FMS vs TMS: Which platform is right for your business?

1.  LOGIN BOOK A DEMO FMS vs TMS: Which platform is right for your business? Freight management systems (FMS) and transport management systems (TMS) both play a key role in coordinating logistics operations. Their functions may overlap slightly from time to time, but they are distinct platforms for distinct purposes. While some businesses may need to operate with both a FMS and TMS, many will only need to use one or the other. Read on to see which is best suited to your business needs. CONTENTS What’s the difference between FMS and TMS?

2. The bene?ts of a freight management system The bene?ts of a transport management system MachShip’s integration & ?exibility with TMS providers Why do carrier integrations matter? What’s the difference between FMS and TMS? While both functions are heavily linked within the same ecosystem, there’s a distinction between ‘transport’ and ‘freight’. Freight is what needs to be moved, while transport is the means by which it is moved. An FMS is primarily designed to manage the end-to-end process of moving freight from one location to another with multiple carriers. While it doesn’t necessarily need to involve multi-carrier consignments, the value proposition of an FMS really stands out when there are multiple carriers at play. In contrast, a TMS is more concerned with the overall optimisation of transport operations. It’s used to plan, execute, and optimise the physical movement of goods. It takes into account factors like route planning, load optimisation, ?eet management, and driver scheduling. In short, a Freight Management System deals with moving the goods, while a Transport Management System deals with managing a ?eet of vehicles. The bene?ts of a freight management system If your business involves the shipping of goods, an FMS enables you to select carriers, book shipments, print compliant labels, manage freight rates, and so on. It’s the master source of truth for data relating to managing multiple carriers. As well as selecting carriers, an FMS helps you integrate with carriers and their respective transport management

3. systems. When interfacing with a TMS, an FMS is able to pull back or interpret tracking-related data and proof of delivery — if that data is available from the carrier. Not all FMS platforms have the same functionality, however. Full-featured FMS have a greater connection to more carriers and more functionality — such as carrier invoice reconciliation and reporting — while others are primarily focused on dispatch and label printing. The key strength of an FMS is its ability to integrate with multiple carriers, providing businesses with a broad network of freight options — either directly to end users (e.g. eCommerce businesses) or for 4PLs to pass onto their customers. How does MachShip stack up against other FMS platforms? The bene?ts of a transport management system A TMS is used to focus on managing a company’s internal ?eet of vehicles. Essentially, a planning tool for that speci?c business or carrier. The point being to reduce costs and improve service levels through better planning and execution. TGE or Australia Post, for example, have a huge internal ?eet, with vehicles that come in all shapes and sizes. This makes sense, because their service is literally postage and logistics. NRMA is another organisation that would manage a large ?eet, albeit not related to parcel delivery. However, internal ?eets can be much smaller too. Consider a cleaning company or local plumbing service that might only have 2 or 3 vehicles. The TMS is there to run transport operations for these internal ?eets or dedicated carriers, aiming to enhance operational ef?ciency. This can include route planning and load planning, with a view to optimising timing, fuel, and the personnel involved. In other words, where those vehicles need to be, who’s driving them, what route they’re taking, and when they’ll be back. A TMS would be limited to servicing one ?eet of vehicles, whereas MachShip connects with multiple TMS platforms. In this way, MachShip acts as a ‘single pane of glass’ through which to source or manage multiple carriers. If there’s a small business, like a newsagent, sending out goods, they might have their own ?eet of vehicles to service

4. a portion of their network, but they use StarTrack or Australia Post for another portion — MachShip can include their internal ?eet as a carrier. This enables that business to push jobs to their own ?eet internally, or select an external carrier, all via the same consolidated interface. MachShip’s integration & ?exibility with TMS providers An FMS excels at integrating with a wide range of carriers, regardless of their system or technologies. This is where MachShip can be extremely bene?cial for users. MachShip seamlessly adapts to the capability of a client’s existing TMS. A business might not even use a TMS, in which case MachShip communicates directly with carriers so that they can receive bookings. Otherwise, it can also facilitate a broader API-based integration. This ?exibility allows businesses to choose the best carrier for each shipment, based on things like cost, service level and other factors. MachShip, for example, integrates with over 500 carriers, ensuring seamless operations across different providers and enhancing the capabilities and control over shipments. While MachShip can push jobs to a company’s internal ?eet, it won’t tell them what vehicle to allocate a consignment to, or what driver needs to drive the truck. It won’t necessarily optimise the loading of that vehicle. It’s up to the TMS to determine how internal consignments are distributed among their own ?eet of vehicles and to build their run around that.  In other words, MachShip is an FMS that can talk to any TMS and help facilitate the most effective freight selection, without interfering with what any given company’s TMS needs to do. While an FMS and TMS have distinct functions, they complement each other extremely well. A TMS can be used

5. to optimise the use of a company’s own ?eet, ensuring deliveries are made in the most ef?cient way possible. Meanwhile, an FMS like MachShip manages the broader logistics network, handling multi-carriers and ensuring that all freight movements are tracked and managed effectively. Our platform coordinates that data through to the carriers and vice versa, making sense of where everything is and who it’s going to. It’s not a matter of either/or. By integrating both systems, businesses can achieve a comprehensive logistics strategy, optimising internal ?eet operations if they have them, while also leveraging a vast network of external carriers if they want to use those as well. This approach maximises ef?ciency and ensures high levels of service. Learn more about MachShip’s carrier integrations Why do carrier integrations matter? In the world of freight and logistics, no two carriers are the same. Some operate on the latest cutting-edge technology, while others still rely on older systems — or, in some cases, no formal system at all.  This dissonance can be problematic when it comes to integrating with different carriers, but it’s also what makes logistics so dynamic and compelling. At MachShip, we’ve designed our platform to adapt to this wide spectrum of carrier technologies, integrating with over 500 carriers. But not every integration looks the same. We work with each carrier’s existing systems — whether it’s via an API, a traditional EDI, or even a simple email. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for our partners, without adding any unnecessary complexity to their operations. To our customers, it doesn’t matter how we integrate under the hood; what matters is that they get their freight delivered in full, on time, and with the best carrier for the job. At MachShip, we’re not just experts in freight management—we’re experts in making sure every connection, from zone sets to transit schedules, works smoothly for our clients.

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