Imagine, if you will, that you are a manufacturer with a shipping department. You produce the equivalent of three truckloads per day bound for Western Canada. At the end of the day, you’re shipping staff have made up the pallets for three routes to a total of eight distribution centers. You have software that automates the load-posting task to the extent that each posting takes only two minutes on the computer keyboard. You make or receive no phone calls, send or receive no faxes or emails.
It’s fait accompli; nothing left to do but check out the online received bids the carriers submitted to you meanwhile and choose who do you want to give the loads to. The venue is here and now, except that instead of buying the software you merely go online with a password. Every single nuance of a "Broker-Carrier correspondence" that you can think of, including terms and conditions, real-time bid retraction, delay and late charges, if any, is molded in a easy to use interface, containing of drop-down boxes and short fields” said Mr. Dan Kockovski, founder and owner of the Cargo Success online freight Community.
His highly motivated investment in software development continues to draw Freight-Broker and Carrier members and gets better with each upgrade. Kockovski and his staff have no direct link with the logistics of millions of dollars worth of shipping and distribution except for customer service to the use of the online system. “I can’t tell you how much time, labor, file preparation, paperwork, phone calls, faxing, emailing and letter-writing is saved utilizing this simple-to-use system” he says.
It’s amazing, when you consider that a broker’s staff of five or six may feel exhausted after negotiating about 25-30 loads and handling a hundred or more phone calls, whereas a single person would be all you need for that volume on our system. Think of how much “these telephone-service people” could do for sales and business development instead. Carriers can find a lot more available loads and actually can submit hundreds of online quotes per day, over a 24/7 time frame if they like.
There are a lot of What-Ifs in the trucking business, and not only have our software
developers translated them to a simple online application interface. The Shippers and Brokers using the also system can make up to 500 different templates to prevent repetitive online inputs, or they can merely change a posting date, enter detailed information for each individual stop and even freight-handling cautions and personal messages. Brokers post load-listings and terms to all or just their preferred carriers, and they instantly become available to Carrier-members, who in turn submit their bids, along with their attached authorities".
With our system, the Carriers can even process and send their invoice to the Shippers with a single click of a mouse. Great pains have been taken to ensure security for the automated correspondence that passes between Carriers and Brokers / Shippers, he added. Our Order Management Reporting side of the system can be also accessed online and at any time, to show completed and outstanding loads. Since all files and correspondence documentation is saved on Cargo Success’s servers, there can be no misunderstandings between Broker and Carrier. Kockovski calls it a Giant Leap over whatever has been automated out there in the truck and freight booking industry, and not only did his development team design the software precisely for that purpose but they constantly monitor their competitors for signs of progress.
In fact, Kockovski’s creative idea is reminiscent of a Mississauga Broker-Shipper Frank Prosia of Trans-Pro Logistics, who pioneered a route-planning system, mainly telephone-based, which helped independent truckers fill their trailers and eliminate empty “runs”.
Cargo Success software generates and saves email trails on Impenetrable hard drives, and this data-storage mandate has prompted several upgrades to the company’s servers. The Just-In-Time delivery system that has saved users and distribution centres millions in storage and handling costs was ready for the Cargo Success brand of logistics software, said Kockovski. It fits right in, because the Broker’s or Shipper’s posting specifies precise times and alternatives of each load.
Both Shippers/Brokers and Carriers, in the system receive their own profile ratings automatically based on feedback and comments posted directly by previous dealings with other members on this freight community. A load can be awarded to the shipper’s or broker’s preferred carrier with one mouse click. He is also planning a move into e-customs upgrades to the software, “and other planned add-ons, including satellite tracking and mobile access.
To show proof of concept to the industry, the company now is offering free memberships to Shippers/Brokers and symbolic membership terms to the Carriers.
Original article, published September 2009; source Mississauga Business Times.
Kim Ban,
Marketing Director
Cargo Success
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