Transportation Management Software - Part # 1 for ShipAssist - Beta Testers Needed

Not one to let good content go to waste - the following is a portion of the instructions we are working on for the ShipAssist functionality. Routing Guide to follow in part #2.

Feedback is always appreciated.

We are looking for companies to beta test the new parts of our new transportation management software so get in touch if you are interested.

Thanks.





ShipAssist is built to allow flexibility with how your facility’s Shipping Dock information is displayed on your personalized ShipAssist website. You are able to include as much information as you feel is necessary, and in any format. Remember, the idea is to firmly set the ground rules up front for any trucking company coming into your shipping dock – so include any and all information you feel is important. Think of the phone calls and hassles you can avoid by the carriers getting this information in advance!

Click Here for an example of a completed profile.

Here are some recommendations:
You’ll want to include basic information such as Phone, Address, Directions, and Hours.
Most importantly, make sure you include the specific Rules and Regulations at your shipping dock. Here are a few ideas to get you started or click here for an example.
- Are appointments required? Who do they contact for an appointment?
- Upon arrival, drivers must Auto- Check In by texting their load number to xxx-xxxx (*if your facility has eRoutingGuide Auto-Check-In service)
- Is a lumper service required? What is the rate?
- Is a lift-gate required?
- How many hours of wait time should a driver expect before you will approve detention?
- Will a delivery be refused without an Advanced Shipping Notification number?
- Is a pick up or some type of load number required?
- Are drivers allowed on the dock? Are you a shipper load and count (SLC) facility?
- How are OS&D issues handled?

Those points should give you the idea. Once updated, ShipAssist allows you to easily send companies a link to your personalized webpage and require that all carriers and vendors confirm their understanding of the rules and regulations on your ShipAssist website. Your Shipping Department will thank you.

Click Here for an example of a completed profile.

We welcome your questions and feedback: questions@eroutingguide.com

Thank you for choosing ShipAssist. Transportation Management Software can be simple!

New Interview About Transportation Management Software Startup - eRoutingGuide.com

I had a blast last Friday talking to Justin from http://www.asable.com/ talking about startup Transportation Management Software company, eRoutingGuide and ecommerce order fulfillment company, Fillship.com. Check out the interview on the AsAble.com site.

Also, check out a conversation with Dustin Mattison of Logipi.com.

Ship products? eRoutingGuide is looking for companies to beta test a new product, no cost or obligation

If you ship anything, you should check out http://www.eroutingguide.com/ - any new user who signs up by 9/1/10 will be given free access to the new ShipAssist and Routing Guide products. All that is asked is feedback on how the system is working and ideas for improvements.

Here is an overview of the system:

Executive Summary:
eROUTINGguide.com is easyTMS. The eROUTINGguide vision is to offer on-line tools that give small and medium size companies access to transportation management technology that was previously only affordable to large companies. Each module within the system is designed to save time, protect information, and improve decision making for the logistics professionals in that organization.

• ShipAssist - Provides tools that help companies by preventing accessorial charges and improving communication with carriers.
• Online Routing Guide - Improves inbound and outbound routing guide compliance, reducing costly errors and service issues.
• easy TMS - Helps businesses reduce freight costs through ensuring better carrier rate management, shipment routing decisions, and carrier communication.

Each tool is simple to implement and has an ROI of days, not months or years.

ShipAssist:
ShipAssist provides easy access to an online location for shipping department to post facility rules and regulations, maps/directions to their facility, or any other information a shipper wants to communicate to carriers. As a standard procedure, the shipper directs carriers to their personalized site to review the facility’s regulations and provide a documented acknowledgment of acceptance of the rules. The main benefits of the service are to set clear guidelines and expectations for carriers to prevent disagreements over detention or other accessorial charges, as well as eliminate calls to the shipping department asking for directions or other requests for basic information. There is ASN (Advanced Shipment Notification) functionality available as well.

The target market for the service is a manufacturer with one location, or a national retail chain with multiple locations, each having unique receiving requirements.

Online Routing Guide:
eRouting Guide provides an online location for companies to post their corporate routing guide in an open or password protected environment. The routing guide information is posted on a personalized site for the business and can be customized with any relevant content. Instead of sending out hard copies of routing guides, potential users can reference the information online. Updates can be made instantly and notification of any changes are sent immediately. Routing compliance is improved, therefore reducing time and expenses incurred to the business resulting from misrouted shipments. The goal is to make sure each shipment is routed the right way every time. There is ASN (Advanced Shipment Notification) functionality available as well.

The target markets for the service are any manufacturer with vendors or suppliers sending inbound product or companies with de-centralized shipping origin point.

Negotiating Tips Part #2 - Logistics Services

Here is part #2 on some tips for negotiation with logistics providers. Missed part #1?

Never be the first person to name a figure...
This is an expensive lesson to have to learn, but a good one. I do a lot of contract work, and one of the first questions I'm usually asked is "What's your hourly rate?". This is a high pressure question, and I often found myself blurting out a figure that was lower than what I really wanted.

These days, I've learned the importance of getting the other person to say a number first. Now, I respond to that question by asking "What's the budget for this contract?". Often, I'm surprised to discover they're offering me a better deal than I thought they were.

Ask for more than you expect to get...
Once the other person's given their figure, even if it's much better than you expected, say something like "I think you'll have to do better than that". Don't be arrogant or aggressive. Just say it calmly.

When they enquire about your expectations, ask for more than you expect to get. Few people will walk away from a deal once it's commenced, and you can let the other person feel as if they're winning by lowering your "unrealistic expectations" a bit at a time.

Let them believe the final decision doesn't rest with you...
Once a negotiation starts, most people want to get it over with as quickly as possible. Let their impatience beat them. One great way of doing this is to let them believe the person they're negotiating with isn't actually you, but some other "authority figure".

Say something like "Well, I'll have to talk it over with my boss before I can give you a definite yes".

A skilled negotiator will always want to talk to the person who has the final decision, but don't let them do it. Say the person with the authority over the deal wants you to sort things out but still needs to have the final say. Tell them you'll discuss it and get back with an answer tomorrow. Ask them to make sure that's their best offer you can take to your "authority figure".

Don't act too interested...
Just giving the impression that you're willing to walk away can do wonders for getting a better deal. Always play the reluctant buyer or seller.

Don't leave the other person feeling as if they've been cheated...
Many people try to screw every last drop of blood from any negotiation. This is a mistake. If the other person feels they've been cheated, it can come back to bite you. They may not fulfill their part of the deal, or refuse to deal with you in the future.

Most negotiations should leave both parties feeling satisfied with the outcome. Be willing to give up things that don't really matter to you in order to create a feeling of goodwill. For example, if I'm renegotiating my order fulfillment per pick charge, or pack and ship rates downwards, I'll often offer to sign a longer legnth contract. That way, the provider has a commitment for my business for a longer time.

Ken is a 15 year veteran of supply chain logistics and has founded companies in the ecommerce fulfillment and transportation management software markets.

Negotiation Tips Part #1 - Logistics Services

As a logistic professional, negotiation is crucial part of managing relationships with your supply chain vendors - whether it is negotiating carriers rates and contracts, pick and ship rates for fulfillment, or an implementation of a new logistics software to support your operation's Routing Guide.

Don't take it personally...
A mistake that people often make when negotiating is to become too emotionally attached to winning. They shout, threaten and demand to get their way. This is counter-productive.

Most deals are only possible if both people feel they're getting something out of it. If the person across the table feels attacked, or doesn't like you, they probably won't back down. Many people hate bullies, and will be more willing to walk away from a transaction if it involves one.

Keep calm, patient and friendly, even if the other person starts losing their cool. Make sure you leave any pride or ego at the door. You're much more likely to do well that way.

When you are reviewing a proposal from a vendor, don't get suckered by the "rules" trick...
When someone sends me a contract to sign, if there's something on there I don't like, I'll cross it out. I'm also happy to write things I want added in if I think they should be there. Sometimes, the other party will come back to me and say "You're not allowed to make changes to our contracts like that".

This highlights a common tactic used by experienced negotiators. They know many people are sticklers about following rules. So they'll make up official sounding pronouncements and insist that "this is the way it's done" or "you're not allowed to do that". If someone starts trying to box you in by adding rules to the deal, ask them to provide proof that such rules really exist.

Look for Part #2 of this post next week.

Ken is a 15 year veteran of supply chain logistics and has founded companies in the ecommerce fulfillment and transportation management software markets.

Discussing the start up of eRoutingGuide on This Week in Startups

We went live with our new transportation management software site, eRoutingGuide this week. Coinciding with that, I made an appearance on the popular live web show, This Week in Startups (http://www.thisweekin.com/). I was part of the "Ask Jason" segment - looking for some ideas for finding an online community of logistics professionals. Here is a link to the show you can view on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqSaek5yB1s


On August 13th I will be on another start up program http://www.asable.com/ talking about eRoutingGuide. Check out their site as well.

I have a few more appearances lined up in the next few weeks to talk about entrepreneurship with a focus on order fulfillment and other logistics services.

Fuel Surcharges make up 40% of your logistics management costs - know how they work

Fuel Surcharges make up 40% of your logistics costs – you need to know how they work

Around 10 years ago is when fuel surcharges became ubiquitous. Prior to that time, the cost of fuel was always there of course, but in those days shippers essentially paid for fuel as a part of their linehaul rates. The market changes in fuel costs were for the trucking companies to worry about. The impact of fuel was something left to maybe negotiate at year’s end, or perhaps as part of a contract renewal. The shipper’s perspective was that managing fuel costs were a trucking company’s problem to understand and account for. Since that time, the burden of dealing with market changes in fuel costs has shifted from the trucking companies to shippers.

With fuel surcharge making up 30-40% of a typical company’s logistics costs it important for managers in both operations and finance to know how fuel surcharges are calculated and how the diesel market affects their freight spend. These days shippers are directly exposed to the potentially budget crushing fluctuations in fuel costs and the curiously structured surcharge matrices. Theoretically the fuel surcharge tables that most carriers use are a direct representation of actual fuel costs to calculate the fuel surcharge but I have yet to be given an explanation that makes me feel comfortable that the matrices are more than just an extension of a carrier’s line haul costs. This is not to say that fuel costs are not a major cost factor for carriers, I just disagree that the tables represent the impact of fuel accurately for a carrier from an operating perspective. There is too great of a difference from carrier to carrier for it to be a true representation. This tells me there is a “fudge” factor built into the numbers allowing carriers to hide operating costs beyond just fuel in the fuel surcharge matrix.

An ecommerce company shipping from a order fulfillment operation? For small package shipping, companies are at the mercy of UPS and Fed Ex for not just air and ground services and pricing, but to both company’s own fuel surcharge tables. There is not a lot to understand about small package fuel surcharge other than to know you have to think of the cost as an extension of their pricing and pay attention as the fuel prices change – for better or worse.

For truckload and LTL shipping, you’ll see fuel surcharge matrices calculated as both a per mile and a percentage of line haul cost basis. In both cases – the fuel surcharge table will be based on the US Governments Diesel Fuel Index (posted on the DOE website). It is updated weekly and is also calculated on a regional and national basis. Depending on the footprint of your trucking company either type of fuel index could apply. The “per mile” basis is simply calculated by adding the per mile charge on top of your line haul rate, then multiplied by the number of miles shipped. The “percentage” type surcharge takes the cost of the shipment (for LTL, the discounted tariff rate and for TL, the linehaul portion) and adds the percentage of cost derived from the table on to that. Just like you audit line haul costs on freight invoices, it is also important to audit fuel surcharges.

Fuel matrices are generally built to adjust with every $.05 increase or decrease in the DOE diesel fuel index and are effective for any shipments tendered in a given week’s period of time.


Ken is a 15 year veteran of logistics and supply chain operations. He has founded companies in the ecommerce order fulfillment and transportation management system markets.

Startup Order Fulfillment and Social Media for Logistics