Innovative Computing Corporation is announced the addition of the new IES Accu-Rate module to the lineup of administrative and trips processing tools integrated into Innovative’s transportation management system Innovative Enterprise Software.
With IES Accu-Rate, Innovative customers not only will have the existing IES option to create automated rates specific to each customer or commodity, but with IES Accu-Rate, carriers will also now be able to create automated rates for round trip and other specific routes. In addition, with IES Accu-Rate, carriers will have the option of utilizing customer supplied backup or catch-all rate matrices, pick and drop locations, and round trip rates – including those with tiered multiple stop-off rates.
Also like Innovative’s existing computerized rating tool, IES Accu-Rate has the option of creating rates for given customers based on pre-set, 3-digit ZIP to ZIP, city to city and state to state routes in any combination. IES Accu-Rate also extends ZIP to ZIP rating further by now including rates based upon 5-digit ZIP codes and Canadian postal codes.
Knight Transportation, Inc., of Phoenix, AZ, has already begun reaping the benefits of this new tool in their own work. As a long-time Innovative customer, Knight has been using Innovative’s computerized rating tools for some time. With the addition of IES Accu-Rate to Knight’s arsenal of tools, Knight and Knight’s shippers have benefited by more customizable rating tools.
Cory Staheli, Vice President of Information Systems said, “We recognize a significant improvement in flexibility, accuracy, speed to enter rates, and the ability to automate so many accessorial charges. Our environment requires carriers to be agile in their response with their customer’s needs. Customers expect a perfect bill, one that matches the contracts we’ve entered into. IES Accu-Rate is flexible enough to match all our current customer contractual obligations, and enables us to adapt quickly and efficiently as new requirements present themselves.”
Additional IES Accu-Rate benefits allow carriers greater flexibility in their rating outcomes, which in turn increases their customer negotiation options and their ability to adapt to changing markets. For example, with IES Accu-Rate, carriers can manage critical additions to their fees as needed. These rating options include:
Accessorial – Allows carriers to account automatically for critical charges such as Tarping and Lumper fees.
Surge Charges – Enables carriers working with dedicated contracts to manage and account for additional fees when a surge in a given customer’s load volumes occurs.
Fuel Surcharge Override Per Lane – Allows carriers to overcome costly or consistent fuel cost overages for particular routes.
Customer Specific Mileage Lookup – Offers carriers the flexibility of working with customer stated miles for specific lanes.
Internal Rate Comments and Authorization – Benefits carriers by recording internally not only who authorized a given rate, but any comments related to that rate.
Hazmat carriers also benefit through the ability to preset fees for Hazmat loads. Once set, these fees apply to orders flagged as a Hazmat load. IES Accu-Rate Hazmat fees can be further customized to charge by flat rate, line haul and rate per mile. With this feature, carriers will be able to create specific Hazmat rates for each of their customers. By offering adaptability in the way these and other accessorial fees are charged, carriers can be more flexible in their negotiations with their shippers, the company says. When the order is entered, a Hazmat flag can be set and the pre-determined Hazmat rate automatically applied to the load. No further work on the part of the dispatcher or rating clerk is required.
Additional features will allow carriers to create effective and expiration dates for rates. With the benefit of expiration dates, carriers are able to create specialized rates for new customers or time-based discount or surcharge programs for existing customers. It also allows for rates to expire at contract expiration, and provides visibility to management when rates are about to expire. This helps management more effectively work with contract based customers to proactively ensure loads are not hauled without effective rates.
IES Accu-Rate also offers carriers the ability to import their own customer’s rate tables from Excel spreadsheets. “Last week we uploaded over 350,000 lines of rates for one customer in 15 minutes instead of the 2 weeks it normally takes to implement and audit that many rates,” said Staheli. “By eliminating the human element of keying in so many lanes we have also increased the accuracy of our billing.”
Integral to the equation is IES Accu-Rate’s ability to allow a carrier to fully utilize computerized rating for all their rating needs. Specifically, IES Accu-Rate offers carriers the benefit of implementing Back-up Rate tables into the rating system. These tables are used in instances when the shipper doesn’t have established rates with the carrier for a specific lane, but has provided a backup matrix. In these cases, the software will work through a prioritized list of rating options and if no rates exist, the system will defer to the customer supplied backup matrix rates.
Summarizing this advancement, Innovative President Ernie Betancourt said “With this new module, Innovative customers, regardless of their past work with rating, can rely on their IES for the complete computerization of their rating needs, which in turn will speed the process from order to billing further than ever before.”
