Logistics software for warehouse, freight and 3PL visibility
In logistics the customer is usually another business with its own systems, its own deadlines and its own auditors. Visibility is not a feature you add later, it is most of the product.
What does High10 build for logistics?
Logistics software development is the building and integration of warehouse, freight and third party logistics systems, including WMS connections, freight rating, client portals and track and trace. In Australia it must account for Border Force clearance, biosecurity conditions and the Australian Dangerous Goods Code. It suits 3PLs and importers whose clients still email to ask where their stock is.
Get a fixed written quote- Typical timeline
- 8 to 18 weeks
- What drives cost
- The number of client and carrier integrations and the patterns they use, whether freight rating and activity billing are in scope.
- Best for
- Third party logistics providers, freight forwarders, importers, distributors and warehouse operators
- You own
- The application, the movement history, the client data and the hosting
- Built with
- WMS and carrier integrations, EDI and API handling, rating engines, client portals
Your handover
What is actually broken in most logistics operations
The visible symptom is email. Clients email to ask about stock on hand, to send an order file in whatever format their system produced, to chase a shipment and to query an invoice. Each one is answered by a person copying data out of a warehouse system, a carrier website and a spreadsheet. A busy 3PL can spend a full time role on questions that a portal answers instantly, and the client still feels underserved because they are waiting hours for something their own system should show them.
- 013PL client portal with live stock, orders, tracking and billing detail
- 02Warehouse management system integration with reconciliation reporting
- 03Freight rating engine with carrier tables, levies and accessorials
- 04Carrier allocation rules including dangerous goods eligibility
- 05Track and trace with consignment level status and event history
- 06Supplier dock booking and advance shipping notice lodgement
- Activity based billing for storage, handling and special services
- Dangerous goods, batch and expiry data held against the SKU
- EDI, API and file based integration handling with error queues
Underneath that, the data problems are structural
Underneath that, the data problems are structural. Goods arrive without an advance shipping notice, so receiving is a discovery process. SKU codes differ between the client's system, your warehouse system and the carrier's label, so reconciliation is manual. Freight is rated from a spreadsheet of carrier tables that is out of date, with fuel levies applied approximately, which means margin per consignment is unknown until the carrier invoice arrives and someone audits it, which usually nobody does. Storage and handling billing is assembled at month end from movements nobody captured properly, so revenue leaks quietly and predictably.
Carrier allocation rules that choose on service level and cost rather than on habit.
Customs, biosecurity and dangerous goods shape the system
Imported goods clear through the Australian Border Force via the Integrated Cargo System, with import declarations lodged by a licensed customs broker or by the importer, duty and GST calculated against tariff classification, and deferred GST arrangements where the importer is eligible. Biosecurity conditions administered by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry sit alongside, including seasonal measures such as the brown marmorated stink bug window that affects goods shipped from target countries during the northern hemisphere autumn and winter. Sites handling goods under biosecurity control operate under approved arrangements with their own record keeping. A system that cannot hold a shipment in a pending clearance state, with the documents attached and the expected release date visible to the client, forces every one of those exceptions back onto the phone.
Dangerous goods are the other regime that changes a build
Dangerous goods are the other regime that changes a build. Road transport of dangerous goods follows the Australian Dangerous Goods Code, with classification, packaging, marking, placarding and segregation requirements, and safety data sheets that have to be current and available. Warehouse storage of dangerous goods is licensed at state level through the relevant work health and safety regulator, with quantity thresholds, manifests and emergency information. If your system allows an operator to pick two incompatible classes onto the same pallet, or to select a carrier who is not authorised for that class, the system is now part of the incident. We encode segregation and carrier eligibility as hard rules rather than as training material.
- Shipment states that include under customs and biosecurity hold with documents attached
- Dangerous goods classification held against the SKU, not remembered by the operator
- Segregation rules enforced at putaway and pick, not checked afterwards
- Carrier eligibility by dangerous goods class enforced during allocation
- Safety data sheet currency tracked with expiry alerts
- GS1 compliant labelling with SSCC and advance shipping notices where clients support them
How the engagement runs
How a logistics project usually runs
We start on the floor. An hour at receiving, an hour at dispatch and an hour with whoever assembles the monthly client invoices will surface the real requirements faster than a specification workshop, because the whiteboards and clipboards in a warehouse are a precise map of what the software failed to do.
- 01Stage 1Walk receiving, putaway, pick, pack and dispatch, recording every paper document and manual keystroke
- 02Audit one client's monthEvery enquiry, every exception and every line of their invoice
- 03Stage 3Map integrations per client and per carrier, confirming the pattern available for each
- 04Stage 4Confirm dangerous goods, biosecurity and customs states the system must represent
- 05Stage 5Build the client portal and track and trace, then measure the change in inbound enquiries
- 06Stage 6Build the rating engine and activity billing, then reconcile against a real carrier invoice period
- 07Stage 7Onboard clients in waves, with a parallel run before switching off the old reporting
Two decisions on your side that keep the project moving
We then stage the build so each release stands alone. Client portals and track and trace usually go first because they cut inbound enquiries immediately, and rating and billing follow because that is where the recovered margin is.
Choose the right level
How systems in a logistics chain actually connect
Every logistics project involves connecting to systems you do not control, and the integration pattern available to you is not a preference. It is whatever your client, your carrier or your warehouse vendor supports, and it is frequently several patterns at once.
Connection pattern
01
Modern documented API
Where you meet it
Newer carriers, commerce platforms and cloud warehouse systems
What we do with it
Direct integration with retries, idempotency and an error queue a human watches
02
EDI messaging
Where you meet it
Large retail customers and established freight networks
What we do with it
Map to and from your internal model, with acknowledgements and a message archive
03
Scheduled file transfer
Where you meet it
Legacy warehouse and finance systems, and many importer clients
What we do with it
Validated import with rejection reporting rather than silent partial loads
04
Manual entry or email
Where you meet it
Smaller clients and one-off consignments
What we do with it
Give them a portal, and keep a supervised entry path for the exceptions
How we work this out during scoping
We map this before design, because the pattern determines what you can promise. The table below is the assessment we run, and most operators find they sit in three of the four rows simultaneously.
What we build for 3PLs, forwarders and distributors
Client portals are usually first, because they remove the most cost fastest. A portal where a client sees live stock on hand by SKU and batch, submits orders, tracks consignments to a carrier level status, downloads proof of delivery and reviews their own billing detail turns your service from a phone relationship into a system relationship. It also becomes a retention tool, because a client integrated into your portal does not move for a small rate difference.
Behind it we build the parts that protect margin
Behind it we build the parts that protect margin. A rating engine that holds real carrier tables, fuel levies, zone logic, dimensional weight and accessorials, so you know the cost and the sell price at the point of allocation instead of at invoice audit. Carrier allocation rules that choose on service level and cost rather than on habit. Billing that captures storage, handling, pick and pack, and special services as they happen. Around your warehouse system this is integration work with inventory tooling, client portals and supplier portals where inbound suppliers need to book dock slots and lodge advance notices themselves.
When you should not build this
If you run a single warehouse with a modest client base, replacing or wrapping your warehouse management system is not the priority. Established Australian 3PL platforms already provide portals, rating and billing, and implementing one properly beats building your own. We will say so and offer to help with the implementation and the integrations instead of quoting a platform.
The rest of the answer
Custom earns its place when your service model is genuinely unusual, when your clients demand an experience no product provides, or when you are already running several systems and the glue between them has become the product. We do not write customs declarations software, act as a customs broker or take responsibility for tariff classification, and we do not certify dangerous goods handling. Those belong to licensed specialists. Road transport operators focused on dispatch and driver compliance should read our transport page, and retailers whose real problem is stock accuracy across channels should start with our retail page.
Everything included
The handover checklist
The practical artefacts your team or your development partner receives when this phase is complete.
- 3PL client portal with live stock, orders, tracking and billing detail
- Warehouse management system integration with reconciliation reporting
- Freight rating engine with carrier tables, levies and accessorials
- Carrier allocation rules including dangerous goods eligibility
- Track and trace with consignment level status and event history
- Supplier dock booking and advance shipping notice lodgement
- Activity based billing for storage, handling and special services
- Dangerous goods, batch and expiry data held against the SKU
- EDI, API and file based integration handling with error queues
Not sure which level you need?
A 45 minute call, no cost, no obligation. You leave with a scope, an honest timeline and a fixed written quote.
Questions buyers usually ask
Frequently asked questions
How long does a logistics platform take to build?
Usually 8 to 18 weeks for a first release, then staged additions. A client portal over an existing warehouse system with one carrier integration is at the shorter end. A rating engine, activity billing, multiple carriers and several client integration patterns take the longer end. Integration discovery, not development, is what most often moves the date.
What drives the cost of logistics software?
The number of client and carrier integrations and the patterns they use, whether freight rating and activity billing are in scope, how clean your product and location data is, and whether dangerous goods or biosecurity states must be represented. We scope those in discovery and send a fixed written quote per stage so you can sequence by return.
Can you work with our existing warehouse management system?
In most cases yes, and that is usually the right approach. We integrate rather than replace, because a WMS carries years of operational knowledge in its configuration. If there is a documented interface, that is what we build against. Where only file exports are available we build validated imports with rejection reporting, and we tell you plainly which situation you are in within the first fortnight.
How does a client portal actually reduce our workload?
It moves the questions your team answers by hand into a place clients can serve themselves: stock on hand, order status, consignment tracking, proof of delivery and billing detail. Most operators measure the change in inbound enquiries within a month. It also improves retention, because a client whose systems are connected to your portal faces real switching costs.
Who owns the data and the code?
You do. The application, the movement history, the client records and the hosting accounts are registered to your business with your ABN. You own the account and we hold access only for as long as you want us to. Movement and delivery history in particular need to remain available for years, so we design the export path at the start rather than at the end of a relationship.
Can it handle dangerous goods and temperature controlled stock?
Yes, and these should be system rules rather than operator knowledge. Dangerous goods classification, segregation rules and carrier eligibility are held against the SKU and enforced at putaway, pick and allocation. Temperature ranges, batch numbers and expiry dates are tracked with alerts. We build the rules with your compliance manager, who retains responsibility for the classifications themselves.
Related services
Get a fixed written quote for your logistics project
Tell us how many clients you serve, which warehouse system you run and what your team spends the most time answering. We reply within one business day.