A fundamental mismatch undermines global logistics planning: the navigation tools that power consumer apps were built for passengers, not pallets.
Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Citymapper optimise for predictable variables such as traffic patterns, road conditions, and fuel efficiency. Consumer navigation solves relatively simple problems: a single vehicle, predictable constraints, and well-mapped infrastructure.
Freight routing operates in a different universe. For freight forwarders and logistics companies planning global shipments, routing must simultaneously account for vessel schedules, port congestion, customs delays, and transfer incompatibilities between modes. Port congestion in Los Angeles affects vessel schedules in Shanghai. Customs delays in Rotterdam cascade through rail connections across Europe. These interdependencies create complexity that passenger-focused algorithms were never designed to handle.
With the Trump administration extending the 90-day pause on global tariffs momentarily, organisations are feeling vulnerable. They need certainty when planning their international supply chains, not complications and confusion.
Industry-Specific Intelligence
While companies like DHL partner with quantum computing firms to explore future route optimisation, sophisticated routing tools are quickly changing the game. Fluent Cargo, a technology platform that unifies freight data across air, ocean, rail, and road transport, represents this new generation of industry-specific routing engines.
“Our own research indicates that it can take up to 100 hours to receive a quote through traditional means, especially in the route planning stage,” explains Archival Garcia, founder and CEO. “Fluent Cargo is different due to our proprietary routing engine built exclusively for freight. Our AI-powered platform addresses the real-world complexities of global logistics, accounting for port congestion, customs delays, blank sailings and intermodal transfer constraints that other systems overlook.”
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Using specialised combinations of the Dijkstra and A* algorithms alongside proprietary data partitioning methods, Fluent delivers accurate, industry-vetted routes in seconds. The platform constructs dynamic transportation graphs where connections adjust based on real-time conditions, schedules, vehicle specifications, and port constraints. Fluent Cargo employs an Entity Component System architecture – borrowed from game development – to store and manipulate complex datasets like carrier schedules, vehicle specifications, terminal capabilities, and pricing structures without the memory overheads that constrain traditional systems.
Search Engine Intelligence
For the first time, logistics professionals can discover, compare, and plan multi-modal freight shipments with the ease and intelligence of a modern search engine.
“Unlike traditional TMS systems designed for monthly planning cycles, we provide real-time routing options across multiple carriers and modes,” Garcia explains. “Users input an origin or destination and instantly receive comprehensive route alternatives with transit times, carrier information, and vessel or aircraft types.”
The platform’s flexibility allows users to prioritise cargo-only routes, filter by preferred ports, or avoid high-risk areas with a few clicks. Advanced routing algorithms can consider not just whether a path exists, but the probability of execution across multiple scenarios, factoring in seasonal variations, historical performance data, and real-time conditions simultaneously.
Network Optimisation
Global trade operates as an interconnected network where disruptions propagate unpredictably. A port strike in one region affects shipping rates globally. Blank sailings create cascading effects across alternative routes.
“Whether it’s circumventing congestion in major hubs or identifying the fastest transatlantic option for time-sensitive cargo, our platform transforms static logistics planning into a dynamic, responsive process tailored to today’s volatile transportation environment,” Garcia notes.
Recent market volatility demonstrates this capability: during the US-China tariff reduction window, Fluent Cargo customers identified optimal routing as shipping costs rose 16-19% weekly, enabling businesses to ensure timely customs clearance before regulatory changes took effect.
Rather than optimising individual routes in isolation, Fluent Cargo’s system can optimise across networks, accounting for how decisions in one region affect options globally. The platform can integrate emissions tracking, regulatory compliance, and risk management into routing decisions – essential capabilities as sustainability requirements tighten and geopolitical tensions affect trade routes.
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The Strategic Question
The capability gap in global shipping is becoming strategically significant. The continued consolidation of organisations is proving that those who are lagging behind simply will not survive.
In an industry where margins are measured in basis points and disruptions cost millions, sophisticated routing intelligence is no longer a luxury. The question for logistics leaders is whether their own routing capabilities match the complexity of modern supply chains.
Archie is currently the CEO of Fluent Cargo.
An executive leader with 20 years in Supply Chain Management Technology solutions, he has consulted on a wide range of solutions such as WMS, TMS, OMS, Inventory Optimisation, Demand Forecasting and Advanced Transportation Visibility to a wide variety of Tier 1 to Tier 3 businesses including Retailers, Manufacturers, Distributors and Logistics Service Providers.
Fluent Cargo is an independent, mission-driven organization providing our clients with instant access to the information they need to plan their shipments better. We love schedules, port features, carrier information, port congestion, indicative shipment pricing, emissions monitoring, and other factors that influence shipment planning, be it on plane, ship, truck or train.
Archie is also currently the President of the VIC/TAS charter of the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia. The SCLAA’s mission is to connect supply chain professionals and partners to foster tomorrow’s growth opportunities and to support the advancement of the supply chain industry by championing collaboration, innovation and success.
