Guidebook: Assessing the value of DAT for shippers

DAT Freight & Analytics is a U.S.-based software vendor specializing in freight marketplace and data analytics solutions. The vendor provides digital tools that connect carriers, brokers, and shippers to improve load matching, rate benchmarking, and transportation decision-making. Its core offerings include DAT iQ, a transportation analytics suite, and DAT One, North America’s largest on-demand freight marketplace. Together, these solutions give users visibility into real-time market rates, capacity, and lane performance across North America. DAT iQ provides advanced transportation analytics that allow organizations to benchmark performance, monitor pricing trends, and forecast freight rates. Through tools like RateView and Benchmark from DAT iQ give users insights into spot and contract rates, national pricing averages, and supply-demand trends across van, reefer, and flatbed equipment types. Additional modes supported include ocean, LTL, and intermodal. These capabilities help shippers save time, evaluate carrier performance, plan budgets, automate and optimize procurement strategies, and manage routing guides more effectively. DAT One supports daily freight operations by enabling shippers and carriers to identify optimal loads, while brokers can track and coordinate shipments through connected systems, ensuring all parties make data-driven pricing and routing decisions. The platform integrates capabilities such as load searching and posting, market condition tracking, mileage tools, factoring, and freight tracking. Within the DAT Load Board, carriers and brokers can access average lane rates, spot rate data, and market condition indices, helping them assess opportunities and maintain service reliability. Additional services include its Carrier Management Suite, freight factoring, and tracking solutions. This report focuses on the value shippers realize from implementing DAT. Drawing from end-user interviews, the analysis highlights how shippers leverage DAT’s analytics tools to improve transportation planning, enhance rate negotiations, and strengthen freight procurement strategies through data-backed market intelligence.