ProShip Automated Carrier Rate Shopping is a core feature of ProShip's multi-carrier shipping software, designed to help businesses maximize cost savings and improve customer satisfaction by optimizing parcel delivery. This system instantly compares shipping rates and transit times across over 250 domestic and international shipping carriers, identifying the most cost-effective option for each package in real-time. It operates on a carrier-agnostic approach, allowing businesses to meet promised delivery dates without sacrificing speed or incurring unnecessary expenses. The software integrates complex, pre-defined business rules to ensure optimal selection. It offers various levels of rate shopping sophistication: Basic Rate Shopping automatically selects the best rate based on service applicability and total cost, including base rates, discounts, and surcharges. Time-In-Transit Rate Shopping extends this by adding delivery speed as a crucial filter, prioritizing ground shipping options that still meet customer delivery expectations, thereby minimizing reliance on expensive express services. The most advanced option, Advanced Date Shopping (ADS), is an exclusive ProShip tool that factors in additional details beyond cost and transit time, such as non-transit days, label creation time, trailer pull times, and customer-specified delivery dates. ADS utilizes a powerful algorithm evaluating nine data sets to guarantee on-time delivery at the best possible price, ensuring packages arrive when needed while significantly reducing shipping costs and enhancing customer loyalty.

Features & Benefits

• Basic Rate Shopping
  • Automatically selects the best shipping rate based on applicable service selection and total cost, including base rates, discounts, and all assessorials and surcharges.
• Time-In-Transit Rate Shopping
  • Goes beyond cost by adding delivery speed as a crucial filter, considering the number of transit days to minimize expensive express shipping options while meeting customer delivery expectations.
• Advanced Date Shopping (ADS)
  • The most sophisticated, automatic carrier service rate shopping tool, exclusive to ProShip, factoring in additional details to guarantee on-time delivery at the best possible price.
  • Cost-Normalization
  • Basic Rate Shopping (as a data set)
  • Time-in-Transit Rate Shopping (as a data set)
  • Customer Day/Hour of Choice
  • Label Creation Time
  • Last Carrier Pickup Time
  • Contracted Pickup Dates
  • Contracted Transit Dates
  • Contracted Delivery Dates
• Extensive Carrier Network
  • Partners with over 250 domestic and international shipping carriers, providing a wide range of options for optimal rate selection.
• Real-time Optimization
  • Compares rates across hundreds of shipping carriers, service delivery options, and pre-defined business rules in milliseconds, ensuring the most cost-effective options without workflow delays.
• Configurable Business Rules
  • Executes complex, pre-defined business rules to ensure optimal carrier and service selection for each package.
• Self-Service Configuration via Parcel Config App
  • Allows logistics teams to manage carrier accounts, rate shop groups, and shipping locations without relying on IT.
• Advanced Optimization Factors
  • Incorporates various advanced considerations for more precise and cost-effective shipping decisions.
  • Carrier Volume Balancing (CVB): Ensures minimum and maximum volume thresholds per carrier are met while optimizing spend.
  • Line Haul / Zone Skipping: Integrates line haul costs into rate comparison for cost and time-in-transit efficiency.
  • Carrier Performance: Utilizes carrier performance data to override service selection for more accurate time-in-transit results.
  • Weather Feeds: Uses real-time weather information at delivery destinations to assist with package optimization (e.g., dry ice) or service level adjustment.
• Multi-Mode Shipping Support
  • Evaluates multiple carriers to reduce transit times for both parcel and LTL (less-than-truckload) shipments while keeping costs in check.