In today’s volatile global market, supply chain efficiency isn’t just a back-office concern; it’s a strategic business imperative. For companies operating across multiple warehouses, regions, or countries, optimizing the transportation of goods can unlock significant business value.

This is where Transport Management in Dynamics 365 comes into play. More than a logistics tool, it’s a driver of cost control, automation, and global scalability. For C-level leaders evaluating ERP capabilities and ROI potential, this article outlines the key business benefits that Transport Management can bring.

Reducing manual processes and operational risk

Many companies still rely on spreadsheets, emails, or disconnected systems to manage freight, routes, and carriers. This leads to inefficiencies, siloed data, and avoidable errors.

With Transport Management in Dynamics 365, much of the shipment flow can be automated, including:

• Load and shipment creation
• Route planning
• Carrier assignment
• Freight charge calculation
• Label generation

As AlfaPeople consultant Eries Shala puts it, “Once it’s configured, most processes flow automatically. That’s where you start to gain real efficiency.”

By automating repetitive tasks, companies free up their workforce for higher-value activities, such as logistics and customer service, while reducing errors that can result in delays or disputes.

Gaining transparency and control over freight costs

Transport Management provides a centralized and transparent overview of all transport-related expenses. Freight charges, fuel surcharges, handling costs, and other variables can be configured and tracked, giving finance teams and operations managers a clear picture of where money is being spent.

Even better, freight costs can be linked directly to sales orders and customer accounts, allowing you to:

• See transportation costs per customer, shipment, or product
• Ensure accurate invoicing and profitability calculations
• Integrate cost data with trade agreements and pricing logic

As noted by McKinsey, companies that digitize and centralize their transport and logistics functions improve cost-to-serve visibility and often see a measurable impact on margin performance (McKinsey – Supply Chain Transformation).

Optimizing load planning = fuel and time savings

An often-overlooked benefit is how Transport Management supports load optimization. Whether using your fleet or third-party carriers, Dynamics 365 helps:

• Maximize vehicle space
• Reduce empty mileage
• Minimize fuel consumption
• Shorten delivery times

Efficient loads result in fewer trips, lower emissions, and improved on-time performance. This directly impacts KPIs and sustainability metrics, a growing area of interest for many enterprise leaders.

Using data to strengthen carrier negotiations

Transport Management also supports performance tracking for your shipping partners. The system enables you to monitor:

• Carrier reliability
• Delivery accuracy
• Actual vs. expected costs
• Invoice discrepancies

With this data in hand, companies can negotiate more favorable contracts, eliminate underperforming carriers, and optimize their delivery networks.

Turning freight into a profit center

Here’s a trend to gain traction: earning a margin on freight.

As Annette notes from recent project experience, “We’re seeing more manufacturing and wholesale companies profit on freight. They bill customers slightly more than the actual transport cost, legitimately, because they now have structured control.”

By embedding transport costs into customer pricing, based on actual expenses and without assumptions, companies can maintain competitiveness while recovering or even monetizing logistics costs.

Enabling global scaleability

Transport Management in Dynamics 365 is built to scale across countries, currencies, carrier networks, and logistics models. For global or rapidly growing companies, this is critical.

Whether you’re managing shipments across Europe, sourcing from Asia, or consolidating orders from multi-site warehouses, the system supports:

• Region-specific rate and route logic
• Fuel indexing by country or zone
• International freight reconciliation
• Goods-in-transit and landed cost integration

As supply chains become increasingly global and complex, Transport Management provides a single, unified solution to support your business growth.

A strategic investment with measurable returns

While often seen as a logistics module, Transport Management in Dynamics 365 delivers real, measurable value across operations, finance, and customer experience.

From reducing freight spending and error rates to facilitating international growth and enhancing delivery KPIs, it’s a tool that can support broader business objectives, especially when implemented strategically.Contact us to schedule an informal meeting and discuss how your company can benefit from Transport Management in Dynamics 365.