September 29, 2025 - 6 minutes read
Limitations of Shipment Tracking Software in Global Supply Chains
Most shipment tracking software shows where a shipment is, but not much else. It provides location updates, but offers little visibility into what’s actually happening across the supply chain. And when companies are managing multiple modes, global partners, and constant exceptions, a simple map pin doesn’t deliver the insight they need to make decisions or prevent issues.
It’s why so many logistics tech investments fall short. In fact, 92% of supply chain leaders say their supply chain technology hasn’t delivered as expected, according to PwC’s 2025 Digital Trends in Operations Survey. Too often, shipment tracking software captures only part of the picture, leaving teams to track down updates manually or operate without a full understanding of what’s happening.
This article explores the limitations of traditional shipment tracking software and what companies need to manage global freight networks effectively—from data integration and compliance oversight to broader visibility and collaboration.
Shipment Tracking Software Wasn’t Built for Supply Chain Complexity
Most shipping tracking software was designed for a simpler logistics environment where the company booking the freight also controlled the data. These tools rely heavily on carrier feeds or in-platform status updates to monitor movement, which works well in scenarios where all shipments are booked directly through the established shipping management system or internal TMS.
But that’s rarely the case in global operations. Freight may be arranged by suppliers, managed by 3PLs, or coordinated through different internal systems. When tracking is limited to only what’s booked within a single platform, large portions of the supply chain go unmonitored. This creates gaps in visibility, particularly for inbound freight and third-party shipments, which directly impact production timelines, customer commitments, and overall costs.
In a multi-party logistics environment, tracking “your freight” isn’t enough. Without end-to-end visibility into the broader network, shipment tracking software becomes just one more disconnected tool—useful in isolation, but unable to support the coordination and collaboration modern supply chains demand. What’s needed is a more connected approach to tracking, integrated with a broader shipping strategy.
What Shipment Tracking Software Misses
While shipment tracking software plays a role in day-to-day operations, it’s often treated as a standalone tool that focuses on location data without connecting to the other factors that define performance and cost. That limited scope may be enough for transactional updates, but it’s not enough to support modern supply chains where complexity, variability, and accountability matter.
Limited Visibility into Cost Drivers
Most shipment tracking platforms are built to answer a narrow question: Where is the shipment right now? What they can’t answer is: How is this shipment performing against plan, and at what cost?
Routing guide compliance is one significant blind spot. If a carrier diverts from the contracted rate, most tracking tools won’t capture it. The same is true for added accessorials or surcharges—those details rarely make it into the tracking interface, yet they show up later on the invoice. Without visibility into whether a shipment followed the correct routing, pricing, and service commitments, it’s difficult to catch discrepancies in real time.
This creates major challenges on the backend. Logistics and finance teams are left trying to reconcile expected charges with actual invoices using separate systems and manual verifications. Shipment tracking software that only provides location updates can’t bridge that gap. Without linking cost drivers to tracking activity, teams have no way to verify whether the shipment was both delivered and billed correctly.
No Insight Into Trade or Customs Compliance
Most shipping tracking software provides a view of freight movement up to a port of entry or destination. But it doesn’t provide visibility into the compliance activities required to actually move goods across borders.
In global supply chains, documentation errors or delays in customs clearance can be just as disruptive as a missed pickup or late delivery. Yet most platforms don’t track whether commercial invoices, HTS codes, or AES filings have been submitted or whether a shipment has been flagged for denied party screening or compliance violations. These checkpoints are critical, especially as trade regulations shift and tariff structures evolve.
The cost of non-compliance is high, both financially and operationally. A shipment held in customs may not show up in a tracking tool as late, but the impact downstream is the same. Without integrated visibility into compliance milestones, teams are left guessing whether goods are legally cleared to move or are sitting idle in a regulatory backlog.
No Framework for Data Sharing Across Stakeholders
Many shipment tracking tools receive regular status updates from carriers or aggregators, but that data stays locked in the platform. There’s no way to automatically push those updates into the systems that other stakeholders rely on, like ERPs, WMSs, or customer-facing portals, without significant investment in custom integrations and workarounds.
This disconnect becomes even more problematic when shipments involve multiple external partners. Suppliers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and customers all need access to accurate, real-time shipment status, but they’re often forced to rely on secondhand updates or periodic emails.
The result isn’t just internal inefficiency. It’s a breakdown in visibility and communication across the supply chain. When information can’t move freely between systems and stakeholders, teams can’t act quickly, escalate issues, or respond to change. Shipment tracking software that doesn’t support structured data sharing becomes another bottleneck in an already strained logistics environment.
Limited Multimodal and Complex Shipment Support
Most shipment tracking software is designed to manage standard moves: a single mode, a single carrier, and a direct origin-to-destination handoff. But that’s not how modern supply chains operate.
Multi-leg shipments, milk runs, transfers between distribution centers, and hybrid modal strategies require tracking that can account for complexity. Many platforms stop at the carrier’s API or are configured to handle only a few transportation modes. What’s missing is the ability to monitor shipments across connected moves, whether that’s ocean to rail, truckload to final-mile, or intra-network transfers.
When tools can’t connect complex movements into a unified view, teams lose visibility into status, timing, and accountability. That lack of continuity can lead to delays, missed handoffs between legs, and difficulty managing performance across the full lifecycle of a shipment.
What Modern Companies Actually Need from Shipment Tracking Software
For companies operating in complex global environments, shipment tracking software needs to do more than display location updates. It should provide a connected, real-time view of transportation activity that supports execution, coordination, and accountability across the entire network.
Key capabilities to look for include:
- Ingesting shipment data from any source—internal teams, suppliers, or third parties
- Supporting all transportation modes and capturing multi-leg shipment activity
- Linking tracking data with cost, compliance, and service performance
- Pushing real-time updates into other systems (ERP, WMS, customer portals)
- Providing collaboration solutions for internal teams and external stakeholders
- Managing exceptions, delays, and workflow variations across geographies
Anything less leaves logistics teams operating in the dark, unable to respond quickly or manage performance effectively.
Meet Agistix: Closing the Gaps Left by Shipment Tracking Software
Agistix goes beyond traditional shipment tracking by providing a centralized supply chain platform that captures activity across modes, systems, and partners, all without requiring suppliers or carriers to change their processes.
The platform delivers:
- Visibility into supplier-booked, third-party, and inbound freight
- Integration with ERP, WMS, and external systems through API/EDI
- Real-time access to cost, compliance, and service performance metrics
- Tools that support exception management, collaboration, and proactive communication
Want to see how Agistix can help you move beyond basic track-and-trace? Contact our team to schedule a demo.
