Transportation & logistics software
Transportation and logistics software is the technology used by shippers, freight brokers, carriers, warehouses and last-mile operators to plan, execute and track the movement of goods. The category spans transportation management systems (TMS), warehouse management (WMS), freight brokerage software, supply-chain visibility platforms, last-mile delivery and fleet operations. Demand reset hard during the 2022-23 freight recession; the well-funded scale players (Manhattan, Blue Yonder, Descartes and project44) consolidated share, while several venture-backed challengers folded or pivoted.
It spans transportation management systems (TMS), warehouse management software (WMS), freight brokerage and digital freight forwarding software, supply-chain visibility platforms, last-mile delivery orchestration, fleet management and routing, ocean and air freight software, and parcel and shipping APIs.
Revenue comes from enterprise SaaS contracts with shippers and large logistics operators, per-shipment or transaction-based fees on freight platforms, take-rate on digital freight forwarding volume, per-vehicle subscriptions for fleet operators, and data and analytics subscriptions sold to shippers and carriers.
Transportation & logistics software is part of Software and Mobility.
$12B
Global market size
58
Public companies
Key VC investors
Key strategic buyers
How transportation & logistics software companies monetize?
Transportation and logistics software companies monetize through enterprise SaaS with shippers and 3PLs, per-shipment fees on freight platforms and take-rates on digital freight forwarding volume.
Enterprise SaaS
Multi-year SaaS contracts paid by large shippers, retailers and 3PLs. Sticky once integrated with WMS, TMS and ERP systems.
Per-shipment fees
Transaction-based fees on shipments processed through visibility, document and tracking platforms. Scales with the customer's freight volume.
Freight take-rate
Percentage of freight spend booked through digital freight brokers and forwarders. The principal revenue line for Flexport, Loadsmart, Uber Freight and the surviving challengers.
Per-vehicle subscriptions
Fleet management software priced per truck or per vehicle. Standard pricing for telematics, route optimisation and driver workflow products.
Data & analytics subscriptions
Recurring data products on freight rates, capacity, ocean spot prices and supply chain risk. Bought by shippers, carriers, brokers and investors.
Implementation & services
Major component at enterprise WMS and TMS deployments - large rollouts require multi-quarter integration with the customer's ERP and execution systems.
Transportation & logistics software valuations in May 2026
Public transportation & logistics software comps trade at 2.6x EV/Revenue. Median revenue multiple across transportation & logistics software M&A deals was 2.8x in the last 12 months. Median revenue multiple across transportation & logistics software VC rounds was 14x in the last 12 months.
2.6x
Median EV/Revenue as of May 2026 for public transportation & logistics software companies
5.4x
Roper Technologies is the highest valued public transportation & logistics software company based on EV/Revenue (excluding outliers)
2.8x
Median EV/Revenue across transportation & logistics software M&A deals in the last 12 months
14x
Median EV/Revenue across transportation & logistics software VC rounds in the last 12 months
Transportation & logistics software market segments
Transportation and logistics software spans TMS, warehouse management, supply chain visibility, digital freight forwarding, last-mile delivery and fleet management.
Transportation management systems (TMS)
Software planning and executing freight moves across modes. Manhattan TMS, Oracle TMS, Blue Yonder TMS and SAP TM dominate enterprise; e2open and Descartes serve mid-market and global trade workflows.
Warehouse management (WMS)
Software running distribution centres and fulfilment operations. Manhattan Active WMS, Blue Yonder Luminate WMS, Körber and SAP EWM lead enterprise; Softeon and Fishbowl serve mid-market.
Supply-chain visibility platforms
Real-time tracking and exception management across modes. project44 and FourKites are the venture-backed scale leaders; Descartes MacroPoint and Shippeo compete in the category.
Freight brokerage software
Operational software for freight brokers managing load matching, carrier networks and pricing. McLeod, MercuryGate, Revenova and Turvo are the main names; in-house tools at Coyote, J.B. Hunt, TQL and C.H. Robinson anchor the rest of the volume.
Digital freight forwarding
Software-powered freight forwarders aimed at international cross-border flow. Flexport leads the venture-backed end; Forto, Sennder and Zencargo compete in Europe; legacy forwarders (Kuehne+Nagel, DSV) are digitising in parallel.
Last-mile delivery orchestration
Software for last-mile delivery planning, dispatch and end-customer experience. Bringg, Onfleet, Routific and Locus serve the category at scale.
Fleet management & routing
Telematics, route optimisation, driver workflow and electronic logging device (ELD) software. Samsara, Geotab, Motive (formerly KeepTruckin) and Verizon Connect are the scale players; Trimble and Workwave compete in specific niches.
Parcel & shipping APIs
Multi-carrier shipping software and APIs (rates, labels, tracking). ShipStation (Auctane), Shippo, EasyPost and Sendcloud serve ecommerce shippers; large carriers (FedEx, UPS) push their own APIs.
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For bootstrapped and already-VC-backed entrepreneurs who are looking to raise late stage venture or growth capital.
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For category-leading technology companies who are exploring exit alternatives with either financial or strategic acquirers.
Key transportation & logistics software KPIs to track
ARR, ACV, shipment volume, take rate, customer count, net revenue retention and gross margin are the metrics investors and operators track in transportation and logistics software.
| KPI | Definition |
|---|---|
| ARR | Recurring SaaS revenue. The cleanest growth metric across TMS, WMS, visibility and fleet management vendors. |
| ACV | Enterprise WMS and TMS deals run $500K-$5M+ with deep integration footprints. Mid-market TMS sits at $50K-$300K. |
| Freight / shipment volume | Cargo volume or shipment count routed through the platform. The headline scale metric for visibility platforms and digital freight forwarders. |
| Take rate | Gross profit divided by gross freight booked. Indicates pricing power and margin profile for digital freight brokers and forwarders. |
| Customer count | Logo count by tier (Tier-1 shipper, mid-market shipper, 3PL and broker/carrier). Mix matters more than absolute number. |
| Net revenue retention | Expansion via additional modules, lanes and modes. Highest in well-integrated enterprise deployments. |
| Gross margin | Pure-software SaaS at 70-85%; digital freight forwarding and brokerage businesses sit at low single-digit to teens (gross profit on revenue including freight cost). |
Main transportation & logistics software players globally
The most active transportation and logistics software companies and category leaders globally.
| Company | HQ | Overview |
|---|---|---|
Manhattan Associates manh.com |  Atlanta | Tier-1 enterprise WMS and TMS franchise (NASDAQ: MANH). One of the most consistent SaaS compounders in supply chain software. |
Blue Yonder blueyonder.com | Scottsdale | Supply chain planning and execution platform. Private; owned by Panasonic since 2021 ($8.5B acquisition). Owns the JDA and i2 legacies. |
Descartes Systems Group descartes.com |  Waterloo | Global logistics network and software (NASDAQ/TSX: DSGX). Steady-compounder M&A story across customs, brokerage, visibility and fleet. |
E2open e2open.com | Austin | Cloud supply-chain network and software (NYSE: ETWO). De-SPAC; under restructuring after a period of poor execution and underperformance. |
project44 project44.com | Chicago | Real-time supply-chain visibility platform. Private; last valued at $2.7B. |
FourKites fourkites.com | Chicago | Real-time supply-chain visibility platform; the principal direct competitor to project44. Private. |
Flexport flexport.com | San Francisco | Digital freight forwarder. Private; restructured significantly after the 2023 freight downturn and leadership churn. |
Bringg bringg.com |  Tel Aviv | Last-mile delivery orchestration platform. Private; backed by Salesforce Ventures and Insight Partners. |
Shippeo shippeo.com |  Paris | European supply-chain visibility platform. Private; backed by Battery, Eight Roads, ETF Partners and Bpifrance. |
Loadsmart loadsmart.com | Chicago | Digital freight broker and TMS. Private; backed by SoftBank, BlackRock, Maersk Growth and TFI International. |
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Key transportation & logistics software market trends
Freight recession aftermath, AI in freight matching and routing and supply chain visibility maturity are reshaping transportation and logistics software right now.
Freight recession aftermath
US trucking and ocean freight prices fell sharply through 2022-23 from pandemic peaks. Convoy bankrupted in late 2023; Flexport restructured; software vendors with usage-based pricing saw revenue compression.
AI in freight matching and routing
ML-driven freight pricing, load matching, fuel optimisation and ETA prediction now embedded across most TMS and brokerage platforms. The next wave (LLM-based dispatching) is being piloted at scale.
Supply chain visibility maturity
project44 and FourKites at scale; Descartes MacroPoint integrated more deeply into the network; Shippeo competes in Europe. The category has matured from 'is data available' to 'how is it actioned'.
API-first logistics integration
GS1 and IATA ONE Record standards spreading; carrier APIs replacing EDI in B2B logistics. The era of EDI-only carrier integration is closing for new builds.
Last-mile delivery economics
DTC and ecommerce parcel volumes have normalised post-COVID. Last-mile software vendors compete on pricing transparency, route density, end-customer experience and carbon reporting.
Reshoring & nearshoring reshaping flows
Manufacturing investment moving toward Mexico, the US, India and Eastern Europe is reshaping freight lanes. Software vendors are repositioning to support multi-region rather than US-centric flows.
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