Methods and apparatus for connecting shippers and carriers in the third party logistics environment via the internet

Abstract

An online electronic marketplace in which carriers bid for loads tendered by shippers, and shippers purchase the most attractive transportation services. The system described herein efficiently matches loads and capacities, lowers transaction costs, and creates value through enhanced visibility to information resulting in efficient transportation and financial transactions. According to specific embodiments, the present invention combines a neutral marketplace patterned after a stock exchange, with the electronic format of an Internet auction site to create a trading system for the logistics industry.

1 . In a system for matching carrier capacities with shipper loads via a wide area network, a method for identifying shipper loads, comprising:
 generating a search process according to at least one criterion specified by a carrier representative;   operating the search process without user intervention to identify at least one shipper load; and   transmitting a notification corresponding to the at least one shipper load to the carrier representative.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one criterion comprises at least one of pickup location, delivery location, pickup date, delivery date, equipment types, and freight services. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein transmitting the notification comprises at least one of transmitting an e-mail, transmitting a pager signal, and transmitting a message to be displayed using a system interface. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the e-mail includes a hyperlink corresponding to the at least one shipper load. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein operating the search process comprises operating the search process within a window of time specified by the carrier representative. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein operation of the search process is activated manually. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein operation of the search process is terminated manually. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising automatically generating a bid for the at least one shipper load on behalf of the carrier representative. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein automatically generating the bid comprises generating the bid in accordance with bidding rules specified by the carrier representative. 
     
     
         10 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program instructions embedded therein for performing the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . In a system for matching carrier capacities with shipper loads via a wide area network, a method for posting at least one unit of capacity for viewing by shipper representatives, the method comprising:
 in response to receiving a plurality of capacity parameters input by a carrier representative, generating a listing for the at least one unit of capacity, wherein the listing indicates the at least one unit of capacity is one of currently available and available at some future time; and   posting the listing for the at least one unit of capacity for viewing by the shipper representatives.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the at least one unit of capacity corresponds to an equipment identifier defined by the carrier representative. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the equipment identifier corresponds to one of trucking capacity, aircraft capacity, shipping capacity, and rail capacity. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the at least one unit of capacity comprises a group comprising a plurality of units of capacity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the plurality of capacity parameters includes at least one of a price information, expiration information, and equipment information. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11  wherein posting the listing comprises making the listing available to a subset of a plurality of system users as determined from information specified by the carrier representative. 
     
     
         17 . A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer program instructions embedded therein for performing the method of  claim 11 .