SONAR
SONAR is a freight market intelligence platform operating 500+ proprietary indices tracking $125 billion in freight across 135+ markets, serving shippers, brokers, carriers, and financial buyers through enterprise subscriptions, API distribution, and a self-serve tier.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersChattanooga, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What SONAR does
SONAR is a freight market intelligence platform operated by FreightWaves, Inc., a privately held Tennessee corporation headquartered in Chattanooga. The platform provides high-frequency, event-driven supply chain intelligence for the freight market, tracking $125 billion in freight across 135+ markets and 700,000+ lanes through 500+ proprietary indices that are updated daily across truckload, intermodal, rail, and ocean modes. Core products include SONAR SCI (Supply Chain Intelligence), TRAC (Trusted Rate Assessment Consortium) for spot rate pricing, the National Truckload Index (NTI), Batch Rate Intelligence for RFP pricing, and Ocean Supply/Demand dashboards. The platform is IOSCO-compliant and offers a 28-day forward rate forecast via the NTI's scientific algorithm. SONAR is built on an API-first architecture with bi-directional data feeds through the SCORE consortium, and is accessible via web application, Chrome extension, and Excel Add-In.
SONAR serves three primary buyer segments — brokers/3PLs, shippers, and carriers — and four secondary verticals (financial, healthcare, retail, automotive, CPG, paper & packaging), with named enterprise customers that include JB Hunt, General Motors, XPO, Abercrombie & Fitch, Red Bull, Sazerac, CN Railway, Land O'Lakes, Discount Tire, Bloomberg, Kearney, and Novelis. Revenue is generated through tiered SaaS subscriptions (Quick Rates self-serve at $24.99/month or $249/year for individuals, custom enterprise pricing for large accounts) and API access for enterprise and technology partners including Blue Yonder TMS, TruckSmarter, project44, Prodensus, and GenLogs. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales, API-first distribution to TMS and visibility platforms, and a product-led growth motion through Quick Rates. The company is led by Craig Fuller as CEO of FreightWaves/SONAR, with Zach Strickland as Head of Market Analysis.
SONAR firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SONAR
- Legal name
- FreightWaves, Inc.
- Website
- https://gosonar.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- SONAR is a freight market intelligence platform operating 500+ proprietary indices tracking $125 billion in freight across 135+ markets, serving shippers, brokers, carriers, and financial buyers through enterprise subscriptions, API distribution, and a self-serve tier.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SONAR industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Freight Market Intelligence
- NAICS
- Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)
- SIC
- Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Ocean Container Visibility (Vessel, Container, Demurrage/Detention) (TLAEADAF)
Keywords
Where SONAR is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chattanooga
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
SONAR business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Platform Subscription: Subscription-based access to SONAR freight market intelligence platform with tiered pricing from self-serve Quick Rates to enterprise-level subscriptions with full platform access.
- API Data Access: Programmatic access to freight data, rates, and indices via API for enterprise customers and technology partners, including Bulk Rates API for standardized contract benchmarks.
- Self-Serve Quick Rates: Individual user subscriptions at $24.99/month or $249/year providing direct access to desktop freight rate intelligence tools without sales call or contract.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Quick Rates self-serve individual access |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
SONAR product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SONAR is a high-frequency freight market intelligence platform that delivers real-time supply chain data, spot and contract rate benchmarking, capacity analytics, and proprietary market indices across truckload, intermodal, rail, and ocean transportation modes. The platform tracks $125 billion in freight across 135+ markets and 700,000+ lanes via 500+ proprietary indices, serving shippers, brokers, carriers, and financial institutions through SaaS subscriptions, APIs, and TMS integrations.
Product overview
SONAR is a freight market intelligence platform operated by FreightWaves, offering a suite of products built around a core Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI) platform. The platform covers 500+ proprietary freight indices tracking $125 billion in freight across 135+ markets, with daily updates across all transportation modes. The core products include TRAC for high-frequency spot rate pricing, NTI for national supply chain health metrics, Batch Rate Intelligence for multi-lane RFP analysis, and Container Atlas/Ocean Intelligence for global ocean market visibility. The platform also offers a self-serve Quick Rates tier for individual users, an API for programmatic access, Excel Add-In for spreadsheet-based analytics, Index-Linked Contracts for dynamic pricing, and SONAR Sitreps for expert research reports. SONAR integrates with Blue Yonder TMS, GenLogs, TruckSmarter, Prodensus, and project44 to deliver freight intelligence within existing logistics workflows.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SONAR SCI: Supply Chain Intelligence platform providing actionable insights to help shippers, carriers and 3PLs reduce costs, improve route guide compliance and make proactive decisions.
- TRAC
- NTI
- Container Atlas
- SONAR Sitreps
- Quick Rates
- Batch Rate Intelligence
Products and services
- SONAR SCI (Supply Chain Intelligence) Actionable insights platform helping shippers, carriers, and 3PLs reduce transportation costs, improve route guide compliance, and make proactive decisions through event-driven supply chain intelligence.
- TRAC (Trusted Rate Assessment Consortium) High-frequency spot truckload pricing, bidding, benchmarking and forecasting data across thousands of lanes for contract negotiations and margin improvement.
- NTI (National Truckload Index) Real-time proxy for the health of the national supply chain used by freight and non-freight businesses to forecast rates up to 28 days in advance.
- Container Atlas / Ocean Intelligence Dashboards Global ocean market intelligence providing consolidated views of booking volumes, carrier behavior, lead times, transit performance, and port-pair reliability, replacing the legacy Container Atlas product.
- Batch Rate Intelligence Multi-lane analysis tool for bid management, frequent lane monitoring and corridor trend visualization, upgraded into a full RFP pricing workflow with forward-looking rate insights.
- SONAR Quick Rates (Self-Serve Tier) Self-serve pricing tier providing direct access to real-time spot rates, margin calculator, geographic U.S. freight market conditions, and a Chrome extension at $24.99/month or $249/year.
- SONAR Sitreps Expert-authored situation reports integrated directly into the platform, offered as Live Research Dashboard, Detailed Written Report, and PowerPoint Overview for executive briefings.
- SONAR Bulk Rates API API providing standardized contract rate benchmarks for the bulk trucking segment with outbound state-based pricing and round trip rates for shippers, carriers, and logistics technology operators.
- SONAR API Programmatic API access to SONAR's proprietary freight market intelligence, rate benchmarks, lane scores, and SCORE consortium data for integration into enterprise applications and partner platforms.
- SONAR Excel Add-In Customizable Microsoft Excel plugin providing direct access to SONAR freight market data and analytics within spreadsheet workflows.
- Index-Linked Contracts Dynamic freight contract framework that uses SONAR's market indices as the source of truth to optimize pricing and carrier-shipper relationships.
- Broker Tool Kit Decision-support toolkit for freight brokers providing actionable data to prioritize loads for margin maximization.
- SONAR Insights Curated dashboard views including National and Key Market Insights and Trade War Command Center for at-a-glance freight market trend visualization.
Quantifiable outcome
- 4-10% cost reductions
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use SONAR
Customer profileNamed customers16 records
Segments9 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
SONAR technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability3 records
Feature9 records
SONAR partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- TruckSmartercoreIntegration of TRAC Spot Rate data into TruckSmarter's AI-powered Dispatch chat platform, giving motor carriers real-time access to spot market rate intelligence previously available mainly to analysts at freight brokerages and shippers. Partnership aims to democratize access to quality market information for independent truck drivers on TruckSmarter's platform of 500K+ carriers.
- ProdensuscoreIntegration of real-time market intelligence into freight brokers' workflows through Prodensus platform, significantly reducing response times for freight RFPs and enhancing decision-making speed and accuracy for winning more business.
- Blue YondercoreIntegration of SONAR freight market intelligence including real-time spot rates, weekly contract rate benchmarks, and lane scores directly into Blue Yonder Transportation Management System. Enables Blue Yonder users to access freight market data within existing workflows and contribute anonymized shipment data to SONAR's SCORE consortium through bi-directional data feed.
- project44corePartnership to enhance freight procurement with AI, providing data-driven market insights and improving cost efficiency for shippers through project44's supply chain visibility platform.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
SONAR competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Freightos: Digital ocean freight marketplace and rate index (FBX), directly comparable to SONAR's ocean dashboards serving shippers, freight forwarders, and ocean carriers.
- DAT Freight & Analytics: Operates the largest U.S. truckload rate and load board dataset — directly comparable to SONAR's TRAC spot rates and NTI truckload index, serving the same broker/shipper/carrier base.
- Truckstop.com: Freight marketplace and load board that competes head-on with SONAR for carrier and broker data subscriptions, including spot rate intelligence and capacity sourcing tools.
- Loadsmart: Digital freight broker and procurement platform serving shippers and carriers, with comparable offerings in spot/contract rate intelligence and automated RFP workflows.
- Xeneta: Ocean and air freight rate benchmarking platform — direct competitor to SONAR's Container Atlas / Ocean Intelligence dashboards for global ocean rate intelligence.
Emerging players
- Greenscreens.ai: AI-powered truckload pricing platform delivering predictive buy/sell pricing intelligence to brokers — emerging competitor in the same lane as SONAR's TRAC and Batch Rate Intelligence tools.
Broad incumbents
- project44: Supply chain visibility platform that integrates with SONAR for procurement intelligence; broader in scope (visibility, TMS) but overlaps on freight market insights for shippers and 3PLs.
- FourKites: Supply chain visibility platform serving shippers, brokers, and 3PLs — adjacent incumbent that competes for enterprise logistics intelligence budgets alongside SONAR.
- Uber Freight: Large-scale digital freight broker and managed transportation provider backed by Uber — competing for shipper freight spend with embedded market intelligence capabilities.
Others
- MercuryGate: Global TMS provider for shippers, brokers, and 3PLs — adjacent ecosystem participant where SONAR's TMS integrations and freight market data create partnership and overlap dynamics.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
SONAR social profiles
Digital presenceSONAR compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
SONAR financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SONAR leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
SONAR funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SONAR M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SONAR
What does SONAR do?
SONAR is a high-frequency freight market intelligence platform that delivers real-time supply chain data, spot and contract rate benchmarking, capacity analytics, and proprietary market indices across truckload, intermodal, rail, and ocean transportation modes. The platform tracks $125 billion in freight across 135+ markets and 700,000+ lanes via 500+ proprietary indices, serving shippers, brokers, carriers, and financial institutions through SaaS subscriptions, APIs, and TMS integrations.
Is SONAR a public or private company?
SONAR is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was SONAR founded?
SONAR was founded in 2018. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is SONAR based?
SONAR is headquartered in Chattanooga, United States, in the North America region.
How does SONAR make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Platform Subscription is the primary driver. The others are API Data Access and self-Serve Quick Rates.
Who are SONAR's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Freightos, DAT Freight & Analytics, Truckstop.com, Loadsmart and Xeneta. Greenscreens.ai is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are project44, FourKites and Uber Freight. MercuryGate is listed as an others.
Does SONAR have an API?
Yes. SONAR offers a public API that allows users to plug into their existing tech stack with proprietary freight data. The API provides access to high-frequency freight market intelligence data including real-time spot rates, weekly contract rate benchmarks, lane scores, and other market data. Users can contribute anonymized shipment data to SONAR's SCORE consortium through a bi-directional data feed. Developer documentation is at gosonar.com/sonar-api.
What industry is SONAR in?
SONAR's product category is Freight Market Intelligence. Its primary akta.pro industry code is TLAEADAF, Ocean Container Visibility (Vessel, Container, Demurrage/Detention). Its NAICS code is 488510 and its SIC code is 4731.