Digital freight marketplace Loadshop is working to actively put more control back into the hands of shippers and carriers during spot market transactions. In keeping with this effort, the company has launched a tool known as RateSeeker.
Developed based on customer feedback, RateSeeker is designed to help shippers get the most out of every transaction and continue to reduce the average cost of spot freight.
“We are always listening to our users for ideas on how to improve,” Loadshop business lead Hunter Burke said. “Ultimately, if the technology doesn’t work for them and make their lives easier, it needs to change.”
On the Loadshop platform, shippers set their own pricing and ensure they’ve found the best price to move their freight. To make the best possible match at the best price for everyone involved, shippers post their freight and take market feedback from carriers. Sometimes the load moves very quickly at their initial posting, while other times it doesn’t. When this happens, shippers readjust the rate to find a match between their freight and a carrier’s need – from a rate and lane perspective. This can be a labor-intensive process for shippers, who could potentially be working on multiple spot opportunities at one time. That is where RateSeeker comes into play.
RateSeeker is an automation tool that allows shippers to set a ceiling for their spend while also putting that freight out to the marketplace to find the best possible match. The tool will automatically step the rate up – provided a match hasn’t been made – until it reaches that ceiling at a cadence set by the shipper. Shippers can set this automation on a load-by-load basis if they so choose and have control over just how far below their ceiling the loads originally post for, as well as how RateSeeker automatically steps the loads. Shippers can also determine if they want it to move up all at once or by various time intervals until they’ve reached their ceiling. The rate may move at a static amount or a percentage of the overall rate, all set by the shipper.
“RateSeeker has been a great tool to find the best carrier at the right price,” logistics account manager and Loadshop user Alyssa Kamyszek said. “We use it in conjunction with SmartSpot to get after the market and make the best matches. Having both tools right on the platform helps us make the best decisions we can.”
Not every load will work for each carrier’s network the same way, as the individual network of shippers will vary. Carriers have their own network needs. Sometimes a driver might have a need that aligns with a load’s specific rate, and the carrier will book right away versus another carrier without that need or competing priority for the truck. That second carrier might need more money to make the right match given its network. RateSeeker helps ensure that the best match gets made between the carrier and shipper while helping shippers increase the efficiency of their spot market work.
“Market feedback directly to the shipper has been a hallmark of the Loadshop platform since its inception,” Burke said. “There’s no middle entity to slow down that process or spin rates like there is with a broker. RateSeeker automates some of that feedback to the shipper to help the shipper do more work with less effort. Freight at good rates moves very quickly off the platform. With RateSeeker, a shipper doesn’t have to remember to go back and adjust if they’re not where the rate needs to be. RateSeeker automates that feedback while providing protection to the shipper, without going over their max price to move the load.”
SmartSpot helps shippers determine, with a degree of confidence, just where the market would be on a lane, and RateSeeker™ allows them to work their way up to that rate and take advantage of any possible opportunity with the right carrier to move the load at a lower cost. SmartSpot is the Loadshop proprietary rating tool that gives shippers a rate, specific to their lanes and/or loads with a high degree of confidence for acceptance in the marketplace.
Loadshop is a digital freight marketplace that continues to expand its capabilities, with a focus on making the best match between a shipper’s freight and a carrier’s need in the volatile freight marketplaces. With RateSeeker and SmartSpot, the capabilities of this service and marketplace have only gotten better.
To learn more about what Loadshop can offer your operation, visit Loadshop.com.