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ShipArdent Carrier Management System
An integrated platform for carrier sourcing, rate intelligence, capacity management, and load offering.
Carrier Offer Tool
Match available loads with carrier capacity using intelligent 3-tier priority system.
Active Capacity
Historical
DAT Capacity
Capacity Engine
AI-powered email parsing extracts truck availability automatically.
ChatGPT
Auto-Match
Bidding Tool
Research freight rates with internal history and DAT market intelligence.
DAT Rates
Internal
Forecast
Core Carriers & Shipper Direct
Manage core carriers and customer-specific assignments.
Quick Access
Customer-Specific
How The Tools Work Together
- Capacity Engine captures carrier truck availability
- Carrier Offer Tool uses that capacity as "Active Capacity" (highest priority)
- Bidding Tool provides rate intelligence for negotiations
- Core/Direct Carriers ensure trusted carriers get priority
Carrier Offer Tool
Match available loads with carrier capacity and send offers via email with intelligent 3-tier priority matching.
Purpose: Find and contact carriers for your loads using smart capacity matching, historical data, and market intelligence.
Key Features
- Smart Carrier Matching: 3-tier priority system (Active → Historical → DAT)
- Tiered Match Quality: Perfect, Origin, Destination, Backhaul
- Bulk Selection: Select multiple contacts across pages
- Shipper Direct Exclusion: Automatically filters out carriers with exclusive customer relationships
- Opt-Out Management: Respect carrier communication preferences
- Rate Intelligence: View DAT rates and internal averages
- Offer Tracking: Monitor Accepted, Declined, Counter Offers
How Carrier Matching Works
🟢 Priority 1: Active Capacity (TruckList)
Carriers with trucks posted in the system (next 14 days). Ranked by match quality:
🎯 TIER 1: PERFECT MATCH
Logic: Truck origin = Load origin AND (Truck destination = Load destination OR open)
Example: Truck "Dallas, TX → Houston, TX" matches load "Dallas, TX → Houston, TX"
Example: Truck "Dallas, TX → Houston, TX" matches load "Dallas, TX → Houston, TX"
✓ TIER 2: ORIGIN MATCH
Logic: Truck starts where load starts
Example: Truck "Dallas → anywhere" matches load starting in Dallas
Example: Truck "Dallas → anywhere" matches load starting in Dallas
→ TIER 3: DESTINATION MATCH
Logic: Truck ends where load ends
Example: Truck going to Houston matches load ending in Houston
Example: Truck going to Houston matches load ending in Houston
↩ TIER 4: BACKHAUL
Logic: Truck ends where load starts (positioning opportunity)
Example: Truck ending in Dallas positions for load starting in Dallas
Example: Truck ending in Dallas positions for load starting in Dallas
Additional Sorting: After match tier, sorted by Core Carrier status, then loads in past 30 days
⚫ Priority 2: Historical Carriers
Carriers who have hauled this exact lane before. Searches internal history for Origin + Destination match, sorted by recent activity.
🔵 Priority 3: DAT Capacity
External market data from DAT showing carriers with trucks in the lane. Real-time API query, sorted by email contacts first. Shows credit score, days to pay, bookability.
Shipper Direct Exclusion (Automatic)
The system automatically prevents booking conflicts by excluding carriers with exclusive customer relationships:
⚠️ Smart Protection
When you click a load, the system checks the customer and automatically filters out any carriers marked as having a direct relationship with that customer. This prevents you from competing with the customer's exclusive carrier arrangements.
How It Works:
- You click on a load row to view matched carriers
- System identifies the customer/shipper for that load
- Queries Carrier Management for any Shipper Direct Relations
- Excludes those carriers from Active Capacity, Historical, and DAT results
- Only shows carriers available for that specific customer's loads
Example: If ACME Corp has a direct relationship with XYZ Trucking, when you view ACME's loads, XYZ Trucking won't appear in your carrier list—preventing awkward double-booking situations and respecting existing exclusive contracts.
Opt-Out Management
Respect carrier communication preferences with one-click opt-out/opt-in management:
- Opted-out carriers won't appear in future offer lists
- Opted-back-in carriers become immediately selectable
- Tracked by CarrierID, MC Number, and DOT Number
- Support for Email, SMS, Phone opt-outs (currently Email only)
How to Use
- Select loads from main table (selections persist across pagination)
- Click load row to open detail panel with matched carriers
- Expand carrier sections (Active, Historical, DAT) to see contacts
- Click contacts to select (blue border), or use "Select All" button
- Click "Opt-Out" button on carriers who should not receive offers
- For opted-out carriers, click "Opt Back In" to reactivate
- Return to main page and send batch offers
Capacity Engine (TruckList)
Capture and manage live carrier capacity submissions using AI-powered email parsing to power the Carrier Offer Tool's "Active Capacity" priority.
Purpose: Automatically extract truck availability from carrier emails and match against available loads.
AI-Powered Email Parsing
ChatGPT Integration
Process:
- Extract email body from MIME/Outlook structure
- Decode quoted-printable encoding
- Send to ChatGPT (GPT-4o-mini) with parsing instructions
- Extract structured JSON with required fields
- Store in TruckList database
Extracted Data: Driver Name, Truck/Trailer #, Origin, Destination, Equipment Type, Load Date, MC/DOT, Carrier Name, Contact Info
Integration with Carrier Offers
TruckList data becomes "Active Capacity" in the Carrier Offer Tool:
- Trucks within 14-day window are matched against loads
- State matching uses abbreviations (TX, CA, etc.)
- Tiered matching logic ranks carrier relevance
- Blacklisted carriers and opt-outs are excluded
Two Ways to Submit Capacity
Method 1: Email
- Carrier sends availability email
- Open in Outlook
- Click Outlook Add-in button
- ChatGPT parses automatically
- Stored in database
Method 2: Manual Form
- Navigate to /trucklist
- Fill structured form
- Enter truck details
- Click Save
- Direct database insert
Bidding Tool (Rate Intelligence)
Research freight rates and market conditions for any lane using internal history and DAT market intelligence.
Purpose: Get accurate rate intelligence before making carrier offers or customer quotes.
Rate Types Displayed
Internal Rates
Source: Company historical data (MasterLane)
- Customer Rate (30/90/180 day avg)
- Carrier Rate (30/90/180 day avg)
- Load Counts & Trend Charts
DAT Market Rates
Source: DAT RateView API (live market)
- Broker-to-Carrier Spot
- Shipper-to-Carrier Contract
- Shipper-to-Broker Spot
Radius Search Feature
Expand rate search beyond exact city pairs:
- Origin/Destination Radius: 0-500 miles
- Logic: Uses ZIP3 codes + Haversine distance formula
- Aggregation: Calculates min/max/avg across all matching city pairs
How to Use
- Navigate to /biddingTool
- Enter Origin and Destination (autocomplete available)
- Adjust Radius sliders if flexible (0 = exact match)
- Select Equipment Type and Mode
- Click Search
- Review all rate cards and forecast
- Check historical charts for trend analysis
Carrier Management
Centralized hub for managing carrier relationships, communication preferences, core carrier classification, and shipper-direct relations.
Purpose: Streamline carrier classification, maintain communication preferences, and manage customer-specific carrier assignments from one interface.
Key Features
Core Carrier Marking
Mark trusted carriers for priority in load matching and offers
Shipper Direct Relations
Mark carriers with exclusive customer relationships to prevent booking conflicts
Opt-Out Management
Respect carrier communication preferences (email, SMS, phone)
Notes & Audit Trail
Track operational notes and all changes with timestamps
1. Core Carrier Classification
Core carriers are trusted, preferred partners that receive priority treatment across the platform.
Benefits of Core Status:
- Priority matching in Carrier Offer Tool
- Preferred position in load distribution
- Special status indicators (⭐) across platform
- Sorted ahead of non-core carriers
How to Mark: Toggle the "Mark as Core Carrier" switch. System automatically records who marked it and when.
2. Shipper Direct Relations
Mark carriers that have exclusive relationships with specific customers, indicating we should NOT book this carrier for those customers.
⚠️ Important - Exclusion List:
- Customer has direct/exclusive contract with this carrier
- Carrier works directly with customer (bypasses broker)
- Prevents double-booking or competing with customer's direct relationship
- System will exclude this carrier when offering loads for this customer
How to Add: Search for customer name, select from dropdown, click add. This marks the carrier as excluded for that customer's loads. Relations display with add date and can be removed anytime.
3. Communication Opt-Out Management
Respect carrier communication preferences across three channels: Email, SMS, and Phone.
| Channel | Description | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Opt-out of email offers and communications | Excluded from email blast offers | |
| SMS | Opt-out of text message notifications | No SMS load alerts sent |
| Phone | Opt-out of phone calls | Carrier not called for loads |
How to Set: Toggle appropriate channels, add optional notes explaining preferences, click "Save Opt-Out Settings". System records who set it and when.
4. Search & Discovery
Find carriers quickly using multiple search criteria:
- Carrier Name: Partial match search
- SCAC Code: Standard Carrier Alpha Code
- MC Number: Motor Carrier number
Results display up to 50 carriers with live dropdown. Click to load full details from Salesforce.
Step-by-Step Usage
- Search: Type carrier name, SCAC, or MC# in search box (minimum 2 characters)
- Select: Click carrier from dropdown results to load details
- View Info: Review carrier information (MC#, DOT#, SCAC, Type)
- Mark Core: Toggle "Mark as Core Carrier" if this is a trusted partner
- Add Shipper Relations: Search and link customers to this carrier
- Set Opt-Outs: Configure communication preferences (email, SMS, phone)
- Add Notes: Document operational notes or special instructions
Audit Trail & Accountability
Every change is tracked with:
- Timestamp: When the change was made
- User Email: Who made the change
- Change Type: Core status, opt-out, relation add/remove
Note: All carrier management changes are company-wide and immediately affect load matching and communication systems.
Integration with Other Tools
| Tool | How It Uses Carrier Management |
|---|---|
| Carrier Offer Tool | Uses core status for sorting, opt-out for filtering, shipper direct relations to exclude carriers from customer-specific loads |
| Capacity Engine | Respects opt-out preferences when sending capacity notifications |
| Bidding Tool | Shows core carrier indicators and carrier context |
Notifications
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