1. How Does eTRAN TL Work?
2. What Are “Carrier Quality Levels”?
3. How Long Is An Auction Cycle?
4. How Does A Shipper Initiate an Auction?
5. How Does A Carrier Bid On A Shipment?
6. Can Carriers Bid On A Shipment Without Being On The eTRAN TL System?
7. How Does The Carrier Know What Price To Bid?
8. Does The Shipper Have To Accept the Lowest Bid?
9. What Happens If The Maximum, Allowable Price May Be Low?
10. Can An Auction Be Cancelled?
11. How Will eTRAN TL Keep Me Informed?
12. Will The Shipper Know Who The Bidding Carriers Are?
13. Do The Carriers Know Who The Shipper Is?
14. What Constitutes A “Completed Contract” in the Bonus Program?
15. As A Bonus Program Member, How Much Money Can I Earn Through eTRAN TL’s Bonus Program?
16. How Does The Carrier Get Paid?
17. How Do I Benefit From eTRAN’s Payment Method?
18. What Does It Cost Me?

How Does eTRAN TL Work?

• In brief, the eTRAN TL system automatically awards the shipment to the Carrier who met or exceeded the required Carrier Quality Levels specified by the Shipper and submitted the lowest bid.
• A Shipper will enter a load, stating required Carrier quality levels and the maximum, allowable price the Shipper is willing to pay. Bidding Carriers will not see the maximum, allowable price. Carriers will enter a “reserve price” - the lowest price the Carrier is willing to bid on that particular load. When a Carrier clicks on “Place Bid”, eTRAN TL will start the bidding process.
• If only one Carrier bids on this load during the auction cycle, the Carrier will be awarded the load at the maximum, allowable price. If there are multiple Carriers bidding, eTRAN TL will automatically bid downward (in increments specified by the Shipper) on behalf of each Carrier until only one Carrier – who meets or exceeds the Shipper’s required quality levels – remains. That Carrier wins the bidding cycle. (This price could be above but never less than the Carrier’s “reserve price.")

top

What Are Carrier Quality Levels?

• Many Shippers measure their Carriers and award business to their Carriers based on a variety of quality indicators, as well as the Carrier's pricing. Many Shippers call this a Carrier Scorecard. eTRAN has determined that the most relevant Quality measurements for a Carrier are:
  • Shipper Satisfaction Performance
  • On-Time Delivery Performance
  • Claims Free Performance
  • Completed Contract Performance
• For each load moved by a Carrier, eTRAN TL monitors and updates each Quality indicator so that each Shipper has a high level of confidence that any Carrier awarded a load will perform as required. In other words, the Shipper can expect the winning Carrier will pickup the load and deliver it when required.

top

How Long Is An “Auction Cycle”?

Carriers must constantly know where their fleet is committed. eTRAN TL currently provides a 20 minute auction cycle. By limiting the auction cycles to 20 minutes, the Carrier should not unreasonably tie up his truck(s) with a bid that might be beat by another Carrier. The auction cycle’s time limit may change based on further input from eTRAN TL’s users.

How Does A Shipper Initiate An Auction?

• Register as a Shipper with our simple, on line registration form.
• Log in to eTRAN TL with your registered Shipper Username and Password. This will take you to your Home Page.
• Click on "Initiate Auction". Fill out your shipment information. Then click the "Initiate Auction" button located at the bottom of the page. Your shipment is automatically posted to the next auction cycle.
• You’ll automatically be sent back to your Home Page to view your shipment status and watch as Carriers bid on that specific shipment. At the successful conclusion of the auction, both the Shipper and the winning Carrier will be instantly notified.

top

How Does A Carrier Bid On A Shipment?

• Register as a Carrier with our simple, on line registration form. You will need to supply certain information, such as your Certificate of Insurance, DOT Motor Carrier, Standard Carrier Account Code(SCAC) and Federal Tax ID numbers.
• Log in to eTRAN TL with your registered Carrier Username and Password. This will take you to your Home Page.
• Click on “Search Auctions” on your Home Page. All open auctions will be listed at the bottom of the page. A form will open that allows you to establish your specific search criteria for shipments. After submitting this form, a list of current, available truckload shipments that matches your criteria will appear. If you choose to bid on any of these shipments, click on the auction ID tracking number. Enter your reserve bid and click on “Place Bid” button.
• You may go to your Home Page to watch the progress of the bidding.
• You will be instantly notified on your Home Page if you have been awarded the load.

top

Can A Carrier Place A Bid Without Being Logged On To The eTRAN TL System?

• Carriers may elect to use the Proxy Agent feature to automatically make bids on loads that meet the Carrier’s requirements. The Carrier specifies the lanes, minimum cost per mile on that lane and trailer type they have, and the Proxy Agent automatically bids until a load is won or other Carriers underbid all loads on the specified lane(s).
• If another Carrier underbids the proxy on a specific load, the Proxy Agent will automatically search all remaining available loads and bid on the best available load meeting the Carrier’s proxy requirements.

How Does The Carrier Know What Price To Bid?

Each Carrier knows the lowest price they can “profitably” move any given load, be it headhaul or backhaul. Therefore, a Carrier’s reserve bid price represents the lowest price the Carrier is willing to accept for a particular load. The Carrier may get more money, but the Carrier will never get less than their reserve bid price.

Does The Shipper Have To Accept The Lowest Bid At The End of the Auction?

eTRAN TL’s system automatically chooses the winner based on the lowest bid received from the Carriers that met or exceeded the minimum quality levels specified by the Shipper.

top

What Happens If The Maximum, Allowable Price Is Too Low?

• eTRAN TL automatically informs the Shipper that there are bids on this load, but the maximum, allowable price may be lower than the current market price for the shipment. The Shipper has several options:
  • Wait and determine if any Carriers will meet the maximum, allowable price;
  • Revise the maximum, allowable price and complete the auction during that current auction cycle; or
  • Seek Carriers outside the eTRAN TL system.

Can An Auction Be Cancelled?

• If a bid or bids exceed the maximum, allowable price and the Shipper does not raise the price upon eTRAN TL’s notification of same, the bid is cancelled at the close of the current auction cycle.
• A Shipper can cancel an auction after it has started as long as it is canceled prior to the auction cycle closing. The current winning Carrier (if any) will be notified that the auction has been canceled. If the current winning bid has been placed by a Proxy Agent, the agent will begin to seek alternative auctions in which to place bids.
• A Carrier may not cancel a winning bid once it is placed. However, that winning bid is automatically cancelled if the Carrier is underbid by another Carrier.

top

How Will eTRAN TL Keep Me Informed?

eTRAN TL keeps you informed throughout the process automatically posting messages at the top of your home page. You may go to Maintain Profile, Preferences, and select e-mail notifications if you want to receive email notifications in addition to the messages posted to your home page.

Will The Shipper Know Who The Bidding Carriers Are?

• No. Since eTRAN TL updates the Carrier Quality levels after each transaction, the Shipper knows that the Carriers allowed to bid on the load will get the job done.
• However, the Shipper has the ability to specify any eTRAN TL registered Carriers that can, or cannot, bid on his loads. (Again, eTRAN TL Carriers must always meet a Shipper’s minimum quality levels to be allowed to bid on a truckload shipment.)

top

Do The Carriers Know Who The Shipper Is?

• No. eTRAN TL provides a “blind”, reverse auction system to place a premium on the Carrier maintaining the highest levels of service and the lowest possible cost to conduct business with eTRAN TL Shippers.
• When each auction closes, eTRAN TL instantly provides all contact information to both the Shipper and the winning Carrier. The Shipper can also review documents such as the Carrier’s Certificate of Insurance, etc.

What Constitutes A “Completed Contract” in the Bonus Program?

A completed contract is defined as eTRAN TL’s receipt of the Carrier’s BOL as POD and completion of the Carrier’s required shipment information on the eTRAN TL site. Please be aware that all completed contracts must be received by eTRAN TL within the 180-day timeframe and/or no later than 11:59pm EST on the 180th day from commencement of the member’s Bonus Program to receive a bonus.

As A Bonus Program Member, How Much Money Can I Earn Through eTRAN TL’s Bonus Program?

There is no limitation to the amount of money a Shipper or Carrier can earn within the 180 days of their participation in the eTRAN TL Bonus Program. However, eTRAN TL will not receive any net compensation for the completion of a shipment through select promotional programs. Therefore, contracts completed through these promotional programs are not eligible to receive any bonus.

How Does The Carrier Get Paid?

• eTRAN automatically debits the Shipper’s bank account and deposits the funds into eTRAN’s automated clearing house account with Merrill Lynch on the date specified for pickup in the auction.
• After the Carrier picks up and delivers the load, faxes and provides eTRAN TL the required POD information, the funds are transferred within two business days to the Carrier’s account or a check is issued- depending on what form of payment the Carrier selected during Registration.

top

How Do I Benefit From eTRAN’s Payment Method?

• For the Carrier:
  • Quicker payment
  • Elimination of paper or EDI invoicing
  • Direct deposit into your bank account
  • Elimination of Shipper D & B check and credit limits
• For the Shipper:
  • Standardized contract with no need to qualify Carrier
  • No overpayment or underpayment
  • Certainty of delivery – Payment held by eTRAN until POD received
  • Paperless transactions with an automated payment trail

What Does It Cost Me?

eTRAN does not need to charge upfront usage fees or access fees. eTRAN takes a small fee from the spread between the Carrier’s winning bid and the maximum, allowable price.

top