“Qargo’s Transport Management System allows us to scale seamlessly as we grow our business.”
In the transport sector, one question arises time and again: What happens when your ambitious plans cannot be met by the limitations of your current TMS? It’s simple, says Jacobs Transport, you either adapt quickly or risk being left stranded in the past.
For more than 90 years, Jacobs Transport has constantly adapted, establishing itself as a leading specialist in full truckload (FTL) shipments across Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France. With a fleet of 95 trucks and plans to add 15 more, their latest expansion represents both a major growth opportunity and a significant operational challenge-ensuring their large fleet is fully utilised.
Alongside a move to new premises, this ambitious growth plan was the driving force behind their decision to switch TMS providers. “We had been using our previous TMS for five years, but over time, we noticed a growing disconnect between our business goals and the system’s capabilities,” explains Process Manager, Wouter Hertogs.
Key Challenges
Limited features and extra costs
Wouter explained that whenever Jacobs Transport requested new features or improvements – particularly in areas like AI – he was often told such changes weren’t part of the system, “and that if we wanted them, we would have to pay extra to implement them.”
Integration limitations
The solution also needed to be compatible with Transporeon’s transportation management platform: “We primarily rely on Transporeon for one major customer who submits their orders exclusively through the platform so we needed simple integration with our new TMS solution.” Their previous TMS did have a connection with Transporeon but the quality and usability of the integration were lacking.
Tracking and resourcing challenges
One of the biggest challenges with its previous TMS was resourcing – namely tracking trailers and their status. "Since we regularly couple and uncouple trailers in different locations across Belgium, it was taking us between one to one-and-a-half hours each day to manually update and verify the list of full and empty trailers across a couple of different systems – it was a time-consuming puzzle.”
With mounting inefficiencies, rising costs for essential upgrades, and a lack of seamless integration with key platforms, Jacobs Transport realised their existing TMS was holding them back. The time-consuming processes, combined with limited system adaptability and integration challenges, meant they needed a more agile, future-proof solution. They set out to find a TMS that could not only streamline operations but also grow with the company—offering full visibility and control over the entire logistics process, from order entry to invoicing.
The Solution
Wouter had already met Qargo two years previously at a trade fair in Antwerp; but it was connecting with a former colleague, who not only had a lot of TMS expertise, but had already implemented Qargo TMS. “His insights played a key role in convincing me to take the step towards Qargo,” says Wouter. “He felt the transition had gone exceptionally well and encouraged me to make the leap.”
Because of this endorsement, Wouter decided to investigate if Qargo could meet all of Jacobs Transports’ requirements. Qargo demonstrated that with the right solution and data – such as accurate driver and order-related information – they could easily access all relevant information, all within a single view, saving considerable time and money. This led to Jacobs Transport deciding to implement Qargo.
Qargo’s onboarding team spent time on site with the team and ensured that the transition was as seamless as possible. The onboarding was carried out over quite a stressful – but successful – week (with no orders lost!) and the platform has already delivered significant gains.
The Results
Time savings
“We’re already seeing time savings. Updating our trailer lists manually took up to one-and-a-half hours every day." With Qargo and a richer Transporeon integration, this process is now fully automated and saves valuable time. “We estimate this time saving to be circa 5 hours a week but are still very early on post-implementation, this figure may well change.”
Planning efficiencies
Another major operational benefit is the ease of planning across the entire company. “All the information is consolidated in one system,” explains Wouter. “This makes the planning process much smoother and more efficient. We can see everything in one view, which eliminates a lot of the manual checks plus the uncertainty we had with the old system.”
Robust Transporeon integration
Full integration with Transporeon has also simplified processes. Previously, the connection’s quality was not – and could not be – fully optimized with the previous TMS platform. “We’ve seen significant efficiency improvements,” explains JacobsTransport’s CEO, Bart Tilmans. “The seamless integration between Qargo and Transporeon has cut down on manual workloads and allowed us to maximize fleet efficiency while delivering a more proactive, transparent service to our customers.”
“Transporeon’s integration framework, TIAP, empowers us to stay agile and responsive to evolving supply chain demands while maintaining our commitment to quality and reliability.”
Bart Tilmans, CEO, Jacobs Transport
Improving accuracy and efficiency
Invoicing, one of the most critical processes, has become far more efficient: “With all our data centralised in Qargo, we can now work from a single platform, making invoicing much more straightforward. This unification has eliminated the errors when searching for missing information.”
Fewer Customer Enquiries, Greater Self-Sufficiency
The Jacobs team also finds Qargo’s powerful search function incredibly helpful - and their customers are experiencing benefits, too. “With the customer portal, our customers can now access the information they need on their own, significantly reducing the number of calls and emails we receive. It’s very early days, but we estimate customer enquiries have dropped by circa 30%, saving approximately 3 hours a week for our team due to fewer customer questions and calls.”
“A major reason for choosing Qargo was its modern and user-friendly interface – and more intuitive, efficient experience.”
The Future
Ultimately, the team at Jacobs Transport is highly positive about the collaboration with Qargo. “Even now, three months later, we see continuous improvements, Qargo is constantly updating, searching for new and improved features, and really thinking about our goals.”
Just as importantly – unlike its previous TMS provider – whenever they provide feedback or request new features, “we receive quick responses, and Qargo’s team often investigate or release updates to address our needs. This sense of partnership is one of the key reasons we continue to use Qargo.”
Such flexibility and responsiveness is especially important within a sector that is constantly changing – and one that can prove problematic for some hauliers. For instance, last summer, Wouter spoke with several transport companies still using older TMS systems.
He soon realized their biggest fear about switching providers was the perceived disruption to their established workflows and financial processes. “The common sentiment was: ‘It works for me today, so why change?’,” recalls Wouter. "While that’s understandable, if you want to grow and move forward, you have to adapt and that’s what Jacobs Transport has done.”
“We’re excited to see our partnership with Qargo grow and strengthen in the future.”
