DSV sparks rethink on freight software – but AI may pose the real challenge
When DSV revealed it was developing its own technology platform and moving away from CargoWise, ...
© Andrey Popov
By Alex Lennane
The Loadstar is running a series of articles on TMS, CargoWise, and the options for forwarders, over the next week or so.
For more than a decade, CargoWise has been the default operating system for large and mid-sized freight forwarders. Its breadth, global customs footprint, and ...
Comment on this article
Steven Ochs
January 21, 2026 at 8:00 pmTimely article. It reflects what we’re hearing from our customers & other software developers.
Of course not every response to rising TMS/ABI provider costs needs to be a full rip-and-replace decision. Forwarders, and brokers might consider decoupling high-cost, usage-based modules (e.g. shipment visibility, exception & rate management, etc.), from core TMS platforms. When these functions are handled independently with lower, predictable pricing, and open APIs, operators often recover margin without disrupting sensitive customs workflows or core operational systems.
At AES, we’re focused on global ocean tracking, trade visibility, and AI-driven analytics as modular services that sit alongside existing TMS environments rather than competing with them. For many smaller and mid-sized forwarders, and increasingly for larger integrators, the ability to selectively separate & modernize high-cost functions has become just as strategic as choosing a new TMS/ABI provider.
As your series continues, we’d be interested to see how many firms ultimately conclude that pursuing the optimization route, not wholesale replacement, is an alternative but pragmatic path forward in a tightening margin environment.
Meantime, good luck to all the CargoWise competitors who think they’re gonna quickly match their 20+ country customs integrations and 20+ years of accumulated business logic… even with AI assistance.
Steve Ochs, VP Biz Dev, AES