Tempus

What Tempus does

Tempus Freight Management Services is a privately held Canadian freight management and invoice-audit firm headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario. Founded in January 1987 as a joint venture between Copel Inc. (an electrical wholesale buying group) and Emco Supply (then EML Distribution, a plumbing and HVAC wholesaler), the company has operated continuously in the freight management and audit segment for over three decades. Its core function is to audit carrier freight invoices on behalf of wholesale distributors, recover overcharges and billing errors, and process carrier payments through a centralized platform.

The company's technology stack is anchored by an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) system that ingests carrier invoices, holds suspect bills until validated as legitimate re-billing or adjustments, and processes payments on a bi-monthly cycle (15th and 30th of each month). Supporting capabilities include a database of thousands of carrier profiles that allows rate loading and auditing for carriers outside the standard program, a web-based customer login portal for invoice status and custom reporting, and configurable reporting on economical routing, spending patterns, and carrier performance. An optional audit-only service is offered to clients that prefer to pay carriers independently.

Tempus generates revenue primarily through subscription-based freight management contracts (multi-year, quote-based, not publicly priced) and a professional-services audit-only fee. Its go-to-market is sales-led and direct, targeting wholesale distribution networks and multi-location enterprises in Canada that face opaque freight billing and inconsistent carrier rates across branches. Customer evidence includes E.B. Horsman & Son (electrical wholesale), a leading national auto parts distributor program, and members of the original Copel buying group including Gerrie Electric and Ideal Supply.

Name

Tempus

Legal name

Tempus Freight Management Services

Website

https://tempus.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Tempus Freight Management Services is a privately held Canadian firm that audits carrier freight invoices and processes payments via EDI for wholesale distributors, primarily in electrical, plumbing, and HVAC sectors across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freight Audit and Payment Services

NAICS

Freight Transportation Arrangement (488510)

akta.pro primary industry

Freight Settlement, Billing & Freight Audit/Pay (TMS Add-on) (TLAEAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Invoice Matching & Cost Allocation (3-Way Match, GL Coding, Project/Customer Chargeback) (TLAEAIAG), Claims, Overcharge Recovery & Post-Audit (Refunds, Chargebacks, Recovery) (TLAEAIAJ), Freight Rating, Tariff & Contract Management (TMS Add-on) (TLAEAAAH)

Keywords

• Freight invoice audit
• Freight payment processing
• Logistics cost reduction
• EDI invoice processing
• Carrier rate management

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakville

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Freight Management and Audit Services: Core revenue stream from auditing carrier invoices and managing freight payment processes for clients. Services include EDI processing, invoice verification, carrier payment processing, and custom reporting.
2. Audit-Only Service: For clients who want to pay carriers directly, Tempus provides audit services on provided rates and invoices for a fee.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Tempus provides freight invoice audit and payment processing services for wholesale distributors and companies with significant transportation costs. Using a proprietary EDI-based platform, the company processes carrier invoices bi-monthly (15th and 30th) to identify overcharges, billing errors, and duplicate billing, and pays carriers on behalf of clients. Customers access real-time invoice status, payment tracking, and custom freight spend reports via a web-based login portal.

Product overview

Tempus Freight Management Services offers a unified freight management and audit platform designed for companies in the transportation industry. The core offering combines EDI-based invoice processing and custom reporting capabilities to identify and recover overcharges from freight billing errors. The product suite includes: Freight Invoice Audit Services (the primary offering for identifying overcharges), EDI Invoice Processing (automated carrier invoice handling), Custom Reporting (tailored analytics on shipping patterns and costs), Carrier Management (supporting thousands of carrier profiles), a Customer Login Portal (for real-time invoice tracking), and an optional Audit-Only Service module for companies wanting audit services without payment processing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Freight Invoice Audit Services Comprehensive auditing of carrier freight invoices to identify overcharges, billing errors, and miscellaneous charges. Processes invoices on the 15th and 30th of each month to ensure accurate carrier payments. Designed for wholesale distributors and companies with significant transportation spend.
• EDI Invoice Processing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system for receiving and processing carrier invoices, eliminating manual data entry errors and duplicate billing through automated validation. For carriers sending paper invoices, manual keying is performed by Tempus personnel.
• Custom Reporting Tailored reporting solutions based on criteria such as most economical routing, monthly spending patterns, selected carriers, and weekly/monthly/yearly comparisons, organized by invoice number, carrier, pieces, weight, account number, shipment priority, and commodities.
• Carrier Management System holding thousands of carrier profiles with the ability to process cheques for any carrier, including loading and auditing custom rates for carriers outside the standard program.
• Customer Login Portal Web-based portal allowing customers to look up invoice status, payment dates, cheque numbers, create custom reports, and access fuel surcharge updates in real-time.
• Audit-Only Service Standalone audit service for companies that prefer to pay carriers directly; Tempus provides rate and invoice auditing and returns the results for the customer to process payments independently.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tens of thousands of dollars in potential savings per year from identifying overcharges and billing errors for companies without industry knowledge
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered founding.

• Copel Inc.foundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1987Copel Inc., an Electrical Wholesale Buying Group, co-founded Tempus as a joint venture in January 1987. Richard Taylor served as Chairman of Copel Inc. and was present at the official Tempus opening.
• Emco Supply (formerly EML Distribution)foundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1987Emco Supply, then known as EML Distribution (a Plumbing & HVAC Wholesaler), co-founded Tempus as a joint venture in January 1987. In 1998, Emco's shares were purchased by FreighTech Inc.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Emerging players

• Mercurygate: Mercurygate provides TMS-adjacent freight rate management, routing, and audit solutions for shippers, with overlapping EDI/rate engine capabilities relevant to Tempus's freight rating and tariff management features.

Direct peers

• CTSI-Global: CTSI-Global is one of the largest global freight audit and payment providers serving shippers across multiple modes. It competes head-to-head with Tempus in freight invoice auditing, carrier payment, and transportation spend analytics.
• APS (Audit Processing Services): APS specializes in freight invoice audit and payment recovery services for shippers, with a niche focus similar to Tempus's core offering of identifying overcharges, billing errors, and duplicate freight invoices.
• TransAudit: TransAudit is a North American freight payment and audit services provider focused on overcharge recovery, carrier payment, and reporting — directly comparable to Tempus's audit and payment processing product suite.
• DDC Group: DDC Group is a freight audit, payment, and logistics data services provider serving enterprise shippers. It is highly comparable to Tempus in EDI-based invoice processing, audit, and freight payment offerings.
• nVision Global: nVision Global provides freight audit/pay, supply chain visibility, and rate management services globally. It directly competes with Tempus in invoice auditing, freight payment processing, and EDI/API-based carrier integrations for enterprise shippers.

Broad incumbents

• Cass Information Systems: Cass is a long-established U.S. freight audit/pay and transportation expense management provider with a broad enterprise customer base across multiple verticals — directly comparable to Tempus's core freight invoice audit and payment processing offering, but at much greater scale and geographic breadth.
• E2open: E2open (which acquired LeanLogistics) is a large supply chain software platform offering TMS, freight rate management, and audit/pay capabilities — adjacent incumbent whose freight rating and audit modules compete for the same Tempus customer wallet.
• Transportation Insight: Transportation Insight is a North American managed transportation, freight audit, and logistics services provider serving enterprise and mid-market shippers — overlapping with Tempus in audit/pay while operating a broader logistics portfolio.

Others

• Prophia (formerly BuyerQuest / Sievo-style procurement data): Prophia is a procurement and vendor data management platform — thematically adjacent to Tempus's expense-management positioning and freight cost reduction value proposition for distribution customers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Tempus