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Overview

CarrierStore’s proprietary xChange technology links our clients’ carriers, vendors, and customers together and offers them a full suite of transportation and logistic services. Developed and designed by veteran transportation professionals who fully understand the importance of improving process efficiencies while reducing costs, the xChange platform embodies complete logistic support, from shipment entry through payment. Coupled with our expert consulting services, xChange provides the infrastructure to effectively establish, monitor, and manage the key performance metrics of today’s ever-changing supply chain.

xChange technology is built on the Force.com multi-tenant platform, an on-demand solution that enables you to avoid the cost and complexity of purchasing, installing, configuring, and maintaining an on-premises data center and its inherent hardware, software, and administrative expenses. xChange lets you easily integrate your ERP systems via EDI, XML, or flat files and customize your data. What’s more: as a CarrierStore client, you can take advantage of our around-the-clock customer support, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

Each CarrierStore user’s sensitive personal data is kept secure and insulated from that of other users, however each participant is represented in this virtual marketplace. Gathering all these users in one space affords greater collaboration, transparency, and integration, saving time and money for all involved. Any enhancements to the xChange program are felt across the supply chain, allowing for greater economies of scale for all partners.

CarrierStore’s licensing agreement includes Saleforce.com’s native CRM package. xChange can create customizable analytics to assess and/or benchmark your KPIs, yielding great insight into your service processes, improving your performance, and ultimately gaining a more competitive foothold within your market. Creating reports with xChange is fast and simple - just use the drag-and-drop user interface – and the possibilities are virtually endless.

Shipment Booking

Information technology is an essential tool to optimize, manage, and track your freight shipping. CarrierStore built xChange to enable our members to take advantage of direct carrier relationships and open capacity through either published (negotiated) or automated spot rates. Whether you enter a TL or LTL shipment, xChange will generate a carrier listing based on your individual configurations of preference, cost, and/or service rating. Once a carrier is selected and the shipment is booked, xChange will autocreate all associated shipping documents including bills of lading (BOL), CarrierStore packing lists (CPLs), and shipment invoices (CSIs). The xChange system can execute single or multiple shipment entries with equal ease and accuracy.

Published Rates: CarrierStore negotiates competitive TL lane rates and LTL class and pallet rates with a number of best-in-class carriers. After you enter your shipment specifics, xChange matches the shipment to our network of national and regional carriers, providing you with multiple competitive rates from which to choose.

Spot Quotes: CarrierStore’s registered clients can immediately initiate a spot quote on volume LTL and TL shipments. Clients simply enter their shipment details through the xChange platform to receive all-inclusive rate quotes - including service time - from carriers in our network which match by origin and destination. Shipments are dynamically rated directly with the carriers' pricing department based on their open capacity. This supply and demand based pricing structure consistently saves you money. Quote turnaround is often within minutes and you are never obligated to accept any of the provided carrier bids. Using xChange to automate your spot quote requests saves you the time and hassle wasted on endless phone calls and e-mails to multiple carriers or brokers; now you can quickly receive multiple quotes on all your LTL/TL freight while being assured of the lowest prices!

PO Integration: CarrierStore can easily integrate Purchase Order files (850/875) via EDI, XML or flat files using FTP, Van or AS2 methods. PO integration provides the client the ability to create their inbound shipments with the same PO data used with their vendors. This integration results in greater efficiencies by facilitating the vendor inbound compliance process. Benefits include shipment consolidation and optimization, knowing what was ordered vs what was shipped; knowing that your vendors are choosing the right carrier to ensure on time delivery; and allowing you to determine the true landed cost down to the SKU level.

Dispatch-Load Board

The xChange Boards, Dispatch & Load, are dynamic applications that allow the client and carrier to efficiently streamline the assignment and booking process. Built on the client’s preference configuration, and then matched with available carriers to the zone/lane, the Dispatch – Load Board operates on a first-right of refusal approach. This process increases the accuracy of booking (i.e., no double dispatches) and eliminates redundancy by not having to separately notify each of the qualifying carriers.

In summary, clients can batch and post multiple loads to preferred and recommended carriers with the click of a mouse. Carriers review and accept the loads based on their internal freight flows. Information is then returned real-time to the client. If more than one carrier accepts the load, the xChange application will automatically select the carrier based upon the client’s preferences, cost or service rating. If none of the preferred carriers can cover the load, the load is then automatically re-sent out to the listing of recommended carriers and the process is repeated until the load is covered. This whole process can be completed based upon the client’s pre-defined parameters.

Route Optimization

The Route Optimization application optimizes capacity and/or reduces empty miles by leveraging xChange's multi-stop, pool distribution and load match tools. This application takes advantage of multiple LTL shipments to leverage TL Multi-Stop and Pool Distribution moves, by transitioning the long-haul LTL costs into regional or "drop-off" LTL rates and creating a single TL cost.

Multi-Stop TL: CarrierStore's technology analyzes booked LTL shipments and/or scheduled POs to combine them to create a multi-stop TL. This process consolidates LTL pick-ups and/or deliveries into a TL shipment, or "milk run." xChange dynamically queries all LTL shipments and/or scheduled POs based on the user’s out-of-route mile configuration. Using the defined queries, xChange optimizes the data to create a multi-stop TL.

Pool Distribution: The xChange system can assign LTL shipments to a published TL lane then generate a single manifest to track all shipments and rates. Each LTL shipment and rate is updated to reflect the TL destination as the origin location. In essence, each LTL shipment will be converted to a TL lane to reduce long haul LTL costs, while maintaining the ability to separately track each of the shipments for track & trace and payment requirements.

Load Match: xChange's load match application focuses on our clients dedicated transportation program. This application is built to be cross-functional, leveraging other accounts/clients, to fill backhaul opportunities to reduce empty miles.

Scheduling

CarrierStore's Scheduling Tool is the most technologically-advanced application on the market today. Here you can dynamically configure your warehouse to efficiently schedule loads according to expected unload time - considering such factors as line item and shipment details - so you can optimize the scheduling of inbound shipments for both live and drop loads. The Scheduling Tool minimizes communication errors by allowing carriers to directly update transportation information, set and confirm appointments, and send electronic confirmations, all while enabling the shipper to improve dock door utilization and yard congestion. The tool has a built-in exception management application to support rescheduling appointments and accommodate special delivery requests.

And the process couldn’t be simpler: just log into xChange's secure portal to schedule a reservation, choose whether the booking is a Customer Pick-up (CPU) or a Vendor Delivered Shipment (VDS) by entering the confirmation or PO number, select between a "drop" or "live" shipment, and enter the time. Email confirmations outlining the details of the shipment are automatically sent to all involved parties - that's it!

Yard Manger

The Yard Manager application is essentially an “inventory management” system for incoming and outgoing equipment (containers/trailers). Designed to interface with the current xChange program (although it can also be used as a stand-alone application), this module tracks your freight and the equipment that carries it through its full lifecycle, saving you from the exorbitant fees incurred when trailers and/or containers sit empty for extended periods.

The Yard Manager replaces antiquated tracking tools which inaccurately and inadequately managed these assets and their contents. Additionally, our clients now possess the ability to automate their unloading process, effectively manage exceptions and store and retrieve data to assist in payment and audit functions. With full end-to-end traceability, CarrierStore clients who utilize the Yard Manager can greatly curb the accessorials, such as per diem and detention costs, thus reducing the overall cost of goods.