Shipwell supports multi-stage/mode shipments (MSM). These MSM shipments can be made up of multiple shipment legs and services built off each other. Each leg or service can have one customer and one carrier currently. As part of this effort there were several advancements provided to support MSM shipments and we will cover each below.

For convenience we have also recorded a nine-minute video covering this functionality here.

Quick note that in order to access MSM shipment capability then it needs to be activated for your account. Simply contact your Shipwell Customer Service Representative to have it activated. They can also answer any additional questions you have around it.

New ‘Stages’ Action Panel

To originate and display the different shipments and services in a MSM shipment, we created a new ‘Stages’ area within the side panel on both the Shipments Dashboard and the Shipment Details page.

There is a shipment and service card that is displayed for each shipment or service. These cards provide high-level information on each respective shipment and service including:

Note that the MSM shipment functionality is turned on by customer and is currently only being activated for Shipwell’s SaaS customers since with this functionality it displays both the customer and provider financials in the side panel.

Each shipment and service card has a actions dropdown that supports the following quick actions:

Create a Shipment/Service Off Another Shipment/Service

Let’s walkthrough the process of adding a shipment/service off another shipment/service. In this case, we are going to build a Drayage shipment followed by a Transload service followed by a Full Truckload shipment (i.e., Drayage -> Transload -> FTL). We first create the initial Drayage shipment through our normal process whether in the application individually, via shipment importer, or via API.

The ‘Stages’ section of the side panel as discussed above is where we can access ‘Add’ functionality. We will select ‘Add’ from the dropdown menu on a shipment/service card within the ‘Stages’ section of the side panel.

The ‘Create a New Stage’ modal will populate, and you will be able to choose the type of shipment or service you are looking to create. We choose a ‘Stage Type’ of ‘Transload’ in this case since that is what we want to build off of our ‘Drayage’ shipment. Note other current ‘Stage Type’ options include:

Once you select the ‘Stage Type’ the modal will come pre-populated with information based off the prior shipment/service you are building upon. For example, here the Transload location and date are already populated based upon the final delivery location and date of your Full Truckload shipment. This enhances the operational efficiency and accuracy of building MSM shipments.

Once you complete the rest of the Transload creation information and press ‘Save’ you will have created your Transload service. Now you can see this new Transload service in the side panel under stages beneath your Drayage shipment.

Now we are going to build our ‘Full Truckload’ shipment off of the ‘Transload’ service by selecting ‘Add’ off the Transload service card and again complete the process of filling out the information in the ‘Create a New Stage.’

At this point we have created the framework for our Drayage -> Transload -> FTL shipment.

One benefit of MSM shipments is they build off each other and this means that a significant amount of data is pre-populated based on prior shipment/service, so you don’t need to reenter. Look at the following page link that displays which data is populated from prior shipment/service.

Edit a Shipment or Service Stage

We can edit a shipment or service stage no matter if different shipment or service is in transit or completed. Simply select ‘Edit’ from the shipment/service card that you wish to edit from the ‘Stages’ side panel.

This will populate a new window with the Shipment Details page displayed for that shipment stage. If you select ‘Edit’ for a service stage, then it will populate the ‘Create a Stage’ modal with the service stage information displayed. Note at a future date there will be a service stage details page like we have for shipments.

Enhancements to the Shipments Dashboard

The ‘Stages’ side panel is available on the Shipments Dashboard as mentioned earlier, but in addition to this we have added some new columns to support MSM shipments better. These columns include:

Note some of these columns will need to be added on the lefthand side panel like you would add any Shipments Dashboards columns. Initially when you first have access to the Shipments Dashboard it is helpful to first delete your browser’s cache or your prior shipment’s dashboard cache may cause anomalies.

Creating and Managing Service Providers

Offering services means there are also service providers. These service providers are created and managed for uses that are company administrators. If you are a user with this access and MSM shipments have been turned on, then you will see ‘Service Providers’ under the ‘Manage’ dropdown in the top navigation bar.

There will bring you to the ‘Service Providers’ table. Click on ‘+ Provider’ and it will allow you to create a new provider.

When filling out the Service Provider information complete the mandatory fields but also you should leverage ‘Capabilities’ to identify which services the Service Provider performs. Currently, we support Storage, Terminal Fees, and Transload but will be adding additional services. Note that even if you add service provider contacts, they will not get an invite to Shipwell and there is not tendering of services in Shipwell currently. Eventually this will be supported but initial MSM shipments do not support service provider system access and messaging.

Once you have saved your service provider it will be available when you are creating or editing a service and associating a service provider.

How do I get access to MSM shipment capability? Just contact your Shipwell Customer Service Representative and they will have it activated and can answer any questions you may have.