What is Shippernet.com?

Shippernet.com is a common web site designed for use by shippers and their agents to tender and offer loads and shipments directly to a national federation of transport carriers.

The site is organized into electronic freight directories: one for shippers or their agents, one for shippers involved in international shipping and one for prequalified and preferred transport carriers.

Why use freight directories?

Internet technology is now available for the electronic offering and tendering of loads and shipments directly with prequalified and preferred transport carriers, the signing and exchanging of freight documents in a paperless environment without substantial staff telephone, faxing and e-mail attachment time.

The freight sub directories contain all the public and private freight information needed to complete the freight transaction in electronic form.

Why is it all about due diligence now?

According to Schramm vs. C. H. Robinson it is now all about due diligence in the hiring of a transport carrier. This case requires a monumental change for decades to come in the way shippers and their agents pre-qualify transport carriers before contracting for a load.

This decision now requires more due diligence if the shipper and their agents wish to avoid the risk of being held liable for the personal injuries, deaths and damages of the transport carriers they hire. The decision has the created the need for more current, accurate and complete information on the nation’s transport carriers and their safety records of drivers and equipment.
Schramm vs. C. H. Robinson case

How can a Transport Carrier Directory provide this information?

A transportation lawyer recommends that a reasonable policy for hiring a transport carrier might include that the following information be contained in a file.

   1. A copy of the carrier’s operating authorities

   2. An insurance filing with the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration.

   3. Information about the carrier’s safety rating with the FMCSA.

   4. Keep the safety rating and safety record current. Conduct your own investigation into the carrier’s record of accidents, FMCSA inspection reports, driver compliance with hours of service regulations, its compliance with record-keeping regulations, medical exams, accident reports etc. (The Schramm court ruled that “it seems entirely reasonable to require transport carriers, including third party logistics companies, who assist newcomers with market entry, to evaluate their safety control measures in the absence of a DOT rating.

   5. Check the FMSCA’s SafeState records for the carrier’s SEA rating (a rating over 75 is deemed to be deficient).

   6. Every transport carrier file must be kept current with any information received, and should be reviewed on a regular basis for changes. A monitoring service should be employed for that purpose.

Solution:
At a transport carrier’s sub-directory all of the necessary documents are made available as either a public or private documents to provide a shipper with all of the due diligence information recommended by legal council.
The Transport Carrier’s sub directory maintains the necessary documents the shipper requires to complete the freight transaction. Transport carriers can upload, download, prepare, create, sign or exchange any freight documents associated with the freight transaction.
The information is generally completed publicly or privately using user Identification, Passwords and Company Identification security features.

How do shippers tender loads and shipments directly to Transport Carriers?

Shippernet.com must set up the initial freight directory. At a minimum the Shipper must have the name, address and telephone numbers of their principle place of business. They are then assigned a unique shipper user ID, password and Company ID number. This security information allows the Shipper access to the administration and tailoring of their freight at their sub directory library. A directory listing is required for each location for which loads and shipments are tendered from.
From the shipper’s freight sub-directory a shipper can privately tender loads and shipments to Transport Carriers in four different ways.

• The shipper establishes their own network of preferred transport carriers and offers or tenders directly with Shippernet’s own network of prequalified and preferred Transport Carriers.
  A shipper requires a user name, password and a company ID prior to being granted access to a shipper’s secure freight sub directory.
  
  
• Some transport carriers have affiliated international or national intermediary companies that act as a shipper’s agent. They are listed with their affiliated transport carrier on the Shipper Directory. Their loads and shipments can be tendered directly and privately to Network Transport Carriers.
  
  
• In addition to viewing loads and shipments posted directly at Shippernet.com Transport Carriers listed on the directory can also view loads and shipments posted by hundreds of brokers and logistics companies that post to our Shippernet.com load board using Post Everywhere.
  
  
• Loads and shipments not tendered directly to preferred transport carriers can be viewed directly by all network transport carriers or directly from the Dispatch Modules of Truckwin Dispatch and Accounting Software users.
  
  

How freight documents are electronically handled?

Every freight directory provides for a sub-directory system. The sub-directory system serves as an electronic library that allows for shippers and transport carriers to administer their own public and private freight documents. Each party can transfer, exchange, modify or manipulate any file between a shipper and a transport carrier.

The shipper will have two components to a freight sub directory. First is the load tender or offering system. The load offer or tender is entered or uploaded at the shipper’s freight sub directory for viewing by the group of transport carriers selected by the shipper and listed on the National Transport Carrier Directory. The loads and shipments offered or tendered are communicated to Pre-Qualified Transport Carriers by communicating the user ID, password and Company ID to the transport carriers.

After the shipper completes the acceptance the sub directories are designed to also administer the creation, preparation, confirmation, uploading, downloading, signing or sending of any freight transportation documents from any computer in the world having internet access.
Shipper and transport carrier can upload, download, prepare, create, sign or exchange any freight documents associated with the freight transaction in a paperless environment. These transactions are generally also completed privately and securely using User Identification, Passwords and Company Identification security features.

To be Pre-Qualified what does a Transport Carrier have to provide?

At a minimum these documents must be available either publicly or privately on a Transport Carrier’s directory.

• Name, Address and Telephone numbers of the principle office of business.
  
  
• A valid MC and DOT number that links to the FMCSA web site. (This link will provide registration, insurance and safety information)
  
  
• A copy of Authorities in a standard .pdf ADOBE or .doc Microsoft word format.
  
  
• A copy of an insurance ACCORD form as evidence of current insurance coverage.
  
  

How does Shippernet.com select Transport Carriers for the Directory?

Shippernet.com prequalifies all of the above information available at a Transport Carrier’s freight directory prior to listing on the directory. All the information must be available either publicly or privately using a User name, password and Company ID. Shippernet.com performs annual audits on this information.

What other information can be made available as a public document at the site?

Logos and any other appropriate freight documents either the shipper or transport carrier deems necessary to efficiently handle a freight transaction. Any document that has a standard portable extension (.pdf, .xls, .doc, .pub, etc.) can be uploaded and maintained at a sub directory site such as a shipper required load status report, bills of lading, freight documents, etc. or any other freight and operational information.
Transport Carriers can upload information about their preferred lanes of traffic, available equipment capacities, driver application forms, etc. safety inspection documents and make them available publicly or privately.

While the subdirectory system could contain any information on a web site the freight directories cannot serve as a substitute for a web site. However related links back to any sites where freight information can be referenced or located is acceptable.

How does Shippernet.com differ from a TMS?

Transportation management systems generally fall into two categories.

Shipper Transportation Management Systems
These systems are logistical solutions that place load and shipment tenders to transport carriers directly from software solutions that are installed at a distribution center, warehouse, manufacturing site, railroad facility, port facility or airport.

Transportation Intermediary Systems
These systems are developed, designed and used by the more than 11,000 freight intermediaries. Intermediaries generally act as shipper agents. They arrange by contract for the movement of the load or shipment with hundreds of thousands of asset-based transport carriers. These systems include the numerous load boards both subscription-based and free. Load boards are freight available advertisements designed to broadcast load information to thousands of transport carriers. Loads and shipments advertised on the load boards require thousands of hours of wasted human resources, multiple load and shipment postings by staff, many phone calls to get quotes and negotiate rates, phone calls to communicate load and pickup specifics, e-mails and faxing costs to exchange freight documents.

Shippernet.com freight directories could be called a transportation management system however they are designed to serve as electronic libraries where load and shipment offers or tenders are made directly to a large federation of prequalified and preferred transport carriers without the use of multiple load postings, numerous phone calls to quote and negotiate rates, various calls to communicate load and pickup specifics and faxing and e-mails to exchange documents.

The freight directories are designed to serve as complete electronic freight repositories where the shippers can tender freight, offer freight on a bid or quotation basis, create or upload their own transportation documents either publicly or privately directly to transport carriers in a paperless environment.

The shipper based upon their own unique freight requirements designs and determines all the specific documents needed to tender and complete a load or shipment transaction with their pre-qualified and preferred transport carriers. Correspondingly the shipper can ask the transport carrier to have all the necessary freight documents available for pickup at the Transport Carrier’s respective sub directory either publicly or securely.

How does the system deliver a paperless environment?

The system uses standard file transfer protocols from any computer having access to the internet. A shipper connects to the site server and uses the internet and subdirectories to administer freight documents and to manipulate files.
The freight sub directories allow for the transfer, exchange and manipulation of any documents with standard file transfer extensions. Shippers and transport carriers can connect to create, to prepare, to confirm, to upload and exchange any freight information and to ultimately bundle the entire freight transaction for download into a paperless freight document file for later storage or retrieval. The system operates independent of the operation systems involved.
Ultimately all the entire freight documents can be downloaded into an electronic and paperless freight document file or folder for storage and retrieval by all parties to the freight transaction.

What kind of security is implemented at a directory site?

All sub directory information is managed by the respective shipper, shipper agent or transport carrier. The sub directories can contain public documents that can be viewed by any one.
All others documents are accessible only through use of a proper User Identification, Password and Company Identification. Whether a freight document is public or private is determined by personal preference except for the required public documents previously mentioned.