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What if you were notified of major trends in your freight spending instantly with high quality summary views that were automatically updated? What if these summary views were supported by an ability to filter on the details of selected transactions using tools that were easy to learn and very fast? Well now that capability exists in a Web-based suite of applications from Trax Technologies. You've always relied on Trax for our ability to receive data electronically from your carriers and process the data automatically with minimal human effort using state-of-the-art technology. Now that same level of technical and business expertise has been applied to improve data quality and to give you better access to your freight information than you could get from any other Web-based tools available in the marketplace.
With the information now available from Trax, you can identify opportunities to reduce your transportation costs by gaining a better understanding of how you utilize your transportation services. Web-based information from Trax can help you:
Trax is pleased to announce a new Web-based Information product across our client base. This tool will provide a common interface to a number of web-based information applications we've been developing and beta testing over the past year. From one interface you will be able to see trends from standard summary views, filter on transactions very quickly to find examples in some area of interest, extract those examples and download them in a variety of formats, and lookup an example of a problem for a more detailed view. You are able to conduct real-time analysis of your transportation activity using tools with faster response time than if the data were residing in local databases at your own facility.
Several individual applications will be included in the new product, including:
Features that will be added as they are available include:
Here is what you will see when you first access your new Web-based Information site:
The new application replaces the existing first screen from the Customer Communication link of our current TraxTech web site. Key features of the new site will include:
View or download carrier contracts
Information about customer contracts with carriers is accessible in summary and detail form. Customers provide the description of each contract along with the effective dates and contract manager. Individual contract files are available for view or download. Organization, Geographic region, Carrier, or any other relevant category may be used to filter contract information.
Download files from Trax or upload files to Trax
You can download files created by Trax from a download site. You can upload files you create to Trax using the same feature.
View or download transactions as summarized data with drill-down capabilities
Trax has developed new views of transactions as summarized data with drill-down capabilities to related summary or detail views. At any level of summary or detail, filtering tools enable the user to select just the transactions they're interested in with very fast response times. Filtered results may be extracted and sent via e-mail in the following file formats:
| Drill Down View | Description |
| Air Reports Air Account View | Summary of FDE, AIRB, DHL, and UPS activity by Account number for all non-Exception batches >= 1/1/02 |
| Air Reports Air Service View | Summary of same data shown above by Service Name |
| Mode Type Reports Mode Type View | Summary of ALL carrier bills by Mode Type for all non-Exception batches >= 1/1/02 |
| Mode Type Reports Mode Type Details View | Details of ALL carrier bills by Mode Type and Carrier |
| CA Reports Cost Center View | Summary of ALL approved cost allocation lines by Cost Center for all non-Exception batches >=1/1/02 |
| CA Reports GL Account View | Summary of same data shown above by GL Account |
| CA Reports Cost Center Details View | Details of ALL approved cost allocation lines by Cost Center and GL Account |
| Accessorial Reports Acc View | Summaryof ALL Billed Accessorials by Carrier for invoice batches created in March, 2002 |
| Accessorial Reports Acc Details View | Detail of ALL Billed Accessorials by Carrier charge description and lane for invoice batches created in March, 2002 |
| Step | Action |
|
1 |
Click on the Drill Down tab from the main window.
You see the Drill Down Tables page.
|
| 2 | Click on the Summary button for the view you want to access. For example, Mode Type Reports - Mode Type View
You see the Summary by Mode Type View.
|
| 3 | Click on the "plus" button in front
of the Mode Type you want. For example, Less Than Truckload. You see the Summary by Carrier for Less Than Truckload.
|
| 4 | Click on the "plus" button in front
of the Mode Type and Carrier you want. For example, NPME. You see the Detail by Carrier and Lane for NPME. 
Remember! You can access this detail view directly using "Mode Type Reports - Mode Type Details View" and create your own filters on any available fields such as Mode Type, SCAC, Location fields, etc. |
Review and resolve exception freight bills
Exceptions on the Web will enable Trax support resources, customers, and even carriers to review and resolve exception bills that are targeted and categorized by business rules. Categorization rules will be flexible and tailored to meet specific customer business requirements. Categories may be standard or customer-specific and may be unique to a carrier, tailored to a group of carriers, or across all carriers. Individual security and access controls will ensure that access to exceptions is restricted to only those users with proper authorization and accountability.
Lookup images of paper documents by freight bill number
If a freight bill has been entered manually by Trax from a paper source document, you can look up an electronic image of the invoice and any supporting documents by freight bill number using the Image lookup feature.
Create an issue sheet to report an issue
You can create and view Issue Control Sheets from your customer site.
Look up payment information by check/EFT number, carrier, and payment date range
You can access payment information by check/EFT number, carrier, and payment date range. Drill-down provides access to paid and adjusted amounts communicated to carriers on ANSI 820 Remittance Advices or faxed reports. Adjusted bills display the reason for adjustment.
Standard views of transactions for Paid History or Open Bill
Trax has developed standard views of transactions in two categories: Paid History and Open Bills. The Paid History view represents all transactions that have been paid for a recent time period that is flexible depending upon the client's total volume. The Open Bills view represents all bills that have not yet been paid -- either because they are aging for payment according to contracted terms or because they have outstanding unresolved discrepancies. These standard views include common address, date, service, amount, and quantity data fields that are useful for understanding trends in more detail and finding transactions that meet specific characteristics. Filtering tools enable the user to select just the transactions they're interested in with very fast response times. Filtered results may be extracted and sent via e-mail in the following file formats:
See Trax Web Tables Application Users Guide for more detailed instructions on the Quick Views feature.
| Step | Action |
|
1 |
Click on the QuickViews tab from the main window.
|
| 2 | Click on the Multi-item
View button for the table you want. For example, FreightBill History
Table.
You see the Multi-item View for the FreightBill History Table.
|
| 3 | Click on the Funnel button to create your own dynamic
filters.
You see the Filter page:
|
| 4 | Click on the Save this record button (looks like a floppy disk).
You see a Multi-item view of the records meeting the filter criteria you entered. |
| 5 | Click on the Export View button (looks like a cylinder with a vertical arrow).
You see the Export Request page.
|
View or download carrier rate files
Rating information will include access to selected carrier rates files. In addition, the File Express Rating Engine will be added to this view once it is available for widespread use. This Rating Engine will allow real time costing of shipments using the client's actual rates with selected carriers.
View or download common reference information relevant to your customer environment
Reference information includes read-only access to common reference views relevant to each client's rules environment. Examples of standard reference include Vendors, Locations, Vendor Account Numbers, Cost Centers, and General Ledger account numbers. Custom reference views may also be added based on customer need.
View or download standard reports that that help you identify worldwide trends from standard summary views
We've identified a set of standard monthly and weekly measures that are accurate, consistent, and automatically created using new technology from our sister company, File Express. The benefit of this approach to our clients is that we will systematically audit and verify the integrity of our reporting data each week. Our summary reports are the foundation of a robust Web-based reporting architecture.
Reports may be viewed or downloaded in a variety of formats. A later release will allow users to subscribe to specific reports for event- or time-based creation and distribution via e-mail or Web download.
| Step | Action |
| 1 | Click on the Reports
tab from the main window.
You will see the following options:
|
| 2 | Click on the Multi-item
View button for the set of reports you want. For example, Monthly Corporate
Reports.
You see the Multi-item View for Monthly Corporate Reports.
|
| 3 | Filter or Sort to order the report entries in a way that helps you select the items you want to access. |
| 4 | Click on the Download Link column for the report you want to receive. |
| 5 | Depending on your browser settings, you may be asked whether you want to open the file in your browser or save it to your computer. |
| 6 | The output format will be a *.zip archive file that contains an MS-Excel spreadsheet and an MS-Access database (optional). The Access database will contain both a table and a pre-formatted report you can run locally. |
Trax defined a core set of standard monthly reports based on the ideas recommended by clients and Trax employees. The following table contains a description of the new standard reports:
|
Report
Name |
Description |
|
3
Month Carrier Summary |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Carrier in USD and KGS for Current Month and Last
Three Months. Sorted
Descending on Current Month $ PAID. |
|
Activity
Mode Summary |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Mode in USD and KGS for Current Month.
Mode as defined in %T001 field of VENDOR table. |
|
Adjustment
Summary by Reason |
Summary
of Adjustments by Adjustment Reason Category. Summary categories defined by logic applied to the
Adjustment Reason Description field of adjusted bills during the Reporting
Extract creation process. Unrecognized
patterns map to category of Undefined. |
|
Adjustment
Summary by Top 25 |
Summary
of Adjustments by Carrier for the Top 25 Carriers in order of Adjustment
Amount. Shows Current Month
amounts in USD. |
|
Carrier
Summary Domestic |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Carrier in USD and KGS for Current Month and
Year-to-Date. This report
includes non-International type shipments only |
|
Carrier
Summary Imports |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Carrier in USD and KGS for Current Month and
Year-to-Date. This report
includes Import type shipments only |
|
Carrier
Summary Exports |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Carrier in USD and KGS for Current Month and
Year-to-Date. This report
includes Export type shipments only |
|
Carrier
Summary Overall |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Carrier in USD and KGS for Current Month and
Year-to-Date. This report
includes all shipments. |
|
Cost
Avoidance Summary |
Summarizes
Adjustments by Adjustment Reason Category and with Subtotals on Cost
Savings and Cost Avoidance categories.
Also subtracts amounts paid on Balance Due invoices from Gross
Adjustments to arrive at Net Adjustments:
Includes # Bills and $ ADJ for Current Month and Year-to-Date |
|
Adjustment
Detail |
Summarizes
Adjustments by Carrier SCAC and Adjustment Reason Category for Current
Month and Year-to-Date |
|
Balance
Due Bills |
Summarizes
Balance Due bills by Carrier. Includes
# Bills and $ Paid for Current Month and Year-to-Date |
|
Days
To Payment |
Summarizes
the Days to Payment metric by Carrier SCAC for all bills paid in the
current week. Shows # Bills
and Average # Days by SCAC and for EDI, Manual, and Total bill types |
|
Denied
Bills Summary |
Summarizes
Denied Bills by Carrier. Includes
# Bills and $ Billed for Current Month and Year-to-Date |
|
Exception
Summary |
Summarizes
Financial Audit and Cost Allocation exceptions as % of Total # Bills for
Current Month and Year-to-Date |
|
Lane
Analysis by SCAC |
Shows
subtotals of activity by Carrier, City of Origin, and Destination City for
the Current Month. This could
be a very large report and is not available in MS-Excel due to potential
size limitations |
|
Lane
Analysis Summary |
Shows
Summary of Lane Analysis by SCAC format by Carrier SCAC. |
Trax defined a core set of standard weekly reports based on the ideas recommended by clients and Trax employees. The following table contains a description of the new standard reports:
|
Report
Name |
Description |
|
Adjustment
Detail |
Summarizes
Adjustments by Carrier SCAC and Adjustment Reason Category for Current
Week and Month-to-Date |
|
Days
to Payment |
Summarizes
the Days to Payment metric by Carrier SCAC for all bills paid in the
current week. Shows # Bills
and Average # Days by SCAC and for EDI, Manual, and Total bill types |
|
EDI
v Manual By Carrier |
Breaks
out # Bills for EDI, Manual, and Total bill types by Carrier SCAC.
Includes Current Week, Current Month, and Year-to-Date totals |
|
EDI
v Manual Summary |
Overall
Summary of # Bills by bill type for Current Week, Current Month, and
Year-to-Date |
|
Service
Type Summary |
Summary
of Spending Activity by Service Category.
Summary categories defined by logic applied to the VEND_SRVC_NAME
Description field of all bills during the Reporting Extract creation
process. Unrecognized
patterns map to category of Undefined.
Bills with no text provided in the Service Name field map to
category of No Service Name Given |
Trax defined a core set of standard weekly customer advocate reports to provide an update on the status of processing at Trax. The following table contains a description of the new standard reports:
|
Report
Name |
Description |
|
Aging
Summary |
Summary
of Dollars in Exception by Aging category against both Due Date and Trax
Receipt Date. |
|
Cost
Allocation Exceptions |
Summarizes
the history of dollars in Cost Allocation exception by carrier over the
previous 14 weeks. Graphs and
data provided in Excel only. |
|
Financial
Exceptions |
Summarizes
the history of dollars in Financial Audit exception by carrier over the
previous 14 weeks. Graphs and
data provided in Excel only. |
Look up transactions by freight bill or invoice number
Individual transactions can be accessed by freight bill or invoice number. These common control numbers may be obtained from carriers or could be the result of user-generated filter from the Quick Views feature. Once you enter a freight bill or invoice number, you see a summary of all the transactions in the system by that control number. You can link to the detail of any transaction in the summary. This opens up a multi-level view of transaction information in the following categories:
