in digital form.

How does a freight exchange work?

The functions of the carrier platform can be very different. They are sometimes geared towards a specific logistics target group, and thus may contain other functions. Whereas some freight exchanges include auction processes with direct awarding of contracts, other exchanges only provide contacts and the parties decide on the contract outside of the exchange. In addition to pure brokerage, an exchange often offers further services, such as digital freight documents and templates.

The CarLo exCHANGE module from Soloplan is a Web-based logistics platform with which CarLo users can assign their transport orders or entire tours to the corresponding subcontractors. The focus here is primarily on simplified document management and the filing of the associated documents in the corresponding transport order–completely without media disruptions.