Descartes MacroPoint™ is a leading real-time visibility platform that helps shippers, freight brokers, 3rd-party logistics (3PLs) providers, and carriers control their shipments. The cost of this solution can vary somewhat depending on the number of loads and shipments, as well as shipment modes that your business processes. This blog aims to explain the recurring costs associated with using Descartes MacroPoint and help you understand the value and investment required for efficient real-time shipment tracking.

What is the price per shipment?

The cost per shipment with Descartes MacroPoint will vary depending on the number of shipments your company handles. The more shipments you manage, the lower the cost per shipment.

To put it into numbers, if your company sends over one million loads per year, the cost will be between $0.10 and $2.00 per load depending on the transport mode (Parcel, Full Truckload (FTL), Less-than-Truckload (LTL), Air, and Ocean). On the other hand, if your company sends just over one thousand shipments per year, the price will be between $0.42 and $3.75 per shipment. This pricing model incentivizes higher shipment volumes, making it more cost effective for businesses with significant logistics operations.

These costs include detailed real-time tracking, status updates, predictive ETAs and many functionalities on top of that, like configurable automated notifications, CO2 reporting, temperature monitoring, customer portals, integrations to back-end systems etc., which provide you and your customers with real-time data and visibility.

Companies also need to consider implementation costs. The implementation cost for Descartes MacroPoint can range from $3K to $20K, depending on the number of carriers used, training required, the level of effort the company wants to invest vs. having Descartes perform more work, and the number of systems to integrate with. This investment covers the setup and integration of this transportation visibility platform into your company’s logistics operations, plus supporting the on-boarding efforts with carriers, all with different options available based on your specific needs and shipment volumes.

What are the alternatives?

Without a real-time visibility tool, companies are left with little choice but to rely on traditional manual methods and other less integrated solutions (individual inquiries into numerous carrier portals, making phone calls/emails, etc.), resulting in significant labor costs, unhappy customers, and inefficient operations.  All of these manual processes suffer from latency and leave customers running behind when it comes to tracking.

Companies without a real-time visibility solution often need to hire additional staff and spend more time managing shipments.  Business growth results in adding staff and cost to support required manual efforts.

The ideal setup is a Transportation Management System (TMS) which includes a native real-time visibility platform, but if switching your TMS is not possible, you can also integrate real-time visibility software into your existing systems.

Additional features

Descartes MacroPoint can track shipments using any transport mode like Parcel, FTL/LTL, air, ocean or rail. It also comes with a wide range of additional features that enable you to solve your specific business challenges. Some of these features are included in the main subscription cost, including:

Configurable Control Tower Views

for different types of users

Configurable automated alert notifications

for unlimited situations across several communication methods (email, text, in-app etc.)

Fraud and theft detection

proactive fraud prevention and monitoring with FraudGuard 

Mobile app failover

in the case where telemetry connections are interrupted

Action Center

to provide a clear picture of your loads that are not tracking as expected along with reasons, enabling your team to rapidly troubleshoot tracking sessions

Carrier Lookups

to help in vetting carriers by accessing information on their tracking history (how they are integrated into Descartes MacroPoint, how many loads they’ve tracked, how many loads are actively tracking, tracking compliance percentage, and if they have a history of suspicious tracking data)

There are also optional add-on  features designed to elevate your experience and extend functionality beyond traditional real-time tracking, including:

  • Analytics & Intelligence – Advanced analytics proactively identify potential issues before they arise, while continuously monitoring overall performance.
  • CO2 Data Reporting – This feature enables environmental impact tracking, a critical capability for meeting the growing demands of CO₂ reporting regulations.
  • Shipment Temperature Monitoring – Ensures high-quality delivery of temperature-sensitive shipments, including the ability to drive alerts / notifications for temperature violations on loads
  • Customer Portals – Empowers your key customers with a dedicated branded portal, giving them real-time visibility into their shipments.
  • Proof of Delivery and image upload capability – Reduces claims and expedites invoicing
  • Capacity Sourcing – Finds carriers to cover loads based on real-time and historical operating data
  • Descartes Dock Appointment Schedulingä – Optimizes labor and receiving at dock doors and minimizes detention and demurrage fees
  • Booking/Tender Automation – Digitizes communication with carriers for tendering, documentation and invoicing.

In conclusion

In conclusion, getting real-time visibility will benefit your business by providing you and your customers with up-to-date information. You only pay for what you need, ensuring cost efficiency. Additionally, the software does the heavy lifting for you, automating processes and enhancing overall efficiency.

Interested in how Descartes MacroPoint can boost real-time visibility across your supply chain? Get in touch with our team of experts!