Transportation management leadership is shifting from reactive execution to proactive network orchestration

Vienna, June 30^th, 2026  

A new benchmark report by Alpega, conducted with industry analyst Adrian Gonzalez of Adelante SCM and based on surveys of 56 shipper executives and 239 carriers and logistics service providers (LSPs) across Europe, finds that transportation management is moving away from reactive, transaction-based execution toward a more proactive model of network orchestration. According to the report, this transition is likely to define transportation management leadership over the next three to five years, as organizations place greater emphasis on coordinating information, partners, risks, and decisions across the network rather than managing shipments as isolated transactions. 

The findings show that shippers and carriers/LSPs broadly share a vision of a more connected, data-driven, and collaborative transportation environment, but while carriers prioritize profitability, visibility, responsiveness, and AI-enabled decision-making, shippers place greater emphasis on other capabilities. For carriers and LSPs, the top future differentiators were optimizing pricing, routing, and load decisions for profitability (53%), real-time visibility and proactive communication with shippers (42%), high asset and driver productivity (40%), responsiveness to disruptions and changing demand (40%), and effective use of AI and advanced analytics (35%). Among shippers, the priorities were: 

• 68% identified strong collaborative relationships with carriers and logistics partners as one of the most important future differentiators  
• 66% cited strong network connectivity and integration  
• 57% pointed to trusted execution across the network.  
   

AI is infrastructure, not a headline 

Despite frequent references to AI-powered decision-making, automation, and intelligent control towers throughout the research, only 29% of shippers and 35% of carriers/LSPs ranked AI among their most important future differentiators. The report suggests this reflects a shift in how organisations think about AI - less as a goal in itself and more as the engine behind the outcomes they prioritise: fewer disruptions, faster decisions, and more reliable execution across the network. 

Achieving those outcomes, however, depends on the quality of data available to AI systems. In transportation, some of the most valuable data comes from day-to-day operations - shipment performance, appointment adherence, and how organisations respond to disruptions. These signals help AI generate more reliable recommendations while making it easier for transportation professionals to understand and trust the results. 

This is one reason network-based platforms are becoming increasingly important. By aggregating data across multiple trading partners and systems, they can provide a stronger foundation for predictive analytics, intelligent automation, and AI-driven decision-making than most organisations can develop from their own data alone.  
 

The reality gap 

At the same time, the report identifies a significant gap between this future vision and current operational maturity, particularly among shippers. 

• Among shipper respondents, the biggest barriers to faster and better decision-making were lack of timely or complete data (50%), fragmented data across systems (43%), difficulty balancing short-term pressures with long-term objectives (43%), and organizational silos or misaligned incentives (30%).  
• These constraints are reflected in current capability levels, with only 27% of shippers describing themselves as highly or well-integrated with external partners and only 36% saying their transportation processes are highly or mostly standardized and automated. 

Carriers and LSPs appear further ahead in this respect:  

• 65% reporting that they are highly or well-integrated with shippers and partners  
• 71% saying their transportation processes are highly or mostly standardized and automated. 

However, the report shows that they face a different set of challenges. Their most significant constraint is external market volatility (40%), followed by inconsistent information from shippers and partners (27%), too many stakeholders involved in decisions (24%), and the need to balance service, cost, and asset utilization trade-offs (23%).  

The findings suggest that both groups are dealing with the same broader issue: a network problem but from opposite directions. Shippers often lack complete and timely information across partner networks, while carriers and LSPs must operate with inconsistent information coming from those networks. 

“The findings suggest that many transportation challenges are ultimately trust challenges. Shippers often lack complete visibility across their partner networks, while carriers and logistics providers must operate with inconsistent information from those same networks. Building trust requires better information sharing, transparency, and reliable execution across the network. At the same time, the growing threat of freight fraud is making partner verification and trusted network relationships more important than ever” explained Adrian Gonzalez, President of Adelante SCM and Founder of Talking Logistics.  

Respondents identified real-time visibility (64%), consistent execution performance (64%), and transparent communication (63%) as the most important capabilities for building trust across transportation networks. 

Daniel Cohen, CEO of Alpega Group, commented: "Trust in transportation is built transaction by transaction - and the most valuable insight comes from seeing how partners actually behave at scale: which carrier shows up on time, communicates proactively when something goes wrong, and delivers consistently under pressure. That is what our network sees across thousands of relationships every day. And when you combine that with AI, you get recommendations that people can genuinely trust and act on." 

The report concludes that transportation management leadership is increasingly defined by the ability to orchestrate networks rather than simply execute shipments. To support that transition, it identifies five priorities for organizations:  

1. Building the data foundation for AI 
2. Shifting from execution to orchestration 
3. Strengthening network collaboration 
4. Building trust through visibility and verification, and  
5. Measuring performance beyond cost 

The full report is available here: “From Managing Shipments to Orchestrating Networks”.

About Adelante SCM 

Adelante SCM is a research and advisory firm focused on supply chain and logistics. Adrian Gonzalez, President of Adelante SCM and Founder of Talking Logistics, is a trusted advisor and leading industry analyst with more than 27 years of research experience in transportation management, logistics outsourcing, global trade management, and other supply chain and logistics topics. 

About Alpega Group 

Alpega Group is Europe's leading transport execution platform, connecting shippers, carriers, and logistics service providers across 80 countries through a trusted network of more than 80,000 verified carriers and 350,000 daily freight transactions. Trust is at the core of everything Alpega builds - embedded into the platform itself to help the industry move with confidence and speed. Alpega's platform combines Transportation Management, Freight Exchange, and AI-powered execution capabilities to help logistics teams move goods faster, more reliably, and with greater confidence - from procurement and planning through to settlement and visibility. Alpega serves leading enterprises across automotive, FMCG, pharma, chemicals, and beyond. 

www.alpegagroup.com