FreightPlan: guides, playbooks and tools.

By the Autowhat AI logistics team · Updated 7 Oct 2026

• Guides

• Freight Budget Planning for Plant-to-Depot NetworksA freight budget built from demand by depot, plant output, lanes, rate cards, fleet and carrier policies can be checked at month-end. Clean the inputs, price every option with one landed-cost formula, pick the cheapest feasible plan for the whole network in whole trucks, publish it per lane and price actuals with the same formula.
• Freight Variance Analysis: Volume vs Rate, ExplainedFreight variance analysis splits actual minus planned freight cost into volume variance, (actual − plan tonnes) × plan cost per tonne, and rate variance, (actual − plan cost per tonne) × actual tonnes, which add up exactly. The rate variance is then broken into causes such as empty truck space, rate card, unplanned trips, detention and service, each with an owner.
• Freight Network Optimisation: Plant, Carrier, TruckFreight network optimisation chooses the plant, carrier and truck type for every depot together, minimising total landed cost while respecting demand, plant output, fleet truck-days, carrier-share caps, contracted commitments and whole trucks. Unserved demand is penalised and reported, so you always get a plan and see the exact shortfall.

• Free calculators

• Freight Volume and Rate Variance CalculatorVolume variance = (actual − planned tonnes) × planned cost per tonne. Rate variance = (actual − planned cost per tonne) × actual tonnes. Together they equal actual minus planned freight cost. This free calculator shows the total gap, both variances and cost per tonne, plan against actual.

• Playbooks

• Monthly Freight Overrun Review: A Five-Cause PlaybookA monthly freight overrun review works when actuals are priced with the plan’s formula, the gap is split exactly into volume and rate, and the rate gap into five causes: empty truck space, rate card, unplanned trips, detention and service. Each cause gets an owner and a Monday action, findings are ranked by rupees and next month is re-planned on fresh data.

• Comparisons

• Lane-by-Lane vs Network Freight PlanningLane-by-lane planning serves each depot from its usual plant at the cheapest quote; network planning chooses plant, carrier and truck for all depots together within output, fleet and policy limits. Lane-by-lane suits one plant and few depots; network planning pays off with several plants, carriers and truck types whose limits interact.

The product behind these guides. FreightPlan — Budget freight, explain the gap. Book a 30-minute working session.

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