Traffic/CIS Density Sources
The
costing of shipments in the Traffic/CIS database relies on an accurate freight
density to determine the share of cost that each shipment will absorb for the
linehaul and, to a lesser extent, P&D driving activities.
It can also affect P&D stop and dock handling cost.
So critical is this information, that the system has a number of methods for obtaining shipment density. In order of accuracy value and application priority, they are as follows:
1.
Actual: Measured
by weighing and inspecting, or otherwise “dimmed” by the customer, if
dimensions are captured by the bill entry system, the actual density can be
written to the CIS shipment record along with a subsequent “A,” for actual.
2.
Commodity Code: Carrier’s
can build a table of density defaults by commodity, either NMFC item number or
other commodity coding, which the system will apply from the file ARTICLES.DEN
to any corresponding articles.
3. Customer Profile – Density Overrides by Class: For any particular customer, a table of density conversions can be created in the CIS customer profile to apply to shipments of varying classes.
4.
Customer Profile – Overall Density Override:
The CIS Customer Profile has a density field for average density for that
customer’s freight.
5.
Customer Profile – Base of Unstackable Freight:
The CIS Customer Profile density field will also accept, in lieu of
density, the square foot base of each unstackable handling unit.
This is converted to density during the cost calculation process, using
the average cube / maximum cube ratio in each linehaul leg to determine the
average freight height.
6.
Number of Pallets: There
is a high correlation between weight per pallet and freight density, such that
if the shipment is identified as palletized (CIS packaging code 1, unitized, or
2, palletized) and the number of shipping units is provided, a density will be
calculated from TCG’s regression formulas from actual freight measurements.
7.
Class Conversion: The
classification of each article can provide density, using either the original
NMFTA classification guideline or overrides provided in the file CLASS.DEN.
8. Lane Average: If the shipment has no density from all possible sources above, it is costed using the average density of all freight moving in the lane in which it moves.