Benefit case study: DAT drives up to 10% cost savings for Colgate

Colgate-Palmolive, a global consumer goods manufacturer with a North American distribution network supplying major retailers, deployed DAT Freight & Analytics to gain external visibility into transportation market pricing and improve freight procurement decisions. Before DAT, Colgate lacked reliable benchmarking data, which made budgeting, supplier negotiations, and cost validation dependent on assumptions and historical performance rather than market intelligence. By leveraging DAT’s benchmarking, rate intelligence, and customer-pickup discount data, Colgate aligned internal and supplier-embedded freight costs with market expectations, securing up to 10 percent savings on long-term supplier agreements. DAT has since become Colgate’s standard for freight pricing intelligence, strengthening cross-functional collaboration and reducing internal disputes by grounding sourcing decisions in objective data. Colgate now incorporates DAT into its annual budget preparation and forecasting process, pairing projected rate ranges with internal market knowledge to set more accurate spending expectations. For Colgate, DAT delivers measurable financial ROI, supports an informed procurement strategy, and provides a decision framework that enhances long-term planning.