Descartes MacroPoint
Freight management software
Supply chain visibility software
Distribution software
Supply chain management software
- Features
- Ease of use
- Ease of management
- Quality of support
- Affordability
- Market presence
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Pay-as-you-go
Free Trial unavailableFree version unavailable
Small
Medium
Large
- Transportation and logistics
- Retail and wholesale
- Accommodation and food services
What is Descartes MacroPoint
Descartes MacroPoint is a supply chain visibility platform focused on real-time freight tracking and shipment status updates across truckload, intermodal, and other surface transportation modes. It is used by shippers, brokers, and logistics service providers to monitor in-transit loads, improve ETA accuracy, and automate check calls and exception management. The product emphasizes network-based connectivity to carriers and drivers, using multiple location data sources (e.g., ELD/telematics integrations and mobile-based tracking) to increase coverage. It is typically deployed as part of Descartes’ broader logistics technology suite and integrations ecosystem.
Multi-source location data ingestion
MacroPoint can ingest location and status data from different sources such as telematics/ELD integrations and mobile-based tracking. This helps operations teams reconcile gaps between planned and actual movement and improves the consistency of milestone updates. It also supports exception workflows by providing more frequent updates than manual check calls.
Broad carrier tracking network
The product is known for network-based connectivity to a large number of carriers and drivers, which can reduce the effort required to onboard tracking sources load by load. It supports multiple ways to obtain location signals, helping improve tracking coverage when a single method is unavailable. This approach can be useful for organizations managing high shipment volumes across many carrier partners.
Integration within Descartes ecosystem
As part of Descartes, MacroPoint can be integrated with other logistics applications and common TMS/ERP environments via APIs and established connectors. This can simplify data sharing for shipment creation, status events, and ETA updates across systems. For organizations already using Descartes products, it can reduce vendor fragmentation for visibility-related workflows.
Not a full TMS
MacroPoint primarily addresses in-transit visibility rather than end-to-end transportation planning, tendering, rating, and settlement. Organizations looking for a single system to manage the full freight lifecycle may need additional transportation management software. This can increase integration and process design work if MacroPoint is implemented alongside other platforms.
Coverage depends on carrier participation
Tracking quality can vary by carrier depending on their telematics capabilities, willingness to share data, and driver adoption of mobile tracking when required. Some lanes or smaller carriers may provide less consistent signals, which can affect ETA accuracy and exception detection. Teams may still need operational follow-up for non-compliant or low-signal shipments.
Implementation and change management effort
Deployments typically require integration to upstream systems (e.g., TMS) and configuration of milestones, alerts, and user workflows. Carrier onboarding, data governance, and internal process changes can be significant for large networks. Time-to-value may depend on how quickly trading partners and internal teams adopt the new tracking processes.
Plan & Pricing
Pricing model: Pay-as-you-go (per-tracked-load) Free tier/trial: See notes below Example costs:
- "Starts at $5 per load and can be discounted as low as $0.40 a load." (vendor blog post).
- For very high volumes: "If your company sends over one million loads per year, the cost will be between $0.10 and $2.00 per load depending on the transport mode." (vendor blog post).
- For low volumes: "If your company sends just over one thousand shipments per year, the price will be between $0.42 and $3.75 per shipment." (vendor blog post).
- Implementation (one-time) cost: stated range of $3,000 to $20,000 (vendor guidance). Discounts / notes: Bulk/volume discounts apply (per-year tracked-load tiers); vendor states prices are typically paid upfront and that increasing/decreasing tracked sessions does not dynamically change the pre-paid rate; carrier connectivity and mode can affect pricing. Contact sales for exact quotes.
Seller details
The Descartes Systems Group Inc.
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
1981
Public
https://www.descartes.com/
https://x.com/DescartesSG
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-descartes-systems-group/
