CargoSmart offers $2 shipment fee for its portal

CargoSmart offers $2 shipment fee for its portal    CargoSmart Ltd., a provider of application and integration services for the ocean container transportation industry, on Thursday announced a pricing offer for ocean carriers of $2 for each registered shipment managed through its portal.
   CargoSmart, which has 38,000 members, provides carriers with a low-cost self-service channel in addition to other portals and carriers’ own Web sites.
   In the midst of growing supply on many trade routes and rising fuel costs, both carriers and high-volume customers have chosen to use multiple portals and carrier Web sites to help meet their shipment management needs, strengthen long term customer-supplier relationships, and reduce costs, the company said in a statement.
   “Carriers and customers are increasingly selecting CargoSmart in their multiple-channel information technology strategy to take advantage of an open shipment management platform with low integration costs,” said Joe O’Brien, CargoSmart’s director of business development.
   In very few cases, large-scale customers have requested that their carriers connect exclusively to one portal that may not be the lowest cost and effective shipment management solution available while other options exist for carriers.
   “Portal selection may affect customers’ ocean carrier freight negotiations,” said Steve Siu, CargoSmart’s chief executive officer. “Customers should consider the long term cost and efficiency implications to their companies and the industry as a whole when choosing a shipment management platform.”