What began as an idea among several employees of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems last year is now a dot-com company that has entered the burgeoning field of e-commerce, courtesy of Bendix's parent, Honeywell Co. At the Mid-America Trucking Show, CoreBin.com made its official debut to sellers and buyers of what's known as 'cores' or used truck parts.
CoreBin.com, a subsidiary of Honeywell Co., has been in limited operation for over a month, holding 100 to 150 online auctions of some 5,000 to 6,000 used parts per day.
CoreBin.com is an electronic marketplace that lets registered sellers post their parts for free, set the parameters for how long they'll keep items up for bid, and select a base price for each item.
Buyers pay a 7% transaction fee for any cores purchased and are responsible for arranging their own transportation, said Jeff Place, manager of CoreBin.com. However, CoreBin.com does offer a 50% discount for transportation through Roadway Express.
CoreBin.com does not handle any of the money that changes hands between sellers and buyers. It maintains user reports on all sales, however, so that "swindlers" can be banned from any future participation at the site, according to the company.
"We're trying to make the process faster and simpler," Place said. "The system's automated search functions will also track bids and report them to sellers and buyers by e-mail so they don't have to sit at their computers all day scrolling through core auctions."
E-Trans Logistics and Velocity Intellectual Properties say they've teamed up to form American Freight Exchange (AFE), a national freight network that hopes to link thousands of small fleets into a seamless real-time shipping network. According to the partners, AFE will combine local trucking carriers and their geographically specific knowledge with national air and rail affiliates.
Transportation.com, an Internet-based transportation marketplace for carriers, private fleets, and shippers, has added online auctions and a full suite of Internet messaging and calendar applications to its services. The new Internet company, which includes Yellow Corp. among its founding investors, has also retained PeopleSupport to provide 24/7 online customer support.
Regional LTL carrier Southeastern Freight Lines has partnered with the decision-support provider Logistics.com to develop and deploy OptiSchedule. The new system reduces linehaul miles, increases asset utilization, and improves service delivery by creating efficient linehaul driver schedules based on equipment specifications, service requirements, and other variables.
