Freight Procurement in 2025: Key Impacts and Emerging Trends

The first half of 2025 has been transformative for freight procurement. From AI-driven platforms to sustainability regulations and geopolitical uncertainty, procurement teams are navigating a rapidly evolving landscape. Here’s a look at the biggest impacts shaping the industry so far this year.

1. Digitalization Takes Center Stage

Freight procurement is no longer a manual process. Companies are adopting:

• AI-powered procurement tools for smarter tendering and rate benchmarking.

• Transportation Management Systems (TMS) for real-time visibility.

• Blockchain-based contracts for transparency and security.

Why it matters: Digitalization reduces costs, improves compliance, and enhances decision-making. This is where Prodensus is keenly focused at present in terms of driving cost savings for shippers and winning more business on the carrier/forwarder side, by reducing the time to process RFx engagements and deliver real value in focusing your resources to what matters most to you.

2. Sustainability Becomes a Core Metric

Environmental responsibility is now a procurement priority:

• Carbon tracking and reporting are mandatory in many regions.

• Shippers are favoring carriers with electric fleets and alternative fuels.

• Scope 3 emissions reporting is influencing supplier selection.

Why it matters: Sustainability is no longer optional—it’s a compliance and brand reputation issue. Prodensus is partnering with other technologies to heavily embed sustainability metrics within our platform to deliver our customers better data to understand their impact on the environment around us all.

3. Geopolitical and Economic Volatility

Trade tensions, regional conflicts, and inflation are driving:

• Diversified sourcing strategies.

• Flexible, index-linked contracts instead of fixed long-term rates.

• Increased focus on risk management in procurement planning.

Why it matters: Agility in procurement contracts is critical to managing cost volatility. While volatility spells disaster in most industries, Prodensus is focused on clearing up the ambiguities around trade and tariff noise by leveraging deep understandings of your historical shipment data to deliver clear insights into the past trends to help with future predictability.

4. Regionalization and Nearshoring

To reduce risk, companies are:

• Nearshoring production closer to demand centers.

• Investing in multi-modal transport solutions.

• Building regional carrier partnerships for resilience.

Why it matters: Shorter supply chains mean faster response times and lower risk exposure. Freight and the way it moves around the world is deeply ingrained in the Prodensus psychology and our core philosophies around value and time-saving drives better awareness of optionality within your spend and overheads.

5. Strategic Partnerships Over Transactions

Procurement is evolving from a cost-driven function to a strategic enabler:

• Collaborative relationships with carriers and 3PLs.

• Joint initiatives on sustainability and technology integration.

• Shared KPIs for performance and innovation.

Why it matters: Strong partnerships create long-term value and resilience. We recently announced the Prodensus x MileMaker integration to drive better visibility in the North American road freight market to drive additional value in accurately predicting your overall costs per mile in transporting goods throughout the continent. We'll continue to connect with partners who can assist you in understanding exactly what's happening on the ground, in the air and on the ocean.

Conclusion

2025 has made one thing clear: freight procurement is about more than cost—it’s about resilience, sustainability, and strategic value creation. Companies that embrace digital tools, flexible contracts, and collaborative partnerships will lead the way in this new era. We're excited for the next chapter in our quest to increase transparency, eliminate ambiguity and leveraging the latest technologies to deliver insights your business needs to succeed in your freight procurement and supply journey.