How we charge for transportation consulting

No carrier pays us. Our only fee comes from you.

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How We Work

How do you pay us when we negotiate your rates?

Most engagements are contingency pricing, also called gainshare. We are paid a share of the savings after you realize them: no savings, no fee. Some engagements are fixed fee. It's decided by whether the work is rate sourcing against a defined baseline, or supply chain optimization completed under an SOW.

  1. 01

    Free assessment first

    We review your freight profile before you sign anything.

  2. 02

    Agreed baseline

    We rebuild your current costs at a charge level, including rate increases and accessorial charges, and you sign off on it.

  3. 03

    Monthly re-rating

    After implementation, we re-rate your actual shipments against the baseline in our internal software, Xact Negotiator. The savings are measured for every line item, not estimated or summarized.

  4. 04

    Our share.

    We take an agreed percentage of the total savings, including credits and rebates.

Time to full ROI for our clients has been as short as a few months.

How much of your savings do we keep?

25% is a common share we take out of the savings we help you find.

Large engagements
Sometimes a smaller share.
Small engagements
Sometimes a slightly larger share.
Caps
Fees are often capped at a total amount agreed up front.
Step-downs
The share often declines each year of the agreement, and can reach zero in the final year.

Gainshare, visualized

Contingency works best when you spend $1M or more a year on freight and parcel. Below that, a fixed fee may suit you better.

Contingency also helps when you have no budget for outside consultants and have to justify the spend to management.

Example savings. Actual range can be 10–35%.

Example savings. Actual range can be 10–35%.

One engagement can use both

Two combinations come up most often:

How is each service priced?

Service Usual pricing
Freight Rate Negotiation Contingency.
Parcel Rate Negotiation Contingency. Fixed fee when the work is analysis only.
Carrier Sourcing & RFP Contingency.
Cold Chain Logistics Fixed fee for method and compliance analysis, such as active versus passive pallets. Contingency for refrigerated carrier rates.
Transportation Operations Audit Fixed fee. Negotiation that follows the audit moves to contingency.
Network Design Fixed fee.
Vendor & TMS Selection Fixed fee. Carrier rate negotiation within the selection moves to contingency.
Freight Bill Audit & Recovery Fixed fee, based on your volume and modes.

Case studies of when we ran on contingency

Will lower cost mean worse service?

We guarantee the same or better service, or we will fix it for free.

The cost reduction you'll achieve with us will not mean slower or reduced service levels. We model service alongside cost on every engagement, not after.

We have walked away from savings that only looked good on paper, including a $24M network model that would have required pushing a client's ground shipments onto expedited service.

How much are you leaving on the table?

Instant estimate based on data from 600+ clients we have helped

Ready to get started?

Book a call with Paul

Trans-Solutions, Inc. Independent transportation consultants since 1997.
We are not affiliated with, compensated by, or acting as an agent for any carrier.

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