Shipper | Research and reports 2 min. read
Simplifying the RFP process: Why it’s time to modernize
Transportation managers need faster, smarter ways to secure carriers and control costs—but outdated, manual RFP processes keep them stuck in slow, error-prone workflows. Spreadsheets and email chains lack the flexibility and agility today’s logistics demands, creating high administrative burden, limited visibility and missed savings opportunities.
Key takeaways:
- Manual transportation RFP processes are slowing shippers down. Traditional bid management methods built around spreadsheets, emails, and manual analysis consume significant time, create administrative burden and make it harder to respond to changing market conditions.
- Transportation procurement requires more than rate comparisons. Effective bid decisions depend on evaluating multiple scenarios, capacity considerations and service factors—not simply selecting the lowest rate.
- BidSmart® modernizes and automates the bidding process. By streamlining bid collection, analysis and carrier evaluation, BidSmart® helps transportation managers make faster, more informed procurement decisions while reducing manual workload.
The challenge
Manual RFP processes are time-consuming and resource heavy. They require weeks of effort, involve multiple stakeholders and often lead to inconsistent data and delayed decisions. In a market where capacity tightens and rates fluctuate, these inefficiencies put shippers at risk of higher costs and unreliable service. Many web-based tools are available for creating bids across a variety of industries, but most are more technical in nature and lack the ability to provide the information and nuances specific to transportation. For the bid to be as accurate as possible, shippers will want a comprehensive offering that can quantify different scenarios, which ultimately helps shippers make better choices regarding who will move the freight.
The smarter way: BidSmart®
BidSmart® is Schneider’s innovative solution that changes everything. Saving shippers hundreds of hours of work, it streamlines the bidding process, enabling quick and reliable comparisons, factoring in more than just rates and delivering data-driven insights for confident, cost-optimized decisions. With BidSmart®, transportation managers can:
- Accelerate decision-making by automating bid collection and analysis
- Secure reliable capacity and consistent rates before market conditions shift
- Reduce manual negotiation time and administrative burden
- Leverage predictive analytics for smarter, future-ready procurement strategies
Why it matters
Transportation managers are under pressure to cut costs and lock in capacity. Recent regulatory changes and market volatility make proactive procurement critical. BidSmart® helps minimize risk from spot market tightness and cost fluctuations—while delivering measurable savings.
Why Schneider?
- Proven expertise: Our project management team brings over 115 years of combined procurement and engineering experience.
- Scale and impact: $3 billion in bids managed through BidSmart®.
- Flexible Solutions: From short-term mini-bids to annual network bids.
- Measurable Results: Average of 8% bid savings in 2025.
- 2–5% mitigated cost in negotiated rate increases on average.
- Dedicated Support: End-to-end project management and carrier analytics.
- Actionable Insights: Detailed reporting on potential savings and cost optimization.
The process
- Kickoff: Define project team, timeline, objectives, scope and data requirements.
- Bid execution: Schneider manages carrier questions, collects responses and analyzes results.
- Carrier selection: Receive detailed scenario-based recommendations based on your desired business rules and receive award and publication files after you make your final selections.
With Schneider handling the heavy lifting, you gain peace of mind knowing your freight is in the right hands at the best possible value.
BidSmart® is the smart choice
When it comes to creating an RFP, you can do the work—or you can get back to work. Contact us to learn more about how BidSmart® can work for you.
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