The big freight exchanges are built for pallets, part loads, and full truckloads – not for vans. If you run vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, you'll mostly find freight there that doesn't fit your vehicle, while the license fee is due every month regardless. Whether an exchange pays off for your fleet comes down to four criteria: load profile, cost model, payment terms, and dispatch. This guide sorts the platform types and shows which combination works for small fleets.
The Four Platform Types at a Glance
| Type | Typical freight | Cost model | For fleets up to 3.5 t |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic freight exchange (e.g. Timocom, Trans.eu, Teleroute) | Pallets, part/full loads, Europe-wide | License/subscription – due regardless of won jobs | Limited: load profile usually too big |
| Consumer marketplaces (auction principle) | Furniture, moves, bulky single items | Commission or fee per job | Fitting load profile, but price pressure from underbidding |
| Maxmove platform orders (NRW) | Same-day, direct drives, courier and small transports | 10–18% commission per completed job, no subscription, no exchange license | Core audience: cars up to 3.5-t box vans |
| Direct customers & tenders | Framework contracts, fixed routes | Sales effort instead of fees | Predictable, but slow to build |
Criterion 1: Does the Freight Fit the Vehicle?
Classic exchanges are dominated by palletized shipments and full loads for trucks from 7.5 tonnes upward – the share that fits a Sprinter is small and taken quickly. The loads that matter for van fleets are different: urgent single shipments, spare parts, furniture and appliances, same-day deliveries. Those originate less on European exchanges and more regionally – with retailers, workshops, labs, and online shops. Know your vehicle profile and filter platforms by it first, not by the size of the provider's name.
Criterion 2: License or Pay-Per-Job?
With a subscription model you pay every month, even if only a single fitting load came up. A three-vehicle fleet that only opens the exchange to fill utilization gaps ends up paying the license for very few jobs. Do the honest math: annual license cost divided by exchange jobs actually driven equals your true placement fee per job. Maxmove works the other way round: no job, no cost – commission is only charged on completed jobs, and you see the earnings before you accept.
Criterion 3: When Does the Money Arrive?
In the forwarding chain, payment terms of 30 to 60 days are standard – and subcontractors at the end of the chain wait longest. For small fleets that's a liquidity issue: diesel, wages, and leasing run weekly while the job revenue arrives two months later. Before signing up, check who does the invoicing (platform or client), which payment terms apply, and whether there's protection against defaults. A platform that handles settlement and pays out reliably is often worth more to your cash position than a few percent more freight rate on paper.
Criterion 4: What Happens After Acceptance?
An exchange ends with the award – then the phone calls begin: where is the driver, when does the load arrive, where is the delivery receipt? If you manage brokered and own orders separately, that's exactly where the margin leaks away again. Check whether the platform includes dispatching, live tracking, and digital proof of delivery, or whether you transfer every job into your workflows manually. Placement without execution is only half the way – with Maxmove, accepted jobs land directly in the TMS next to your own orders.
How Small Fleets Combine the Channels
In practice, hardly any operation runs on a single source. The proven pattern: regular customers as the base load, plannable through fixed routes; Maxmove platform orders for utilization in gaps and on return legs, with earnings shown before you accept and no bidding. You dispatch both sources on the same board in the Maxmove TMS. No exchange license is needed for this: platform orders come without a subscription, and the 10–18% commission only applies to completed jobs. How to build regular customers systematically is covered in more orders for your courier business.
Jobs Without an Exchange License: Maxmove for Fleets up to 3.5 t
Maxmove gives van fleets matching jobs without an exchange license: courier, same-day, and direct-drive jobs from Maxmove customers in North Rhine-Westphalia, matched to cars up to the 3.5-t box van. You see route and earnings before accepting, with no bidding and no subscription; Maxmove charges a 10–18% commission per completed job and handles settlement. Accepted and own orders are dispatched in the same system, with driver app, live tracking, and digital proof of delivery. Your own customers book through your booking page with live prices, and invoices go out as XRechnung or ZUGFeRD. Details for transport companies: platform orders at Maxmove and the Maxmove TMS for your own fleet.
