Freight spend optimization helps organizations unlock savings and improve service by taking a holistic, data-driven look at how transportation dollars are spent. The approach combines strategic analysis, scenario modeling, and supplier collaboration to identify cost drivers and uncover more efficient ways to move goods. By evaluating mode mix, routing, carrier strategy, and service levels, companies can balance cost efficiency with customer performance expectations. Modern optimization tools enable rapid what-if analysis to model the impact of network changes or rate adjustments before implementation.
The result is a smarter, more agile transportation network that typically delivers 5–15% cost savings, improved reliability, and a stronger foundation for long-term supply chain resilience.
SCT offers a portfolio of services intended to evaluate and improve transportation systems, processes, sourcing strategies, and organization structures, including:
SCT Advisory offers comprehensive transportation management assessments that uncover hidden inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and untapped opportunities across transportation planning, management, procurement, audit and payment. We go beyond surface-level diagnostics to evaluate how well your processes, technologies, and organization align with your strategic goals and customer expectations.
Our approach combines deep operational experience with process expertise and a deep familiarity with how established and emerging technologies can impact performance to deliver an objective view of supply chain opportunities for your organization. We assess performance across key dimensions—service, cost, agility, and sustainability – benchmarking your operations against industry best practices and brainstorming with your leadership team to ensure all pain points are understood and the potential for impact to business outcomes is appreciated. From there, we prioritize the initiatives that will drive the greatest business value, supported by a clear understanding of implementation complexity, resource requirements, and return on investment potential.
Our Transportation Procurement Advisory delivers a data-driven, end-to-end solution for sourcing and managing freight capacity. Using advanced optimization technology and deep market intelligence, TPaaS helps shippers identify the ideal mix of carriers, lanes, and rate structures—balancing cost, service, and risk to achieve sustainable, measurable results.
Through strategic sourcing, bid optimization, and what-if scenario analysis, TPaaS transforms traditional freight procurement into a dynamic, continuous improvement process. The service evaluates sourcing options—such as contract versus spot, multi-round bidding, or regional carrier strategies—to ensure alignment with business objectives and market conditions.
Powered by optimization algorithms, freight analytics, and digital collaboration platforms, TPaaS streamlines bid events, enhances transparency, and fosters stronger partnerships between shippers and carriers. The outcome is a more resilient and cost-effective transportation network—typically delivering 8–12% freight savings, improved service performance, and increased agility in volatile markets.
Service Components include:
- Spend and Baseline Analysis – Assess current freight spend, rate structures, and carrier mix to identify improvement opportunities.
- Bid Strategy and Design – Develop sourcing strategies aligned with business goals, including bid event design, lane segmentation, and carrier invitation strategy.
- Optimization and Scenario Modeling – Use advanced optimization tools to evaluate multiple award scenarios balancing cost, service, and operational constraints.
- Carrier Award and Implementation – Support final carrier selection, negotiation, and transition to operational execution.
- Performance Management and Continuous Improvement – Monitor carrier performance, compliance, and cost trends, driving ongoing optimization throughout the contract term.
Transportation Modeling enables organizations to evaluate, design, and optimize their logistics networks through advanced simulation and data-driven insights. Leveraging optimization technology, digital twins, and scenario modeling, Modeling helps companies identify the most cost-effective and resilient transportation strategies—balancing service levels, cost, capacity, and sustainability goals.
Through strategic modeling and what-if analysis, organizations can test and compare multiple design options—such as consolidation opportunities, modal shifts, distribution center changes, or service-level trade-offs – without disrupting live operations. The result is a clear, evidence-based roadmap for cost reduction, improved efficiency, and increased agility in the face of market volatility.
Modeling combines analytics expertise, domain experience, and optimization software to provide actionable recommendations that drive measurable ROI. Clients typically achieve 5–15% transportation cost savings, improved asset utilization, and stronger service performance, while building the analytical foundation for continuous improvement and digital transformation.
Service Components include:
- Data Collection and Baseline Modeling – Integrate shipment, rate, and service data to create a digital representation of the current transportation network.
- Scenario and What-If Analysis – Evaluate alternative designs, routes, and modal mixes to quantify cost and service trade-offs.
- Optimization and Simulation – Use mathematical optimization and simulation tools to identify the best-performing network configurations.
- Recommendations and Roadmap Development – Translate analytical insights into practical strategies and implementation plans.
- Performance Monitoring and Continuous Improvement – Support periodic re-modeling and KPI tracking to ensure alignment with evolving business needs.
SCT offers multi-modal freight audits powered by AI to provide our clients with a smarter, more precise way to manage transportation spend across all modes—road, rail, ocean, and air. Traditional freight audits often rely on manual checks and fragmented data, leaving room for errors, missed recovery opportunities, and limited insight into carrier performance. By applying AI and machine learning, the consultancy automates the audit process end-to-end, ensuring invoices are validated against contracted rates, shipment data, and accessorial charges with far greater accuracy and speed.
Our approach begins with data integration across ERP, TMS, and carrier billing systems to establish a unified transportation dataset. AI algorithms then analyze invoice and shipment records to detect discrepancies such as duplicate charges, incorrect tariffs, or unapproved surcharges. Natural language processing (NLP) models can interpret unstructured carrier documentation and reconcile it with structured shipment data, while anomaly detection models flag outliers that human auditors might overlook. This ensures a comprehensive review of every transaction, regardless of mode or geography.
Beyond validation, AI-driven analytics uncover patterns in freight spend that manual audits can’t easily detect. The consultancy’s models identify systemic inefficiencies—such as persistent rate mismatches, underutilized lanes, or suboptimal mode selection—and quantify potential savings. Predictive models forecast cost trends and carrier performance risks, allowing clients to proactively renegotiate contracts or adjust routing strategies before issues escalate. Over time, these insights support continuous improvement rather than one-off recovery efforts.
Ultimately, our AI-enabled freight audit service transforms auditing from a transactional function into a strategic capability. By combining deep logistics expertise with advanced analytics, it helps clients reduce spend leakage, improve carrier accountability, and build a foundation of clean, trustworthy data for continuous optimization. The result is a resilient, insight-driven transportation management process that enhances both operational efficiency and financial performance across all modes of freight.
