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The following article appeared on Logistics Management Online.
You can check it out at www.logisticsmgmt.com.

New Web-based portal connects shippers and carriers for LTL freight movements,
overcome spot quote challenges

A new Web-based service, which is designed to link shippers and carriers of less-than-truckload (LTL) freight to move volume and truckload shipments, has officially launched today.

Jeff Berman, Senior Editor
Logistics Management
June 26, 2007

ACTON, Mass.—A new Web-based service, which is designed to link shippers and carriers of less-than-truckload (LTL) freight to move volume and truckload shipments, has officially launched today.

The service, entitled CarrierStore xChange, is a product of startup company CarrierStore. Dan Clark, the company’s president, told Logistics Management that the impetus for this endeavor was to enable shippers and carriers to overcome inefficiencies in the “spot quote” process often used for shipments more than 3,500 pounds up to a truckload.

\Clark explained that when shipments exceed a particular weight break, which is 3,500 pounds or more, shippers typically call around to carriers to get a spot quote—a singular price for a specific freight movement on a particular day.

“Even with a really good discount using a tariff-based rate, it is still hard for carriers to be competitive enough to get freight for a volume order,” said Clark. “And the business for volume shots has grown into spot quotes, and spot quotes are a very painful process for both shippers and carriers.

Shippers, explained Clark, want to get the best freight rate they can for a particular day, so they will call around to multiple carriers to get rates. And the time it takes to pin down the right person to get that information can often be difficult and time-consuming, he said. Some carriers now are offering spot quote rates on their Web sites, which has made it a bit easier for shippers to collect rates, noted Clark. But more often than not, he said the typical process still requires multiple phone calls to track down the right person to get the price to the shipper.

This, according to Clark, is where CarrierStore’s xChange comes in to try and help make things smoother.

With this Web-based system, a shipper can post shipment information online, which is then immediately transferred to a carrier’s pricing department. Once the carrier enters a price, it is then routed back to the shipper within one hour, giving carriers one hour to bid on the freight. And at the end of that hour, all the carriers in the CarrierStore network that bid on that particular shipment will have their bids displayed for the shipper to select. Clark likened this process to a hybrid between SouthWest, eBay, and Lending Tree.

Shippers that use xChange are credit qualified before receiving a user name and password that will navigate them to a security-enabled section where they can enter shipment information, including address, item description, quantity, weight, and freight-dimensions, which are auto-saved for repeat customers.

When this information is entered it is then validated and submitted to carriers for bidding. At this point, the qualified carriers—that could potentially handle that shipment—receive an e-mail notification for a new bid opportunity, which prompts them to log on to xChange and look at the shipping summary, put a price on it, and submit a bid.

With this tool, said Clark, shippers can be more selective when fielding bids.

“This tool provides shippers with the best prices possible form best in class carriers,” he said. “And they can choose from multiple carriers and match shipments up with a carrier’s open capacity, as well as improve service”

CarrierStore xChange has been undergoing beta testing for the last two months, with roughly 20 shippers and three carriers vetting 5,000 shipments. The company partnered up with technology services provider MercuryGate for the Web-based platform. Clark said 18 national carriers—including USF Holland, USF Reddaway, and R+L Carriers—are signed up for xChange, with the potential to go up to as many as 25

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