Getting Started Quick Reference
In order to begin using the Load Optimization feature a few things must be done within the Shipwell system. Completing these steps will allow you to utilize the product as described in this manual. The following is a list of items required to get you going.
Access to Orders - Your company account must be configured to enable managing orders within the system. This is setup by your Shipwell customer success manager. Once configured, you should see the Orders menu option available.
Creating / Importing Orders - You can manually create orders in the system or you can use the order importer to bring in order data from a .csv file. Some key information on the orders is required in order to successfully run the Load Optimization process. These items include:
Valid origin and destination addresses, including postal code and country code
Valid quantity and weight on the order line items (if leveraging combined handling units on v3 orders then this will be used for optimization)
Pickup date/time must be before Delivery date/time
Delivery time must have achievable transit time (example: California to New York order can not have a 1 day difference between Pickup & Delivery)
Pickup and Delivery date/times can be left blank
Only orders with a Ready (v3 orders) or an Unassigned (v2 orders) status can be selected for optimization
If the order is tied to an address book entry (described below) it must have a pickup/delivery window in the available hours of the address book entry
Creating Address Book Entries - Address book entries for delivery locations can designate specific hours and on-site loading equipment available. These entries can be attached to an order’s pickup or drop location once created, helping the route planning optimization to better reflect real conditions. To create an address book entry, navigate to Address Books in the Manage tab, then select “add new”. Entries require the real address, the hours of operation, and a location type. Once created, the entries are attached to an order by selecting the relevant address book entry as either the pickup or drop location for an order in the order dashboard.
Optimization Configuration Settings - Prior to optimizing orders you should review your optimization configuration setting. The settings are detailed in the Optimization Configuration Settings portion of this document. Note as part of the load optimization setup process there should be realistic test scenarios that you setup with orders in your environment and zero in on the expected optimization results by making configurations to your environment.
Once you have completed the items listed above you are now ready to select orders for the Load Optimization process!
Selecting Orders to Optimize
Load Optimization allows shippers to select groups of orders to create multi-stop truckload routes in order to reduce the overall cost of shipping the orders. From the Order List screen the user can select a group of orders to run through the optimization process. Using the Order Filter, the user can view all orders shipping between specific date ranges, locations, or other filter criteria. Once the orders are selected, Clicking the Bulk Actions button will display the Optimize Orders option. All selected orders must be Unassigned to shipments in order for the Optimize Orders option to be available.
Optimization Process
Once the optimization process is initiated the system looks to create multi-stop full truckload routes that minimize the over shipping cost of all the orders if load optimization is configured to optimize by cost. Each order is pre-rated by comparing an LTL rate and a TL (truckload) rate and is assigned the least cost method of transport if the order were to ship all by itself from the origin to the destination. Once the least cost method of transport is identified, the order is assigned this baseline cost. The optimization process is designed to minimize the overall shipping cost of all selected orders while meeting all identified constraints including pickup and delivery windows, truck capacity, number of allowable stop, and other constraints setup in the customer’s configuration screen. Once the optimization process has completed, the user will see the Load Plan Results Page, with the latest plan results shown at the top of the screen with a status of Ready.
Load Plan Results Screen
The Load Plan Results screen shows all the load plans that have been created from the Optimization process. The plans are listed with the most recent plans at the top of the page. This screen provides summary information about each plan including the number of orders in each plan, FTL and LTL shipments, which configuration settings were used, the baseline cost of all orders shipping individually from origin to destination, and the optimized cost which includes consolidated orders shipping in multi-stop truckloads. The user can click on Orders column to bring up a summary of the orders contained in the plan. To see the individual plan details, the user can click on the Plan Name. Additionally, the user can click on the Optimization Settings link in the upper right corner to access the settings which control the behavior of the optimization process.
Load Plan Details Screen
The Load Plan Details screen displays all of multi-stop truckload and direct LTL shipments generated by the optimization process. The screen lists the TL shipments at the top sorted by weight and the LTL shipments at the bottom also sorted by weight. Hovering over the Stops column displays the stop information for the load including location, estimated arrival time, stop weight and number of pallets for the stop. Clicking on the Orders column will bring up a detailed list of all orders associated with each load. At the top of the screen summary data includes the total number of orders in the plan, number of FTL and LTL shipments, baseline cost of all orders shipping individually, optimized cost which is the cost of multi-stop truckloads and LTL shipments in the plan, and savings which is the difference between the baseline cost and optimized cost.
Load Details Screen
Clicking on a Load Number from the Load Plan Details screen will bring up the details for that specific load. The details screen displays all of the stops for the load, a map of the load route and summary information about the specific load. Summary information at the top of the screen includes the baseline cost for all orders within the load, the optimized cost of the load, total weight and pallet count, and the savings generated by the optimization process. The user has the ability to manually modify the load by either removing orders or adding orders to the load. If the load is modified the system will automatically calculate a new route based on the changed order information and will update both the baseline cost and the optimized cost. This allows the user to view the financial impacts of making manual adjustments to the optimized loads.
Load Optimization Manually Override Configuration Settings
When users are manually making changes to a load by adding additional orders, the system will allow the load to exceed the configuration settings for the following:
Truckload Weight Capacity
Truckload Pallet Capacity (Unstacked)
Truckload Volume Capacity
Number of Stops allowed on the load
NOTE: Truckload Pallet Capacity is the unstacked pallet capacity. If packages / handling units come in marked as ‘Stackable’ then the ‘Truckload Pallet Capacity’ will be treated as being doubled. Typical 53' dry van truck would have between 26 - 30 pallets as Truckload Pallet Capacity (Unstacked).
If the load now exceeds these settings, the system will add the order and recalculate a new route and new cost. This will allow the user to analyze the cost implication of the new load.
A warning message will appear informing the user which settings have been exceeded by the new load, and identify the value of the configuration settings.
In addition, a warning indicator will be displayed on the Load Plan page showing any loads where the configuration settings have been exceeded. Hovering over the warning indicator will display which settings have been exceeded.
Load Optimization Load Plan Report
A Load Optimization Load Plan Report has been added which allows the user to generate a PDF report that summarizes the entire contents of a load plan. Clicking on the Load Plan Report link generates the PDF report. The report displays plan costs as well as the individual costs for all of the loads and orders within the plan. This report can be used to easily view the entire contents of the plan.
Creating Shipments
Once the user is satisfied with the load they can create a shipment from the load. This can be done from the Load Details screen by clicking the Create Shipment button in the lower right corner. Once the shipment is created for the load, the user will be returned to the Load Plan Details screen. Loads that have been turned into shipments will display a Created pill next to the load number. Users can also create shipments for loads by selecting multiple loads from the Load Plan Details screen. When loads are selected a Create shipments button will appear in the upper right corner of the screen.
Once a shipment has been created for a load, clicking the Load number brings the user to the Shipment Details screen. From here the user can start the carrier assignment processes for the shipment. New shipments are created with the status of Quoting, and will automatically initiate any automated workflows or routing guides, and in the case of LTL shipments will collect Instant Rates.
Optimization Configuration Settings
The most important process to successful load optimization for your company is setting up accurate load optimization plan configurations. The initial process for setting up load optimization configurations should be done by first having orders setup in your environment that result common load planning scenarios that you would expect from load optimization. This includes the number of orders that you would plan at once but also the orders details itself including pallet count, weight, volume, dates/times (if you will provide).
Investing in this process upfront will ensure a successful load optimization implementation. Note you should expect that you will need to modify different load optimization settings and test and run the results until you have identified the load optimization configurations that align with your load planning.
Settings that control the optimization process can be accessed from the navigation bar selecting ‘Manage’ -> ‘Company’ and within the ‘Company’ page selecting ‘Company Defaults’ -> ‘Load Optimization’ menu option. Users have the ability to create multiple sets of configurations, and identify one as the default configuration. It is important to name these ‘Load Optimization Configurations’ in a way that your load planners can understand what they are so they select the correct one when you have multiple load plans.
The configuration settings include the following options:
Configuration Name: The name that will be shown for your load optimization configuration. It is important to have unique names here that accurately represent the optimization plan for the load planners that will be leveraging load optimization. For example, ‘Inbound produce’ or ‘West Coast Refrigerated’ represent potential good configuration names.
Default: Select this to identify a configuration as your default load optimization configuration. Only one load optimization configuration can be the default for your company. The ‘Default’ configuration means that it will be pre-selected in the dropdown when selecting to ‘Optimize Orders’.
Average Truck Speed and Unit: This is used to determine how fast the vehicle travels between stops in non-urban environments and is used in the estimated stop arrival time calculation. Note there is a separate urban truck speed that is not currently configurable by users that is used by the optimizer.
Truckload Capacity: The fields in this section allow you to identify the limits of a single truck. These constraints are absolutely followed in creating load plans initially but can be overridden when users seek to make adjustment to a planned truck.
Minimum Weight: Maximum LTL weight for any single LTL truck being planned. This is a required field to provide. Further, orders undergoing load optimization must have a weight Quantity and Weight field filled out or else this will cause an error.
Maximum Weight: Maximum FTL weight for any single FTL truck being planned. This is a required field to provide. This is a required field to provide. Further, orders undergoing load optimization must have a weight Quantity and Weight field filled out or else this will cause an error.
Unit: Represents the unit of measure for Minimum Weight and Maximum Weight.
Minimum Volume: Maximum LTL volume for any single LTL truck being planned. The Volume constraint is optional to provide and if not Volume configuration provided will not be leveraged in optimization.
Maximum Volume: Maximum FTL volume for any single FTL truck being planned. The Volume constraint is optional to provide and if not Volume configuration provided will not be leveraged in optimization.
Volume Unit: Represents the unit of measure for Minimum Volume and Maximum Volume.
Minimum Pallets: Maximum LTL number of floor space pallets for any single LTL truck being planned. If your order line items optimized are stackable then the optimizer will treat the capacity as double. This is a required field to provide. Further, orders undergoing load optimization must have a weight Quantity and Weight field filled out or else this will cause an error.
Maximum Pallets: Maximum FTL number of floor space pallets for any single FTL truck being planned. If your order line items optimized are stackable then the optimizer will treat the capacity as double. This is a required field to provide. Further, orders undergoing load optimization must have a weight Quantity and Weight field filled out or else this will cause an error.
Custom Pallet Override: Field that if selected will allow you to designate one of your Custom Reference Data field as the field to use for Pallets instead of Units field. The Minimum Pallets and Maximum Pallets configuration settings will as respects information provided in the Custom Reference Field designated. Note if this is selected than every order undergoing load optimization must have designated Custom Reference Field filled out with a number. If not, this will cause an error.
Stop Settings: These are important settings that will significantly impact the FTLs that can be built.
Minimum Stop Time: This value is used to determine how long the vehicle remains at each stop and is used in the estimated stop arrival time calculation. Note currently if a truck can arrive at a facility prior to that stop’s close time arrives then it is treated as being able to arrive. In the future we are looking to implement a configuration to identify if a truck must arrive at a time equivalent to the stop time before the address close time a separate configuration for FTL and LTL Minimum Stop Time.
Maximum Stops: This limits the number of allowable stops for each load. This does NOT include the initial pickup stop. Therefore, if this number is 2 it represents allowing for initial pickup stop and two additional stops. The higher the number of stops supported the more full your trucks will be likely to be created.
Stop Charge: This value allows you to identify the additional cost for extra stops to be used in calculating the total FTL cost for the route (rate per mile x load distance, plus additional stop charges per stop). This does NOT get applied to shipments when a shipment is built although you could have this be the case by having stop charges in your contracts.
Place orders with Min Temp of 0 degrees F or less as the last stop on the load: This will reconfigure the route despite traditional load optimization so that the orders with a minimum temp of 0 degrees F or less be the last stop on the load.
Facility Operating Hours: Allows you to configure the hours that the optimizer will use as a fallback for the operating hours of an order’s address assuming the address is not tied to a Shipwell Address book record and is not tied to a Shipwell Dock Scheduling Facility. Note for any order’s address that is tied to a Shipwell Address Book record or Shipwell Dock Scheduling Facility record then the optimizer will use the respective Address Book hours of operations or Dock Scheduling Facility hours of operation. Keeping a wide delivery range that is an accurate reflection of facility hours will result in better optimization results. If there is a need to support overnight hours then this functionality is available but in Beta and you should talk with your Shipwell Implementation Consultant or Customer Success Manager for more information.
Operating Days: Identifies the operating days of your facility with the choice of Weekdays, Weekdays & Weekends, and Custom.
Day Selector: This checkbox allows you to identify if the facility is open that day. Note if this is unchecked then it will ignore the respective ‘Open time’ and ‘Close time’ for that day where the day selector is unchecked.
Open Time: Time that your facility is open. Note that you can choose from the dropdown or if you need a different choice then you can type in the box itself for any HH:MM combination of the day. If your locations are open all day then your Open Time is 00:00 and Close Time is 23:59.
Close Time: Time that your facility is closed. Note that you can choose from the dropdown or if you need a different choice then you can type in the box itself for any HH:MM combination of the day. If your locations are open all day then your Open Time is 00:00 and Close Time is 23:59.
Baseline Rating Settings: Load optimization brings back FTL pricing data based upon Truckstop rates at the time optimization is ran and it brings back LTL rates based on a national standard LTL carrier at the time optimization is ran. These rates are not specific to your company but with the ability to make the adjustments identified here then you will be able to configure an account in a way that still will mirror your standard rates that will help plan loads accurately.
LTL Freight Class: If freight class is not available on the order line items, the system will use this value in order to determine the baseline LTL cost for rate comparison.
LTL Discount (%): Discounts the standard nationwide LTL tariff used by the model to approximate the shipper’s expected costs from their LTL carriers.
LTL Rate Adjustment (%): This will adjust the LTL rates received back by the percentage amount provided. Note if positive value then it will be increased and if negative value then it will be reduced.
FTL Rate Adjustment (%): This will adjust the FTL rates received back by the percentage amount provided. Note if positive value then it will be increased and if negative value then it will be reduced.
Logical Constraints: Logical constraint allow users to indicate criteria to be used in planning which orders can or cannot be planned with other orders to create shipping routes. Customers must be leveraging v3 orders and using tags to get the benefit of logical constraints. The following mixture rules are supported:
Not with: Orders with one or more tags on the left will NOT be placed on shipments with orders that have one or more tags on the right.
Individually: Orders are only combined on a shipment with others that share the same tag(s). However, orders with the tag ‘Individually’ may be combined on a shipment.
Ignore: Orders with an ‘Ignore’ tag are excluded from optimization and will not be included in load plan.
Only with: Orders with one or more tags on the left WILL be place on shipments with orders that have one or more tags on the right.
Private Fleet Settings: These settings apply to load optimization generally and do not only apply to a private fleet.
Optimization Method: There are two optimization method choices:
Optimize by cost: This is a cost model that optimizes the cost of the shipments created overall even if the overall distance/duration of all shipments identified together are more. FTL pricing data based upon Truckstop rates at the time optimization is ran and it brings back LTL rates based on a national standard LTL carrier at the time optimization is ran. The adjustments to these rates per the ‘Baseline Rating Settings’ in the load optimization configuration used are leveraged.
Optimize by distance: This is a duration and distance calculation that optimizes for the shortest duration that makes all the constraints identified in the load optimization configuration used. This model does not factor in cost in building shipments although oftentimes the results of both models are similar given pricing from carriers is heavily duration focused for FTL.
Maximum Distance / Route: This limits the maximum route distance that can be created for each load.
Maximum Driving Hours / Route: Limits the maximum driving hours that can be take place per route. This maximum time includes the time in any stops and is measured from initial pickup stop to last delivery stop. This is often used for private fleets to limit the time to complete each load.
Maximum Number of Trucks: This identifies the maximum number of trucks that are available at any time so this will not build more than the same number of shipments at any given time. After a truck has completed a route then it will be reused in completing the next available orders that are in the load plan.
If multiple configuration sets exists, the user will be prompted to choose which set will be used when the initiate the Optimize Orders process. This screen also allows the user to name the load plan that will be generated. If only 1 set of configurations has been set up, this screen will be skipped and the optimization will start as soon as the Optimize Orders function is selected from the Orders List page.
Load Optimization Contract
There is not the ability currently for load optimization to use your standard contracts with carriers. However, there are two contract capabilities that Load Optimization currently can use as a fallback for rates. Note optimization while using the load optimization fallback contracts it will not leverage the LTL Discount, FTL Rate Adjustment, and LTL Rate Adjustment if a load optimization contract value is used.
Shipwell Default Load Optimization Contract: If you don’t enter your own default fallback load optimization contract then the Shipwell Optimization Contract is automatically available and will be the first fallback on if the one or more rating services where we get FTL and LTL rates from do not provide it (e.g. they are down or do not have a rate for that lane). The default Shipwell Load Optimization Contract can be viewed here.
Customer Default Load Optimization Contract: Customers can optionally load their own optimization contract. This contract leverages our standard Shipwell contract form. Currently, this Customer Optimization Contract if provided will be the first fallback if one or more rating services where we get FTL and LTL rates do not provide it (e.g. they are down or do not have a rate for that lane). In the future we plan on: 1) allowing users to leverage their Customer Default Load Optimization Contract as the default rate source; and 2) identifying which of multiple possible Optimization contracts they want to leverage for a load optimization configuration.
Create a Customer Load Optimization Contract: Download this template as a starting point and modify it in a normal manner as you would other contracts. This includes being able to add and remove lanes and making lanes more or less granular based on granularity levels Shipwell contracts support. Then you need to upload the contract with the name ‘Optimization Contract’ in your contracts section. Note currently we only support one load optimization contract per customer.
Load Optimization Analytics Dashboard
A Load Optimization dashboard has been created to display metrics related to the use and effectiveness of the Load Optimization product. To access the dashboard, select the Analytics menu, then Shared folder, and Load Optimization Metrics. The following dashboard will be displayed.
The metrics displayed include:
Optimized Orders: number of orders that were sent through Load Optimization
Consolidated Orders: number of orders that were combined with at least one other order after Load Optimization as opposed to a load that was created containing a single order.
Loads Approved: number of loads that customers converted to shipments.
CO2 Savings: quantity in metric tons of CO2 saved by consolidating shipments based on reduced mileage. This number is a rougher estimate than some, as we are only factoring in distance traveled rather than a combination of weight and distance. The calculation uses the emission factor for a truck to be 1,700 g/mile. Reference: Environmental Defense Fund
Note: all cost savings reflect the difference between the optimized order costs and the baseline order costs (all orders shipping individually)
Users also have the ability to drill down into the individual load details as shown below.
Optimization Modeling Logic
Pickup and Delivery Dates: Pickup and delivery dates are always respected so that loads should not be built that have a date and time that is outside the date and time provided in the pickup and delivery window for an order.
There are 4 dates on the order. Pickup start, pickup end, drop off start, and drop off end. Each of these fields can either be filled in or left blank and can optionally include times along with the dates. Using pickup as an example, these are the possible options based on the data you enter:
Start Date with Time, End Date with Time - Pickup start and end represent a specific appointment. In this case, the model will force the truck to pickup within the timeframe entered as long as the Address Book hours for the location and the Facility Hours for the locations are open. Note that if the Address Book has hours outside the windows that the Supplied Range for Pickup or Delivery time then there will be an Optimization Error.
Supplied range: Pickup start = 2022-08-01 08:00 Pickup end = 2022-08-01 15:00
Resulting appointment options: 2022-08-01 08:00 – 2022-08-01 15:00
Start Date without Time, End Date without Time - Pickup start and end represent a range of appointments. In this case, the model will look to the operational hours set in the configuration to determine when the appointments could be.
Supplied range: Pickup start = 2022-08-01 Pickup end = 2022-08-03 Hours of operation: Daily 08:00 – 12:00
Resulting appointment options:2022-08-01 08:00 – 2022-08-01 12:002022-08-02 08:00 – 2022-08-02 12:002022-08-03 08:00 – 2022-08-03 12:00
No Start Date or End Date - Pickup start and end times do not matter. Only the delivery appointment matters.
Supplied range: Pickup start is blank Pickup end is blank Hours of operation: Daily 08:00 – 12:00
Resulting appointment options: Any day before delivery ends, between 08:00 – 12:00
Either Start Date or End Date (with or without time) - Either pickup start or end time does not matter, but the other time does.
Supplied range: Pickup start = 2022-08-01 08:00 Pickup end is blank; Hours of operation: Daily 08:00 – 12:00
Resulting appointment options: Any day on or after 2022-08-01 08:00 before delivery ends, between 08:00 – 12:00
When there are multiple valid options for appointments, the model will first force the delivery to occur as early as possible. Once the delivery appointment has been established, the model will make the pickup appointment as close to the delivery appointment as possible, taking into account transit time taking into acocunt average truck speed, hours of service (HOS) restrictions, and location operating hours. Remember that loads.
Rate estimates
There are two rates associated with a plan: the baseline rate and the optimized rate.
When an order is prepared for optimization, we request both LTL and FTL rates for the order. These come from third party market rate providers (subject to change, we might be swapping this out for internal rating). From this we can determine a base rate for the order, which is the cheaper of the FTL and LTL rates. The baseline rate is simply the sum of base rates of all the orders in the plan.
The optimized rate is derived from the base rate, but with savings applied for bundling orders.
For a multi-stop FTL load, the optimized rate is the DPM of the (first origin, last destination) pair scaled by the distance of the multi-stop route, with a per stop charge added.
For a multi-order LTL load, the optimized rate is the sum of the individual LTL rates, with a blanket discount applied.
Common Questions on Why Load Optimization Plans Were Created and Tips to Adjust
Getting the proper load optimization configurations together requires some testing of actual loads and adjusting the different load optimization configuration settings. This process is like perfecting a recipe wherein you will make small adjustments to one item at a time until you have the perfect recipe. Here are some common questions that arise and how to go about refining your load optimization plan if results are different than expected.
The trucks built are not as full as I would expect. Potential adjustments to adjust and suggest experimenting with each of these individually and seeing how it will adjust the load plans developed:
Review and potentially increase the ‘Average Truck Speed’
Review and potentially increase the ‘Truckload Capacity’ (i.e. Maximum Weight, Maximum Volume, and Maximum Pallets)
Review and potentially increase ‘Maximum Stops’
Review and potentially adjust ‘Logical Constraints’
Review and potentially adjust ‘Fleet Settings’ including ‘Maximum distance/route’ and ‘Maximum driving hours/route’
Review and possibly adjust ‘Facility Operating Hours’, ‘Address Book Hours’ of stops part of orders optimized, and Dock Scheduling Facility Hours and Dock Rules (Dock Scheduling clients)
The trucks are not providing the most direct route as I would expect. Potential adjustments to adjust:
Review Pickup and Delivery Dates/Times of Orders provided and do they support the delivery in the order you think would be most efficient. For example, if the orders optimizing you have a Pickup in Missouri on April 22 and a Pickup in Colorado on April 21 and a Delivery in New York on April 27 then you are forcing the truck to start in Missouri and then go to Colorado and then go to New York.
Review and possibly adjust ‘Facility Operating Hours’, ‘Address Book Hours’ of stops part of orders optimized, and Dock Scheduling Facility Hours and Dock Rules (Dock Scheduling clients)
I keep getting an optimization error and it will not run.
Review the error provided and it should guide you to the issue.
The shipment is getting to a location faster or slower than I would have expected.
Review and potentially decrease or increase the ‘Average Truck Speed’
Review and potentially decrease or increase ‘Minimum Stop Time’
Side note that our duration/transit model for transit times and breaks needed are done currently via an FTL approach. This means that sometimes LTL routes will seem a day faster than expected. Further, we do not let FTL routes be longer than seven (7) calendar days in total currently.