How to Let Clients Track Shipments on Your Website (Without Building a Portal)

Clients expect to track their shipments in real time—without calling your team. Here’s how to add live ocean freight tracking to your website in 10 minutes, no dev team needed.

TRADLINX

June 18, 2025

2–3 minutes

bl tracking, client-facing tools, Container tracking, embedded tracking, Freight Forwarding Tools, Logistics SaaS, logistics tech, ocean freight visibility, Real-Time Visibility, Shipment Tracking, Track On-Site, tracking widget, tradlinx

Why Clients Expect Real-Time Tracking in 2025

It’s no longer enough to say, “We’ll get back to you.” In 2025, clients expect shipment updates like they expect delivery alerts for their groceries—instant, accurate, and self-service.

Global lead times are still volatile, making visibility more critical than ever.
Client expectations are shaped by Amazon, Uber, and real-time apps—not freight norms.
Forwarders offering real-time tracking report higher client satisfaction and retention.

When a client asks, “Where’s my container?”, they don’t want a PDF or another email—they want answers now, ideally directly on your website.

What to Avoid: Common Mistakes Forwarders Make

Using e-commerce tracking plugins built for parcel delivery, not ocean freight. These tools often don’t support BL numbers or vessel milestones and can confuse customers expecting detailed updates.
Linking to carrier websites for tracking. Each carrier has a different interface, update frequency, and terminology—creating a disjointed and unbranded client experience.
Spending months (and thousands) building full customer portals without exploring simpler, prebuilt solutions like embedded tracking widgets.

“It’s a nightmare when you rush the process and end up stuck paying a license for a year for a software that doesn’t fit.”
— Freight operator, SCM industry forum

These mistakes are common—but avoidable. With the right tool, you can offer branded, BL-based tracking on your site in under an hour.

How to Add Client Tracking in 10 Minutes (No Dev Needed)

You don’t need to build a customer portal or hire developers to offer real-time tracking. With Track On-Site by TRADLINX, you can copy and paste a widget directly into your website.

Step 1: Log into TRADLINX and copy your unique embed code
Step 2: Paste it into any page on your website (HTML block or CMS)
Step 3: That’s it—clients can now enter a B/L or container number to track shipments live

No API work. No IT involvement. And no login required for your customers.

“We added the widget in under 30 minutes. Support tickets dropped by half within a week.”

— Forwarder, customer review

Case Study Results — Fewer Emails, Happier Clients

Forwarders who’ve implemented Track On-Site are seeing measurable gains in efficiency and customer satisfaction. Here’s what the data shows:

Metric	Before Track On-Site	After Implementation
Support Emails Per Week	~70+	↓ 40–60%
Shipment Tracking Time	3–4 hrs/day (manual)	↓ to under 1 hr
Client Satisfaction (NPS)	Moderate	↑ 25–30%
Repeat Business	Untracked	↑ Notable lift in return clients

Clients love being able to check updates themselves. And ops teams love not having to chase vessels, carriers, or Excel files just to answer a status email.

Track On-Site turns your website into a real-time visibility hub—giving clients the modern experience they expect and saving your team hours every week.

Why overpay for visibility? Tradlinx saves you 40% with transparent per–Master B/L pricing. Get 99% accuracy, 12 updates daily, and 80% ETA accuracy improvements, trusted by 83,000+ logistics teams and global leaders like Samsung and LG Chem.