Which old load records should move into a new TMS?

Format: Article.

Move the history your team needs to work in the new TMS. Other required records may fit in an archive that staff can search and read, with access limits. Check that choice against the business need and the rules for keeping records. An old load need not be active work. Leaving it out does not allow you to delete it.

Choose records by their use, not just their age. An old load may still have a missing file or open question. A newer load may be fully closed. Name who needs each group of records and what they must do with it. That is a better basis for the move than a date alone.

This is a migration planning method, not a legal retention schedule or a claim that Core Agentic has moved a customer's TMS data.

Start with the questions people will ask

Ask dispatch, records, customer service, and finance what they need to look up. “Find the delivery sheet for this load” is not the same job as “reopen this task.” An archive may serve the first need. The second may need an active record. Test the actual task, not just whether the old data can be copied.

List reports that need old data too. A year-to-date view may be wrong if it holds only recent loads. Will the report read from both systems? If so, explain the split and its limits. Staff should know what is left out before they use the report to make a decision.

Do not turn old status labels into current tasks just because they are in an export. Ask the business owner what each old state means in the new system. Set aside unclear states for staff to check. The import must not guess whether work is still open.

Use a retention-by-business-need worksheet

“Retention” here means the proposed handling choice, not a required period. Qualified reviewers must settle legal, contractual, and policy obligations separately.

Record group	Business need	Proposed handling	Required owner check
Open loads	Continue dispatch and customer work	Migrate with current state and linked files	Operations confirms the live queue
Closed loads with open issues	Resolve a specific dispute or missing record	Migrate the needed context or link a review case	Issue owner confirms completeness
Closed reference history	Answer occasional record requests	Searchable archive if approved	Records owner tests retrieval
Reporting history	Preserve comparable business measures	Agreed reporting store or mapped history	Report owner checks definitions
Records under a hold	Preserve required evidence	Approved protected handling	Qualified hold owner directs scope
Unclear or damaged records	Avoid silent loss or false reconstruction	Exception inventory pending review	Named owner decides disposition

Add the dates, source system, record count, and files for each group. State why the team chose to move or archive it. Mark choices still waiting for review. The script that moves the data must not decide how long to keep records. The business must approve that choice first.

Preserve attachment relationships

A folder of files is not enough. Staff need to know which file belongs to which load. Keep the internal load IDs and customer references. Keep stop links where needed, file types, and source filenames. A file that was copied in full can still be useless if no one can find the load it supports.

Make a map from each old record ID to its new ID or archive path. Check that map before opening files. A sheet copied in full can still sit under the wrong customer or load. Copying the bytes and keeping the right link are separate checks.

For each sample, open the actual file in the new location. Compare it with the source. Are all pages there? Can staff read them? The right filename and file count do not prove that. List files that could not be exported or opened. Give those gaps an owner rather than dropping them from the totals.

A hypothetical selection decision

Suppose a carrier is moving to a new TMS. It has open loads, fully closed history, and a small group of older loads with unresolved delivery-document questions. This hypothetical example contains no claimed customer totals.

The operations team chooses to migrate the open loads. The records manager keeps the closed history in an approved searchable archive. The unresolved group gets linked review records with the supporting files needed to finish the work.

In a sample check, one archived load opens another customer's sheet. Both customers used the same outside reference. The team holds that record group. It fixes the matching rule with stable IDs from the old system. It then repeats the affected checks. Renaming the sheet would hide the error, not fix the link.

Reconcile before cutover

Build a reconciliation plan: checks that show whether the old and new records agree. Compare counts by record group and state. Check key fields for a range of loads. Open linked files with the right staff access. Then ask each team to try a real lookup task. Save what each check found.

Use samples that include multiple stops, missing files, revised records, old customer names, and unresolved issues. Record why each sample was chosen. A clean sample is helpful, but it does not justify ignoring groups with known export problems.

Agree what to do with changes made after the export but before the switch. Name which system is the source of truth during that gap. Name who must check and carry over late changes. Keep the old source under the approved access and storage plan until the team accepts the move.

Bring the worksheet and an export sample to Core Agentic, with private details removed. Discuss which old load records your team needs and how to check the move. Use that need to set the TMS scope. Book a Demo.

Sources and scope

Core Agentic TMS and design context. The operating steps and fictional examples are first-party recommendations, not verified installed controls or customer results.