We are very good at talking about everything Cargoson does well and who it’s the perfect tool for. But what could we improve? Which features are we missing? And for whom is Cargoson not the best choice?

Every now and then, we have a demo call with potential customers and, within a few minutes, we already know that Cargoson isn’t the right tool for them. That’s why we’ve reflected on our limitations to help you decide early on whether Cargoson fits your needs.


Who Cargoson is not built for

Cargoson is intentionally built for shippers: manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers who own the goods and pay the freight. It is neither a carrier nor a freight market platform. Instead, it helps businesses to manage shipments while keeping their existing agreements with different carriers.

  • Not every retailer is a perfect fit. Cargoson is built for those who manage inbound flows from suppliers and B2B distribution, not only B2S delivery to shoppers. If your logistics involve a combination of inbound freight, pallets, full loads and parcels, Cargoson suits you well.
  • If you are a carrier or a forwarder, Cargoson is built for ordering freight from companies like yours, not for you to manage your freight. Cargoson is unique in the TMS landscape in that it's purpose-built for shippers (manufacturers, wholesalers) only. Of course, you still have a Cargoson carrier account to see all the quotes and bookings from your customers.
  • If you run an online store or a parcel-only business, there multi-carrier parcel shipping tools designed specifically for that purpose, offering e-commerce plug-ins, storefront integrations and eCommerce-specific features that Cargoson doesn't provide. If you only send small parcels, a multi-carrier TMS offers more than you need. They tend to be cheaper for pure parcel volume and you likely don't need all the features of a full multi-modal TMS.
  • If you just want a labelling tool and don't need to compare rates across carriers, there are other dedicated parcel tools that will probably serve you better. Rate comparison is Cargoson's engine, and without the need for it, you don't need a full TMS.
  • If you are a one-person company, or you you ship around 100 shipments a month and currently manage everything through carrier portals and emails, a sophisticated TMS isn’t necessary. There may be cheaper and simpler options.


Cargoson is an execution tool

Cargoson handles how shipments are booked, documented, and moved. But it doesn't plan the transport before that point. There's no route or load optimization and no support for multiple loading points. If your operation focuses on route optimization and fitting pallets into trailers, you need a planning tool, not an execution tool.

It helps to see where Cargoson sits within the wider context. Multi-carrier shipping software only covers the parcel and courier shipping within the execution layer. This may be enough for a small e-commerce company, but not for a manufacturer shipping pallets, LTL, FTL, air and sea freight. That full range is where Cargoson and other multimodal transport execution tools operate. Large enterprises sometimes need an extensive planning and audit layer on top of this. But these tools are often very complex and lack the execution basics that matter day to day: carrier connections, rate management, and a clean implementation.

Cargoson keeps the workflow consistent across all carriers, whether they use a modern API or an older system. The goal is that booking with any carrier feels the same to your team. You get consistency instead of carrier-specific options. For most logistic teams, this is the right approach; for others, it is not.

For functionality comparison, see our guides to transport management providers and multi-carrier shipping software.


Your own contracts, not ours

Cargoson is neutral and independent, with no carrier contracts of its own. It’s always your own rates and agreements. Many other platforms prefer to push their own contracts, we won’t do that.

Also, Cargoson will not find you the cheapest carrier on the market. If your main goal is to find the lowest spot price for every load, we’re not the right tool for you.

Cargoson is not a warehouse system either. It won’t manage your picking or stock counts, and it won't replace your ERP system. Your ERP still owns the order and the invoice. As your TMS, Cargoson owns the shipment. The two systems work well together, but buying a TMS won’t make your ERP redundant.


Tracking is only as good as your carrier

We don’t own the trucks or the ships. Our tracking relies on the information carriers provide: if a carrier updates milestones properly, you will have good visibility. But if a carrier is quiet, we can’t create data they don’t share.

Cargoson has built-in functionality to help with this. Even if a carrier doesn't have automated tracking integration, they can still manually enter shipment information, including the estimated and actual collection and delivery times, directly in Cargoson.

Sea freight is the bright spot. We can track freight containers regardless of the carrier using satellite and port data. This is not possible for vans or trucks as there are no satellite images or port records, but ocean container visibility is strong for larger containers and ships.

Victor Mandrup, Logistics Coordinator at OMHU, a furniture manufacturer that ships to 25 markets, sums it up: “You find the order in Cargoson and can then go directly to the carrier's website to view it. The status is usually the same in Cargoson as well. Some carriers have trouble updating it, but then there's the link to their local site.”

There’s good visibility most of the time and a fallback option when a carrier goes quiet. Set the expectation with your team accordingly. This is carrier-reported visibility, not a live feed that we control.


Strong across Europe and North America

Cargoson has its strongest coverage across Europe and North America. This is where the carrier network is the deepest, integrations are most complete, and our team is most familiar with the local specifics. 

Outside these areas, coverage may not be perfect. Support responses may take a little longer since we work European hours. This is usually fine for most issues, but it may cause problems for time-critical ones.

If your operation is based in a different time zone or your freight mostly moves outside Europe and the North America, take this into account before deciding. Ask which of your carriers are already connected, and what support is available during your operating hours. If it works for your business, the geography isn’t a problem.


No direct integration with customs

Customs is a specific challenge: every country has its own customs agency with its own system, and Cargoson doesn’t integrate with them. Creating and maintaining connections to national customs platforms is currently beyond the scope of our product, so we’d rather be honest about it here. 

We have a feature that allows you to make declarations, but we don't integrate directly with customs systems. Your team will continue to work with the tool you currently use, while Cargoson will handle booking, documents and movement.

This works for most of our customers, but if you’d prefer to integrate directly with customs, Cargoson does not offer this functionality.


Rail is our weak point

Most of our customers ship goods by road, which is where our product is most proven. Our founders all have a background in working for road freight companies, and Cargoson was built on this experience. If road transport is at the heart of your operations, Cargoson is the perfect partner for you.

Other modes, like rail, sea, and air are supported too. But rail is where it narrows down. It is possible, but few of your customers use it, which means there is less proven ground and fewer connections than for road.

If rail is central to your network, be aware that you'd be one of the few.


Cloud platform, no on-premise solution

There’s no on-premise version. If your IT team wants to run the software on your own servers, we’re not the right vendor for you. 

That’s deliberate: install-it-yourself, on-premises tools largely date back to the 90s. Your team has to perform server maintenance, manage upgrades and deal with downtime.

We built Cargoson to be a modern cloud platform. Updates are released to all users and new integrations are made available for you without the need of an IT project.

For most mid-sized manufacturers who don’t want to run more infrastructure than necessary, that’s what they’re looking for. But if an on-premises solution is a requirement, this is a deciding factor.


It requires setup and buy-in

Cargoson is not plug-and-play. Before you can use it, you need to set up your rate cards, carriers, integrations, addresses and colleagues. But it's not as time-consuming as some other TMS rollouts. Depending on your level of complexity, setup usually takes one or two weeks, or a month at most, and then you're ready to go.

Here are two things that help you determine whether it works:

  • Your data. If your rate cards are outdated, incomplete or missing, we can't guarantee that every calculated price is correct. The system is only as accurate as the freight price lists you provide.
  • Your employees. Software won't solve operational issues if nobody uses it. A TMS that isn't used by your team is worse than relying on spreadsheets. Make sure you get your team on board before you buy to ensure they adopt the new tool.


A new and modern company

We are a newer name on the market. This also means Cargoson is built on modern technology, designed around how logistics runs today rather than a legacy tool. We move fast, ship new features, answer directly and know our customers.

Read our public reviews, in which our fast response times and problem solving are frequently mentioned.

You can also read our case studies to find out how companies like yours use Cargoson.


What we haven’t built yet, but is on the roadmap

  • No automated cost-matching. You can check a freight invoice against your rates manually inside Cargoson, but the system won’t reconcile them automatically yet. This is a common request and it’s on the list.
  • No claims system. We’ve had plenty of requests for damage and reclamation handling, and it is in development and coming soon.
  • There’s also no credit card payment option. 


In a nutshell: When Cargoson isn’t the right tool for you

Cargoson is probably not the right tool if any of the following apply:

  • You have no fixed carrier agreements or price lists.
  • Your processes are not standardized, so every shipment is a one-off decision.
  • You want the cheapest spot price for every load, every time.
  • You have no ERP system and have no plans to implement one.

None of these are permanent, and timing is part of this too. Our own customers will tell you so. A year before Latvian electronics manufacturer HansaMatrix found Cargoson, volumes weren’t pressing yet. But one year later, the situation changed. Karina, Warehouse and Logistics manager at HansaMatrix Ventspils, started researching the market for a better way to manage carrier quotes when Cargoson got in touch. “If you had called me a year earlier, I doubt I would have agreed. Order volumes were not pressing an issue yet. But this came at the right moment.” Now, more carriers approach HansaMatrix directly because they know the company is sourcing through Cargoson.


Who Cargoson is right for

Cargoson is right for you if you’re a European or US B2B manufacturer or wholesaler moving a few hundred to a few thousand mixed shipments a month, consisting of parcels, pallets and full loads, mostly by road. You already have an ERP in place, and you want to keep your carrier contracts rather than replace them. Your logistics team is drowning in email, browser tabs, and manual work, and would benefit from a modern platform for booking, documenting and viewing freight.

Cargoson removes the need to track shipments across various carrier portals and email inboxes. It brings all your transport information together in one cloud-based transport management system: price sheets, price and transit time comparisons, carbon emission calculations, tracking, freight documents, loading calendars, statistics and notifications.