Shippers have access to more transportation data than ever before, but collecting data and turning it into useful intelligence remain two very different challenges.
Tender activity, carrier acceptance, rates, freight volumes, market conditions and routing guide performance are frequently stored in separate systems and analyzed independently. As a result, it can be difficult for transportation teams to determine where a network is performing well, where risks are emerging and where opportunities exist to reduce costs.
SCI: Custom Insights is designed to address that challenge.
The new consortium-powered experience within SONAR’s Supply Chain Intelligence combines a shipper’s own transportation data with SONAR market benchmarks to provide an ongoing picture of network performance. The tool is available exclusively to participating members of the SONAR Shipper Consortium and allows users to move from a broad assessment of network health to the individual markets, lanes and carriers influencing results.
Turning Transportation Data Into Network Intelligence
Participating shippers provide transportation information including tendered volume, accepted and rejected tenders, carrier details, rates and other network activity. SCI: Custom Insights combines that information with SONAR market intelligence, allowing teams to examine questions such as:
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Where are we paying above or below market?
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Which lanes represent the largest potential savings opportunities?
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Where could pricing contribute to capacity or service risk?
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Are carriers accepting the freight volumes the shipper expected?
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Is actual freight volume following planned or awarded volumes?
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Which markets are contributing most to network costs or risks?
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Which carriers or lanes should receive attention first?
Custom Insights brings these questions together across three core areas: Network Health, Benchmarking and Network Optimization.
Network Health Provides an Executive View
Network Health serves as the starting point, providing an executive-level overview of a shipper’s transportation network.
The section covers total spend, market versus actual spend, potential savings, at-risk spend, total volume, network risk, tender compliance, pricing alignment, as well as budget and volume trends.
SONAR market context and AI-driven insights covering demand, rates and capacity are also incorporated into the view. This allows users to identify what is changing and determine where deeper analysis may be required.
Benchmarking Highlights Lanes Requiring Attention
Benchmarking moves the analysis from the overall network to individual transportation lanes.
Lane Opportunities brings together pricing alignment, lane difficulty, tender acceptance and market conditions. It categorizes lanes into four groups: High Risk Zone, Savings Opportunity, Carrier-Dependent Zone and Efficiency Zone.
The approach is intended to help shippers identify situations where they may be paying more than necessary, where aggressive pricing could increase service exposure, and where both pricing and available capacity are performing effectively.
Volume Compliance compares planned freight volumes with actual volumes. This gives shippers visibility into areas where freight is increasing, falling below expectations or shifting from the original plan.
That context can be important during procurement and routing guide discussions. For example, a carrier performance issue can look different when the carrier has received significantly more freight than originally planned. Similarly, a pricing decision may warrant another review when the expected freight volume ultimately fails to materialize.
Network Optimization Examines Markets and Carriers
Network Analysis organizes activity according to origin and destination markets. Users can evaluate spending, freight volume, rate alignment, tender rejection conditions and compliance across facilities and markets.
The analysis can then be narrowed to the individual lanes responsible for those results, helping teams determine whether a problem is isolated to a specific lane or reflects a broader market trend.
Carrier Intelligence provides a network-wide perspective on carrier performance. Metrics include average rate, rate variance, tender acceptance, total volume, total lanes, average length of haul, risk level and guidance.
Users can also drill into an individual carrier to identify the specific lanes contributing to its overall performance figures.
Manual Analysis Remains Available
SCI: Custom Insights does not replace the existing Supply Chain Intelligence workflow. Instead, it expands it.
The original SCI experience is now housed under Manual Analysis and remains available for mini-bids, project freight, scenario analysis, new lanes and other freight that is not yet included in a shipper’s ongoing consortium data.
Participating shippers therefore have access to both an ongoing view of their transportation network and the ability to conduct one-time analyses when specific situations require it.
Designed for SONAR Shipper Consortium Members
SCI: Custom Insights is exclusively available to participating members of the SONAR Shipper Consortium.
By contributing transportation data, members gain access to deeper network intelligence intended to support procurement activities, carrier management, routing guide strategy and transportation planning.
The platform’s value goes beyond adding more metrics. By connecting shipper-specific performance with broader market conditions, Custom Insights is designed to help transportation teams identify the issues that matter and determine where further action is required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is SCI: Custom Insights?
SCI: Custom Insights is a consortium-powered feature within SONAR’s Supply Chain Intelligence. It combines a shipper’s transportation data with SONAR market benchmarks to provide an ongoing view of network performance, savings opportunities and risk.
Who can access SCI: Custom Insights?
The feature is available exclusively to participating members of the SONAR Shipper Consortium. Members contribute transportation information, including tendered volume, accepted and rejected tenders, carrier information and rates, in exchange for access to the tool.
How does Custom Insights differ from the original SCI experience?
The original Supply Chain Intelligence workflow is now available under Manual Analysis and continues to support one-off activities such as mini-bids, project freight, scenario analysis and new lanes. Custom Insights adds an automated, ongoing layer that monitors an existing shipper network rather than producing a single analysis.
What data must shippers contribute to participate?
Contributed information can include tendered volume, accepted and rejected tenders, carrier information, rates and other transportation network activity.
What are the three main areas of Custom Insights?
The three areas are Network Health, which provides an executive-level view of spending, risk and compliance; Benchmarking, which examines lane-level opportunities and volume; and Network Optimization, which focuses on market- and carrier-level performance.
Find the savings, surface the risk and know where to act next with SCI: Custom Insights.
