For Buyers · TMS
Running a TMS RFP? Start with requirements, not a vendor list.
A TMS RFP is a process for selecting a transportation management system: you document your requirements, send them to a list of vendors, compare the responses, and choose. The process fails at the first step and the third. Most buyers build the vendor list before the requirements are settled, and vendor responses are self-reported, so the comparison measures how well each vendor writes rather than how well each system fits.
PreShiftIQ replaces both weak points. You complete a structured assessment that captures what your operation actually requires, and we match you against interview-validated vendor capability rather than vendor claims. The result is a shortlist scored on measured fit that you can defend, before you write a single RFP document. The buyer match is free.
Do you actually need a TMS RFP?
Sometimes yes. If procurement requires a formal competitive process, or the spend threshold triggers one, an RFP is not optional. But an RFP is a mechanism for comparing vendors you have already selected, and it answers none of the questions that decide whether a TMS selection succeeds.
An RFP cannot tell you which vendors to include. It cannot verify whether a "yes" in a response matrix reflects shipped capability or roadmap. And it cannot tell you which of your stated requirements should have been non-negotiable and which were preferences you could have traded.
Those three questions decide the outcome, and they are all answered before the RFP goes out. That is where PreShiftIQ sits.
| The question | What a TMS RFP does | What PreShiftIQ does |
|---|---|---|
| Which vendors belong on the list? | You decide, usually from search results, a peer recommendation, or an analyst grid | Vendors that cannot operationally serve you are excluded before scoring begins |
| Is the capability real? | Vendor self-reports in a response matrix | Capability validated through structured interviews, with the assessment date recorded |
| What matters most for us? | Weighted by whoever built the scoring sheet | Weighted by your stated requirements, applied consistently across every vendor |
| Can the decision be defended? | A scoring spreadsheet, reconstructed after the fact | Every scoring decision written to an immutable, time-stamped record |
If you still need to run a formal RFP afterward, you run it with a qualified shortlist and documented requirements instead of a list you assembled from search results. Most buyers find the RFP gets considerably shorter.
Why reviews and analyst reports do not settle it either.
Star ratings reward the vendors who work them hardest. Analyst reports are shaped by the vendors they cover. Every source a buyer reaches for has someone else's incentive behind it, and the cost of choosing wrong lands entirely on the buyer: a failed implementation, a system that does not fit, and the cost of doing it all again.
The gap between a system that fits and one that nearly fits is measured in years and budgets, and it is a common outcome rather than a rare one.
PreShiftIQ is the independent alternative. We work for the buyer, we validate through interviews rather than reviews, and we exclude the vendors that cannot serve you before you ever see a shortlist.
Built for shippers, brokers, carriers, and 3PLs.
A shipper TMS and a broker TMS are different products solving different problems, and a system built for a private fleet does not serve a freight brokerage. Matching accounts for that before anything is scored.
Shippers
Multimodal coverage, rate management, ERP and WMS integration, freight audit, and the modes you run least often but cannot drop.
Brokers and 3PLs
Carrier workflow, quote turnaround, load lifecycle, capacity sourcing, and margin visibility across the book.
Carriers and private fleets
Dispatch, asset utilization, driver workflow, and the integrations your existing operational stack will not compromise on.
What you get
A shortlist matched to your requirements
Not the vendors who paid the most. The vendors that fit what you actually need, scored on measured fit against your stated requirements.
Interview-validated scorecards
Vendor capability is validated through structured interviews, not self-reported marketing claims, so your shortlist reflects reality.
Vendors who arrive prepared
The vendors you connect with already have your requirements in hand, so discovery starts where it usually ends. Better conversations, faster, and stronger cost avoidance on the decision itself.
How the TMS match works
- Complete a structured assessment of your TMS requirements, including your non-negotiables.
- Get matched on measured fit. Vendors that cannot serve your role or your core modes are excluded before scoring begins.
- Connect with a shortlist of qualified vendors who arrive at discovery already prepared.
The buyer match is free. You decide which vendors, if any, to move forward with.
What you see as a buyer
Your results are yours alone. Vendors never see each other's standing, and your identity is released only to a vendor that accepts your engagement. You see the vendors that clear our recommendation threshold, each with a fit index and a match level.
Your match results
Assessment #7c21a4d3
Your matched vendor
Match #e95fb069
Vendor identity
R. Alvarez - ralvarez@sample-vendor.com - +1 (312) 555-0193
Scorecard for this match
Evaluated as: Shipper (Manufacturer, Retailer, Distributor)
Sample data shown for illustration. You receive each accepting vendor's scorecard exactly as it was measured for your match: the dimensions evaluated for your engagement, scored to one independent standard, with the weighting you gave each dimension shown beside it.
A platform that answers to you.
Our alignment is built into the platform, not just stated in a policy. Matching is payment-blind: what a vendor pays never enters the scoring path, and every scoring decision is written to an immutable, time-stamped record. The platform can demonstrate that your match was computed from measured fit and nothing else.
Your data is yours
Your information is released to a vendor only after that vendor accepts your match, and it is never sold or shared in identifiable form with anyone else.
Your team, your access
Invite colleagues or an advisor to help complete your assessment. You control who has access, and every collaborator is scoped to your account alone.
The category, covered.
102 TMS vendors mapped across the category, with interview-validated scorecards live and expanding. You get the benefit of the category evaluated to one independent standard, without doing the legwork yourself.
Catalog coverage, alphabetical; not a ranking or recommendation. Matches come only from a buyer's own completed assessment.
- Loading the covered vendors…
Catalog inclusion is factual: the vendor sells into this vertical. It is sourced from public information and interviews, is not removable on request, and is never an endorsement or a statement of participation. Corrections to name, ownership, or product line are always accepted at info@preshiftiq.com.
TMS RFP and selection questions
What is a TMS RFP?
A TMS RFP is a request for proposal used to select a transportation management system. The buyer documents functional and technical requirements, distributes them to a list of vendors, collects written responses, and scores those responses to reach a decision. It is a comparison mechanism, and it assumes the vendor list and the requirements are already correct.
Do I need a TMS RFP?
If procurement policy or a spend threshold requires a formal competitive process, yes. Otherwise it is optional, and it is rarely the step that decides the outcome. What decides the outcome is which vendors made the list and whether their stated capability is real. Both are settled before the RFP goes out.
How long does a TMS selection take?
A formal RFP cycle typically runs three to six months from requirements gathering to signature, longer for enterprise shippers with multimodal freight and ERP integration in scope. Most of that time is spent qualifying vendors and reconciling inconsistent responses, which is the part a structured assessment removes.
Is PreShiftIQ free for buyers?
Yes. The assessment, the match, and the shortlist are free to buyers. PreShiftIQ is paid by vendors at one published rate: 5 percent of first-year contract value, due only when a matched buyer becomes that vendor's customer, the same for every vendor. There is no lead fee, and fee data has no input to the matching engine. Matching is payment-blind by architecture, not by policy.
How is PreShiftIQ different from review sites and analyst rankings?
Those sources start with the full field and sort it by sentiment, review volume, or vendor scale. None of them removes anyone. As a matching platform, PreShiftIQ excludes the vendors that cannot operationally serve you before scoring begins, then scores the remainder against your stated requirements. Sorting the full field tells you who is popular. Removing the ones that cannot do the work tells you who can.
Can I still run an RFP after using PreShiftIQ?
Yes, and it will be a better one. You enter it with a qualified shortlist, documented requirements, and stated non-negotiables, instead of a vendor list assembled from search results. The RFP becomes a confirmation step rather than a discovery exercise.
Does a shipper TMS differ from a broker TMS?
Substantially. A shipper TMS is built around procurement, rate management, multimodal execution, and freight audit. A broker or 3PL TMS is built around carrier sourcing, quote turnaround, load lifecycle, and margin. A system built for one does not serve the other, which is why persona is a hard filter in matching, applied before any vendor is scored.
Find your TMS match.
Tell us what your operation requires. Get a shortlist built on measured fit, from a platform that works for you. Free to buyers, with no obligation to proceed with anyone.