The problem
Moving goods by road across Europe involves many small companies. A cement, lime or chemicals producer may work with dozens or hundreds of hauliers, each with its own way of receiving orders. Without a shared system, plants book trucks locally, nobody knows when a truck will arrive, docks get congested and proof of delivery comes back on paper days later, which delays invoicing.
The paperwork itself is a burden. The CMR consignment note, the standard waybill for international road transport, is still often printed, signed by hand and archived in boxes. Empty or half-empty trucks and long waits at loading bays waste fuel and drivers’ time.
The product
Alpega TMS is a modular, cloud-based transportation management system for shippers that integrates with ERP systems such as SAP (Alpega). Its modules include:
- automated load assignment to carriers, replacing manual tendering;
- dock scheduling in real time to spread truck arrivals;
- shipment tracking with exception management;
- carrier performance dashboards with KPIs.
Around it sit Alpega Transport Execution, relaunched in January 2026 from a platform previously called Connected, which gives shippers access to more than 80,000 vetted truckload and part-load carriers under a “Shipper Pays” pricing model (Alpega), and freight exchanges including Teleroute, Wtransnet, BursaTransport and 123cargo, where carriers find return loads. The TMS itself descends from Transwide’s Charger TMS and inet logistics. Teleroute is the oldest piece: it joined Wolters Kluwer in 1996 and merged with the Nolis freight exchange in 2012, long before the Alpega name existed. Transport Execution connects directly to existing TMS, ERP and planning tools and is built to handle thousands of daily loads.
How it works
- Connect: Alpega TMS links to the shipper’s ERP, so orders flow in automatically.
- Tender: loads are assigned to contracted carriers by rules, or offered on the wider network.
- Schedule: carriers book dock slots, so plants can plan loading crews and avoid queues.
- Track: shipment status and arrival times appear on one screen, with alerts for delays.
- Document: with TransFollow’s eCMR, the waybill is issued, signed digitally and archived, and the driver can work through an app, WhatsApp or Telegram.
- Settle: digital proof of delivery triggers invoicing at once, and dashboards score carrier performance.
Timeline
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1985 | Teleroute freight exchange starts in France, via Minitel |
| 2010s | Wolters Kluwer Transport Services adds the Transwide Charger TMS |
| 30 Jun 2017 | Castik Capital takes over Wolters Kluwer Transport Services |
| 1 Oct 2017 | Group starts trading as Alpega |
| 26 Jan 2026 | Alpega Transport Execution relaunched |
| 30 Mar 2026 | Gartner names Alpega a Challenger for TMS |
| 26 May 2026 | TransFollow eCMR integrated into Alpega’s platform |
Impact and numbers
- Customer results: Carmeuse, a lime and limestone producer with 80 plants and 50 quarries, rolled out Alpega TMS in eight months at its headquarters and 14 initial sites, later expanding to more than 26 sites and 100 carriers. It reports a 10% increase in loading capacity with the same staff and equipment, 20% more on-time deliveries and 12% fewer freight claims. Customer service was centralised from 52 local representatives to 11 planners, and proof of delivery became available within 48 hours, which shortened debt collection and cut demurrage costs (Alpega).
- Scale: Alpega says its TMS is trusted by more than 100,000 users across 5,000 shipping locations, and Teleroute’s company page says more than 350,000 users log in to Alpega software every day (Teleroute).
- Market position: in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for TMS of 30 March 2026, Alpega was placed as a Challenger, with its core customer base in Europe and customers also in North America and Asia (Alpega).
- Paperless freight: Alpega says customers using the integrated eCMR see up to 50% lower administrative costs, and that digital adoption across the network contributes to saving more than 900,000 trees a year. The solution follows the UNECE eCMR Protocol and is prepared for EU eFTI rules (Alpega).
- Iberian reach: in its expansion, Alpega added Wtransnet, founded in 1996, the leading freight exchange in Spain and Portugal with more than 11,500 customers, financed partly by Ardian (Ardian).
Honest caveats. Alpega’s figures come from its own releases and case studies, and Carmeuse’s results describe one customer rather than the average. Gartner’s Challenger label means a strong offer but not one of the market leaders, and Gartner does not endorse vendors. The “900,000 trees” and “up to 50%” cost savings are company claims without published methods. Software that makes trucking cheaper does not by itself switch freight to rail or electric trucks, and Alpega does not publish emissions avoided through fewer empty runs. As a private equity-owned group built through acquisitions, its products carry several brand names, which can make it hard for buyers to see how they fit together. The European eFTI rules only fully apply from 2027.
What’s next
Alpega is pushing paperless road freight, with eCMR built into its TMS and Transport Execution platform, and is preparing customers for eFTI and for harmonised emissions reporting. Expect more integration between the TMS and the freight exchanges, so that a shipper can move from a contracted carrier to the spot market in one workflow.
Why it matters for Europe / green buyers
The EU’s electronic freight transport information (eFTI) Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 requires authorities to accept freight information shared electronically through certified platforms, instead of paper, once the rules fully apply (EUR-Lex). Together with the CountEmissionsEU rules that entered into force on 1 June 2026, aligned with ISO 14083, they push European shippers towards digital records of each transport (European Commission). A TMS that already handles digital waybills and transport data gives buyers a head start.
India is building the same digital rails. Its Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), launched with the National Logistics Policy on 17 September 2022, connects 30 systems from seven ministries through more than 100 APIs, so that companies can verify documents and see cargo movement (PIB). Paperless waybills and connected freight exchanges, of the kind Alpega runs in Europe, are what such platforms make possible.
Sources & image credits
- Teleroute, “Teleroute and Alpega Group” company page: https://www.teleroute.com/en-en/company/
- Ardian, “Ardian private debt provides additional financing for Alpega’s acquisition of Wtransnet”: https://www.ardian.com/news-insights/press-releases/ardian-private-debt-provides-additional-financing-alpegas-acquisition
- Alpega, “How Carmeuse improved efficiency and CX with Alpega TMS” (21 Nov 2025): https://www.alpegagroup.com/en-en/community/blog/how-carmeuse-improved-efficiency-cx-with-alpega-tms/
- Alpega, “2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems (TMS)” (report dated 30 Mar 2026): https://www.alpegagroup.com/en-en/community/library/2026-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-transportation-management-systems-tms/
- Alpega, “Alpega Group launches Alpega Transport Execution with expanded carrier network and transparent pricing” (26 Jan 2026): https://www.alpegagroup.com/en-en/company/press/alpega-group-launches-alpega-transport-execution-with-expanded-carrier-network-and-transparent-pricing/
- Alpega, “Alpega partners with TransFollow to digitize road transport via integrated eCMR solution” (26 May 2026): https://www.alpegagroup.com/en-en/company/press/alpega-partners-with-transfollow-to-digitize-road-transport-via-integrated-ecmr-solution/
- EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2020/1056 on electronic freight transport information: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2020/1056/oj/eng
- European Commission, DG MOVE, “New EU rules harmonising transport emissions calculations take effect” (1 Jun 2026): https://transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/new-eu-rules-harmonising-transport-emissions-calculations-take-effect-2026-06-01_en
- Press Information Bureau, Government of India, “Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) receives tremendous response as 13 organisations sign NDA” (2022): https://www.pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1864095
Images:
- “LKW Stau (Traffic jam of trucks)” by James Allan on geo.hlipp.de, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0), via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LKW_Stau_(Traffic_jam_of_trucks)_-_geo.hlipp.de_-_37174.jpg
_-_geo.hlipp.de_-_37174.jpg){kind=link}