A report this week by CNN shines a new light on the growing trend of programmers to ditch the image of pocket protectors and glasses whose thrill is discovering a misplaced comma in a series of code. Comparable to the likes of Facebook and Google, Agile Network’s technical staff is younger and more hip than ever.

The term coined by CNN is “brogrammer”, which to no surprise is puts the “bro” in programmer. This bro aspect of it allows for your technology solutions to be more creative than ever before. “Bros” know the nitty-gritty of their subjects but offer a more well rounded approach rather than an extreme specialty in one area. The world of technology has evolved so much so that ingenuity plays a bigger role than details, with the advancements in code writing sometimes taking care of the minute details. Being able to add verve, color, and energy to your Agile system is just one of the ways we know we differentiate ourselves from the rest. Agile Network’s technical staff knows their code, and knows how to have fun delivering it to you.

Even though Agile works behind the scenes, your project manager and technical support staff are always here to answer your questions. If you would like to find out how we can further tailor your Agile solution to better serve your needs, please give us a call at any time.

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Last month in Forbes Magazine there was a great article about the rise in Exports, “over the past two years, exports have compounded at just over 12% a year” The full article can be read here.

Shipping without paper, while making it easier for the shippers in the warehouse, adds some set up complexity for the system administrators. Shippers need to make certain that all the required fields are captured in the transaction, if only because there is no “hand writing” on an electronic SED. We at Agile have made that easy for our customers with our AES certified AgileExport Module.

For those who really want to dive deep into the benefits of going paperless, here is a great study by Rebecca S. Bradwell from Kansas State University.

For the non Agile users, or for the Agile users looking to improve the flow and process of their international orders, the AES website is a great place to learn more. Note that it is a free government website, as there are many look alike sites that sell their information, which is a 100% rip off.

The inquiring mind would want to look here http://www.aesdirect.gov/support/reference.html, a page within the AES website that has many more links on it to all the “codes” you’ll need to know, and there are a few that you might not expect, like “vehicle code”.

Hopefully as you see more and more international outbound shipments, this can be used as a handy guide for compliance and efficiency. If you have any questions please reach out to AES or Agile directly, we are always happy to explain the latest goings on in transportation.

The latest trend in fraudulent emails could be one that you would be tempted to fall for. Emails are more frequently coming from third party (phishing) sources posing as UPS, including the illegal and illegitimate use of trade dress, brand image and other activities meant to fool the receiver. For a full and extensive list of UPS phishing emails, please see the running list of examples on the UPS website.

The most prevalent emails appear to be from UPS mentioning “Your UPS Invoice is Ready” and “UPS Tracking Number H2216223049”. If either of these emails come to your inbox, please be advised that there is a very good chance that it is spam and could be harmful to your computer. These emails will often ask you to provide sensitive information, ranging anywhere from account numbers, IDs, passwords, or copies of invoices. UPS and any legitimate business would never solicit you to provide this information over unsecured measures like email. It seems like common knowledge, but we can never be too alert to these issues.

With Agile, know that your personal information is safe behind a secure firewall intended to defend your privacy. Any notice you get from your Agile Software is protected from phishing and spamming. Further, all inquiry to tracking numbers and invoices are all housed within your Agile Software, and there is no need to access email to find this information.

If you ever concerned that an email is phishing, delete it immediately. Always be safe rather than sorry. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact UPS directly. Agile Network is dedicated to protecting your company’s sensitive information. If you would like to discuss ways to increase safety measures, please reach out to us at anytime.

The rumors of acquisition for the TNT Express component of TNT NV began in May 2011, when it became its own entity and incorporated on its own, while TNT rebranded as Post NL. At the time of acquisition, TNT Express represented the second largest parcel carrier in the European Union, behind only DHL. The combination of UPS and TNT Express would currently be a 16 percent market share.

TNT Express provides expanded global coverage in regions where UPS is currently lacking. UPS Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn specifically mentions “Brazil, Australia, The Middle East, the road and train network in Europe” as territories that UPS will strategically strengthen with TNT Express. Currently, only 26 percent of total sales revenue comes from overseas. By adding TNT Express, that figure rises to 36 percent. Kuehn states that he is expecting that figure to climb to 50 percent by 2015.

Agile Network customers can rest assured that this deal between UPS and TNT will not interrupt their domestic or international shipments, and can only serve to help. Those with UPS contracts will soon be able to gain the benefit of TNT Express’s global coverage, which should dramatically reduce international shipping costs to Europe and abroad. Also, TNT Express tax and tariff forms are currently integrated with all current Agile solutions, so nothing will change from a user’s point of view.

In the tennis game that UPS and FedEx are playing with M&A (i.e. FedEx acquires a slew of LTL carriers to form FedEx Freight, then UPS buys Overnite LTL to form UPS Freight, FedEx acquires a mail consolidator and forms FedEx SmartPost, then UPS does the same to form UPS SurePost.) it is now FedEx’s move. Stay tuned….

AgileShip SE will support businesses’ day to day operations though many best practices, including: LTL rating, freight brokerage, the use of regional carriers, and more. What makes this product stand out from the rest is its seamless integration with Intuit Quickbooks, in which the application is automatically synced, allowing it to read orders that have been shipped and writing back the validated shipping charges. Overall, AgileShip SE will be saving its customers 20% or more in shipping charges. Every cost reduction from the multiple carrier bills is then reconciled weekly into one statement, making the payment as simple as one monthly bill.

There are currently two versions of AgileShip SE available to the enterprise business community. The Basic edition of Quickbooks integration comes complete with multi-carrier processing, shipment tracking, address validation, and more. By going with the Pro edition, all of the features of Basic come standard, as well as rate-shopping, invoice auditing, Streamline Payment, and more.

For small to medium sized businesses, staying on top of accounting is of vital importance. With AgileShip SE, reconciling shipping payments just became that much easier. Seamless integration with Quickbooks is here, and Agile Network is happy to be bringing it to you. If you have questions about how your company currently manages shipping costs, don’t hesitate to give us a call. As a leader in transportation management, it is our job to make transportation management a vital part of your business, and AgileShip SE is one more tool to help people Ship Better, Save Money.

Shipping Better and Saving Money is a continual process, not a onetime thing.

Every day, there is new technological improvement that will improve processes. Unfortunately, some TMS solutions that are older cannot adapt to the changes and take advantage of many of the advancements that new technology offers. Our customers tell us all the time that they cannot continue to trudge along in the dark ages, a time that does not hearken back all that long ago. In the world that we live it, it would not be uncommon to have a five, three, or even two year system installed that can be severely outdated.

The use of intermodal transportation (that is, more than one method of transportation during a shipments’ journey, for example FedEx SmartPost) is becoming ever more useful as a way to cut costs on transportation, using the most cost effective method at each leg of the journey, often different. The effective use of intermodal shipments is a testament to the flexibility and capabilities that a TMS bring to the supply chain, continually enabling smarter ways to ship.

Also, the trend shows that TMS systems are doing more than simply shipment execution and planning. As evidenced by the suite of products in AgileElite, a TMS aggregates data for pending shipments and balances it against historical information. The load information, then when communicated with the carrier, helps the shipper make the best possible rate and routing decision.

These are just a few of the many reasons to both utilize the most up to date Transportation Management System available, such as the current version of AgileElite, and make sure it is leveraged to the max. If you do not have the right TMS system installed at your organization, or would simply like to talk more in depth about your current offerings and what is left of the table, feel free to give us a call at any time!

In a debate that has been lingering in the government since December 2010, when a proposal was made to the hours-of-service restrictions, weekly hours on the road have been cut down from 82 per week to 70. This marks the first change in the hours-of-service numbers since 2004. Also included in this updated agreement; drivers planning to work a stretch of eight hours in a row must first rest for 30 minutes, as well as take a 30 minute break in that time period whenever they deem it necessary. Lastly, a data analysis will be undertaken to determine if this is the appropriate amount of time on the road has been achieved, or if the number needs to be altered in any way. Once a driver hits these thresholds they must pull over or risk steep penalties and fines, for them and their employer or company they are hauling for.

This research occurs in large part due to the fight back for stricter limits to time on the road by trucking unions and associations. Politicians came to the conclusion that the overall weekly allowance of hours was enough of a safety measure to push this into law, a sentiment not agreed with by the truck associations themselves. It even led one CEO to say, “What’s surprising and new to us is that for the first time in the agency’s [ed note. FMCSA] history, FMCSA has chosen to eschew a stream of positive safety data and cave in to a vocal anti-truck minority and issue a rule that will have no positive impact on safety… Unfortunately, FMCSA twisted data and, as part of this final rule, is using unjustified casual estimates to justify unnecessary changes.”

The disagreement, boiled down, is between truck drivers concern for their safety coming up against the carriers desire to have their trailers arrive at their end point as soon as possible. While government hopes that they have reached a happy medium between the two, both sides are left wanting more decisions in their favor.

These fewer hours per driver, coupled with the upcoming forecasted driver shortage the result will be less supply in the market. Match less supply with a strengthening economy , more demand, and you have price increases.

When these forecasted price increases, and less supply, factors come into play, it will become more important than ever for shippers to have the ability to process shipments for a larger number of carriers. This is the Agile Network mission, allowing our customers to ship from as many carriers as they seem necessary. AgileShip has more than 7,500 carriers in our library, and we can add more as needed. So if you are feeling this pain, or expecting to, please contact us and see how we can help.

With the numbers five, one seventy five, three hundred, and twelve thousand, that’s how. And with a little more insight, each of these numbers play an integral role in the shipment process.

Five – The magic happens at FedEx Super Hub, a five mile facility that is the heart of the FedEx operation. From here, the entirety of North American can be reached, as well as almost every global market in one flight in 24-48 hours.

One Seventy Five – At the super hub, there are one hundred seventy five parking spaces for aircrafts, which arrive during the day, unloads its packages to meander throughout the facility, picks up a new batch, and heads out on its way once the plane is full again.

Three Hundred – During all the meandering that a package does, it can traverse any part of three hundred miles of conveyer inside the facility. With so much inbound and outbound traffic, an endless maze is needed to receive the package, properly sort it, and send it on its way accordingly.

Twelve thousand – To oversee this monstrous production, the average day will see twelve thousand employees completing one task or another, all of which are important for the unit to continue to run smoothly. From pilots, mechanics, pickers, and packers, everyone has a job to do at a shipping hub.

This is just one example of the background work that goes into getting a package from here to there. Agile has partnerships with over five thousand shippers, all who’s goal is to deliver their package to you on time. While you have long forgot about the shipped package, there are many hard working people that still have its delivery as their top priority.

As a quick refresher, this case first started gaining steam during the summer of 2010, when AFMS accused UPS and FedEx working together to exclude the smaller third-party consultants from the marketplace. As stated, this would be a clear violation of antitrust law, more commonly known as competition law in Canada and across the globe.

The details of the complaint stems from a notice said to be circulated by both FedEx and UPS higher ups in which it demands new company policy in dealing with third parties. As it can be imagined, these new policies were not open to outside relationships, supposedly aiming to eliminate all business related conversations with any company looking for a piece of the pie.

The law firm representing AFMS, upon the agreement on a court date with UPS and FedEx, had some particularly biting words for the actions of the defendants. Blecher & Collins P.C. directly cite violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act, restricting trade and removing competition from the open market. Blecher also is looking for damages in the form of lost business. Blecher cites a 2006 survey by Morgan Stanley that 11% of shippers use third party consultation services.

UPS and FedEx are both eager to present their sides of the story in court. UPS presented the argument that it was perfectly in its right to avoid business with third parties, with the belief that it is in the best interest of its customers. FedEx, meanwhile, shoots down the argument that UPS and FedEx have unilateral agreements, citing both companies as competitors in an open market, and anything other than pure competition as baseless. Either way, this stands to be a monumental decision that looks to be on the horizon. Still 18 months away, both parties are preparing for war.

With issues like this, customers that employ an Agile solution have nothing to worry about. By using a multi carrier shipping solution, all shippers are equally and independently evaluated, and absolutely no foul play is involved. Instead of concerns of antitrust, Aglie customers can rest assured that all of their shipments are rated, labeled, traced, audited, and measured fairly, with absolutely no collusion concerns. This philosophy is the backbone of the Agile Network, and something we firmly believe in. To learn more about what the Agile Network stands for, please visit our website.

EquaShip’s business model is to cater to small and medium sized business shippers, so the big guys need not be worried yet. As a postal consolidator, EquaShip attempts to differentiate themselves from services such as FedEx SmartPost and UPS SurePost by the use of courier, and not traditionally waiting for trailers to be filled before movement. In the small to medium space, this is more easily done with a network of couriers.

In a press release, EquaShip CEP Ron Wiener states that with his company’s reduction in rates and assessorial charges combined with the New Year’s price increase planned by the big three shipping companies, he expects his customers to receive anywhere from 40 to 79% off on their parcel orders. The business model, which Wiener plans to grow rapidly in 2012, uses the network of Blue Package Delivery to do the mile to mile legwork on deliveries, with the Postal Service taking care of the last mile.

Wiener noted that “Many of these shippers have told us that they are thrilled to have a viable new competitor to UPS and FedEx after having their shipping expenses rise 35 percent or more over the past five years. Especially as competitive pressure to offer free shipping to their customers has been rising intensely.” Time will tell whether this small outfit from the Pacific Northwest will be able to take on the larger carriers, and the typical lull at that beginning of the calendar year is when many companies get the opportunity to evaluate their shipping options. These next few months will go a long way in determining EquaShip’s place in the market.