What does AI freight software cost? Questions to ask before requesting a quote

Key Takeaways

Before requesting a quote for AI freight software, ask how the price is calculated, what it covers, what moves it and what work sits outside it.
Send your own inputs with the request: volumes by mode, main lanes, order data flow and approval rules.
Any step a quote leaves out stays with your team, so price the people who will keep doing it.
Keep the software charge and the freight charge in separate columns; the carrier still bills for moving the load.
Wilson, by Cartage, has no subscription or platform fee; its pricing is a percentage of the freight payments coordinated through the Wilson Wallet.

What should you ask before requesting a quote for AI freight software?

Ask how the price is calculated, what one unit of that price covers, what changes it, and what work stays outside it. Then give the vendor your volumes by mode, your main lanes, your order data flow and your approval rules, so the quote describes your operation instead of a generic one.

AI freight software is priced per user, per load, by subscription, as a share of freight payments, or as a mix of recurring and setup charges. Two quotes with similar totals can cover very different work: one may leave invoice matching and carrier payment with accounts payable, another may cover the whole shipment lifecycle but need configuration first. Unless each vendor answers the same questions, the buyer compares numbers that don't describe the same scope.

Preparation is the other half. A vendor that hears "about 400 loads a month" returns a broad figure. A vendor that receives load counts by mode, main lanes, the order flow and the approval points can scope the work that actually drives cost.

Four question groups that make quotes comparable

Each group answers one part of the price, and the order matters: understand the unit before arguing about the number.

1. The pricing model

Find the unit of charge first: a seat, a load, a subscription, a share of freight payments, or a combination. Then ask how that unit behaves in a slow month and at peak, and whether freight money passes through the vendor's system.

2. What one unit includes

Map the unit against the work a load requires, from order intake and carrier quotes through booking, tracking, exceptions, POD collection, invoice audit and carrier payment. Ask which modes share the same price and whether any step is a separate module.

3. What changes the price

Ask the vendor to name each variable and say whether it moves the recurring charge or a one-time setup charge: volume, mode mix, the number of order sources, ERP write-back, shipping locations, document formats or cross-border coordination with brokers.

4. Internal effort and deployment

Ask who configures the system, whether vendor-led setup carries a fee, and which of your people must contribute: operations for carriers and rules, IT for data access and security review, finance for payment approvals. That effort never appears on the quote, but the purchase still costs it. For how these categories split in a project budget, see why no implementation fee does not mean no integration cost.

What to have ready before the first pricing conversation

A quote can only be as specific as the inputs behind it. Six items let a vendor scope the work instead of guessing at it.

Volumes by mode. Monthly loads for each mode you ship, for a normal month and your heaviest month, split inbound and outbound if your team coordinates both.
Lanes. The origin-destination pairs with the most volume, plus the lanes with the most exceptions.
Order data flow. Where the order starts (ERP, email, a scheduled export, a spreadsheet), which fields arrive with it, and whether status must go back to the ERP.
Approval rules. Who approves a carrier choice, a rate above target, an accessorial, an invoice variance and a payment. If approval today depends on who is in the office, write that down; it is a real input.
Carriers. Approved carriers by mode and how each is reached today.
Invoice and payment process. Who receives carrier invoices, how they are matched and paid, and the range of monthly freight payments.

An illustrative package: 220 LTL and 60 FTL loads in a normal month, a third more at peak, two warehouses, a daily ERP export, and rates above target approved by the logistics manager. A vendor can price that description; it cannot price "we ship a lot of freight." If your approval rules are informal, setting booking approval rules before you automate is a useful exercise to finish first.

How to judge the answers that come back

Use the answers to decide whether two quotes describe the same work, not only which number is smaller.

If the vendor cannot state the pricing unit in one sentence, ask for it in writing before comparing totals.
If a lifecycle step is excluded, add the cost of the person who will keep doing it. A tool that tracks loads but leaves invoice matching with accounts payable is cheaper only if that matching time is free.
If the price depends on volume or freight payments, ask the vendor to run the calculation on your normal month and your peak month, using the numbers you sent.
If only the vendor can do setup, ask what your team could configure instead and how cost and effort would change.
If the quote changes your carrier rates, ask whether you are buying software or capacity.
If the answer to "what changes the price" is "everything," narrow the request to the first lanes you would run and ask for a quote on that scope.

Pre-quote checklist for AI freight software

Send these questions with your data package and record each vendor's answer in the last column.

Group	Question to ask	A usable answer
Pricing model	What is the unit of charge?	One named unit you can recompute from your volumes
Pricing model	Is there a subscription, platform fee or minimum?	A yes or no, and the condition that triggers it
What's included	Which lifecycle steps are inside the unit?	Steps from order intake to payment
What's included	Which modes share the same price?	Each mode you ship, named
What changes the price	Which variables move the recurring charge?	Named variables, such as volume or mode mix
What changes the price	Which variables move a setup charge?	Named variables, such as order sources or ERP write-back
Internal effort	Can our team configure the system ourselves?	What self-setup involves and who on your side does it
Internal effort	If you handle setup, what sets the fee?	The setup factors that drive it
Deployment	What is the first scope you would start with?	Specific lanes or a workflow, not "everything"

How Wilson, by Cartage, answers these questions

Wilson is an AI logistics agent that replaces the TMS for freight execution and connects to the company's ERP, so its price covers the work of moving each shipment.

Pricing model: Wilson has no subscription or platform fee. Carrier payments run through the Wilson Wallet; once a carrier invoice is audited and reconciled against what was booked, Wilson pays the carrier under the customer's configured rules. Wilson's pricing is a percentage of the freight payments coordinated through the Wallet. The freight charge stays in its own column. For the payment flow, see how carrier payment works when it is built into freight execution.

Included: Wilson covers quoting, booking, scheduling, tracking, delivery, invoice audit and payment across LTL, FTL, parcel, ocean, drayage and cross-border freight (coordination, not customs clearance). It tenders to customer-approved carriers first and negotiates against the customer's rate targets within approval limits.

Setup inputs: Wilson works with SAP, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle, Infor, Epicor, Sage, Acumatica, and other ERP environments, with the exact connection depending on the customer's data flow and scope. Orders can arrive by ERP feed, file drop, spreadsheet, email or API; write-back is optional and scoped.

Deployment: customers can configure Wilson themselves or work with the Cartage team. A deployment fee applies only when the customer wants the Cartage team to handle setup, and it depends on the complexity of that setup. Cartage helps map the first workflow during discovery. Wilson starts with assisted execution under approval boundaries the customer sets. Timing depends on scope: most teams start on a few lanes and expand from there.

Bring your shipment volumes by mode and a sketch of how orders reach your team, and see in a demo how Wilson would run that freight and how the quote is scoped.