Easy Load Board, LLC, today announced the launch of www.easyloadboard.com, a no call, no fax and no e-mail system that streamlines the often tedious back and forth negotiations between shippers and carriers. Its developers says the subscription site is the first of its kind for the shipping industry.
Think of it like travel website priceline.com only for the shipping industry.
Surprisingly, even today, shippers typically manage shipments using the old-technology phone, fax or e-mail to solicit and accept competitive bids posted on loadboards, spreadsheet style documents viewed online. Shippers say arranging a pick-up can sometimes take up to 50 phone calls before all is said and done.
When a carrier’s bid is accepted a Rate Confirmation Contract is produced automatically. Once the shipper and carrier each review and digitally sign the contract, the posted load is removed from the board.
EasyLoadBoard (ELB) lets carriers do multiple searches for different cities at the same time. A carrier can bid and send a message to the shipper, bidding on multiple loads in each searched location. Once he accepts a contract from a shipper all of his bids will disappear and his search folder is gone. It even allows the user to export all of his transactions into their accounting package, eliminating double data entry.
Jerry Spain, EasyLoadBoard co-developer, said the broker package is the best of both worlds by being able to search for more than one city at a time. They can search for loads for up to ten cities and have an accurate count on the number of loads and bids for each city, while watching bids come in on the loads that they have posted themselves.
Early user reviews for ELB tout the site’s ease-of-use with the biggest benefit is improved productivity and, as a result, improved operating profits by cutting the amount of time it takes to book loads.
Joanne Wilson, agency owner of Quest Global Logistics, Orlando, FL., said ELB accurately reflects the pace of today’s shipping industry.
“Booked loads automatically drop of ELB, cutting down on repetitive calls and staying productive,”
Terry Best, brokerage manager for J & H Trucking, Andover, Kan., thinks people should be lining up to get on it.
“It’s dispatch oriented,” said Best. “It eliminates duplicate calls and faxes and, frankly, no traditional load boards lets you handle all the steps like EasyLoadBoard. I’m using this full time.”
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