AscendTMS vs Flexport Control Tower

AscendTMS is transportation management software for freight brokers, carriers, fleets, third-party logistics providers and shippers. Its road-freight tools cover load management, financials and profit monitoring, route review, load documentation, and branch and department management. Load searching, posting and truck matching are included; access to DAT or Truckstop.com services requires a separate subscription. Users can post loads to as many as 53 load boards, though subscriptions may be required. AscendTracker can request a driver's GPS location and status by text message, without a driver app. Carrier checks include verification, qualification and fraud detection using an MC or DOT number. Basic costs $69 a month per user, Premium $119 a month per user, and PRO $149 a month per user. Premium adds accounting functions, while PRO includes shipper profiles and leads, e-signatures, KPI reporting, outbound EDI and order management. The software runs on Android, iOS and the web, and offers a 30-day trial. Subscriptions are monthly, with no setup fees or contract periods and cancellation at any time.

Flexport Control Tower is a paid web and API platform for supply-chain visibility and analytics down to the SKU level. It can show shipments handled by other carriers or forwarders, including freight Flexport is not moving. Real-time location, predicted arrival times, exception alerts and air, ocean, truck and rail coverage support shipment oversight. Booking Management provides carrier-performance, shipment-execution and allocation dashboards. Order Management uses purchase orders to display ordered, booked and in-transit units, with supplier scorecards. Supply Chain Optimization can recommend actions such as shifting air freight to ocean to improve container use and reduce costs. Flexport reports that early customers saved up to 10% on freight costs on average, while its optimization tool identified an average 7% increase in container utilization. The service offers API access and webhooks, native NetSuite integration, and connections to SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics through its public API and standard EDI. Pricing is on request, and the product page directs prospects to request a demo.