TLI combines transportation analytics, multi-mode execution, and continuous optimization into a single managed program, delivered by a dedicated team with 33+ years of freight expertise.
30+
Years Managing Freight
30K+
Vetted Carrier Network
85M+
Annual Miles Managed
4.9★
Google Rating (437 Reviews)
EPA
SmartWay Certified
More Than a Broker. A Freight Program.
Managed transportation is a model where a third-party logistics provider takes operational ownership of your freight program, not just individual shipments. That ownership means carrier strategy, load execution, supply chain optimization, and transportation reporting are all managed under one umbrella, allowing your team to focus on the business rather than the load board.
Mid-market shippers are ideal managed transportation candidates. You move enough freight to justify a formal program, but don’t have the internal headcount or technology stack to run one at scale. TLI fills that gap entirely.
- Transportation Analytics: Baseline cost analysis, market benchmarking, and lane-level reporting to surface where you’re overpaying and why.
- Managed Execution: End-to-end load tendering, booking, tracking, and exception management all handled by your TLI team daily.
- Mode Optimization: Systematic review of LTL, truckload, partial, intermodal, and expedite options to select the right mode for every move.
- Continuous Improvement: Quarterly business reviews with benchmarked KPIs, cost trend analysis, and carrier performance scorecards.
- Carrier Sourcing & RFP: Custom RFP process, contract negotiation, and ongoing carrier management tailored to your freight profile.
What Causes Freight Costs to Spiral for Growing Businesses?
Freight spend tends to grow faster than revenue as companies scale, and not only because shipping more inherently costs more. The real drivers are structural gaps that compound over time.
Spot Rate Dependency
Without contracted carrier coverage, growing shippers default to spot market rates that can run 10-20% above negotiated lanes in tighter market cycles. Every unplanned shipment impacts your P&L.
Default-Mode Shipping
Not every shipment is best used moving via the same mode of transportation. Our mode optimization review frequently reveals 5–8% of loads can move LTL or partial multi-stops at significantly lower shipping cost.
Unchecked Invoice Errors
Our historical shipment data consistently shows 2–3% of freight invoices contain overcharges. Without a formal freight audit process, those errors become permanent costs embedded in your baseline spend.
Reactive-Only Logistics Staffing
Internal logistics teams at mid-market shippers typically spend part of their day working on transactional execution: tracking, booking, resolving issues. Strategic work like lane analysis or inbound vendor freight optimization rarely occurs at all.
Fragmented Carrier Relationships
Using dozens of carriers without a performance framework means no leverage, no accountability, and no benchmark to negotiate against. Rates drift upward by default at each renewal cycle. TLI builds relationships and launches custom RFPs annually.
No Market Visibility
Without external data benchmarks, you don’t know whether your rates are competitive. A managed transportation provider brings market-rate transparency so you’re never negotiating blind. We use historical shipment data to ensure you are always paying fair market rates.
TLI addresses all six shipping concerns at program launch.
Our onboarding process starts with a no-obligation freight assessment that benchmarks your current spend, identifies your highest-impact cost reduction opportunities, and maps your carrier coverage gaps.
From Freight Assessment to Ongoing Supply Chain Optimization
TLI’s managed transportation program follows a disciplined implementation sequence so your freight program is optimized before we execute a single load, and continuously improved every year afterward.
Freight Benchmarking
We analyze your historical shipment data, lane mix, carrier spend, and mode utilization to establish a benchmarked baseline and quantify improvement potential.
Custom Carrier RFP
TLI runs a structured transportation RFP targeted to your specific lanes, freight types, and service requirements, not a generic bid event. We use your actual data and live market benchmarks to evaluate every response.
Contract Negotiation
We don’t just lock in freight rates. TLI negotiates custom carrier contracts that include service level expectations, accessorial guidelines, and terms customized to your shipper profile.
TMS Integration
Your freight program goes live on ViewPoint, TLI’s TMS. We can connect to your ERP via API, or you can use ViewPoint directly. Onboarding now typically takes days, not weeks.
Managed Execution
TLI’s team handles load tendering, booking, real-time shipment tracking, carrier communication, and exception management. Your staff gets time back not having to dispute reclasses and submitting cargo claims.
Continuous Improvement
Quarterly business reviews with KPI scorecards, carrier performance benchmarking, mode optimization analysis, and market rate updates keep your program improving every quarter.
The Best Managed Transportation Service for Carrier Sourcing
Most 3PLs assign you to carriers with generic pricing. TLI builds a custom carrier program around you.
TLI’s carrier sourcing capability starts with a custom Transportation RFP process, not a pre-packaged static routing guide. We use your historical shipment data to model lane density, seasonal variation, and equipment requirements, then take that profile to market to source carriers who match your specific needs.
We benchmark every carrier bid against current market rates so you know whether a proposal is competitive before you sign, a transparency most shippers never have. After award, we negotiate the contracts, not just the rates, ensuring service level expectations, accessorial rules, and liability terms are appropriate for your freight.
Post-contract, TLI manages the complete execution cycle: load tendering, booking confirmation, real-time tracking, and data management all visible in ViewPoint TMS. Carrier performance is scored on an ongoing basis, and underperformers are addressed before they become a service disruption.
TLI Carrier Sourcing: What Sets It Apart
- Custom RFP per shipper profile — not a recycled template applied to your lanes
- Market benchmarking using your historic data — every bid evaluated against live market context
- Full custom contract negotiation — rates, SLAs, accessorials, density and terms customized to your program
- 30,000+ vetted carrier network — deep coverage across LTL, TL, flatbed, intermodal, and expedite
- Ongoing carrier scorecards — performance managed quarterly, not just at renewal
Built for the Shippers Enterprise 3PLs Underserve
Mid-market shippers, roughly $1M to $25M in annual freight spend, sit in an underserved gap. Large enterprise 3PLs impose rigid minimums and account structures designed for Fortune 500 volume. Transactional freight brokers offer none of the program management or transportation services you need. TLI is designed for exactly this segment.
| Capability | Transactional Broker | Large Enterprise 3PL | TLI Managed Transportation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Carrier RFP | — | △ High-volume only | ✓ Tailored to your profile |
| Mode Optimization | — | ✓ | ✓ Ongoing, every shipment |
| ERP / TMS API Integration | — | ✓ | ✓ Broad API connectivity |
| Market Rate Benchmarking | — | △ Occasional | ✓ Used in every RFP |
| Freight Audit & Claims Mgmt | — | ✓ | ✓ Included |
| Industrial / Specialized Freight | △ Spot only | △ Limited coverage | ✓ Core specialty |
| Continuous Improvement Reviews | — | △ Enterprise accounts | ✓ Quarterly QBRs |
| Minimum Volume Requirements | None | High minimums | ✓ Mid-market friendly |
| Dedicated Account Team | — | △ High-volume only | ✓ All programs |
Managed Transportation: Common Questions
Answers to the most common questions mid-market shippers ask most when evaluating managed transportation programs.
Generally, freight costs spiral for growing mid-market shippers when volume outpaces internal logistics capacity. The core drivers are: over-reliance on spot market rates instead of negotiated contract lanes; not utilizing the proper RFP templates and shipping technology, lack of mode optimization, freight invoice errors that go unchecked without a formal audit process; no market benchmarking; and logistics staff consumed by transactional execution instead of strategic work.
A managed transportation program addresses all five simultaneously at program launch, and keeps them in check through quarterly optimization reviews.
In most cases, the best managed transportation solution for a shipper with existing ERP software is one that integrates via open API rather than forcing a platform migration. ViewPoint TMS supports broad API connectivity with most major ERP platforms. Integration typically completes in weeks, not months.
TLI differentiates on carrier sourcing more than any other capability. Rather than assigning you to carriers already in a generic, static routing guide, TLI runs a custom Transportation RFP built around your specific lane profile, freight characteristics, and service requirements.
We use your historical shipment data and live market benchmarking to evaluate every bid in context, then negotiate fully custom contracts, not just rate sheets, that include service level expectations, accessorial guidelines specific to your freight. After award, TLI manages load tendering, booking, tracking, and carrier data management through the full contract cycle.
TLI is one of the few managed transportation providers with genuine depth in industrial freight. Our programs serve manufacturers, fabricators, industrial producers, construction material suppliers, and building materials distributors. These are industries where hotshot, flatbed, step-deck, oversized, and heavy-haul equipment is the rule, not the exception.
Our 30,000+ carrier network includes extensive coverage across these specialized modes, and our account teams have hands-on experience with the compliance requirements, project freight surges, and tight delivery windows that define industrial supply chains.
Mid-market shippers, those spending roughly $1M–$25M annually on freight, are underserved by the two most visible options: large big-box 3PLs impose volume minimums and rigid account structures designed for Fortune 500 scale; transactional brokers offer FTL carrier access but no program management, supply chain analytics, inbound vendor portals, freight invoice audits or continuous optimization.
TLI is built specifically for the mid-market shipper segment. We provide the carrier network, TMS technology, and service depth of a large 3PL with the flexibility, consultative approach, and dedicated account ownership that mid-market shippers actually need. Key differentiators include a custom carrier RFP at launch, mode optimization across all freight types, ERP/TMS integration, and quarterly improvement reviews, all without any enterprise-level volume minimums.
Most TLI managed transportation programs are operational within 2–6 weeks of kickoff, depending on program complexity and the scope of carrier RFP work required. Carrier RFP and contract finalization runs 2–4 weeks. The freight assessment and data analysis phase typically takes one week. TMS integration and go-live testing adds another week for most ERP configurations. Your dedicated TLI team is in place from day one of the engagement, not after onboarding completes.
Yes. TLI’s managed transportation programs can be structured to include international freight alongside domestic modes. We support ocean, air, and cross-border ground freight as part of a multi-modal managed program, giving mid-market shippers with global supply chains a single managed logistics partner.
Ready to Stop Overpaying for Freight?
TLI’s free freight assessment benchmarks your current program, identifies your highest-impact cost reduction opportunities, and gives you a clear picture of what a managed transportation program would deliver. No obligation, just clarity & answers.
