Hapag-Lloyd digitizes rate dissemination through CargoSphere

Freight rate management software provider CargoSphere will provide a feed through which the world’s fifth largest ocean carrier can electronically update rates for its customers.    The ocean freight rate management software provider CargoSphere said Monday it has begun providing a direct data feed of global ocean rates and tariffs from Hapag-Lloyd, the world’s fifth largest container line, to its customers.
   Hapag-Lloyd is the first carrier to offer its customers automatic access to all their contract rates using CargoSphere’s electronic Smart Upload and Diagnostics Solution (eSUDS). The direct feed is designed to be significantly more efficient than current labor-intensive industry practices, predominantly email distribution of carrier-proprietary file attachments.
   “Eliminating the email distribution of spreadsheets and PDFs is an exciting moment for Hapag-Lloyd,” said Henning Schleyerbach, senior director of sales and service processes for Hapag-Lloyd. “This joint Hapag-Lloyd/CargoSphere integration achievement is an important contribution to the industry as it improves timeliness and accuracy.”
   The integration sees CargoSphere establish an automated data transfer of contract and public tariff rates between Hapag-Lloyd and the ocean carrier’s customers via the eSUDS platform. Rates then move from eSUDS to CargoSphere’s Rate Mesh network to be stored and distributed to Hapag-Lloyd’s customers, which can view and select the rates they wants to use.
   “Digital contract management significantly increases accuracy and reduces processing times from several days to just a few hours,” CargoSphere said in a statement. “Shipper, freight forwarder, and NVOCC customers can now have visibility to their own new or amended service-contract rates as supplied by Hapag-Lloyd to the CargoSphere platform. This provides a much more efficient and timely process to transform this traditionally complex, time consuming, error prone and costly aspect of ocean shipping.”
   Two years ago, CargoSphere set up a similar feed between the liner carrier UASC (which was acquired in 2017 by Hapag-Lloyd) and two freight forwarders, SEKO Logistics and Dachser. However, those feeds were set up with individual intermediaries, whereas this feed allows Hapag-Lloyd to connect directly to its entire universe of customers using CargoSphere.
   CargoSphere, founded in 1999 by current managing director Neil Barni, was acquired in 2017 by the freight forwarding software provider WiseTech Global. It is one of the pioneers of browser-based international freight rate and contract management tools, a market that’s blossomed in recent years as forwarders seek more automated ways to gather, store and disseminate real-time rates from carriers.