“Going live was like a switch being flipped – there was so little disruption to our operations.”
With a large fleet and a service spanning Europe, Leatrans required a TMS that it could rely on – but its existing setup simply wasn’t delivering.
Based in Limerick, Irish haulier Leatrans services the international import/export industry with multiple offerings including refrigerated, containers, bulk, high value, and more, using a fleet of over 80 trucks and 140 trailers. Add that all up and an effective, robust and reliable TMS is critical to the company’s day-to-day runnings.
“To provide a seamless service for our customers, effective staffing and communications are two of our biggest challenges as a transport business,” explains Managing Director Ken Leahy. “Visibility is also vital as are proper customer and system integrations. However, our TMS didn’t align with our vision for the future and was also affecting our daily efficiencies.”
Productivity losses
Importantly, these issues – in particular a lack of integration and automation – was harming productivity with labour-intensive and manual processes impacting on client services. Such an untenable situation led to Operations Director John Nestor being tasked with searching for a new, modern platform that could deliver major improvements across all logistical processes.
“We were looking for a cloud-based solution that allowed seamless integrations with no downtime and that also leveraged AI technology,” recalls Nestor. “To be clear, our operations have strict KPIs so we weren’t changing our TMS to better our delivery times – but to eradicate manual processes and offer better visibility for our managers and planners.”
Seamless switch
During the research phase, Leatrans explored several different solutions. However, Qargo stood out immediately as it utilised the modern technologies and feature sets that could help fulfil Leatrans’s vision. Once the company signed up, Leahy and Nestor’s conviction that they had found the right solution was proved correct by Qargo’s onboarding and implementation process.
“It was a seamless switchover from the previous TMS,” says Leahy. “We were exceptionally happy with the onboarding as Qargo delivered on all of its promises. Also, the pre-work that Cus Curran [Qargo’s Regional Ireland onboarding manager] put in alongside John Nestor was evident because all our staff knew what was expected for the go-live date.”
Inevitably, there were teething issues, which are to be expected when switching systems. However, having Curran on-site combined with Qargo’s developers in Belgium meant any problems were resolved within a short period of time.
“The speed of development is exceptionally impressive, the development team a pleasure.”
• Ken Leahy, Managing Director, Leatrans
Quick wins
Once live, operational improvements were immediate and obvious. From time-savings and better visibility to speed of development and integrations, the switchover has been a huge success. “We’ve been able to automate many manual processes,” says Nestor. “Plus invoicing time has been dramatically improved and Qargo’s POD capture functionality works exceptionally well.”
The transition has also been helped by Leatrans’s staff who were already highly engaged and eager to embrace the new platform. Since the switch, Qargo’s Driver App has now been introduced and welcomed by Leatrans’s drivers, too.
“Qargo’s time-saving, better visibility and overall UX has led to better staff morale.”
• John Nestor, Operations Director, Leatrans

Future focused
Turning to the future and Leatrans has high hopes for its Qargo platform. “The solution’s AI offering is cool and we’re looking forward to seeing it evolve,” says Nestor. “We’ve already been impressed by the AI summaries on orders.”Leatrans’ vision is to enable real-time access to critical information from any device, anywhere. “By leveraging advanced technology and the data we collect, we aim to seamlessly integrate with our customers, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and enhancing collaboration.”
Nestor is also enthusiastic about the future integrations coming down the pipeline. “They will be a big benefit for dealing with Customs,” he says, “as well as enabling us to take on more ferry operators and even rework temperature alerts.”
As for other hauliers planning to partner with Qargo, Leahy offers the following learnings from Leatrans’s experience: “Do spend time on the pre-work/testing, be open to changing your thought processes – and importantly, place your trust in the onboarding process. It works.”
Our vision is real-time access to our information from any device and from any location. Leveraging technology and all the information we gather to integrate with our customers and provide up to the minute information.
“Qargo is pushing the boundaries of integrations, AI, automation and customer support."
• Ken Leahy, Managing Director, Leatrans