case-studyintegrationsSaaS

Case Study Template: Launching a SaaS Integration (Aurora x TMS) — What Marketers Should Highlight

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2026-02-24

10 min read

A ready-to-use case study template for integrations that prioritizes business outcomes, API ease-of-use, and TCO — modeled on the Aurora x McLeod TMS example.

Hook: Stop burying partner integrations in engineering — make them conversion engines

If your team struggles with slow launches, low partner uptake, and vague ROI from integrations, you’re not alone. Marketing and product teams in 2026 are pressured to ship integrations faster, prove partner outcomes in dollars, and package the API story so buyers understand technical fit — not just feature lists. This case study template — built from the Aurora x TMS (McLeod) example — gives marketers a repeatable structure that highlights business outcomes, API ease-of-use, and TCO benefits so every integration becomes a sales-ready asset.

Why this matters in 2026 (quick context)

By late 2025, two trends became unavoidable: TMS platforms standardized richer, API-first integrations, and autonomous freight pilots moved into commercial corridors. That combination means customers expect integrations to be not only functional but demonstrably cost-saving. The Aurora-McLeod announcement accelerated market expectations: shipping an integration ahead of schedule and enabling direct tendering within an existing TMS proved buyers want seamless workflows, not new dashboards.

Marketers who can tell the story of measurable outcomes, API reliability, and total cost of ownership (TCO) will win partner deals and drive adoption faster. This template turns a technical integration into a clear commercial narrative.

One-line summary (use as hero on the case study)

Deliver autonomous capacity directly inside your TMS — reduce dispatch time, lower maritime-to-destination transit cost, and unlock scalable driverless loads via a single API connection.

Template Structure — What to include and why

Use this modular structure to build a go-to-market case study that serves sales, product marketing, and partner teams. Each section lists what to capture and sample copy or metrics.

1. Executive summary (50–75 words)

What happened: Quick partnership recap (who, what, when).
Primary outcome: Top-line metric (e.g., X% reduction in dispatch time; $Y saved per load).
Why it matters: Business impact in one sentence.

Sample: “Aurora integrated driverless truck capacity directly into McLeod’s TMS, enabling eligible carriers to tender, dispatch, and track autonomous loads from existing workflows — delivering a 12% reduction in dispatch labor and projected $1.2M annualized savings for early adopters.”

2. The challenge (what customers were facing)

Operational bottlenecks: manual tendering, dispatcher overload, split dashboards.
Economic pain: high per-mile driver cost, empty miles, detention fees.
Technical friction: multiple SaaS logins, disparate APIs, lack of TMS hooks.

Frame this as a buyer pain: “Carriers wanted autonomous capacity but could not change established TMS workflows without risk to operations.”

3. The solution (product + integration brief)

Integration type: API link, webhook subscription, or direct plugin.
Key capabilities enabled: tendering, dispatch, tracking, billing sync.
What made it fast/useful: pre-built mapping, SSO, sandbox data sets.

Sample: “Through a secure REST API and webhook stream, Aurora unlocked autonomous capacity inside McLeod’s TMS. Eligible users can tender loads with a single click; the TMS handles routing, ETA updates, and billing reconciliation automatically.”

Deep-dive sections you must include

4. The API story: make it consumable for non-developers

Marketers often skip the API narrative. Don’t. Buyers want to know: Is this easy for my team to integrate? What’s the maintenance cost? Use clear, non-technical copy plus a technical snapshot for engineering buyers.

Integration promise: “One endpoint to tender loads; webhooks for status updates.”
Developer experience: Sandbox keys available, sample payloads, SDKs for Python/Node, interactive API docs (OpenAPI/Swagger), and a test harness.
SLA & reliability: 99.9% API availability, retry logic, and published error codes.
Security: OAuth2 or mTLS, audit logs, SOC2 compliance notes.

Technical snapshot (short): “Tender endpoint accepts standard load object, returns tender_id. Webhooks publish status: accepted, enroute, delivered. Avg latency <100ms; idempotency keys supported.”

5. Implementation timeline & resourcing

Buyers want a predictable timeline. Give a realistic, replicable timeline in phases and required team roles.

Phase 0 — Discovery (1–2 weeks): data mapping, eligibility check.
Phase 1 — Sandbox integration (2–4 weeks): test tenders & webhooks.
Phase 2 — Pilot (4–8 weeks): live loads with guardrails.
Phase 3 — General availability (ongoing): roll-out plan and support.

Resourcing: One integration engineer, one solution architect (part-time), one product manager, and a customer success lead for pilot operations.

6. Metrics & business outcomes (what to measure and show)

This is the most persuasive section for commercial buyers. Use baseline vs. post-integration figures and project annualized impact.

Operational metrics: dispatch time saved (% reduction), dispatcher touches per load, booking velocity.
Financial metrics: cost per mile, empty miles %, detention cost change, incremental revenue from new lane types.
Capacity metrics: available autonomous truck miles tendered, utilization rate.
Reliability metrics: API success rate, webhook delivery rate, average ETA variance.
Customer outcomes: NPS change, onboarding time, churn delta for customers using the integration.

Example KPIs to publish: “Pilot customers saw a 15% reduction in dispatcher labor hours per 1,000 loads and a 9% reduction in deadhead miles in the first 90 days.”

7. TCO & ROI analysis (show the math)

Decision-makers need a simple ROI table and clear assumptions. Provide a conservative and an aggressive scenario.

List direct cost savings: driver cost avoided, reduced detention, admin hours saved.
List incremental costs: integration support, subscription fees, monitoring.
Compute payback period and 12–24 month ROI.

Sample ROI snippet: “Conservative case — $1.2M annualized savings vs $180k annual incremental cost = 6.7x ROI in year 1. Payback: ~1.6 months for pilot cohort.”

8. Technical validation & risk management

Include failure modes, mitigation steps, and what the pilot monitored: fallbacks to manual dispatch, alerting thresholds, throttling behavior.

Fallbacks: automatic tender escalation to human dispatcher if webhook fails 3x.
Telemetry: API latency, error rates, acceptance window.
Compliance: logs for audit, ability to redact PII.

9. Testimonials and quotes (credibility)

Use short, specific quotes that emphasize outcomes and ease-of-use. The Aurora-McLeod example includes customer words that illustrate operational improvement.

“The ability to tender autonomous loads through our existing McLeod dashboard has been a meaningful operational improvement. We are seeing efficiency gains without disrupting our operations.” — Rami Abdeljaber, EVP & COO, Russell Transport

10. Go-to-market messaging & channel checklist

Turn the case study into a launch kit for sales and partner marketing. Include hero lines, supporting bullets, assets, and channel-specific copy.

Hero (for website): “Driverless truck capacity — bookable inside your TMS.”
Sales opener: “Enable autonomous tendering in the TMS your teams already use — 1 API, zero new dashboards.”
Demo script: 3-minute flow showing tender -> acceptance -> tracking -> billing sync.
Channels: email campaign to existing TMS users, targeted LinkedIn ads for logistics managers, co-branded webinars with partner.

11. Partner marketing assets (what to hand over to partners)

Provide a plug-and-play launch kit so partners can activate quickly.

Press release template and key factsheet (API capabilities, SLA, customer counts).
Co-branded one-pager with outcome metrics and CTA.
Video: 90-second product tour and 2-minute customer testimonial.
Sample email and in-product banner copy.

Practical templates & examples marketers can copy

Email announcement (subject + 2-line preview + body)

Subject: Book autonomous capacity from your McLeod dashboard

Preview: Tender, track, and reconcile driverless loads without changing workflows.

Body (short): “We’ve partnered with Aurora to bring driverless truck bookings into McLeod. Eligible customers can tender autonomous loads directly from your dashboard — reducing dispatcher touchpoints and unlocking new capacity. Learn how to join the pilot and see expected savings.”

One-paragraph press lead

“Aurora and McLeod released the industry’s first driverless trucking link to a TMS platform, enabling carriers to tender, dispatch, and track autonomous loads directly within existing workflows. Early adopters report operational efficiencies and a clear path to lowered TCO.”

“Ready to add driverless capacity without new tools? Our Aurora x McLeod integration brings autonomous tendering inside the TMS. Pilot customers are already seeing dispatch time and empty-mile improvements. See the case study.”

Measurement playbook for marketers (how to prove impact)

Before you launch: instrument everything. After launch: report weekly to stakeholders.

Define primary KPI (e.g., dispatch time per load) and 3 secondary KPIs (cost per mile, acceptance rate, API success rate).
Implement tracking — map event names from the TMS and the integration (tender.created, tender.accepted, status.updated).
Use distributed tracing for API calls to measure latency and end-to-end tender lifecycle times.
Establish baseline (30–90 days) and present delta at 30/60/90 day intervals.
Convert operational metrics to $ impact using simple assumptions (labor rate, miles, detention costs).

Tip: create a single “integration dashboard” for stakeholders showing live adoption, top lanes using autonomous capacity, and earliest lessons learned.

2026 Trends & Predictions — how this template stays relevant

As of early 2026, integrations must do more than connect systems — they must show clear financial upside and be AI-enabled for decision support. Expect these developments:

AI-driven routing nudges: Integrations offer suggested tenders based on predictive load matching.
API observability: Buyers demand real-time SLAs and anomaly detection on partner APIs.
Composable GTM: Partners expect co-marketing kits that are templated and measurable.
Regulatory focus: More regionally constrained lanes for autonomous trucks require compliance messaging in case studies.

Marketers using this template will be able to incorporate these elements — for example, adding a “predictive lift” section to the metrics when AI routing is part of the integration.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Pitfall: Over-emphasizing technology. Fix: Lead with outcome metrics and customer stories.
Pitfall: Skipping developer signals. Fix: Include a clear API snapshot and sandbox access details.
Pitfall: Publishing vanity metrics. Fix: Use baseline comparisons and convert to dollar savings.
Pitfall: No playbook for partner activation. Fix: Supply a co-branded launch kit with measurable CTAs.

Checklist: Ready-to-publish case study items

Executive summary and hero copy
Customer quote(s) with explicit metrics
API factbox: endpoints, SLA, SDKs
Implementation timeline and resourcing
Baseline vs. post metrics and ROI table
Launch kit: press release, one-pager, demo script, social copy
Measurement dashboard template and tracking plan

Final example summary (Aurora x McLeod — marketer-ready blurb)

“Aurora’s API links autonomous truck capacity into McLeod’s TMS, letting eligible carriers tender and manage driverless loads inside their existing workflows. Early adopters reported significant operational efficiencies and improved lane utilization. The integration launched earlier than planned due to high demand and demonstrates how partner integrations can move from pilot to commercial scale when they prioritize outcome-driven messaging, clear API DX, and measured TCO benefits.”

Actionable takeaways

Lead case studies with business outcomes, not technical features.
Include an API story for both technical buyers and non-technical decision-makers.
Publish a simple TCO/ROI section with conservative and aggressive scenarios.
Ship a co-branded launch kit to partners so adoption starts the day you announce.
Instrument metrics up front and show baseline vs. post-integration impact at regular intervals.

Call-to-action

Use this template to convert your next integration into a revenue driver. Need a custom case study built from your pilot data or a co-branded launch kit for your TMS partnership? Contact our launch playbook team to get a ready-to-publish case study, ROI model, and partner kit in 7 business days.

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