TMS RFP Template for Carriers & Brokers

Before you write the RFP

An RFP is only as good as the thinking behind it. Before any vendor sees a document, do three things.

Map how freight moves today. Walk an order from quote to cash: order entry, planning, dispatch, tracking, delivery, POD, billing, settlement, accounting. Note every spreadsheet, re-key and workaround. Those are your real requirements.
Separate must-haves from preferences. A must-have is something you cannot run the business without, such as percentage pay for owner-operators or EDI 204 change handling. A preference is something nice that you could work around.
Name a selection team. Include dispatch, billing, payroll or settlements, safety, maintenance, accounting and IT. People who do the work catch what executives miss.

Our guide How to Choose a TMS Without Getting Sold covers the full selection process. This page focuses on the RFP document itself.

The TMS RFP outline, section by section

1. Instructions and timeline

Point of contact and rules for questions (one channel, answers shared with all vendors)
Key dates: questions due, responses due, shortlist, scripted demos, reference calls, decision
Response format: answer in the provided requirements spreadsheet, not a brochure
Confidentiality terms

2. Company profile

Give vendors enough to answer accurately. Vague profiles get vague answers.

Segments: truckload, LTL, brokerage, intermodal and drayage, dedicated, city cartage, private fleet, specialized
Fleet: company tractors, owner-operators, trailers by type, terminals
Volume: approximate loads or shipments per month, stops per load, customers billed
Users by role: CSR, dispatch, billing, payroll, safety, maintenance, accounting, management
Current systems: TMS, accounting, ELD, fuel card, imaging, EDI provider, mileage engine
Planned changes: new divisions, acquisitions, growth

3. Scope and objectives

State what is in scope (modules, divisions, integrations), what is out, and the three to five business outcomes that matter most, for example "invoice within one day of POD" or "settlements without manual corrections." Outcomes keep the evaluation honest.

4. Functional requirements

Put these in a spreadsheet with columns for requirement, priority (must, should, nice), vendor response (standard, configuration, customization, third party, not available) and comments. Ask vendors to note which release introduced each capability. Typical areas:

Order entry and customer service

Multi-stop orders, appointment windows, reference numbers, commodity and hazmat data
Templates and recurring orders; quote-to-order conversion
Order changes and cancellations with audit trail
Customer credit limits and holds

Dispatch and planning

Planning board with driver HOS availability, equipment and location
Splits, relays, swaps, repowers and cross-dock moves
Empty and deadhead legs recorded as legs
Brokerage: carrier assignment, rate confirmations, carrier compliance checks

Rating and fuel surcharge

Contract and spot rates by lane, zone, mileage band, weight, pallet or hundredweight
Accessorial tables with rules (detention free time, stop-off, layover, TONU)
Fuel surcharge tables tied to a weekly DOE index, by customer schedule
Mileage engine integration and which version of miles is used for rating and pay

Billing

Billing hold rules (missing POD, unapproved accessorial, rate variance)
Batch invoicing, customer-specific invoice formats, consolidated billing
Invoice with attached images; EDI 210 output
Credit memos, rebills and audit trail

Driver and carrier settlements

Pay by mile (loaded, empty, practical or shortest), percentage, hourly, stop, flat and accessorial
Split pay for team and relay moves
Recurring deductions, escrow, lease payments, fuel advances and fuel card reconciliation
Settlement statements and payroll or AP export

IFTA and fuel

State mileage from ELD or routing; fuel purchases from card imports
Quarterly return support and audit trail by unit

Maintenance

Work orders, parts inventory, labor, PM schedules by miles, hours and days
Inspections, DVIR defects and outside repair tracking

EDI

204, 990, 214, 210 and 997 at minimum; 322 for intermodal if relevant
Change and cancel 204 handling; partner code cross-references
Exception queue and monitoring; VAN, AS2 and API options

ELD and telematics

Named, working integrations with your ELD provider
HOS clocks in dispatch, GPS positions, geofence arrival and departure events
Driver messaging and forms

Document imaging

Driver app or scanning capture of BOL and POD; auto-indexing to the order
Images attached to invoices and available to customers

Accounting integration

Built-in accounting or integration with your package (name it)
GL mapping by division, AR and AP sync, payroll export

Reporting

Standard reports for revenue, margin, utilization, deadhead, aging and settlements
Direct database or data warehouse access for SQL and BI tools
Ad hoc report builder and scheduled report delivery

5. Technical and security requirements

Hosting model: vendor cloud, private hosting or on-premises
Uptime commitments, maintenance windows and support hours
Backup frequency, retention, restore testing and disaster recovery
Single sign-on, MFA, role-based permissions and audit logs
Data ownership and how you get a full export if you leave
API availability, documentation and any usage limits or fees
Security certifications or third-party audit reports the vendor can share

6. Data migration

What the vendor converts: customers, vendors, drivers, equipment, rates, open orders, open AR and AP, history
How much history comes over, and in what form
Who cleans data, who maps it, and how many trial conversions are included
How opening balances are reconciled at cutover

7. Implementation and training

Proposed plan, phases and typical duration for a company your size
Named implementation team and their experience with your segment
Test environment, parallel run approach and go-live support (on site or remote)
Role-based training and training materials
Post-go-live support process and escalation

See our TMS go-live checklist for what has to be true on cutover day.

8. Pricing format

Give every vendor the same pricing template so you can compare like for like. Ask for:

One-time fees: licenses, implementation, data conversion, training, travel
Recurring fees: subscription or maintenance, hosting, per-user or per-unit charges
Integration fees: EDI, ELD, accounting, imaging, mileage engine, APIs
Rates for customization and change requests
Price escalation terms and contract length
A five-year total cost of ownership based on your stated users, units and volume

9. References

Ask for references in your segment and of similar size, including at least one company that went live recently and one that has been on the system for several years. Ask for a reference that migrated from your current system if possible.

Scripted demos: make them run your freight

Standard demos show what the system does best. Scripted demos show how it handles what you do every day. Send shortlisted vendors your scripts and sample data in advance, and give each the same time slot.

Good scenarios for a carrier include:

An EDI tender arrives, then a change with a new appointment, then a cancellation of a second load.
A multi-stop load with a relay, detention at the second stop and a lumper reimbursement.
Fuel surcharge recalculated when the weekly DOE price updates.
An owner-operator on percentage pay with a fuel advance, an escrow deduction and a lease payment.
A team load where pay splits between two drivers.
Billing hold for a missing POD, released when the driver scans it from the cab.
Month-end: AR and settlements post to accounting by division.
A manager pulls revenue per total mile and deadhead by customer for last month.

Have the people who do each job score their own scenarios on the spot. Note when a vendor says "we can do that with a customization" or "that's in the next release," and write it down.

Weighted scoring

Agree on weights before responses arrive, so nobody adjusts them to favor a vendor. A starting structure:

Category	What it covers	How to weight
Functional fit	Requirements and scripted demo results	Usually the heaviest weight; must-haves are pass/fail first
Integration	EDI, ELD, accounting, imaging, APIs	Heavier if you have many trading partners or a separate accounting system
Implementation and support	Team, plan, migration, training, references	Heavier if your internal IT capacity is thin
Technical and security	Hosting, backups, access control, data ownership	Set a floor that every vendor must meet
Total cost of ownership	Five-year cost on the standard template	Meaningful, but rarely the deciding factor alone
Vendor viability and fit	Segment focus, roadmap, customer base	A tiebreaker and risk check

Score each requirement on a simple scale (for example, 0 = not available, 1 = customization, 2 = configuration, 3 = standard), multiply by priority, then roll up by category and apply the weights. Any vendor that fails a must-have is out, regardless of total score.

Red flags

Every answer is "yes." No system does everything as standard. Ask for proof in the demo.
The demo avoids your script. If a vendor keeps steering back to its standard presentation, the scenario probably does not work well.
Key features are "on the roadmap." Score what exists today.
Vague migration answers. "We'll figure it out" means you will pay for it later.
No direct data access. If you cannot query your own data or export it fully, you are locked in.
Integration costs appear late. EDI, ELD and API fees should be on the pricing template, not discovered in the contract.
References are all new or all hand-picked. Ask for a long-time customer in your segment.
The implementation team is unnamed. The sales team will not be the people configuring your rates.

How Strong Tower Consulting helps

We help carriers and brokers write requirements from how freight really moves, build the RFP and pricing template, script and facilitate demos, run reference calls, and score responses against your weights. When a system is chosen, we can stay on through implementation and go-live.

TMS Selection & Advisory: requirements, RFP, scripted demos and scoring.
TMS Implementation & Go-Live: configuration, conversion, testing and cutover.
Business Analysis: current-state mapping and requirements sign-off.

Disclosure

Exspeedite is a Strong Tower company that builds a TMS. We say so at the start of every selection. Strong Tower's selection advice is independent: the requirements are yours, the scoring is based on your weights, and our consulting never requires buying our sister company's software.

Frequently asked questions

What should a TMS RFP include?

A company profile, project scope and timeline, functional requirements by area (order entry, dispatch, rating and fuel surcharge, billing, settlements, IFTA, maintenance, EDI, ELD, imaging, accounting integration and reporting), technical and security requirements, data migration, implementation and training, a standard pricing format, and references.

How many vendors should receive a TMS RFP?

Enough to compare, few enough to evaluate properly. Most carriers do better with a short list of vendors that genuinely fit their segment and size than with a long list that produces a stack of responses nobody can review in depth.

What is a scripted demo?

A scripted demo is a vendor demonstration that follows scenarios you write, using your own sample loads, rates, customers and pay rules, rather than the vendor's standard presentation. It lets you compare how each system handles the same real work.

Is Strong Tower independent if its sister company builds a TMS?

Yes. Exspeedite is a Strong Tower company that builds a TMS, and we disclose that at the start. Our selection work is vendor-neutral, our scoring is based on your requirements, and our consulting never requires buying our sister company's software.

Can I use this TMS RFP template for a brokerage?

Yes. Brokerages should expand the sections on carrier onboarding, carrier compliance monitoring, load boards, carrier pay and margin reporting, and reduce or remove asset-only sections such as maintenance and IFTA.