Smart TMS Solutions: Slash Transportation Costs by 30% and Boost Efficiency

Modern transportation management systems (TMS) boost logistics operations, helping companies reduce costs and gain unprecedented supply chain visibility. This comprehensive guide reveals the advantages of smart TMS solutions and practical steps for adopting them.

Highlights:

• TMS solutions aid in ensuring real-time transportation visibility, the number one priority for supply chain leaders.
• Cloud and AI technologies enhance the capabilities and performance of smart TMS solutions.
• TMS implementation helps companies slash transportation costs by 15%, reduce detention costs by 47%, and cut fuel consumption by 12%.

Every transportation or logistics manager knows this feeling: watching costs climb while delivery deadlines get tighter. In 2025, two out of three shoppers expect to receive their online purchases within 24 hours, the pressure is constantly increasing, and profits are under threat from all directions.

The old ways of managing transportation just don't cut it anymore, and to establish new ones, you need advanced tech approaches. The difference between companies that succeed and those that fall behind often comes down to their willingness to embrace technology quickly to get ahead of the competition.

At Mind Studios, we specialize in building custom software solutions for logistics and transportation and have helped dozens of companies in the sector solve their business issues and achieve measurable goals.

In this article, we'll discuss how to address your business's challenges with smart TMS solutions that leverage cloud technology and artificial intelligence to optimize every shipment. We'll also explain how we create TMS software tailored to your requirements to cut operating costs and provide visibility, automation, and flexibility to facilitate your daily work.

Do you want to outpace competitors and meet the expectations of clients whose trust you have won over the years? Contact Mind Studios to strengthen transportation management with a custom-built intelligent system.

Cloud-based TMS: The new operational advantage that should become yours too

Relying on industry figures and trends is appropriate when considering what TMS solutions should be developed in 2025.

Transportation and logistics software, like other industries, have been based on on-premise servers for years. For example, in 2022, on-premise systems dominated the worldwide TMS market with a share of 57.2%.

At the same time, a trend towards the prevalence of cloud TMS solutions emerged and grew. This happened because industry players sought ways to overcome the siloed data, slow updates, and a glaring lack of real-time information inherent in on-premise systems. Today, cloud-based TMS solutions occupy more than 60% of the market and have impressive forecasts for further growth.

Mind Studios has a track record of many projects in which we have been convinced of the advantages of cloud-based software systems, which we recommend considering as the main option for building TMS solutions.

Here's what changes when you move to cloud TMS software:

1. <b.Your team can access everything from anywhere. When your dispatcher can see real-time shipment tracking data from home in the evening and reroute a delayed truck, that's the difference between a satisfied customer and a lost account.
2. Everything syncs automatically. Your warehouse system talks to your TMS. Your TMS talks to your carriers. Your carriers send GPS updates that automatically update customer notifications. No more manual data entry. No more "let me check and get back to you later."
3. Updates happen seamlessly. Remember waiting months for your off-the-shelf software vendor to add a simple feature? Cloud systems deploy improvements continuously.
4. Scaling becomes effortless. Adding new regions, carriers, or load types doesn't require calling your IT department and planning a six-month implementation. Cloud systems adapt as your business grows.
5. Your costs actually go down over time. While you might pay monthly fees for a cloud service, you eliminate server maintenance, software licenses, and the full-time IT staff needed to keep legacy systems running.

Thus, cloud architecture makes scalable transportation management achievable, allowing companies to expand across regions, carriers, and load types without the infrastructure constraints of traditional systems.

The 30% cost cut: How smart TMS solutions do it

The promise of significant cost reduction is a primary driver for TMS adoption, and for good reason. A modern, AI-driven transportation management solution goes beyond simple tracking to actively find and eliminate inefficiencies in your network. This is where the real benefits of TMS become tangible.

Here’s how you can achieve these savings:

Dynamic route optimization

Challenge	Solution & effect
Empty miles due to traditional planning considering only a few factors and poorly accounting for variables	AI-powered route optimization software analyzes dozens of variables in real-time to calculate the most efficient path for every shipment, reducing empty miles

Mind Studios tip: Integrating real-time traffic data from sources like Google Maps or HERE Technologies into your custom TMS.

AI-based carrier selection

Challenge	Solution & effect
For multi-carrier routing, manually comparing rates and transit times is time-consuming and often inaccurate. A lack of evaluation of per-shipment economics leads to extra costs.	An AI-driven transportation management solution automatically selects the carrier, analyzing all available data

Mind Studios tip:

1. Collecting and processing the most complete data about carriers for comprehensive analysis and optimal choice.
2. Integrating fleet management software to see available capacity and avoid emergency shipping and emergency freight premiums.

Smart fuel usage planning

Challenge	Solution & effect
Outdated planning that fails to consider many factors that affect fuel consumption	AI in transportation logistics systems enables managers to analyze the entire set of factors affecting fuel consumption instantly

Mind Studios tip:

1. Training the AI model with complete and representative data sets about the real operating environment
2. Testing fuel usage planning software modules in real-world scenarios to fine-tune TMS solutions

Predictive delay management

Challenge	Solution & effect
Unpredictable delays that lead to customer churn and financial losses	Advanced TMS solutions allow adjusting ETAs and routes in real-time based on traffic conditions, weather, etc., helping the company to minimize operational disruptions and avoid the cascading costs due to missed delivery windows

Mind Studios tip:

1. Preparing response algorithms to reroute shipments before problems occur and adjust downstream logistics to prevent cascading delays
2. Ensuring proactive communication with customers to provide them with reliable information and avoid penalty charges

As a positive trend in recent years, we can note the increased democratization of smart TMS solutions available to many businesses.

These powerful software products are no longer reserved for multinational giants. Today, custom TMS platforms can bring enterprise-level optimization to growing logistics and transportation companies.

Mind Studios specializes in developing tailored solutions that deliver measurable ROI from day one and scale with business growth, ensuring that companies don't outgrow their systems as they expand.

Want to slash transportation costs with a custom TMS?

From manual to smart: Load and space planning automation

Working with transportation companies, we have noticed one paradox. Executives and their teams constantly keep their finger on the pulse of all technical improvements related to trucks, and they are rushing to implement them or update their fleet, pinning their hopes on certain new technical characteristics.

At the same time, the same people have been struggling for years with outdated, even manual, information processing methods in their office or outdated legacy software packages on their computers. And we are talking about tools for your daily responsible work!

For instance, if your team is still wrestling with load and freight planning spreadsheets, you're operating with a significant handicap.

Manual and spreadsheet-based planning creates multiple operational bottlenecks that automated freight planning software systems can eliminate entirely. This can apply to many areas of your company's activity.

Statistics show that the average transport operator can spend up to 40% of working hours manually planning, scheduling, and changing travel routes.

The use of outdated transport systems leads to:

• Excess fuel consumption of up to 15% due to inefficient route planning
• Increase in administrative costs of up to 25% due to too time-consuming tasks
• Reduction in operational capacity of up to 40% limits business growth.

You may not think about it, but outdated software systems and spreadsheets cost you money daily.

Here is how automation with smart TMS solutions transforms day-to-day transportation operations:

• Automated load planning processes complex optimization calculations in seconds instead of hours. These systems simultaneously consider cargo compatibility, weight distribution, delivery sequencing, and route efficiency to maximize vehicle utilization while minimizing costs.
• Load optimization algorithms improve truck utilization by 15-25% compared to manual planning. For companies operating multiple vehicles, these efficiency gains compound quickly. Fewer trips mean lower fuel costs, reduced driver wages, and better asset ROI.
• Logistics automation goes beyond static planning. When new orders arrive or shipments change, automated systems instantly recalculate optimal configurations without disrupting plans.

We can continue this list almost indefinitely, going through the issues that make up the lion's share of the work of transport company managers step by step.

Implementing TMS solutions is often a good opportunity to eliminate bottlenecks and strengthen weak links by automation. Custom development helps to do this by including the necessary features and modules in the system scope and the necessary points in the implementation plan.

— Dmytro Dobrytskyi, CEO of Mind Studios.

Mind Studios' approach to automation with TMS solutions

Our experience developing custom TMS platform solutions has taught us how automation features can deliver immediate value. Let's take at least a few examples:

• Intelligent cargo matching algorithms identify consolidation opportunities across customers, routes, and timeframes. These systems often discover profitable combinations that human planners miss because of complexity limitations.
• Dynamic capacity allocation automatically reserves optimal vehicle space based on historical patterns and current demand. This prevents overbooking while maximizing utilization rates.
• Predictive planning enables you to anticipate demand patterns and seamless capacity allocation based on historical data and market intelligence. Usually, we deliver this valuable feature when building AI-driven transportation management solution

Smart TMS solutions are, by their nature, comprehensive, covering all aspects of transportation management.

Accordingly, you can complete many urgent steps in automating operations by adding the necessary features and integrations to a custom TMS and thus avoid building several separate digital tools.

Ready to optimize your freight loads and cut transportation costs?

Reshoring and regional logistics: TMS for the next wave

Transportation is far from being a field where everything is set forever. Shifts in trade and logistics require developing TMS software that will meet new objectives and cope with new challenges.

For example, we can cite the reshoring and regionalization of supplies gaining momentum. These changes are not as widely covered as they deserve. However, we often encounter similar client requests in our practice, so we want to touch on these topics, highlighting the possibilities of modern transportation software development.

The reshoring trend, in which companies bring manufacturing operations closer to home markets, and the regionalization of supply chains are creating new operational complexities that traditional TMS solutions weren't built to handle.

Here's what needs to be noted in this matter:

• Businesses establish regional distribution networks to reduce dependencies on global supply chains. These strategies require sophisticated software support as companies manage multiple distribution hubs across different geographic markets.
• Regional logistics solutions demand different visibility requirements than centralized operations. Zone-specific dashboards, local capacity tracking, and regional forecasting become essential capabilities.
• Multi-carrier routing systems must adapt to local carrier networks while maintaining cost optimization across the entire regional network. Therefore, providers need smart TMS solutions that allow flexible planning across multiple regions without requiring separate regional logistics solutions.

In the conditions of reshoring and regionalization, a custom TMS platform can provide end-to-end visibility of all aspects of companies' activities in different regional markets.

Adaptive software that scales to new hubs and integrates with diverse networks seamlessly meets the demands of reshoring. Our clients have already seen in practice that managing regional logistics doesn't have to mean juggling a dozen disconnected tools.

A smart TMS helps you see the whole picture and stay in control, no matter how complex your network gets and where it operates.

— Dmytro Dobrytskyi, CEO of Mind Studios.

Mind Studios tip:

"When we build TMS systems to flexibly manage complex regional operations that replace separate software platforms for each location, we highlight such substantive points

• Creating cloud-native architectures that enable centralized oversight with local operational control, allowing regional managers to make decisions quickly while maintaining corporate visibility
• Prioritizing API-based software architecture and flexible integration capabilities, including developing custom APIs and middleware, since the integration challenges are particularly complex in reshoring".

Thus, today, cloud-native TMS systems are the digital basis of modern regionalization strategies, backing management decisions that allow transportation companies to stay afloat during significant changes.”

What makes a modern TMS successful in 2025 and why custom solutions are the key

Success in 2025's logistics environment requires TMS solutions that go far beyond basic transportation planning and supply chain optimization.

The most effective solutions combine foundational capabilities with advanced intelligence and integration features that support strategic business objectives.

Based on our experience building modern TMS systems, we've identified the core functionalities that separate winning solutions from the rest:

In addition to functionality, advanced, robust software architecture is vital for the successful operation of TMS solutions. Legacy architecture-based applications cannot provide the real-time connectivity, extensibility, and integration capabilities that today's logistics requires.

Drawing on Mind Studios experience in transportation software development , we can conclude that smart TMS solutions require a cloud-native foundation. Cloud-native platforms offer the infrastructure flexibility to enable rapid feature release and smooth scaling.

Custom vs, off-the-shelf TMS solutions: A real comparison for strategic choice

Transportation management system development is where the debate between off-the-shelf and custom solutions becomes critical.

Companies in the sector need scalable transportation management and cannot allow limitations in the operating software. In addition, businesses use their TMS solutions constantly and intensively, so trying to replace the system on the go can be like an accident on the road. So, everything must be resolved before the trip begins.

Here’s a clear comparison of the pros and cons of approaches to obtaining TMS solutions:

The decision between off-the-shelf and custom solutions often comes down to timeline versus long-term value. While off-the-shelf systems might deploy faster initially, custom solutions typically deliver better ROI over time through superior continuous optimization, seamless integration capabilities, and high scalability.

A custom TMS platform grows with your business from implementation day one. Instead of adapting your processes to fit off-the-shelf software limitations, custom solutions adapt to your operational requirements and strategic objectives.

The difference between ready-made and custom software solutions is also clearly manifested in the features and capabilities of TMS implementation, which we will consider further.

Mind Studios best practices for TMS implementation

The benefits of TMS depend heavily on proper system configuration, flawless implementation and user adoption. Best practices for TMS implementation include defining clear objectives, assembling cross-functional teams, conducting thorough needs assessments, and developing detailed implementation plans.

Mind Studios' proven approach to TMS implementation is based on four pillars:

1. Data quality preparation before system launch ensures accurate optimization and reporting from day one. Poor data quality undermines system effectiveness and user confidence.
2. Comprehensive user training that goes beyond basic system navigation to include optimization principles and decision-making frameworks helps users leverage system capabilities effectively.
3. Phased rollout approach that validates system performance with controlled traffic volumes before full deployment reduces implementation risk and enables iterative improvement.
4. Performance monitoring and optimization during the first 90 days post-implementation identifies areas for configuration refinement and process improvement.

Long-term partnerships between logistics and transportation software development companies enable continuous improvement of TMS solutions. This factor is crucial given the frequent changes in business conditions and the emergence of new, both technological and commercial opportunities in the logistics and transportation sector.

Do you need a unique TMS model tailored to your business? Contact Mind Studios to build one.

The bottom line

It is increasingly difficult to contain cost growth, optimally allocate resources, and meet rapidly growing customer expectations. In addition, global instability exacerbates the need for businesses to have a margin of safety to weather turbulent periods without loss.

At the same time, the sector's radical technological transformation creates new capabilities to solve old problems and respond to previously unknown challenges.

Transportation management system development delivers AI-powered and cloud-based smart TMS solutions to help businesses cut operating costs while simultaneously improving service quality and operational efficiency.

Mind Studios experts carefully delve into our clients' businesses' specifics, developing solutions for common and unique challenges. Our team is equally well-versed in modern logistics and transportation operations' technical intricacies and business realities.

Are you thinking about modernizing your transportation management? Contact us to explore what smart looks like for your network.

8