What CT Logistics does

CT Logistics (legally The Commercial Traffic Company), founded in 1923 in Cleveland, Ohio, is a privately held global third-party logistics (3PL) provider specializing in freight bill audit, freight payment, and transportation cost management. The company serves industrial shippers and receivers ranging from small firms to Fortune 100 corporations, with named enterprise customers across aluminum (Arconic, Howmet, Sapa/Hydro), consumer goods (EdgeWell, Energizer), and apparel (PVH), alongside government clients served under a GSA contract held since 1997. The Miner family has led the company across generations, with Allan J. Miner serving as CEO since 1998 and Robert A. DiBello appointed President in 2023. CT Logistics operates from four global offices — Cleveland (headquarters), Birmingham UK (opened 2007), Vinnytsia Ukraine (2015), and Cebu City Philippines (2016) — supporting freight audit across 38 languages and 61 currencies.

The technology stack is anchored by FreitRater, a proprietary freight rating, routing, and auditing engine first developed in 1986 and continuously evolved for 40+ years; it is licensed to 20+ of the largest North American trucking lines and used internally or as software by 25+ Fortune 1000 corporations. CT Lion, released in 2013, extends FreitRater with multi-modal/multi-leg route optimization capable of processing over 17 million permutations per minute. Supporting products include CT TMS (web-based transportation management), CTrak (parcel auditing), TranSaver LTL buying group, FastPay (carrier supply chain finance), CT PRONTO (AI customer service chatbot), and a Qlik-powered analytics platform. The technology integrates with EDI standards (ANSI X12, EDIFACT) and ERP systems including SAP.

Revenue is generated across seven streams: freight bill audit and payment services (subscription/transaction-fee), software licensing via three deployment models (perpetual purchase, SaaS, BPaaS), professional consulting (rate negotiations, network optimization, warehouse relocation modeling), and the TranSaver buying group. Go-to-market is sales-led, with a Senior VP of Sales & Solutions leading enterprise field sales supported by inside sales for mid-market and a professional services team that proactively expands wallet share within existing accounts. The company maintains ISO 9001:2015 certification (since 1999), SOC compliance (since 2006), GSA Contract Holder status (since 1997), and FedEx Certified FBAP Provider status through 2026, anchoring eligibility for government and large enterprise procurement.

Name

CT Logistics

Legal name

The Commercial Traffic Company

Website

https://ctlogistics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

CT Logistics is a Cleveland-based global 3PL provider founded in 1923, offering proprietary freight bill audit, payment, and transportation management software to industrial shippers and Fortune 100 corporations across 38 languages and 61 currencies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freight Audit and Payment Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510), Freight Transportation Arrangement (4885)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731)

akta.pro primary industry

Transportation Management Services (TMS-as-a-Service / Managed Transportation) (TLAIANAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Managed Transportation Services (MTS) / Outsourced TMS Operations (TLAIAEAB), Real-Time Operational Visibility & Exception Management (TLAEAKAC)

Keywords

• Freight audit services
• Freight payment processing
• Transportation management software
• Supply chain optimization
• Third-party logistics services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cleveland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Freight Bill Audit Services: Pre-audit and post-audit services for freight bills across all modes (truckload, LTL, intermodal, parcel, air). Revenue generated through service fees typically providing 10x ROI for clients. Outsourcing model where CT handles all administrative overhead of auditing freight bills.
2. Freight Payment Services: Timely payment of audited freight bills to carriers on behalf of clients. Clients fund accounts via check, wire, or EFT on a weekly production run schedule. Revenue derived from service fees based on transaction volume.
3. Software Licensing - Purchase: One-time purchase fee for FreitRater software package installed at client site. Includes annual renewable support package for software upgrades and releases.
4. Software as a Service (SaaS): 24/7 access to FreitRater on CT's servers with a fixed monthly subscription fee. CT manages hardware, software updates, and maintenance. Client personnel perform all contract rate entry and audit functions.
5. Business Process as a Service (BPaaS): Fixed monthly subscription fee for exclusive use platform with CT performing most back-office auditing tasks while client maintains access to view/update rates and business rules.
6. Professional Services: Consulting services including rate negotiations, network optimization, warehouse relocation modeling, shipment consolidation, and benchmark analysis. Revenue generated through professional service fees.
7. TranSaver® LTL Buying Group: Monthly participation fee for access to pooled volume pricing. Clients benefit from discounts up to 58% off interstate and 56% off intrastate base rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CT Logistics is a global third-party logistics provider offering freight bill pre-audit and post-audit services, freight payment processing, parcel audit, contract rate negotiations, supply chain optimization, and transportation management for industrial shippers and receivers. Services are delivered through proprietary FreitRater rating software, CT Lion global optimization platform, CT TMS, and Qlik-powered business intelligence tools, supported by offices in the US, UK, Ukraine, and Philippines.

Product overview

CT Logistics is a third-party logistics (3PL) provider offering an integrated platform of freight auditing, payment, and transportation management software and services. The core product portfolio centers on FreitRater (enterprise-class freight rating, routing, and auditing software), which serves as the foundation for multiple service offerings. CT Lion extends FreitRater for global multi-modal supply chain optimization, while CT TMS provides web-based transportation management capabilities. Supporting services include parcel audit, post audit, freight claims management, freight brokerage, contract rate negotiations, and professional consulting. The company operates on a SaaS, BPaaS, or software purchase delivery model, with over 100 years of experience auditing freight bills for clients ranging from small firms to Fortune 100 corporations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FreitRater: Freight rating, routing, and freight bill auditing software for carriers and shippers
• CTLion
• TranSaver
• CTrak
• CT Pronto
• FastPay

Products and services

• FreitRater Enterprise-class proprietary freight rating, routing, and auditing software that processes complex rating structures quickly and accurately. Used by motor carriers for rating/billing and by shippers for pre-audit, post-audit, and freight payment processing, available via perpetual license, SaaS, or BPaaS.
• CT Lion Global supply chain optimization software that extends FreitRater to calculate optimal transportation routes by evaluating all legs, modes, carriers, service types, and equipment simultaneously, capable of 17 million permutations per minute.
• CT TMS (Transportation Management System) Web-based transportation management system providing shipment planning, execution with event tracking, spot quote management, and carrier performance reporting, integrating with ERP and logistics partners for end-to-end supply chain management.
• TranSaver LTL Buying Group Co-op LTL buying group enabling small and medium-sized shippers to access pooled volume pricing with average discounts up to 58% on interstate and 56% on intrastate base rates.
• FastPay Supply chain finance solution that pays carriers 24 hours after billing is ready for payment while CT waits for shipper payment terms, giving carriers immediate liquidity.
• Freight Bill Audit Service Pre-audit service that verifies rates, classifications, and charges on freight invoices and bills of lading before payment, delivering an average ROI of more than 10x service fees.
• Freight Payment Service Freight bill payment service providing timely carrier payments with detailed remittance statements showing tariff or contract authority for all payment reductions, plus 24/7 web-based tools and management reporting.
• Parcel Audit Service 21st-century parcel audit service that audits every shipment electronically to recover money from total parcel spend, validates carrier contracts, and provides shipping comparisons and corrected address reports.
• Post Audit Service Post-payment freight bill auditing on a "No Cure - No Cost" basis that recovers clerical errors, incorrect rates, erroneous classifications, and duplicate payments, uncovering more than $35 million in errors annually for clients.
• Freight Claims Management End-to-end solution for recovery of Loss & Damage and Over, Short & Damage claims featuring a web-based platform for claims management, reporting, analysis tools, and carrier correspondence tracking.
• Freight Brokerage Services Third-party logistics freight brokerage services for moving goods via truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), intermodal, or specialized freight through an extensive carrier network.
• Contract Rate Negotiations Rate negotiation and management services where CT acts as liaison between shipper and carrier, including multi-round bid process administration, carrier proposal evaluation, and routing guide development.
• Freight Under Management Complete product delivery system based on national contracting for high asset utilization and cost control, including carrier contracting, transportation planning, claims management, freight payment, scheduling, and centralized dispatch.
• Professional Services Consulting Consulting services including warehouse relocation modeling, shipment consolidation, carrier pricing impact analysis, benchmark analysis, network optimization, premium freight management, and routing guide programs.
• Business Intelligence Consulting Customized business intelligence and reporting services using Qlik analytics, providing layout-led and data-led discovery approaches for freight spend analysis and transportation cost optimization.

Quantifiable outcome

• $35 million in annual error recovery for clients through post-audit services
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability5 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• TranSolutions Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationTranSolutions Inc. powers CT Logistics' web-based claims management system for Over, Short & Damage (OS&D) cargo claims. The platform provides navigational functions, core fields for operating data capture, and work management features for end-to-end freight claims processing.
• QlikcoreTechnology or IntegrationQlik's Associative engine technology powers CT Logistics' business intelligence and analytics platform. Enables combination of multiple data sources for free exploration, instant pivoting, and visual analytics across all transportation spend data.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves16 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Blue Yonder: Blue Yonder (formerly JDA Software, now owned by Panasonic) is a broad supply chain software incumbent providing TMS, WMS, and end-to-end supply chain planning platforms. While not a direct freight audit peer, Blue Yonder's TMS offerings increasingly include embedded audit capabilities that compete with CT's CT TMS and FreitRater solutions for enterprise RFPs.
• U.S. Bank Freight Payment: U.S. Bank's Freight Payment division (formerly TranScend, acquired from US Bank) is a major freight audit and payment provider operating within a much larger banking institution. Their scale, balance-sheet strength, and embedded treasury services make them a formidable broad incumbent competing for the same enterprise freight audit RFPs as CT.
• Descartes Systems Group: Descartes is a logistics technology incumbent providing a broad portfolio of TMS, customs, routing, and visibility solutions. Their Global Logistics Network and customs compliance offerings intersect with CT's transportation management and global freight capabilities for enterprise shippers requiring integrated multi-modal solutions.
• AIT Worldwide Logistics: AIT Worldwide Logistics is a non-asset-based 3PL providing freight forwarding, brokerage, and transportation management services globally. While primarily a forwarder/broker rather than a pure freight audit provider, AIT's scale (>$3B revenue) and global footprint make them a competing option for enterprises evaluating outsourced transportation spend management partnerships.

Direct peers

• Cass Information Systems: Cass Information Systems operates a Freight Audit & Payment division that is the closest direct competitor to CT Logistics, providing freight bill audit, payment, and transportation spend management services to enterprise shippers across multiple modes and geographies. Both firms target Fortune-level enterprises with recurring-fee service models and proprietary technology stacks.
• Trax Technologies: Trax Technologies is a global freight audit and payment specialist competing directly with CT across pre-audit, post-audit, and transportation spend analytics services. Trax is PE-backed (EQT Partners), giving it greater capital flexibility for platform investment than CT's family-held structure.
• Data2Logistics: Data2Logistics (formerly Verizon Enterprise Solutions freight audit unit) is a direct freight audit and payment peer serving global enterprise shippers with similar SaaS and managed service delivery models. Their overlapping mid-market and enterprise focus, plus comparable multi-modal scope, makes them a directly comparable competitor to CT.
• nVision Global: nVision Global is a freight audit, payment, and TMS solutions provider competing with CT in the global enterprise segment, with particular strength in air freight and ocean cargo auditing. Both firms emphasize multi-currency, multi-language capabilities and global service delivery for multinational shippers.
• CTSI-Global: CTSI-Global is a freight audit, payment, and supply chain visibility provider serving enterprise shippers with a comparable service portfolio to CT, including audit, payment, claims management, and TMS integration. They directly compete in the same RFP processes for global enterprise transportation spend management engagements.

Emerging players

• FourKites: FourKites is an emerging supply chain visibility platform providing real-time shipment tracking and predictive ETA capabilities across modes. While not a direct freight audit peer, FourKites competes for enterprise transportation technology budget and represents the cloud-native, AI-forward category of competitor that could disrupt traditional freight audit and TMS providers like CT Logistics over time.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ct_logistics_

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CT Logistics