Why this guide exists
The TMS vendor landscape hasn't been this open in a decade. Turvo's enterprise contraction, MercuryGate's cost creep, and the arrival of AI-native platforms left most mid-market brokers evaluating options they didn't have two years ago.
Most TMS evaluation resources are vendor-produced — which means they're selling you something. This guide isn't. It's written from the operator side: what we evaluated when HTG replaced its legacy TMS, what we found, and what we'd do differently.
What's inside
The State of Freight TMS in 2025
Turvo's contraction, MercuryGate's pricing, the AI gap. What changed and why it matters now.
What Modern Brokerages Actually Need
Agent isolation, AI-native ops, per-seat economics, white-label, factor routing, true COGS.
The 42-Point Buyer's Checklist
Organized by category: Core, Financial, AI, Compliance, Infrastructure. Use live in demos.
Vendor Landscape Comparison
Turvo, MercuryGate, AscendTMS, HatchOS, Magaya — pricing, AI capability, fit by size.
The Real Cost of Switching
Data migration, training, parallel operation, opportunity cost. Budget it honestly.
Implementation Timelines
14-day vs. 6-month: what drives the difference and how to evaluate vendor estimates.
30 Questions to Ask Every Vendor
Organized by topic. Insist on live demos for every answer. Red flags included.
ROI Worksheet + Migration Template
Fill-in-the-blank ROI calculator and step-by-step migration plan template.
Who this is for
- Turvo operators evaluating alternatives after enterprise pricing made the ROI math stop working.
- MercuryGate operators at the 10-30 agent range paying $8,000-$20,000/month for LTL-optimized features they don't use.
- AscendTMS operators who've outgrown the platform — commission management issues, no multi-brand, no AI.
- Greenfield brokerages choosing their first TMS and wanting to avoid the mistakes others made.
Ready to see HatchOS?
14-day implementation. Per-seat pricing. Real AI employees — not slides.
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