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SONAR Reviews & Product Details

Pete M.
PM
General Manager
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

Easy to use and the data they provided is relevant to my needs. Great customer service Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

I wish they had the capability of multiple stop rates, and Canada. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Providing me with the necessary information to make my job easier. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

SONAR Overview

What is SONAR?

SONAR is the world’s leading freight forecasting platform, trusted by industry leaders to deliver unparalleled insights into the global freight economy. As one of the only solutions providing a complete and reliable view of every mode—trucking, rail, ocean, and air—SONAR empowers you to make smarter, faster decisions. With 93% of its data exclusive, SONAR goes beyond standard market tools, offering real-time intelligence derived from millions of freight tenders, ELDs, fuel transactions, shipping bills, and more. Gain access to the most comprehensive dataset available, allowing you to track rates, demand, capacity, weather, seasonality, and countless other market drivers. Whether you’re a broker, carrier, shipper, or supply chain professional, SONAR transforms complex data into actionable insights, helping you benchmark performance, manage risk, and outpace the competition. Stay ahead with SONAR’s cutting-edge tools and confidently navigate the ever-changing freight landscape. SONAR isn’t just a platform—it’s your competitive edge in the freight and logistics industry. Experience the power of real-time analysis and unlock unprecedented visibility into your supply chain like never before.

SONAR Details
Product Website
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SONAR Community
Languages Supported
English
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Product Description

SONAR delivers data and analysis you can trust across the entire global freight market - in real time. SONAR allows carriers, brokers/3PLs, shippers, financial institutions, intermodal, air cargo, maritime, and final mile participants benchmark, analyze, monitor and forecast the global supply chain. They do so by accessing SONAR 93% exclusive data to help power better business decisions

How do you position yourself against your competitors?

SONAR isn’t just a platform—it’s your competitive edge in the freight and logistics industry. SONAR transforms complex data into actionable insights, helping you benchmark performance, manage risk, and outpace the competition. Experience the power of real-time analysis and unlock unprecedented visibility into your supply chain like never before.


Seller Details
Seller
SONAR
Company Website
Year Founded
2017
HQ Location
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Twitter
@SONAR_FW
3,580 Twitter followers
LinkedIn® Page
www.linkedin.com
44 employees on LinkedIn®
Description

FreightWaves is a leading provider of freight market intelligence and analytics, offering a comprehensive platform that delivers real-time data, insights, and tools for transportation and logistics professionals. Their flagship product, Sonar, empowers users with advanced forecasting capabilities and market visibility to make informed decisions in the supply chain. FreightWaves aims to enhance transparency and efficiency in the freight industry through innovative technology and data-driven solutions.


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Overview Provided by:

Recent SONAR Reviews

Verified User
U
Verified UserMid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
4.5 out of 5
"Market Insights at your fingertips"
The amount of data, the different types of data, and the quality of the data are unmatched in the marketplace.
Verified User
E
Verified UserMid-Market (51-1000 emp.)
3.5 out of 5
"Helpful platform with great industry insights, if you know how to use them."
Sonar provides insights that others in the marketplace either don’t have access to or don’t produce in a meaningful way. Their ability to pull data...
Gregory G.
GG
Gregory G.Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
5.0 out of 5
"Excellent Customer Service and great data for strategic business decisions."
The service that we receive is 10/10 good!
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SONAR Media

SONAR Demo - SONAR - Market Dashboard
A lane level management dashboard that shows the current spot rate (van, reefer, and flatbed) and contract rate with high and low values in a lane along with a historic chart view and multiple other market analytic data points such as origin and destination capacity conditions. The spot rate is ...
SONAR Demo - SONAR - US Summary Chart
SONAR provides different visuals to view our data. This chart displays our Outbound Tender Volume data sets, over the last few years. Our OTVI data set is all about the demand in the market. Our tendered data updates daily, and can help you be proactive in making the best decisions for your compa...
SONAR Demo - SONAR - Container Atlas
The Container Atlas dashboard allows users to get access to ocean market data collected from key industry providers. This data can help make more informed and profitable decisions while using granular carrier capacity and service metrics.
SONAR Demo - Supply Chain Intelligence (SCI)
SCI is our RFP tool that collects paid contract rates from freight shipper invoices, valued at $80 billion. This along with our TRAC spot rates and some of our scoring metrics in SCI helps provide insights into the contracted freight market.
SONAR Demo - Critical Events
SONAR's Critical Events (powered by WeatherOptics) is your trusted intelligence center during severe weather, natural disasters, fires or controlled power outages, allowing you to react smarter to events across the globe.
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114 out of 115 Total Reviews for SONAR

4.5 out of 5
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114 out of 115 Total Reviews for SONAR
4.5 out of 5
114 out of 115 Total Reviews for SONAR
4.5 out of 5

SONAR Pros and Cons

How are these determined?Information
Pros and Cons are compiled from review feedback and grouped into themes to provide an easy-to-understand summary of user reviews.
Pros
Cons

Overall Review Sentiment for SONARQuestion

Time to Implement
<1 day
>12 months
Return on Investment
<6 months
48+ months
Ease of Setup
0 (Difficult)
10 (Easy)
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G2 reviews are authentic and verified.
Sean C.
SC
Director of Business Development
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

Has provided an ability to keep our employees and customers updated on market conditions and pricing in real time like we were unable to do prior to having SONAR. The dashboard and layout of the tool is extremely easy to use, and the SONAR team is extremely responsive should you have questions and they also provide reference tools to help in your day-to-day work with their tool. I use this tool daily to check market conditions and weather. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

Reefer and Flatbed sometimes do not have enough data to pull to provide accurate rates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Allowing a new level of visibility to the market which allows us to better justify/ explain rates, capacity, and service to our customers and prospects. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Manufacturing
AM
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

The customer support we have recieved has been great making implmentating SONAR very easy and straightforward process.

Having daily spot rates for specific lanes has been very helpful for our team of shippers to ensure we getting rates matching markets conditions. Also being able to see trends in carriers and rejections rates has allowed are team to better prepared and be ahead of any potential shipping delays. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

Learning the acroynmns used for the different indcies and what each is measuring has been a bit of a learning curve, but the knowledge center is easy to use to find this information.

Datawise, do wish there was more details for shipping flatbeds similar to the extensive data avaialbe for van or reefer. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

SONAR is helping us know what average spot rates are for a particular lane so we be competivie when shipping. Overall this data has been very insightful into markets conditions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

BD
Director of Operations
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

The data and tools available to show you how the market is adjusting day to day. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

The RFP tool is a little messy and if you have input errors it can be quite difficult. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Sonar gives us a better understanding of markets which allows us to submit better pricing to our customers and negotiate pricing with carriers. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Henry B.
HB
Director of Pricing
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

SONAR enables us to keep track of the freight markets in real-time. Without it, I would be "behind the 8-ball" on market shifts and trends across the freight markets and unable to communicate effectively to our team about the current state of the market. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

It would be nice to have flatbed contract rate data and more complete lane-level flatbed data. Also, it would be easier to use market dashboard + if there were a feature to extract only the needed columns on the data download. It also only publishes data on market dashboard for the lanes that have the correct inputs, but it would be nice to have those same rows publish on the download, but only remain blank. So, if I enter 100 lanes, but 3 of them are not recognized, it will provide 97 lanes back, but I will have to search for the lanes that are missing to be able to copy and paste that data in my original formatted spreadsheet that is 100 lanes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

We are utilizing SONAR for market trends and analysis at a macro/micro level across the freight markets, but also use market dashboard and market dashboard + for real-time rate analysis and benchmarking. It is benefitting us tremendously by helping have another resource for real-time pricing analysis and benchmarking, and also by providing us with the insights that we need to be able to track even the smallest market shifts across the freight markets. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Transportation/Trucking/Railroad
ET
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

Sonar provides insights that others in the marketplace either don’t have access to or don’t produce in a meaningful way. Their ability to pull data and aggregate it quickly is something unique to their organization, allowing for quick and up to date market insight. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

It can be a difficult platform to understand and navigate. They have done work to simplify the platform and products, however it is still complecated to discet or understand certain points/data sets, especially for casual users. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Key insights into market conditions and changes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Logistics and Supply Chain
UL
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

The amount of data, the different types of data, and the quality of the data are unmatched in the marketplace. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

There is an initial learning curve, but the Onboarding team and the Customer Success team are excellent resources to get you up to speed quickly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

SONAR clearly informs the user of differences and changes within the US freight markets. It allows us to plan for pricing variances, both short term and long term, which feeds into our overall transportation strategy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Logistics and Supply Chain
EL
Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

I like the ability to review what the market is doing in realtime. This keep our team ahead of market fluctuations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

On the market dashboard, I wish the system was more intuitive when entering cities or zip codes. This is slow process compared to other tools in the industry. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

SONAR is helping us control our carrier cost, provide freight spend savings to our clients, and stay ahead of the market shifts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Gregory G.
GG
Managing Partner
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
(Original )Information
What do you like best about SONAR?

The service that we receive is 10/10 good! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

It's so in-depth that most are unable to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Helping us dictate the freight markets volatility trends and directions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

NL
Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
What do you like best about SONAR?

1) Ease of Use 2) Visualization of the TRAC Spot Graph 3) Ability to flip between flat rates and per mile rates Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

1) Accuracy is a little off in my experience - rates can be significantly higher than projected by SONAR for some lanes 2) I wish the market data was a little more thorough / easier to read. I would love to be able to see more depth as it relates to capacity in the lane on a daily basis. 3) I would enjoy a 'tie in' feature where you could compare company lane history against the market history. Just more data to compare and leverage when making decisions Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Drive innovation

Create internal/operational efficiencies

Improve business process outcomes

Drive revenue growth

Enhance decision making

SONAR is very useful in helping me to determine rates for quotes and rates for load coverage. Helps me to spot opportunities for more freight savings / growth. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Manufacturing
UM
Enterprise(> 1000 emp.)
Validated Reviewer
Verified Current User
Review source: Seller invite
Incentivized Review
(Original )Information
What do you like best about SONAR?

Easy to use interface for charting & research. Excellent data definitions library to refine my organization's thinking about what it needs to make decisions. SONAR Customer Success makes for an easy and fun onboarding, and is an excellent resource as I develop my competency. Freightwaves news is a huge plus as well. I use it multiple times a week, and it was very easy to implement being a SaaS platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about SONAR?

Nothing. I really like the platform. It does what it promises, and the text-based analysis that accompany being a Freightwaves customer are invaluable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is SONAR solving and how is that benefiting you?

Building the data competency in the organization, ease of visibility and build when researching new data. SONAR benefits me because I don't have to search multiple places for industry data. SONAR is solving the problem of me educating the company on the transportation economy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.