30% of European trucks drive empty. Three platforms promised to fix it. None did.
That number has barely moved in a decade. Not because nobody tried — but because the solutions keep solving the wrong problem.
For a carrier running Košice to Munich, 30% empty means one in three return trips earns nothing. For a sender shipping 4 pallets to Salzburg, it means overpaying a forwarder to find a truck that's already driving past.
Between them, Sennder, Trans.eu, and Timocom have raised hundreds of millions, signed tens of thousands of carriers, and digitized European freight.
Yet the empty-truck problem persists. Because every platform so far has started from the same assumption: someone — or something — has to sit between the carrier and the load, before the truck leaves.
Nobody asked what happens after.
Three models, one old assumption
Sennder replaced the broker's Rolodex with software. They sit between shipper and carrier, handle everything, and take 10-15%. It's a digital forwarder — faster, slicker, still a middleman. The carrier never sets the price. The margin just moved from the broker's pocket to Sennder's P&L.
Trans.eu put the load board online. Seven million freight offers per month, 120,000 daily users, mostly in Central and Eastern Europe. It works — if you have a dispatcher who can spend four hours a day browsing, calling, and negotiating. The tool is digital. The workflow is still manual.
Timocom did the same for DACH markets. Fifty thousand verified companies, rock-solid reputation in Germany and Austria, €150/month subscription. It's the industry standard — and it hasn't fundamentally changed since it launched. Search, call, negotiate, repeat.
Each model digitized one piece of the old freight chain. None questioned the chain itself.
The economics, made visible
Talk is cheap. Let's look at a real number.
A sender needs to move a standard load worth €1,000 on the open market. Same origin, same destination, same cargo. Three different platforms. Three very different outcomes for the carrier who actually drives the truck.
| Model | Carrier earns | Sender pays | Middleman takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional spedition | €800 | €1,000 | €200 (20%) |
| Sennder | €850 | €1,000 | €150 (15%) |
| Trans.eu / Timocom | ~€880 (negotiated) | ~€880 + subscription | €129-150/mo fixed |
| Cargoqon | €920 | €975 | €55 (6%) |
With Sennder, the carrier earns more than with a traditional broker — but the sender still pays full price. The middleman's share just got a bit smaller.
With the freight boards, carriers negotiate directly — but they pay a subscription whether they book 50 loads or zero. And someone still has to do the manual work.
With Cargoqon, both sides win. The carrier earns €920 instead of €800-850. The sender pays €975 instead of €1,000. The platform takes a transparent 6% (3% for founding members) — and carriers pay an affordable annual membership (€1,190/year, founding members €580/year — lifetime rate).
Over 200 loads per year, that's €14,000 more in the carrier's pocket versus Sennder. Not a rounding error. That's a truck payment.
The difference between optimizing the middleman and removing the middleman isn't philosophical. It's €70 more per load for carriers, compounding every single day.
The feature nobody else built
Every platform can match a load to a truck before it leaves the depot. That's table stakes. It's been table stakes for a decade.
The harder problem — the one worth solving — is what happens after departure. On every other platform: nothing. Empty space stays empty until the next scheduled load.
A carrier is driving Košice to Munich with 6 pallets free. A sender in Trnava posts 4 pallets to Salzburg. Cargoqon's algorithm calculates: +22 minutes detour, +€180 net profit, cargo physically fits. The carrier gets a push notification with the full breakdown. One tap to accept. The route updates automatically.
No phone calls. No dispatcher. No negotiation. No separate routing tool. Just a carrier who was going to drive past Trnava anyway, now earning an extra €180 for 22 minutes of detour.
This is mid-route matching. And it only works when three things happen simultaneously: real-time GPS tracking of available capacity, instant 3D bin-packing to verify physical fit, and automated detour calculation with net profit estimation.
A freight board can't do this — it requires a human to search. A digital forwarder can't do this — it requires pre-negotiated rates before dispatch. Only an algorithm watching live truck positions and open loads in real time can turn empty pallets into revenue while the wheels are still turning.
That carrier running Košice to Munich three times a week, picking up mid-route loads at €150-200 per trip? That's €23,000-31,000 per year in revenue from space that was generating zero.
For senders, it's equally transformative. Read more about what freight forwarding actually costs you and why the traditional model overcharges for underperformance.
Full comparison
The reference table. Every row matters — this is what you're actually choosing between.
| Feature | Cargoqon | Sennder | Trans.eu | Timocom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business model | Pure marketplace | Digital forwarder | Freight board | Freight board |
| Cost to carrier | €1,190/year membership (founding: €580/year — lifetime rate) | Rate set by Sennder | €129-149/mo | ~€150/mo |
| Cost to sender | 6% transaction fee (3% for founding members) | Built into rate | €129-149/mo | ~€150/mo |
| Matching method | Algorithmic, automatic | Algorithmic (internal) | Manual (dispatcher browses) | Manual (dispatcher browses) |
| LTL / partial loads | Core feature | Secondary | Some filters | Limited |
| Mid-route matching | Real-time | No | No | No |
| Carrier sets price | Yes | No | Yes (via negotiation) | Yes (via negotiation) |
| Detour calculation | Automatic (km, time, cost) | N/A | None | None |
| Physical fit check | 3D loading algorithm | No | No | No |
| One-tap accept | Yes | N/A | No | No |
| Dispatcher required | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Small carriers (1-5 trucks) | Yes, no minimums | Minimum requirements | Yes | Yes |
| Geographic strength | CEE, expanding EU-wide | Pan-European | CEE (Poland focus) | DACH (Germany focus) |
| Innovation pace | Algorithm-first, rapid | VC-funded, fast | Steady | Conservative |
The differences aren't cosmetic. They reflect fundamentally different ideas about how freight should work — and who should capture the value.
Who fits where
Honest assessments. No platform is right for everyone.
Sennder fits if you're an enterprise shipper managing thousands of FTL shipments per month who wants a single provider to handle everything — carrier vetting, rate negotiation, claims, compliance. You'll pay more per load, but you won't touch logistics operations. Sennder is a better broker, not a marketplace.
Trans.eu fits if you have a dedicated dispatcher who knows the CEE market inside out. The network is massive — 120,000 daily users, 7 million monthly offers. If your dispatcher thrives on manual browsing and has trusted relationships on the platform, Trans.eu gives them the tools they need. The cost is the dispatcher's time and a €129-149/month subscription.
Timocom fits if you operate primarily in DACH markets and value stability above all else. Twenty-five years of trust, thorough verification, integrated transport orders. It's the industry standard in Germany and Austria — and for pure DACH domestic lanes, it's hard to beat on network density.
Cargoqon fits if you want to earn more per kilometer as a carrier, or pay less as a sender — without a middleman deciding your rates. Especially if you run partial loads, cross-border routes, or regional lanes in CEE. And critically — if you want to fill empty space on trucks that are already moving, not just before they leave.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best freight platform in Europe?
It depends on your role and region. Sennder suits enterprise shippers who want managed logistics. Trans.eu is strongest for CEE carriers with dedicated dispatchers. Timocom dominates DACH markets. Cargoqon is built for carriers and senders who want algorithmic matching, mid-route load filling, and transparent pricing without a middleman.
How much do freight platforms charge carriers?
Sennder takes 10-15% of every shipment as a digital forwarder margin. Trans.eu charges €129-149/month subscription. Timocom costs roughly €150/month. Cargoqon carriers pay an annual membership of €1,190/year (founding members €580/year — lifetime rate), and senders pay a 6% transaction fee (3% for founding members).
What is mid-route freight matching?
Mid-route matching is when an algorithm finds loads for trucks that are already on the road, filling empty capacity in real time. For example, a truck heading from Košice to Munich with 6 free pallets gets matched with a 4-pallet shipment nearby — with automatic detour calculation and one-tap accept. Currently, only Cargoqon offers this feature.
Can small carriers use these freight platforms?
Trans.eu and Timocom welcome carriers of any size but require manual effort and subscription fees. Sennder tends to work with mid-to-large fleets. Cargoqon has no minimum fleet size — even a single-truck operator can receive algorithmic load matches. Carriers pay an annual membership (€1,190/year, founding members €580/year — lifetime rate), which is less than Timocom or Trans.eu subscriptions.