Shared freight rate system and invoicing method
First Claim
1. A method of establishing a shipping charge for combined less-then-truckload (LTL) shipments, based on a customer'"'"'s freight weight portion of the total shipment freight weight, comprising:
- calculating the total shipping rate for the shipment based upon total route mileage and flat shipping rate;
calculating hundred weight cost for the shipment based upon hundred weight of the shipment further comprising, dividing total weight of the shipment, in pounds, by 100;
determining hundred weight of the customer'"'"'s goods on the shipment; and
calculating the shipping cost to the customer.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and system for establishing freight rates or shipping charges associated with shipping goods in the trucking industry. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for establishing the appropriate charge for shipping a partial load of goods when those goods are combined with other goods on the single truckload. The resulting system provides a shared cost/split invoicing system for combined less-then-truckload (LTL) shipments that: (i) is simple to implement, (ii) reduces the possibilities for human error, and (iii) fairly reflects each customer'"'"'s fair and proportional cost to transport its goods from its selected point of origin to its selected destination. Also provided is the invoice resulting from the shared cost/split invoicing system which advantageously shows the customer both the charges for its portion of the combined load and how they were determined, while at the same time offering the customer a significant savings over prior art invoicing methods for shipping the same partial load.
46 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of establishing a shipping charge for combined less-then-truckload (LTL) shipments, based on a customer'"'"'s freight weight portion of the total shipment freight weight, comprising:
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calculating the total shipping rate for the shipment based upon total route mileage and flat shipping rate;
calculating hundred weight cost for the shipment based upon hundred weight of the shipment further comprising, dividing total weight of the shipment, in pounds, by 100;
determining hundred weight of the customer'"'"'s goods on the shipment; and
calculating the shipping cost to the customer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of invoicing-a customer of an LTL shipment based on the customer'"'"'s portion of the total shipment weight of the combined load, comprising:
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populating a database;
entering data from each bill-of-lading into a computer system linked to the database;
processing the data for a selected route; and
creating an invoice for each customer'"'"'s portion of the combined load on the route. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification