A fractional CTO for logistics and 3PL operators
TMS strategy, data and visibility, vendor management for $10M to $100M logistics operators. $4,500/mo Advisory, $8,500/mo full.
Who this is for
Owner or COO at a $10M to $100M logistics or 3PL operator where TMS is aging, data lives in spreadsheets, and digital investment is reactive.
The pain today
- TMS is aging and replacement feels high-risk
- Data lives in spreadsheets and manual reports
- Digital investment reactive instead of strategic
- Customer expectations rising on visibility and tracking
- Full-time CIO not justified at current scale
The outcome you get
- Fractional logistics CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo
- Digital roadmap aligned with business strategy
- TMS strategy (upgrade, replace, or custom layer)
- Data and visibility strategy
- Vendor management and hiring plan
Logistics CTO topics
Four topics dominate logistics CTO work. TMS — upgrade existing, replace with new, or build custom layer on top. Visibility — customer-facing tracking, driver tracking, internal ops dashboards, real-time data flow. Integrations — ELD, EDI, accounting, specialty partners. Data — unified view of shipments, customers, drivers, profitability. Fractional CTO at $4,500 to $8,500/mo delivers strategic tech leadership without full-time CIO cost.
Vendor consolidation playbook
Mid-market logistics operators run on: TMS, ELD, accounting, CRM, communication tools, document management, EDI, plus specialty integrations. Stack audit reveals redundancy across tools. Consolidation to platforms with integration capability (Turvo, Cargowise, MercuryGate) plus best-of-breed specialists. Typical outcome: clearer ops, reduced vendor cost, better integration. For operators growing or preparing for exit, clean tech stack materially affects valuation.
Data and visibility strategy
Customer expectations on visibility climbing every year. Shippers want real-time tracking, ETA updates, proactive delay notification, self-service portals. Delivering this requires unified data across TMS, ELD, and customer communication. For 3PLs competing on experience, this is strategic differentiation. At bolttech I ran integration-heavy work with 40+ providers — transferable patterns for logistics integrations.
Pricing tiers
CTO Advisory $4,500/mo — 1 to 2 days per week. Strategic input, vendor decisions. Fractional CTO $8,500/mo — 3 days per week. Deep CTO role. 14-day money-back guarantee. Cancel anytime. US LLC invoicing. Typically 12 to 24 months for logistics operators through major platform transition or visibility buildout.
Case: bolttech — integration-heavy platform leadership
bolttech: $1B+ unicorn with Payment Service integrating 40+ providers across Asia and Europe, 99.9 percent uptime, zero post-launch critical bugs. Stack: NestJS, React, MongoDB, Redis, TypeScript. Integration-heavy platform leadership directly transfers to logistics CTO work where TMS, ELD, accounting, and EDI integrations all need to work together reliably. Same discipline on both.
When a full-time VP of IT is right
For logistics operators at $100M+ revenue with complex multi-site operations, full-time VP of IT handles day-to-day leadership while CTO or fractional CTO focuses on strategy. Below that scale, fractional CTO covers both. I help structure the transition when needed — usually when IT operational complexity exceeds what fractional can effectively manage.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Unified payment orchestration across Asia and Europe
Delivered the payment orchestration platform at bolttech, a $1B+ unicorn, with 40+ integrations across multiple regions.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- Can you evaluate TMS vendors?
- Yes. Cargowise, MercuryGate, Turvo, Magaya, McLeod, Aljex, Rose Rocket, Samsara — evaluation based on operational fit, scale, integration ecosystem, pricing. For operators switching TMS, 6 to 12-month transition. I manage the evaluation and protect the operation's interests during transition.
- What about ELD compliance?
- ELD compliance stays in the ELD system itself — I do not replace ELD tooling. Integration reads ELD data for visibility and ops dashboards without touching compliance-critical functions. Samsara, Geotab, Motive all have APIs.
- Can you handle EDI?
- Yes. 210, 214, 204, 997, 990 — standard freight transaction sets. For operators with 5+ EDI partners, dedicated EDI gateway (Kleinschmidt, SPS Commerce). For operators starting with EDI, direct integrations feasible. I manage integration strategy.
- How do you handle customer portals?
- Customer tracking portals layer on top of TMS data. For operators wanting differentiated customer experience, custom portal beats vendor-standard. Applications-scope custom work; CTO role defines requirements and manages build.
- What about driver-facing tech?
- Driver-facing apps (dispatch communication, document upload, HOS visibility) require thought on device constraints — ruggedised phones, limited screens, variable connectivity. Mobile-first web apps work for most driver needs; native apps where offline or device features matter.
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