Transportation Management System

Plan, dispatch, and optimize multimodal moves

Plan, dispatch, and optimize multimodal moves across yard, road, and rail. API-ready TMS built for port and inland logistics.

Value

  • Dispatch & slot booking (gate/rail)
  • Route optimization & geofencing
  • Driver app, ePOD, carrier onboarding
  • Costing, invoices, and carrier performance

Beneficiaries

  • Haulage & Trucking — dispatch, routing, and ePOD in one place.
  • Rail Operators — align trains and loading with yard operations.
  • Forwarders & Brokers — book & monitor multimodal moves in real time.
  • Terminal Operators — synchronize gate operations with transport slots.

Advised WCDAT Services

  • Public Tracking — live shipment updates for clients and consignees.
  • Data Integration Layer — connect TMS with terminals, customs, and payments.
  • Port Community — sync regulatory docs and slot allocations.
  • WCDAT Mobile — driver trip instructions, ePOD, and chat support.

Delivery Order Validity — Automation

Automate DO lifecycle from issuance to expiry with rules, timers, and notifications that sync with customs release, port charges, and terminal holds.

  • Auto-ingest DOs from shipping lines & agents (EDIFACT/API/PDF-OCR).
  • Validity clock starts on payment confirmation & customs release; pauses on active holds.
  • Rules engine for expiry, extension, split DOs, partial pickups, and weekend/holiday adjustments.
  • Notifications: countdown alerts (48h, 24h, 6h), SMS/email/webhook to consignee/forwarder/driver app.
  • Auto-gate enforcement: gate pass generation blocked if DO invalid or holds unmet.
  • Audit & SLA: tamper-proof trail of DO events, changes, and user actions.

Data & Integrations

  • Inputs: DO number, BL, container list, payer, validity rules, payments, customs status, terminal holds.
  • Systems: TOS (Navis N4, etc.), Customs SW, Payment Gateway, Gate/ANPR, Truck Appointment.
  • APIs: create/extend DO, validate at gate, list containers under DO, webhooks for status changes.
  • UI: status badge, time-to-expire countdown, “Extend DO” (role-based), doc checklist.

KPIs: % expired DOs, avg. time-to-pickup, extension rate, gate denials due to invalid DO, CSAT.

Best Pick Algorithm — faster trucks, fewer rehandles

Optimize yard decisions and truck sequencing to minimize crane travel and reshuffles while honoring safety, stack rules, and priorities.

Objective & Constraints

  • Objective: minimize total cost = rehandles + crane travel + queue delay.
  • Constraints: stack access rules, hazardous/reefer bays, weight limits, yard equipment availability.
  • Priorities: DO expiry proximity, appointment slot, vessel cut-off, customer SLA, reefer power time.
  • Mode: RTG/RMG/Reach-stacker compatible; supports dual-cycle where feasible.

Inputs

  • Yard inventory (row/stack/tier), bay congestion, crane positions.
  • Truck ETA & appointment window, DO container set, container attributes.
  • Live holds (customs, line, port), weight class, special handling flags (DG/reefer/OOH).

Outputs: truck pick sequence, crane task list, pre-emptive reshuffles, gate slot smoothing.

Heuristic (rolling horizon)

  1. Windowing: consider next k trucks (e.g., 10–20) by ETA/appointment.
  2. Scoring each candidate container:

    score = w1·(expected reshuffles) + w2·(crane travel) + w3·(delay to appointment) + w4·(yard congestion) − w5·(priority).
  3. Greedy assign lowest-score pick per truck, reserve crane path; create pre-reshuffle tasks if cheaper.
  4. Local search: swap adjacent truck picks if total score improves.
  5. Dual-cycle: pair unload→load or move→pick to reduce empty moves.
  6. Smoothing: adjust gate times if queue waves exceed crane capacity.

Pseudocode

for window in rolling_windows(trucks, k):
  candidates = enumerate_containers(window)
  for c in candidates:
    c.score = w1*reshuffles(c) + w2*crane_travel(c) + w3*delay(c) + w4*congestion(c) - w5*priority(c)
  plan = greedy_assign_min_score(candidates)
  plan = local_swap_improve(plan)       # 2-opt / adjacent swaps
  plan = enable_dual_cycle(plan)        # pair tasks where possible
  apply_gate_smoothing(plan)
  dispatch(plan)                        # push to TOS tasks + driver app
        

Telemetry: publish per-pick cost, realized vs. expected reshuffles, crane utilization, avg. TT.

KPIs & Alerts

  • Truck Turn Time (TT) avg/p95, queue vs. service time, by hour.
  • Rehandles per box (target ↓), crane moves/hour, % dual-cycle utilization.
  • DO expiries avoided, extension rate, gate denials due to invalid DO.
  • Plan vs. actual reshuffles; alarm if variance > threshold.