2020 is going down as a year unlike few others, both on the personal front and within business. Supply chains have needed to restructure and, in some cases, re-invent how they operated to maintain their resilience. Communications throughout supply chains have become far more digitized. Throughout this time, PostBidShip has been deploying functionality aimed at greater collaboration with less effort to keep freight moving amongst the new challenges.
Here are a few of the enhancements in PostBidShip’s recent release.
Shipper Feedback and Scorecard
PostBidShip has released Shipper Feedback and Scorecard. Any load that is awarded to a carrier, the shipper can provide feedback to the carrier as to its experience.
The feedback uses a five-star scale to provide feedback that may range from a high of Excellent to a low of Poor. In most cases, all will go according to plan and a 5-star review is in order. Feedback is optional but encouraged.
However, there are times when feedback is important to share with a shipper’s freight partner. Perhaps the carrier gave back the load, or increased the rate post-award, had poor communications, did not meet its appointment commitments or had freight damage. The shipper feedback and scorecard permit a shipper to provide feedback at any time after the load is awarded and for up to a month after the delivery was completed. Feedback can be a simple star rating but can also identify any issue that may have occurred and, if desired, offer some comments as well.
Over time, this feedback is aggregated so that carriers can see if there are recurring opportunities to improve upon in working with their freight partners. Other shippers on PostBidShip can view the overall 5-star score of any carrier quoting its freight.
Where to Find
You will see a gold star besides any awarded load that has not had feedback supplied. Once posted, feedback can be changed for up to 30 days after delivery by opening up the load and clicking on the ‘Update Feedback’ link in the left-hand corner of the load form.
Carrier Feedback and Scorecard
PostBidShip now has as feature for Carrier Feedback and Scorecard. For any load awarded to and accepted by a carrier, that carrier can provide feedback to the shipper as to its experience.
The feedback uses a five-star scale to provide feedback that may range from a high of Excellent to a low of Poor. In most cases, all will go according to plan and a 5-star review is in order. Feedback is optional but encouraged.
However, there are times when feedback is important to share with a business partner. Perhaps the detention at a stop was excessive, or the specifics of the load was not clearly or accurately communicated in advance, or there were payment processing delays post-load. The carrier feedback and scorecard permit a carrier to provide feedback at any time after the load is accepted and for up to two months after the load was completed. Feedback can be a simple star rating but can also identify any issue that may have occurred and, if desired, offer some comments as well.
Over time, this feedback is aggregated so that shippers can see if there are recurring opportunities to improve upon in working with their freight partners. Other carriers on PostBidShip can view the overall 5-star score of any shipper for which it is quoting its freight.
Where to Find
You will see a gold star besides any accepted load that has not had feedback supplied. Once posted, feedback can be changed for up to 60 days after delivery by opening up the load and clicking on the ‘Update Feedback’ link in the upper right-hand corner of the load form.
Edit Loads After Bids & Bid Period Extensions
PostBidShip now supports shippers editing of portions of loads after bids have already been placed. All notes on a load can now be edited. Equipment type can be modified as needed. If a maximum bid ceiling is assigned to a load, it can now be increased during a bidding period to encourage more bids. Shippers can also extend a load’s bidding period either during the bidding or after it expires. This supports encouraging additional bids should the shipper desire such response. Any bidder with an active bid receives an update that the load has been modified with a link to the load.
Where to Find
You can perform edits to active loads by selecting the edit icon to the immediate right of the load on the Active load screen. Keep in mind that if you go to edit an active load, it moves the load to a ‘hold’ state (blocking any actions by bidders). Be sure to click through to the final screen and select ‘Restart Auction’ to make it available for bidding once more.
You can extend an expired load by clicking on the new ‘Reactivate Load’ icon to the far right of the load on the Expired load screen, enter an updated bidding end date and time and hit the ‘Restart Auction’ button.
Request Changes to Pickups and Deliveries Post-Tender
With the ongoing tightness in the spot freight markets, the ability to remain flexible in terms of pickup and/or delivery date appointments can benefit both shippers and carriers alike. PostBidShip now supports the ability for both parties to negotiate revised dates and times after a load is awarded. A carrier may request a change to a stop’s date and/or time by editing the appointments on an awarded load. In addition to the requested dates and/or time changes, notes can be added to the request. Upon completion, the request is communicated to the shipper’s contact. That individual can then quickly approve or decline the change request as well as supply comments. An approval results in a notification returned to the bidder as well as an updated Load Tender Acceptance.
Where to Find
As a carrier, you can perform an appointment change request by selecting the edit icon to the immediate right of the load on either the Awarded or Accepted load screens. Edits are available up until the data of the first appointment.
As a shipper, you will receive a notification from the carrier requesting an appointment change. You can approve or decline the request. An approval results in a notification returned to the bidder as well as an updated Load Tender Acceptance.
Enhanced Load and Bid Reporting
PostBidShip has extended the capabilities of its reporting.
The Load Report now incorporates more data to improve analysis. Origin and Destination information are now broken out into city, state/province, country and postal code. Calculations such as percentage difference versus target bid, cost per mile (awarded and lowest), and forecasted rates (high, low, average) at time of bidding are included, as well as the number of invited bidders.
The Bid Report has been redesigned to provide bid details on ranges of loads versus supply bids on individual loads. Its data now includes, amongst other information, the bid total (and breakout), bidding company, lowest / highest / average / awarded bid, cost per mile (awarded), forecasted rates (high, low, average), as well as the number of invited bidders and total bids.
Where to Find
The reporting can be found under the drop-down beneath your login user in the upper right hand corner.
Any questions on new PostBidShip platform releases, please contact support@postbidship.com.
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