Descartes Systems Group has enhanced its Descartes Route Planning On-demand offering, enabling carriers to comply with the new U.S. Postal Service (USPS) requirement to track and report the status of active highway contract trucks. USPS is requiring that all suppliers with highway contract routes (HCRs) have global positioning system (GPS) tracking and 30-minute reporting of active routes, by no later than Dec. 1, 2010. HCRs typically involve the hauling of bulk mail in semi-trucks between regional and bulk-mail facilities in the USPS network. The new feature can be implemented in a simple form, such as the basic GPS-phone-enabled tracking required by USPS. It can also be extended to an end-to-end system that combines route optimization, dispatching, automated vehicle location and GPS wireless mobile technology. Only a Web browser is required to access the On-demand applications; the wireless mobile devices come pre-integrated. The feature supports a wide array of GPS-enabled wireless mobile technology, from Java phones to Windows Mobile-enabled devices and in-vehicle-mounted "black boxes." In another company announcement, Descartes has forged an alliance with Inttra, a provider of electronic-commerce tools for the ocean freight industry, to enhance international ocean-shipping processes. The alliance gives customers using the Descartes Global Logistics Network the ability to manage the entire ocean cargo-shipment lifecycle, the vendor said. Processes supported by the technology include booking, contract and rate management, visibility to shipment status, electronic document exchange, and the submission of customs filings.
