Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Cargo Route Planner

💰 $ - $

🎯 Role Definition

A Cargo Route Planner is a logistics professional who designs, optimizes, and executes end-to-end cargo routing strategies across domestic and international networks. The role focuses on minimizing cost and transit time while maximizing asset utilization and on-time delivery through expert use of Transportation Management Systems (TMS), route optimization tools, carrier negotiations, and cross-functional collaboration with operations, warehousing, and customer service teams. Ideal candidates combine strong analytical skills, commercial acumen, and deep knowledge of transportation regulations, intermodal solutions, and freight tendering processes.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Logistics Coordinator / Logistics Specialist
  • Transportation Dispatcher / Freight Coordinator
  • Operations Analyst / Routing Assistant

Advancement To:

  • Senior Route Planner / Lead Route Planner
  • Transportation Manager / Network Planning Manager
  • Supply Chain Manager / Logistics Operations Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Carrier Procurement / Sourcing Analyst
  • Freight Broker / Carrier Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design, create and maintain daily and weekly cargo route plans across domestic and international lanes using TMS and route optimization software to meet delivery windows, reduce empty miles and minimize total landed cost while balancing service levels and capacity constraints.
  • Consolidate multi-origin and multi-destination shipments into optimized loads, applying cube and weight utilization, load sequencing, and vehicle capacity planning to maximize truck and container utilization.
  • Execute carrier procurement and tendering processes: issue tenders, evaluate bids, negotiate freight rates, fuel surcharges, accessorial fees, and contractual terms with carriers and 3PL partners to secure cost-effective and service-committed capacity.
  • Monitor real-time shipment movement via TMS, GPS/telematics and carrier portals, proactively manage exceptions and delays, and implement immediate corrective plans (reroutes, expedite options, or equipment swaps) to mitigate service disruptions.
  • Develop and maintain contingency and disruption response plans for weather events, port congestion, strikes, infrastructure outages, or carrier failures; coordinate cross-functional response including customer communications and SLA adjustments.
  • Perform weekly and monthly network reviews and scenario modeling to identify lane consolidation opportunities, mode shifts (road, rail, intermodal, ocean, air), and schedule changes that reduce overall transportation spend and carbon footprint.
  • Collaborate with warehouse and distribution center managers to align pick/pack windows, dock schedules and appointment systems to optimize first-mile and last-mile routing and reduce detention and dwell time.
  • Manage documentation and regulatory compliance for cross-border shipments, including customs paperwork, Incoterms interpretation, carrier declarations, hazardous materials (HAZMAT/IMDG) handling and DOT/IMO/FTA requirements.
  • Maintain and update standard operating procedures (SOPs), routing guides and carrier instructions to ensure consistent execution, billing accuracy and compliance across all lanes and partners.
  • Prepare, analyze and present key transportation and routing KPIs — on-time delivery (OTD), cost per mile, cost per shipment, dwell time, load factor, carrier performance — using Power BI/Tableau and Excel to support leadership decisions and continuous improvement initiatives.
  • Lead root cause analysis for recurring service failures, claims and chargebacks; implement corrective actions with carriers, terminals and internal stakeholders to drive measurable improvements in service and cost.
  • Support intermodal planning and drayage operations by coordinating ocean-to-inland connections, container demurrage management and equipment re-positioning to reduce detention charges and improve throughput.
  • Configure and optimize TMS routing rules, cost tables, mode selection logic and carrier cycles; partner with IT and external vendors to implement TMS enhancements, integrations (EDI/API) and automation of manual routing tasks.
  • Conduct weekly load planning and driver assignment for private fleets or direct carrier dispatches, ensuring hours-of-service compliance, driver breaks, vehicle maintenance windows and regulatory limits are met.
  • Build and maintain strong commercial relationships with carriers, freight forwarders and terminal operators by conducting periodic business reviews, performance scorecards, and addressing service or contractual issues.
  • Execute freight audit and payment support: validate invoices against contracted rates, route records and proof of delivery (POD), escalate discrepancies and support AP with claims and billing adjustments.
  • Use GIS, traffic and historical transit time analytics to predict congestion windows and create time-dependent route plans that reduce delays, fuel consumption and idle time.
  • Support sustainability and carbon reduction initiatives by identifying opportunities for mode shift, vehicle consolidation, optimized routing and fuel-efficient carrier selection, and track related KPIs and emissions.
  • Lead and participate in cross-functional projects such as network redesign, SKU flow optimization, TMS implementations, and process automation aimed at improving throughput, reducing cost and enhancing customer experience.
  • Train and mentor junior planners and dispatch staff on routing best practices, TMS usage, carrier processes, and SOP compliance to build bench strength and standardized operations.
  • Manage claims and customer service escalations related to routing errors, damage, missing documentation, or service failures, driving timely resolution and preventive measures to reduce recurrence.
  • Prepare lane cost models, rate proposals and savings analyses for commercial teams to support negotiations, RFP responses and strategic sourcing decisions.
  • Oversee the documentation and maintenance of hazardous cargo routing and specialized carrier authorizations, ensuring carriers have appropriate endorsements, training and equipment for sensitive shipments.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of industry trends, carrier network changes, fuel markets, and capacity cycles to proactively adjust routing strategy and procurement timing.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Transportation Management Systems (TMS) expertise — experience configuring and using systems such as Oracle Transportation Management (OTM), SAP TM, MercuryGate, Descartes, Blue Yonder/JDA or similar for route planning, tendering and execution.
  • Route optimization software and algorithms — familiarity with ORTEC, Paragon, Routific, or custom routing optimization tools, including multi-stop sequencing and time-window optimization.
  • Advanced Excel — pivot tables, Power Query, VBA/macros, solver and large dataset manipulation for modeling and ad-hoc analysis.
  • Data visualization and BI — experience building dashboards and reports with Power BI, Tableau or Looker to monitor KPIs and communicate insights to stakeholders.
  • SQL and basic analytics — ability to extract, join and analyze routing/transport datasets to produce actionable insights and automation rules.
  • GIS and mapping tools — experience with ArcGIS, Google Maps Platform APIs, HERE or Mapbox for spatial analysis and route profiling.
  • Freight tendering & contract negotiation — commercial acumen for rate negotiation, accessorial management, fuel surcharge indexing and carrier performance contracts.
  • Intermodal & ocean logistics knowledge — understanding of drayage, container flows, transload operations and port/terminal constraints.
  • Compliance & regulatory knowledge — DOT, IMO/IMDG, HAZMAT handling, driver hours-of-service, customs documentation and Incoterms.
  • EDI/API integrations — working knowledge of electronic data interchange and carrier API integrations for automated status updates and shipment visibility.
  • Fleet and capacity planning — experience with private fleet operations, driver scheduling, preventive maintenance windows and asset utilization.
  • Freight audit fundamentals — validating invoices, resolving discrepancies and working with AP to ensure correct freight payments.
  • Scenario modeling & network optimization — experience building cost-to-serve models, mode shift analysis, and sensitivity testing.

Soft Skills

  • Strong verbal and written communication — clear stakeholder updates, escalation handling and cross-functional coordination with commercial and operations teams.
  • Analytical and problem-solving mindset — structured troubleshooting, root cause analysis and data-driven decision making.
  • Negotiation and commercial influence — ability to secure capacity and rates while maintaining service quality.
  • Time management and prioritization — manage competing operational demands in a high-velocity environment.
  • Attention to detail — accuracy in documentation, routing instructions and compliance checks.
  • Adaptability and resilience — respond to dynamic transport disruptions and changing business priorities.
  • Leadership and mentoring — coach junior planners and lead cross-functional improvement initiatives.
  • Customer focus — anticipate customer needs and communicate proactively on service impacts and recovery plans.
  • Collaboration and stakeholder management — work effectively with warehousing, sales, procurement and IT to implement routing solutions.
  • Continuous improvement orientation — identify process automation and efficiency gains and drive implementation.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Associate degree in Logistics, Supply Chain, Business or equivalent experience; proven practical planning experience accepted in lieu of degree.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Transportation, Industrial Engineering, Business or a related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Supply Chain Management
  • Logistics and Transportation
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Business Administration
  • Operations Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–5 years in transportation planning, route planning, dispatch, or logistics operations.

Preferred: 4–7+ years in route planning or transportation management with hands-on use of TMS, route optimization tools, carrier negotiation experience and demonstrated network optimization results.

Explore More Careers