Cargoson information for carriers
Cargoson is a transport management system used by manufacturers and wholesalers to manage shipments with the carriers they already work with. It is not a freight marketplace, load board, or broker. There are no public loads here to bid on. If your customer asked you to register, you're in the right place. If you're trying to figure out what Cargoson is, this page is for you.
What is Cargoson, in 30 seconds?
What Cargoson is
A transport management system (TMS) used by manufacturers and wholesalers in Europe and North America to plan, price, book, and track shipments across all the carriers they work with.
What Cargoson isn't
A freight marketplace, load board, or broker. We don't aggregate loads, run a public bidding system, or promote carriers to shippers. There are no public loads here to buy or sell.
What carriers do here
Receive quote requests and shipment orders from shippers who already use Cargoson and have added you as one of their carriers. You can respond via email, by signing in, or via an integration we can build with your booking system.
What it costs you
Nothing. Cargoson is always free for carriers, including any integration work we do with your booking or tracking system. We are paid by the shippers, never by carriers.
How does a carrier end up working through Cargoson?
Three steps, in order. Without step 1, the rest doesn't happen.
A shipper uses Cargoson
A manufacturer or wholesaler uses Cargoson to manage their logistics across all the carriers they work with: price calculation, spot price requests, booking, tracking, documents, and statistics.
They add you as one of their carriers
Because you already do business with them. Either we set you up on their request, or you register a carrier account and they add you to their list inside Cargoson.
Their requests and bookings reach you
Quote requests and shipment orders arrive via email / PDF, by signing in to Cargoson, or via an integration we build with your booking system. Whichever suits you best. We build the integration for free.
Is Cargoson a freight marketplace or a load board?
No. Cargoson is a TMS used by shippers to manage their own carriers, not a place to find new shippers or new loads. Here is a quick comparison:
Cargoson TMS
A freight marketplace or load board
Cargoson is always free for carriers. We don't charge for accounts, per-shipment fees, or network fees, including the integration work we do with your booking software or tracking system.
Cargoson doesn't come between you and your customers
We are a SaaS used by shippers to manage their own logistics, not a freight forwarder, broker, or 4PL. The relationship between you and your customer stays direct.
Direct billing
You invoice your customer the same way you do today. Cargoson never touches the money or takes a cut from a shipment.
Your rates, your contracts
You negotiate rates and sign agreements directly with your customer. Cargoson then helps them digitize and apply those rate cards inside the platform. Our powerful pricing engine handles even the most complex price calculation logics & surcharges.
Only your customers
Your account shows only the requests addressed to you by shippers who use Cargoson and have added you to their carrier list. No public loads & bidding.
Pure SaaS, paid by shippers
Cargoson runs on a fixed monthly subscription paid by your customer - the shipper. Carrier accounts are 100% free and always will be. We are not a freight forwarder, and not your competitor.
Transport decisions stay with the shipper
The shipper picks the carrier for every shipment, not us. Cargoson never does any freight forwarding. Every request reaches you because that shipper specifically chose you.
What should you do as a carrier on Cargoson?
Pick the situation that fits.
Your customer asked you to register
A manufacturer or wholesaler told you they use Cargoson and need you on board. Register a carrier account using the button below. The account stays empty until they add you to their carrier list, usually within a day or two. From there, their quote requests and bookings start reaching you.
Register a carrier account →You want to verify if a customer of yours uses Cargoson
Ask your customer first. We also publish a partial public list of shippers who let us display their logos on our references page. Not every Cargoson shipper is there. If your customer isn't on the list and you'd like us to confirm, email [email protected].
Browse references →You're looking for new business, loads, or new shippers
Cargoson isn't this. We don't run a marketplace, network, or bid system, and shippers using Cargoson choose their own carriers. For load-finding, freight exchanges like Trans.eu, Timocom, or DAT are what you're looking for. Cargoson is for managing relationships that already exist.
However you prefer to receive queries and transport bookings, we'll meet you there.
Cargoson can deliver the shipper's requests as API requests / EDI file into your own system, as email, or in our web app. All three at once is fine too.
Direct integration with your system
If you run your own TMS, dispatching software, or booking system, we build an integration and every transport order lands there in your preferred format, ready to be picked up by your dispatcher. Quote requests and tracking events flow the same way. We build it at no cost, on your spec. This is how most carriers we work with connect, and the channel we recommend: fully automated and reliable, with no ongoing work on your side once it is live.
{
"event": "transport_order.created",
"id": "TO-2841",
"shipper": "Acme Manufacturing",
"pickup": { "city": "Munich", "country": "DE" },
"delivery":{ "city": "Paris", "country": "FR" },
"cargo": { "pallets": 8, "weight_kg": 2400 }
}
Email / PDF
Transport orders arrive as a regular email with the full shipment brief and a PDF attached. This works for carriers without a system to plug into, and as a fallback channel for everyone else.
Everything in one dashboard
Sign in to Cargoson and handle the requests and orders from shippers who have added you to their carrier list and addressed the request to you. These are not public load tenders or a marketplace, only direct requests from your customers. Reply with rates, accept transport orders, set tracking events, upload POD, and chat with shippers about specific shipments. A free carrier account, useful if you don't have a system to integrate or simply prefer working in one place.
Are you a carrier? We can build the integration into your system.
Carriers are usually integrated after their first common customer asks for it, but you do not have to wait. If any of your customers already use Cargoson and you'd like every quote request and transport order to flow straight into your system, we can start now. Free, on your spec. Our IT team handles all the development.
What we need from your side
- Your API, EDI, or file-format documentation
- Access to a test environment or credentials
- A technical contact on your side
Frequently asked questions by carriers about Cargoson
Want to discuss something else?
If you've read this page and have any other questions or topics you'd like to discuss, write to us. We'll respond personally and point you in the right direction.
Email us