Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of a research report published recently, “Unlocking the Value of Open Carrier Networks.” The research, conducted by Adelante SCM and commissioned by Alpega, highlights how Open Carrier Networks enable more intelligent, scalable, and efficient ways for shippers, carriers, and freight brokers to work together. The report includes data and insights from Indago’s supply chain research community and Alpega’s customers. Please visit the report page for more information about the research and to download the full report.
If you were to walk up to the average person on the street and ask them, “How are you using open networks in your everyday life,” you would probably get a confused look back.
“What is an open network?” they might ask you in response. Or they might say, “I don’t know what an open network is, so I don’t know.”
The truth is that many people use open networks every day without thinking about it.
The internet, of course, is the best example of an open network. Anyone with the right technology and permissions can connect to it to publish and access content and to interact with others. The internet, in turn, has enabled many other types of open networks.
If you have used Uber or Lyft, for example, you have used an open network. Anyone can join these network platforms as a driver (after proper vetting) and as a rider. Instead of depending on dispatchers and fleet-owned assets, these ridesharing platforms match drivers and riders in real-time based on availability, pricing, and proximity.
Another example are social networking platforms, such as LinkedIn. In the past, if you were looking for job opportunities, you relied mostly on recruiters, personal referrals, and industry events to make business connections and find leads. LinkedIn created a more efficient and scalable model by enabling a multitude of business professionals and companies to connect, communicate, and find job opportunities/employees in real time.
There are many more examples of open network models, such as e-commerce marketplaces that connect sellers and buyers (e.g., Amazon, Alibaba) and hospitality networks like Airbnb and Vrbo that bring together property owners and travelers who are seeking to find accommodations.
Simply put, open networks have already transformed many aspects of society and the business world, and open networks are expanding into other areas of supply chain management, especially in innovating the way shippers, carriers, and freight brokers work together.
What is an Open Carrier Network?
An Open Carrier Network is an online platform that connects shippers with a large community of vetted trucking companies and freight brokers. These networks function similarly to other network-based platforms, such as LinkedIn and e-commerce marketplaces, but are specifically designed for freight transportation and logistics. Instead of making and maintaining many one-to-one connections with carriers and freight brokers, a shipper makes a single connection to the network to transact with their existing carriers and brokers, as well as to discover and onboard new ones. Likewise, they enable carriers and freight brokers to make a single connection to the network to transact with their existing shipper clients, as well as to discover and onboard new ones. Open Carrier Networks interoperate with existing shipper and carrier transportation management systems (TMS) to exchange data and automate transactions, and they provide real-time visibility to rates, capacity, and other factors to match freight demand with available capacity more quickly and intelligently than traditional methods.
The Value of Open Carrier Networks
What have been (or do you see being) the biggest benefits of using an open carrier network for your transportation operations?
In a February 2025 survey conducted with members of the Indago supply chain research community — who are all supply chain and logistics executives from manufacturing, retail, and distribution companies — and with Alpega shipper customers, the top response was “Increased access to a large pool of carriers,” which was selected by 67% of the respondents. It was followed by “Competitive pricing and cost savings” (47%) and “Flexibility to manage spot market needs” (47%).
These findings are not surprising when you consider one of the key lessons learned during the height of the Covid pandemic when shippers struggled to find capacity: the need for shippers to diversify their carrier base.
However, about 90% of trucking companies in Europe (and 95% in the United States) operate 10 or fewer trucks. Tapping into this “long tail” of capacity has historically been very challenging, time-consuming, and costly for shippers.
In fact, one of the most labor-intensive and time-consuming aspects of a traditional transportation management system (TMS) implementation is network connectivity — that is, establishing electronic communication with carriers, logistics service providers, suppliers, and other external trading partners. And since these trading partner networks are continuously changing, establishing and maintaining connectivity with hundreds or even thousands of partners is an ongoing challenge — and cost factor.
Therefore, companies that don’t use a network-based TMS or open carrier network must take into account the time, cost, and resources required (upfront and on an ongoing basis) to enable and manage a connectivity network.
In contrast, Open Carrier Networks eliminate this connectivity challenge and cost factor by providing shippers with access to a large and diverse community of pre-connected and verified carriers via a single connection — not only carriers they might already be working with, but potential new partners too.
Simply put, the ability for a large community of shippers, carriers, and freight brokers to connect, communicate, and collaborate with each other via a common platform is what unlocks the value of Open Carrier Networks.
What are some of the key business benefits of Open Carrier Networks for shippers, carriers, and freight brokers? What are the biggest concerns and misconceptions? How can companies get started using Open Carrier Networks? For data and insights on those questions and more, please download the research report.
