Logistics Solution: Descartes Expands ACE Customs Filing Service Center

Descartes Systems Group, a global on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) logistics solutions provider, announced the expansion of its service center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to support Descartes' Customs Filing and Compliance Services.

Descartes' Customs Filing and Compliance Services help ground carriers and customs brokers make electronic filings required to bring cargo into the United States by truck. In May 2007, United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that all trucks entering the U.S. would be required to electronically file a manifest with CBP prior to arrival at the border. The electronic manifest must include details of the cargo, the shipper and the recipient. CBP has mandated a similar e-Manifest initiative for filings to its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) for air and ocean shipments entering the U.S.

"The number of ACE filings has increased significantly now that the e-Manifest rules are mandatory for all trucks entering the U.S.," said Edward Ryan, Executive Vice President, Global Field Operations. "We've opened this additional service center to handle the increased volume and to enable us to continue to deliver the quality of service our customers have come to expect from Descartes."

Over 500 carriers, including three of the top four North American for-hire truck carriers, use Descartes to help them comply with CBP's ACE e-Manifest initiative. While the initiative became mandatory in May, CBP is expected to implement more rigorous enforcement over the coming months.

Descartes' Customs Filing and Compliance Services for the e-Manifest initiative include:

• ACE-4-Trucks Service: a web-based application that allows truckers to electronically submit waybill and trip information directly to CBP in advance of arriving at the border. Detailed report updates and email e-alerts advise users of border crossing problems or manifest errors in real-time. This application also builds profile databases for the shipper, consignee, companies, driver and equipment data used on repeated shipments.
• ACE Preparer Service: is a service focused on the carrier that does not want to directly manage ACE compliance software and the submissions. This service allows carriers to simply fax or email a complete manifest to the Descartes 24X7 service center and our experienced operators will file to CBP directly. This service also provides real-time status updates of the e-Manifest submission.
• ACE Premier Service: takes the ACE Preparer Service one step further for customs compliance. This service takes the faxed documents and routes them to the proper customs broker for customs processing. In addition, this service provides the follow up necessary to ensure that the driver can arrive at the border fully prepared. ACE Premier manages the movement of vital trade documentation to the right place at the right time.
• ACE Connect Service: For large organizations with an existing infrastructure and ACE filing solutions, the ACE Connect Service processes this existing data and submits it via industry standard EDI or an in-house XML and securely transmits it directly to the CBP.
• Descartes also offers an Affinity Program for users to resell the ACE-4-Trucks Service and brand it as their own value-added service to their customers

About Descartes
Descartes, a leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) logistics solutions, is delivering results across the globe today for organizations that operate logistics-intensive businesses. Descartes' logistics management solutions combine a multi-modal network, the Descartes Global Logistics Network, with component-based ‘nano' sized applications to provide messaging services between logistics trading partners, "book-to-bill" services for contract carriers and private fleet management services for organizations of all sizes. These solutions and services help Descartes' customers reduce administrative costs, billing cycles, fleet size, contract carrier costs, and mileage driven and improve pick up and delivery reliability. Our hosted, transactional and packaged solutions deliver repeatable, measurable results and fast time-to-value. Descartes customers include an estimated 1,600 ground carriers and more than 90 airlines, 30 ocean carriers, 900 freight forwarders and third-party providers of logistics services, and hundreds of manufacturers, retailers, distributors, private fleet owners and regulatory agencies. The company has over 300 employees and is based in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Washington DC, Derby, Stockholm, Shanghai, Singapore and Melbourne. For more information, visit www.descartes.com.

SOURCE: Descartes