EDI in the Transportation Industry

 

EDI has become very popular in the haulage and transportation industry as transportation companies and load brokers are adapting their systems to cater for EDI document exchange.

The advantages for those working in the transportation industry is that routine high volume communications can be automated allowing dispatchers and accounts receivables staff more time to focus on more productive/profitable tasks and provide clients with better customer service. One of the main advantages of EDI is that it eliminates a dispatcher from having to manually key information into the dispatch operational and billing system. This results in saving time and money while eliminating any costly data entry mistakes. The other advantage is that transportation companies who are EDI compliant can communicate seamlessly and electronically with all parties in the supply chain process.

 
All data is communicated between the carrier, shipper, and the consignee in electronic EDI documents known as ANSI X12 “Transaction Sets.” The most commonly used EDI Transaction Sets in the Transportation Industry are:

204- Motor Carrier Load Tender

211- Bill of Lading

212- Delivery Trailer Manifest

214- Shipment Status Message

210- Freight Details and Invoice

820- Payment Order/Remittance Advice

 

990- Response to the Load Tender

997- Functional Acknowledgement

 
Being EDI enabled allows carriers to have access to the vital information that helps them perform at optimum efficiencies and effectiveness, while at the same time saving time and money.
 
For further information on how B2BGateway can help your transportation organization become EDI compliant and meet the needs of your clients and their trading partners call +1 (401) 491 9595 or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net  

Logistics Pooling

At the recent ECR Ireland Supply Chain Summit in Dublin, two themes for the supply chain future prevailed: Sustainability and Logistics Pooling. In this short blog I am going to concentrate on Logistics Pooling – what is it and what are its advantages?

 
Logistics Pooling has been defined by Jesus Gonzalez-Feliu as the common usage of logistics resources: material (vehicles, platforms), human (drivers, land operators) and immaterial (software tools, information) between organizations. It consists of a semi-closed group of collaborators who share vehicles and platforms to reduce their logistics costs and the environmental nuisances related to last mile distribution in urban dense zones. 
 
Quite simply it is the sharing of transportation resources to get goods to the same distribution centre by making best use of space available (i.e. sending one full truck with multiple organizations goods on board, rather than sending many half empty trucks for each organization).
 
Logistics Pooling offers the following advantages to suppliers and manufacturers:

·         Ability to meet demands of retailers who want smaller volumes to be delivered more often(greater freshness of product, reduced inventory levels, etc.).
·         Ability to reduce transportation costs.
·         Environmental awareness and sustainability by reducing CO2 emissions.
 
For further information on automating your supply chain processes and making the best use of supply chain logistics please contact our sales team today on 401-491-9595 or email Sales@B2BGateway.Net