Patent ID: 7395237

Claim:
In a system for matching carrier capacities with shipper loads via a wide area network, a computer-implemented method for enabling a carrier representative to manage units of carrier capacity associated with a carrier, each unit of capacity corresponding to specific carrier equipment having an associated equipment identifier, the method comprising: presenting first carrier interfaces operable to enable the carrier representative to post selected ones of the units of capacity for viewing by shipper representatives, the first carrier interfaces being operable to receive a plurality of capacity parameters for each selected unit of capacity and facilitate generation of a listing for each selected unit of capacity; presenting second carrier interfaces operable to enable the carrier representative to identify shipper loads, the second carrier interfaces being operable to initiate a search process according to at least one criterion specified by the carrier representative; presenting third carrier interfaces operable to enable the carrier representative to select first ones of the units of capacity, assign a group identifier to the first units of capacity thereby relating the associated equipment identifiers, and generate a first bid for a first shipper load using the group identifier; presenting fourth carrier interfaces operable to enable the carrier representative to generate a plurality of second bids corresponding to a plurality of second shipper loads, each of the second bids corresponding to a second one of the units of capacity, such that where one of the second bids is accepted, all others of the second bids become unavailable; and presenting fifth carrier interfaces operable to enable the carrier representative to generate a third bid for a third shipper load designating a currently unavailable one of the units of capacity, the third bid being identified as a future bid, such that when the currently unavailable unit of capacity becomes available, the third bid is updated to a current bid.