Booking the right loads that match a particular carrier's preferences and capabilities can be difficult because of the wide range of potential loads and the huge geographic area that needs to be covered.
RGD added additional tools that enable carriers to exclude, include and include only (states, cities, and specific facilities) from their search parameters, improving the accuracy and precision of the search for available loads.
We will examine these new capabilities in this blog post and how they can assist carriers in locating loads that best suit their requirements and preferences.
States, cities, and facilities all have a separate filter that a user is able to utilize on demand. Each filter has a subfilter exclude, include, or include only.
The crossfilter function will not work, meaning you cannot use exclude, include, include only, and start from together in any combination on the same filter, ONLY separately. However, you can use it with other similar filters.
Spoiler: Facility Filter has an additional Start From filtration.
Let’s take a closer look 👀 at how these filters work! Note that all filters (facilities, cities, states) work with the same logic.
“Exclude” - If input(s) is entered, no loads containing that input(s) (in any of the stops) will match.
“Include” - If input(s) is entered, the load will match if at least one input is present in the load (in any of the stops).
“Include Only” - If input(s) is entered, the load must match every input to be detected. Therefore, entering 1 input will result in 0 loads, because the minimum amount of inputs in any load is 2. (However, you can enter 1 input into State(s) filter because loads can exist within 1 state).
“Start From” - If input(s) is entered, loads that only originate from this location will match.
📚 Additional Information 📚
1️⃣ All filters are case insensitive, meaning that you can use upper and lower case letters.
2️⃣ Enter one input at a time.
3️⃣ Filters work with auto booking, notification, and analytical features (in other words with all modes)
4️⃣ Make sure you enter an entire facility code, for example if the name of the facility is CSXT-BEDFORD PARK do not fill-in only CSXT.
🛑 Limitations 🛑
There are certain functions or capabilities within the features that are not working correctly because of the problems with Amazon Relay’s infrastructure of services.
1️⃣ To provide an example, there is a load that exists on the load board that includes the following data 👇
As you might notice there is no (.) after St.
Even Though, Amazon Relay database stores this information with (.).
This will not allow you to “exclude”, “include”, or “include only” this particular city and other similar cities even with Amazon’s exclude city filter (you can check yourself 😉)
2️⃣ A similar example can be found when looking for loads in Castleton-On-Hudson ,NY (lovely place 😍, I googled it).
The issue with this location is that Amazon stores this location in their database as "Castleton-On-Hudson".
When in reality the loads containing that location only includes "Castleton, NY".
This leads to incorrect filtration.
Be aware of the situation and adjust your expectations accordingly. Identify workarounds or alternative solutions that could help mitigate the impact of the limitations.
Remember that access filtering can slow down your booking process.
In conclusion, due to the large number of potential loads and the wide geographic area to be covered, choosing the right loads for carriers can be a challenging job. Although there are some limitations to the feature due to infrastructure issues, the added capabilities still provide significant benefits to carriers looking for the right loads on Amazon Relay.