Shipping’s Hidden Costs Exposed: How One Tool Turns Data Into Millions
SONAR’s new Custom Insights tool merges shipper data with market benchmarks to slash costs and mitigate risk in real.
For years, shippers have been drowning in data, tender volumes, carrier acceptance rates, spot rates, routing guides, yet struggling to connect the dots. These metrics often live in siloed systems, analysed in isolation, leaving critical questions unanswered: Where are we overpaying? Are carriers delivering on their promises?
The tool is exclusive to members of the SONAR Shipper Consortium, a group of shippers who contribute their transportation data, tendered volumes, accepted and rejected tenders, carrier details, and rates, in exchange for access. By combining this proprietary data with SONAR’s market intelligence, Custom Insights provides a dynamic, lane-by-lane breakdown of network health, benchmarking, and optimisation opportunities.
At the heart of the system are three core modules: Network Health, Benchmarking, and Network Optimization.
Network Health: Network Health: Tool
The Network Health module acts as the command centre, offering an executive-level snapshot of a shipper’s entire transportation network. Here, users can see total spend, market vs. actual spend, savings opportunities, at-risk spend, and total volume, all in one place. But it doesn’t stop at raw numbers. The tool layers in SONAR’s market context, using AI-driven insights to highlight demand shifts, rate fluctuations, and capacity constraints that could impact performance.
As one of the tool’s core questions puts it: “Which markets are driving network cost or risk?”
The module also tracks budget and volume trends, allowing shippers to compare planned vs. actual performance. If a carrier is consistently falling short on volume commitments, the system surfaces it, along with the financial impact.
While Network Health provides the big picture, the Benchmarking module zooms in on the details that matter most: individual lanes. Here, shippers can see which routes are overpriced, which are at risk, and which are running efficiently. The tool categorises lanes into four distinct zones.
- High Risk Zone: Lanes where pricing is misaligned with market conditions, creating potential service disruptions or capacity shortages.
- Savings Opportunity: Routes where shippers are overpaying and could renegotiate for better rates.
- Efficiency Zone: Routes where pricing, capacity, and service are all in sync, delivering optimal value.
This categorisation is powered by a combination of pricing alignment, lane difficulty, tender acceptance, and market conditions. As the tool asks: “Which lanes offer the greatest savings opportunity?” The answer is now just a click away.
Another critical feature is Volume Compliance, which compares planned volume against actual volume. Either way, the data is there, in real time, so shippers can act before minor discrepancies become major problems.
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of Benchmarking is its ability to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated metrics. A carrier’s poor tender acceptance rate, for example, might look like a service issue, until the tool reveals that the shipper’s pricing is out of step with the market, making the freight less attractive to carriers. Suddenly, the solution isn’t just about finding a new carrier; it’s about adjusting rates to align with market realities.
Custom Insights doesn’t replace SONAR’s existing Supply Chain Intelligence tools, it extends them. The original workflow, now called Manual Analysis, remains available for one-off projects like mini-bids, scenario planning, or new lane evaluations. But for shippers who want an always-on view of their network, Custom Insights is the game-changer. It’s the difference between flying blind and having a real-time radar for every lane, carrier, and cost driver in the network.
The tool’s value lies in its ability to turn data into action. Shippers no longer need to wait for quarterly reviews or ad-hoc analyses to spot problems. With Custom Insights, the insights are continuous, automated, and, most importantly, actionable. As one of the tool’s guiding questions puts it: “Which carriers or lanes should we evaluate first?” The answer is now always at their fingertips.
“What is SCI: Custom Insights? SCI: Custom Insights is a consortium-powered feature within SONAR’s Supply Chain Intelligence that combines a shipper’s own transportation data with SONAR market benchmarks to provide an ongoing view of network performance, savings opportunities and risk.”
SONAR Spokesperson·Supply Chain Intelligence Provider
The implications for the shipping industry are significant. In an era where freight rates can swing wildly, capacity can vanish overnight, and carrier reliability is never guaranteed, tools like Custom Insights offer a competitive edge. Shippers who adopt it won’t just save money, they’ll gain the agility to respond to market shifts faster than their competitors. And in a business where margins are thin and disruptions are constant, that could be the difference between profit and loss.
For now, access is limited to members of the SONAR Shipper Consortium, but the tool’s potential is clear. If it delivers on its promise, it could redefine how shippers manage their networks, turning data from a liability into an asset, and insights into millions in savings.
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