Patent ID: 7467091

Claim:
A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied thereon and configured to control a computer to perform the method of: a seller creating a customer pick-up program by selecting at least one customer pick-up program strategy option, selecting at least one customer pick-up program allowance unit rate structure option, and selecting decision rules by which a customer pick-up program allowance unit rate structure option is selected to determine a customer pick-up program allowance for a single shipment, wherein the step of seller creating a customer pick-up program comprises entering attribute data including customer pick-up program strategy, policy, procedures, and shipping location profiles the seller providing information for at least one seller shipping location; a buyer selecting one of the at least one customer pick-up program strategy options selected by the seller and submitting a customer pick-up program proposal and request to the seller, wherein the customer pick-up program proposal and request is determined based on the selected program strategy option; the buyer and seller selecting a determined customer pick-up allowance unit rate and at least one customer pick-up program allowance unit rate structure option for each customer pick-up program allowance; and determining the customer pick-up program allowance for a specific shipment using the selected customer pick-up allowance unit rate structure option, wherein the customer pick-up (CPU) allowance for the specific shipment is determined by the formulae: CPU ⁢ ⁢ Allowance ⁢ ⁢ Unit ⁢ ⁢ Rate ⁢ ⁢ ( $ / UOM ) = ( Gainshare ⁢ ⁢ Allocation ⁢ ⁢ Factor ) × { ( Scaling ⁢ ⁢ Factor ) × [ ( Line ⁢ ⁢ Haul ⁢ ⁢ Cost ) + ( Fuel ⁢ ⁢ Adjustment ⁢ ⁢ Term ) ] + Accessorials } ( Standard ⁢ ⁢ No . ⁢ of ⁢ ⁢ Units ) CPU ⁢ ⁢ Allowance ⁢ ⁢ ( $ ) = ( Performance ⁢ ⁢ Factor ) × [ ( CPU ⁢ ⁢ Allowance ⁢ ⁢ Unit ⁢ ⁢ Rate ) × ( No . ⁢ of ⁢ ⁢ Units ⁢ ⁢ on ⁢ ⁢ Shipment ) ] ⁢ .