Fleet tech consolidation: Trimble's T&L unit may be next

Canadian LTL carrier and Trimble customer Polaris Transport recently received an end-of-life notice for D²Link, the driver app that thousands of TruckMate transportation management system (TMS) users utilize for mobile dispatch messaging, route tracking and document capture on the road.

Development of the app has already stopped, meaning no new updates and no new patches, said Dave Brajkovich, chief technology officer at Polaris and CEO of Northstar Digital Solutions (NDS), Polaris Transportation Group’s in-house technology and software development division.

That means carriers running TruckMate with D²Link have a migration ahead of them, and with the recent rumor churning that Trimble has engaged Goldman Sachs to sell its transportation and logistics (T&L) unit, Brajkovich said many customers are questioning whether they should look at another TMS altogether.

From a customer perspective, he said Trimble’s support for TruckMate has been lackluster as the company has poured more focus into its TMW.Suite, which is heavily focused on truckload rather than LTL.

“I can see why they're probably looking to release that arm of their supply chain side,” he said. “Because they're a public company, they focus more on shareholders than they do their actual customers, and I'm one of them. We also provide services now through our Northstar Digital Solutions, and we're seeing more and more carriers coming to us as a third-party provider because we get things done pretty quick without having to go through all of the support steps.”

Why it makes sense

Beau McGinnis, vice president and acquisitions advisor for The Tenney Group, said T&L was once a narrow term: TMS, some dispatch solutions and ELDs. He said the fleet tech world has grown significantly busier in recent years with the implementation of cameras, AI and autonomous solutions.

Trimble has been one of the main players in TMS and freight tech solutions, but it has grown and evolved to a point where its T&L division accounts for only about 20% of its annual recurring revenue, making it one of its slowest-growing and lower-margin business units. McGinnis said Trimble’s financial and operational roadmap is the 3-4-30 framework, meaning the company is targeting $3 billion in annualized recurring revenue, $4 billion in total sales and a 30% EBITDA margin for fiscal year 2027.

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“I think that’s specifically why it potentially makes sense for them [to sell the T&L unit],” he said, adding that Trimble has become a large company with many business units that external shareholders could view less favorably “because there's a lot going on, a lot to manage, and the identity is not always clear.”

Trimble previously told CCJ that it does not comment on market rumors or speculation.

Following the divestiture of its telematics unit to Platform Science last year, McGinnis said it makes sense for Trimble to evaluate the T&L unit for its potential long-term success.

“It’s not so much ‘is T&L working or not working;’ it's where do I see the opportunities from the other business units, and I think that specifically their AECO division (architecture, engineering, construction and owners division) has continued to grow,” he said. “It's definitely got the momentum behind it, whereas T&L may not be the same case.”

McGinnis said any smart company is always evaluating whether its core units make sense long term. Hundreds of these conversations happen on any given day, he said, adding that this one just slipped through the cracks from a confidentiality standpoint.

Trimble has not confirmed its efforts to sell the unit, but Brajkovich said when rumors like that start at a high level, there is usually some inkling of truth.

The SaaSpocalypse and M&A trends

McGinnis said he thinks this would be a portfolio strategy for Trimble, not an industry retreat. The fleet technology space, he noted, is healthier now than it has been over the past few years, arguing that it remains very attractive.

“I think it's a structurally sound software category with real upside, especially with AI integrations,” he said.

Christopher Sommer, co-owner of software provider TwoSommers, said he thinks those AI integrations are partly the reason Trimble would consider selling its T&L business.

“To be completely honest, based on the product that we built [BulkOffice TMS], the customers we serve and other owners we talk to already running on Trimble, we sort of saw this coming at some point,” Sommer said. “The incumbents like Trimble are slow to adapt because they are hamstrung by their existing customer base that is still reliant on the old technology, hampering their ability to keep pace with new entrants using AI tools to build new applications at a rapid pace.”

Sommer said features that previously took vendors years to build can now be cloned in a couple of months using AI, which also means costly upgrades and customizations make less sense to carriers. He said this has collapsed the cost of building software, meaning platforms like Trimble can no longer defend enterprise pricing.

[RELATED: Trimble's AI-driven push to transform transportation operations]

He said it’s what investors call the "SaaSpocalypse"—the narrative that generative AI agents and autonomous software generation threaten traditional SaaS business models.

“Unfortunately, Trimble’s TMW and McLeod may be sinking ships,” Sommer said. “It looks very similar to what happened to PeopleNet and Omnitracs when new entrants like Samsara and Motive entered the market.”

He added that if Trimble sells its T&L unit, it is likely trying to capitalize on the existing value of its customer base before it erodes over the next couple of years. Whoever buys it stands to gain a customer base that comes with recurring revenue from licensing fees and support contracts.

McGinnis agreed that it could be harder for Trimble to adapt around AI because it’s building on top of a legacy system, but he doesn’t see new AI solutions replacing it from a SaaS standpoint.

“They got to where they are because of a lot of smart people, a lot of good resources and a need in the marketplace, and I just find it very hard to believe that these companies will simply sit on the sidelines and not incorporate these solutions into their everyday products,” McGinnis said.

Heading it off at the pass

Polaris shifted to Samsara for telematics when Trimble sold its telematics unit to Platform Science because development became too slow, Brajkovich said. He noted that the carrier could do the same for its TMS if Trimble sells the T&L unit and the transition proves heavy, something fails, or he isn’t happy with the support services.

“What happens if they're doing a transition, moving onto a new cloud service rather than keeping the old one, and they take you down for a day, two days, three days, whatever? That's going to hurt your business,” he said.

Trimble has been pushing for customers to move to the cloud with “no real improvements to the application”—including AI solutions—to justify the expense, Brajkovich said. He added that it was going to cost Polaris three times what it currently costs the carrier to host its servers at a colocation provider while also stripping it of its controls.

[RELATED: TMS makes acquisition to accelerate AI growth]

Brajkovich said many customers shift to a SaaS cloud model, which handles all hardware and network connectivity, so they can reduce internal staff and avoid the high costs of upgrading servers every three years.

While removing that headache is convenient, doing so comes with restrictions and limitations. It means the carrier only owns its data and becomes reliant on the service provider.

“When you have control of your network and your hardware, you can switch things as quickly as you can manifest it, whereas [on the cloud] you have to wait for the vendor,” Brajkovich said. “It could be a week, could be a day, and that hurts your business.”

He said it’s best for the core application—orders, revenue, dispatch, tracking, clients, or what he calls the heart and soul of a company—to remain on-premises. From there, companies can purchase cloud-provisioned enhancements like AI applications.

“So you're hedging this and heading it off at the pass,” Brajkovich said. “If they do sell, and I'm not happy with the ownership, I still have my on-prem, which I own, and I could be safe for the next three to five years until I think about what I'm going to transition to.”

A solution to the problem

Because Polaris’ core operations are on-premises, the carrier has full access to the backend database, giving it the flexibility to make changes or updates without needing Trimble's support or incurring heavy expenses. It accomplishes this via its NDS software development arm, which can support other carriers as well.

Brajkovich said several carriers have reached out to NDS for support because Trimble has been slow to deliver customizations. He added that he has also heard concerns from carriers about Trimble retiring D²Link and the potential sale of its T&L business.

NDS’s advanced mobile application integrates with TruckMate via API. It can also integrate with other TMS platforms that offer API capabilities and backend database access. However, NDS has superior knowledge of TruckMate, Brajkovich said, noting that Polaris replaced the batch-oriented legacy D²Link system with its own NDS application three years ago because D²Link was too slow.

“My thought is, how many people are aware of what this is going to take to migrate off of D²Link, and what is the impact on their fleet?” he said. “We can continue working without too much risk while we evaluate maybe a switch or maybe not. Maybe we just customize some more stuff and keep the wheels turning.”

Concerns to consider

Brajkovich outlined his top concerns as CTO of Polaris:

• Trimble’s adviser: Goldman Sachs is the financial adviser in Trimble’s rumored T&L unit sale. "What do they know about supply chain?" he asked, noting he would prefer an adviser heavily involved in the supply chain industry who understands the transportation market.
• The eventual buyer: What expertise do they have? Will the new owner retain in-house experts, assuming Trimble employees transition—which isn’t always guaranteed? “A lot of customers get left in the dust because now their support, their custom projects—all of those things get put on hold or get reevaluated,” Brajkovich said.
• Expense: Will the new owners raise prices?

An active acquisition strategy

In addition to Trimble’s sale of its telematics unit to Platform Science, Vontier recently divested its telematics business, Teletrac Navman, which now operates as a standalone company.

Todd Morris, CEO of BrickHouse GPS, said this reflects a broader trend of large conglomerates rationalizing their portfolios and exiting businesses that are not core to their primary strategies.

“Consolidation makes sense in this market because many customers are underserved by platforms that are either too large and complex or too small to invest in product development,” Morris said. "We expect continued M&A activity as the market matures, and BrickHouse GPS intends to be an active acquirer.”

BrickHouse recently completed a recapitalization with Grady Bay Capital and shed its other lines of business—home alarms, security cameras and other product categories—to focus on GPS tracking, fleet telematics, asset tracking and connected-vehicle software.

However, Trimble’s T&L unit may not fit what the company is seeking.

“The fleet telematics and connected-vehicle software market is large, fragmented and still maturing,” Morris said. “There are many well-run companies with strong customer relationships and recurring revenue that have not yet reached the scale to compete against the largest platforms. BrickHouse GPS is well-positioned to be a home for those businesses.”