Blog Post
One of the most frustrating moments in any supply chain project is the waiting. You know what question you need to answer. You have the tools to answer it. But the data — the transport costs, the lane rates, the freight spend is stuck somewhere in procurement or locked inside a logistics department that has twelve other priorities.
That’s exactly the problem we set out to solve with the new Transport Data feature in AIMMS SC Navigator.
What’s New?
SC Navigator now integrates transport cost benchmark data provided by Quantix, one of the leading names in freight intelligence. Instead of stalling your project while waiting for internal data to be gathered and approved, you can start immediately with credible, market-based transport rates and refine them with your own data as the project matures.
And for the next few months, the feature is free to try. There’s no better time to test whether benchmark data works for your industry and your network.
Where Does the Benchmark Data Come From?
Good quality data isn’t made up. It’s derived from actual in-use rates at scale. Quantix builds its dataset from multiple sources:
- Millions of real freight transactions, anonymized and pooled across a large base of shippers
- Carrier contracts and RFP data gathered through direct involvement in freight negotiations
- TMS, capturing actual paid rates across lanes, modes, and accessorials
The result is regularly refreshed, statistically normalized rate intelligence that reflects what companies are actually paying to move goods — not theoretical estimates.
Why Does This Matter for Your Projects?
Here’s the shift this enables: you no longer have to wait for data to start a project. You start the project to get to the data conversation faster.
One early user, a senior supply chain and network design expert running a network study, described it well:
“Transport cost data for non-historical lanes was always a challenge, so having the 'default' lane costs available at the start of a project allows like-for-like scenario comparison at a much earlier stage. The absolute value of the transport costs determined by the model can then be validated at a later date against actual internal data (tender/contract rates), and if necessary, select scenarios can be reevaluated with adjusted internal cost data.”
That’s the workflow in a nutshell. And it changes the dynamic in three important ways:
- Faster time to value: Non-historical lanes no longer block your model. You can build complete scenarios from day one, rather than waiting weeks for cost data that may not even exist internally.
- Faster decision-making: Like-for-like scenario comparison is possible from the start of a project — not just at the end. Stakeholders engage earlier, and the right trade-offs surface sooner.
- Greater project momentum: The model output becomes the starting point for the data conversation, not the end result of it. Benchmark costs get validated against real tender or contract rates as the project progresses, and individual scenarios can be re-run with refined data where it matters most.
“But Will It Work for My Industry?”
It’s a fair question. Benchmark data is never a perfect match for every company or every lane. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful.
The goal isn’t to replace your data. It’s to get you moving before your data is ready so that by the time you do validate the numbers with your procurement or logistics team, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re refining something that already makes sense.
If you’ve ever delayed a project because you were waiting on transport cost inputs, benchmark data is worth exploring.
Try It For Free
The Benchmark Transport Costs feature is now available in SC Navigator and is free to try during the trial period. We’d love to hear how it works for you.
Start your network design project faster with benchmark transport data now available inside SC Navigator.
