Freight Pulse

Get the TRUE DOOR-TO-DOOR cost and time of an import move, not the port-to-port figure importers usually quote. The ocean tools price PORT-TO-PORT; this layers the INLAND legs at BOTH ends onto the all-in ocean move: origin drayage (the short truck move factory/CY → load port), destination drayage (discharge port → DC), the US CHASSIS rental (a separate daily charge + a chassis-split fee that exists in the US but is bundled elsewhere), terminal GATE-congestion fees and turn-time days, and — when the cargo's real destination is INLAND — the interior haul with a RAIL-vs-TRUCK decision (US IPI in…

Check whether the shipper can even GET A CONTAINER on a lane — and what the equipment imbalance costs — BEFORE pricing the move. The rate tools assume a box exists; this answers the constraint that often binds first: in a deficit origin you can have a rate and a sailing and still not secure a box. Returns a 0-100 AVAILABILITY INDEX for the empty box at the origin and a SHORTAGE-RISK score, driven by the structural EQUIPMENT IMBALANCE of container trade: trade is directional, so empties PILE UP at net-importer ports (LA/Long Beach, Rotterdam, Hamburg) and run SHORT at net-exporter hubs (north/c…

Evaluate carrier BIDS on a freight tender and pick the best award per lane. Pass your lanes (with annual volumes) and the bids each carrier submitted (carrier + all-in rate, optionally transit/sailings/free-days). For each lane it scores every bid on COST + RELIABILITY (the carrier's expected on-time performance from iter8 carrier matching) + COVERAGE (does it actually serve the corridor), DETECTS LOW-BALLS — a bid implausibly under the lane's modeled market band, the kind that gets rolled or surcharged back up and won't hold — by scoring them DOWN on credibility, and picks the best CREDIBLE a…

Check whether it is LEGAL to EXPORT a given product to a destination, and whether it needs an export LICENCE — the goods-side trade-compliance question (NOT denied-party / sanctioned-person screening, which is a separate regulated process this tool does NOT perform). Pass a product description (reusing the same HS classifier as get_landed_cost) or an HS code + the lane. It classifies the goods against the DUAL-USE control lists (a modeled ECCN / EU Annex-I dual-use category: advanced electronics, encryption/information-security, sensors & lasers, navigation, aerospace, nuclear, special materia…

Quantify and hedge the CURRENCY RISK of your ocean-freight spend. Freight is quoted and largely invoiced in USD, but a non-US shipper PAYS in its home currency (EUR/GBP/JPY/CNY/…) — so a large, recurring USD freight bill is a foreign-exchange exposure: if the home currency weakens, the same freight costs more locally. Pass your home currency + your annual USD freight spend, and it returns: the exposure in your local currency at a modeled spot, the annualised VOLATILITY band of the pair, the 95% adverse FX move on the spend (in money), and a HEDGE-RATIO recommendation — what % of the exposure t…

Get the ALL-IN ocean freight cost for a lane — the TRUE landed cost of the move, not just the base spot rate. get_spot_rate returns the index-blended BASE; this returns base + every applicable carrier SURCHARGE & accessorial, which routinely inflates the real cost by +30-60%. Models the opaque thicket importers actually pay: Terminal Handling (origin+destination), BAF/LSS bunker fuel (modeled from a marine-fuel proxy and the corridor's burn), CAF currency adjustment, Peak-Season Surcharge (only inside the seasonal peak window), a damped GRI residual, port Congestion surcharge, ISPS security, D…

Get the full LANDED COST (cost puesto en destino) of an import — the number the importer's margin actually depends on, not just the freight. Returns merchandise value (FOB) + all-in ocean freight (base + every surcharge) + insurance (CIF) + CUSTOMS DUTY + import VAT/consumption tax, as a line-item breakdown, plus the % of landed cost that is freight vs duties vs taxes. Includes an HS-CODE CLASSIFIER: pass a product description ('bluetooth earbuds', 'office chairs', 'cotton t-shirts') and it proposes the most likely HS6 heading with a confidence score (and 2-3 candidates when the text is ambigu…

Forecast the ocean spot rate for a lane (origin → destination) and get a grounded BOOK-NOW-OR-WAIT call for a given ship date. Returns: a weeks-long cross-validated time series; a STATISTICAL FORECAST several weeks ahead (Holt-Winters / ETS triple exponential smoothing) with prediction intervals that widen with the horizon, plus naïve/drift/seasonal-naïve baselines and an honest BACKTEST (MAPE/RMSE/MASE) of the forecast's accuracy; the ocean-freight SEASONALITY CALENDAR overlaid on your ship date (Chinese New Year pre-rush & post-slump, Golden Week, transpacific/Asia peak season, likely GRIs a…

Get the PORT-CONGESTION & DISRUPTION intelligence for a lane — the OPERATIONAL state of the origin and destination ports and the live disruption events that move your transit time and your price. The rate tools tell you what a move costs; this tells you whether the PORTS can actually clear it on schedule. Returns a 0-100 CONGESTION INDEX for both the origin and destination ports on your ship date (structural berth/anchorage pressure + seasonal peak + active disruptions), the extra WAITING DAYS that congestion tacks onto your p90 transit, a 0-100 lane OPERATIONAL-RISK score with a building / st…

Read your accumulating supplier/carrier/lane SCORECARD — the KPIs you've fed with record_performance. Returns, per subject, on-time %, average delay, damage/discrepancy/rollover rates, a 0-100 reliability score and an improving/declining/stable TREND, ranked best-OTP-first, with the best & worst performer. Omit 'subject' for the whole network or pass one to drill in. The standing performance history that turns freight-pulse into a recurring decision tool (who do I award next year's volume to?). Honest (regla 7): your own empirical log, small samples flagged. PREMIUM: pay per call with x402 (US…

Get the CURRENT ocean container spot rate for a lane (origin port → destination port) so you can answer 'should I book this shipment now or wait?'. Returns ONE normalized USD figure for the requested container size, a CONFIDENCE SCORE, and the MARKET DIRECTION (rising / falling / stable). Unlike calling a single freight API, this CROSS-VALIDATES multiple live indices — Drewry's World Container Index (WCI) and the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX), read server-side, plus your own SeaRates key if you supply one — and reconciles them into a single number with an agreement/confidence read, so you know …

Explain the EXACT cost & risk split between the SELLER (exporter) and the BUYER (importer) for an Incoterms® 2020 rule on a lane — the decision an importer makes when they agree 'FOB Shanghai' vs 'DDP my-warehouse', which a thin agent routinely gets wrong. Returns the precise POINT at which risk of loss/damage transfers (EXW at the seller's works; FCA/CPT/CIP at the first-carrier hand-over; FAS alongside the ship; FOB/CFR/CIF once ON BOARD; DAP/DDP at destination ready; DPU once unloaded), who pays each step (export clearance, origin haulage, the main international freight, destination termina…

Recommend cost-effective MARINE CARGO INSURANCE for a shipment — the cover an importer needs but often under-buys. It prices the three Institute Cargo Clauses side by side: ICC (A) ALL-RISK (covers everything bar named exclusions — for valuable/fragile/theft-prone cargo), ICC (B) named-perils-broad (adds water-ingress but NOT theft), and ICC (C) MINIMUM (only major vessel casualties — no water, no theft) — showing what each COVERS and EXCLUDES. The premium = INSURED VALUE (CIF + 10% customary markup, the freight pulled server-side so the base is real) × the cargo's LOSS PROFILE (electronics/ba…

Size the INVENTORY a freight decision forces you to hold. The freight choice (mode, reliability, transit time) DETERMINES your safety stock — this computes it. Give the lane + your annual demand (units) + unit value, and it returns, per mode (ocean baseline vs a faster/more-reliable air option): the SAFETY STOCK = z(service level) × σ of lead-time-demand (σ_LTD = sqrt(L·σ_demand² + demand²·σ_lead²), reusing the lane's modeled transit time AND its variability from the transit engine), the REORDER POINT, the Wilson EOQ, and the TOTAL inventory cost (ordering + cycle holding + safety-stock holdin…

How FRAGILE is this route? The 0-100 lane-risk score a supply-chain director needs for their risk map. Give the lane and it COMPOSES the risk dimensions every other freight-pulse engine already models: CHOKEPOINT criticality (Suez / Red-Sea / Bab-el-Mandeb / Panama / Malacca, reusing the routing engine), GEOPOLITICAL risk per origin/destination/transit country (modeled bands), CONCENTRATION (single-port & single-carrier dependence), LABOUR risk (active strikes), CLIMATE risk (typhoon/hurricane/drought windows), CONGESTION (port-intel operational risk) and EQUIPMENT risk (box imbalance). It ret…

Optimize how a product LOADS into a container — the stowage/cube-and-weight question every importer faces. Give the CARTON dimensions (cm) and gross weight (kg) and optionally a target quantity, and it computes: how many units fit BY VOLUME and BY WEIGHT and which constraint BINDS FIRST (the crux — dense cargo like tiles/stone tops out by WEIGHT at low cube, while light cargo like apparel/foam fills the CUBE with payload to spare); the utilization on BOTH axes (% volume AND % payload) so you see the wasted constraint; the 40HC-vs-2×20DV head-to-head for the cargo's density (two 20ft give ~2× t…

Compose freight-pulse's whole engine stack into ONE executive market-intelligence report for a lane — the committee-ready brief a head of logistics presents. Give the lane (and optionally a product + merchandise value to deepen it) and it returns a structured, sectioned report: 1) MARKET STATE & OUTLOOK — today's cross-validated spot + direction, the Holt-Winters forecast with intervals, the seasonality calendar overlaid on your ship date (CNY / Golden Week / peak / GRIs / blank sailings), and an anomaly read; 2) COST — all-in freight and, with product+value, the full landed cost (duty / 301 /…

Optimize a shipper's ENTIRE annual lane PORTFOLIO at once — the question the single-lane tools can't answer. Give a SET of lanes with their annual volumes (an importer's network) and the engine optimizes globally: it procures each lane (contract / spot / optimal mix) and costs it, scores its schedule reliability and its CO2, then enforces NETWORK CONSTRAINTS — a total freight BUDGET (shifts soft-market lanes to locked contracts to fit), a minimum SERVICE level (won't cut a lane's reliability below the floor to save money), and an ESG CO2 ceiling (targets the carbon-heaviest lanes). It surfaces…

Optimize PALLETIZATION across the full chain product → case → pallet → container (distinct from the box→container load optimizer). Give a case (carton) size & weight, a pallet standard (EUR 1200×800, EUR2 1200×1000, US/GMA 48×40, AU 1165) and a container, and it computes: cases per pallet (best layer pattern from both case orientations + pinwheel × layers, capped by the pallet weight AND the container height), pallets per container (floor footprint × single-vs-double-stack under the ceiling, capped by payload), and the % container CUBE UTILISATION. It then contrasts PALLETIZED vs FLOOR-LOADED:…

Recommend the TRADE-FINANCE / PAYMENT TERMS for an import deal — the other half of the transaction the freight tools ignore. Give the lane (→ exporter country at origin, importer country at destination), the invoice value and the counterparty RELATIONSHIP, and it scores the payment-instrument spectrum — CASH-IN-ADVANCE / LETTER OF CREDIT (irrevocable, possibly CONFIRMED) / DOCUMENTARY COLLECTION D/P (documents against payment) / D/A (documents against acceptance) / OPEN ACCOUNT — on its RISK ALLOCATION (CIA = all risk on the buyer … open account = all risk on the seller) and arrange cost, then…

Decide the OCEAN SOURCING STRATEGY for a lane over a YEAR — lock an annual/quarterly CONTRACT rate, stay on SPOT, or SPLIT — and in what proportion. This is the procurement/CFO decision the other tools don't touch: not 'book this box now' but 'how do I source my whole volume?'. It costs THREE strategies over your expected annual volume: 100% SPOT, 100% CONTRACT, and the OPTIMAL MIX. The spot side is a real DISTRIBUTION, not a mean: it builds a 52-week expected-spot path from our own forecast (Holt-Winters), the corridor's spot volatility and the seasonal calendar, so a peak-season spike shows …

Does your product actually QUALIFY for the FTA preference? The expensive detail iter14's sourcing/landed-cost silently assumes away: the USMCA / EVFTA / CETA / RCEP / KORUS preferential (usually 0%) duty applies ONLY if the good MEETS the agreement's RULE OF ORIGIN — and a huge share of would-be-preferential imports FAIL it (Chinese fabric cut in Vietnam misses EVFTA's yarn-forward rule; a Mexican assembly that's 60% imported misses USMCA's RVC). Give the product (or HS), the country of MANUFACTURE, the destination market, and the bill of MATERIALS (each input's value + origin + optional HS), …

Benchmark a rate you ALREADY PAY against the market — the 'am I being clamped?' check every shipper wants. Give the lane + the rate you pay (paid_rate_usd) and it places that rate in the MARKET BAND of the corridor (percentile against p20 / median / p80), built from the cross-validated index mid (Drewry WCI + Freightos FBX) and the corridor's modeled rate dispersion. It returns where you sit (p20 = a strong price, median = fair, p80 = over-paying), how much you OVER- or UNDER-pay vs the market mid in $/container and per YEAR at your volume, and the LEVER to correct it — renegotiate to the medi…

Log a shipment's REAL outcome into your private supplier/carrier/lane SCORECARD — the tool that makes freight-pulse RECURRING (you feed it, it accumulates a history no single source hands you). Give the SUBJECT (a carrier like 'Maersk', a supplier, or a lane) and the outcome — promised vs actual transit days, on-time, damage, documentary discrepancy, rollover — and it appends the event to your log, PERSISTED SERVER-SIDE per your key, then returns the subject's running KPIs (OTP %, reliability score, damage/discrepancy/roll rates). Pair with get_scorecard to rank and trend your network over tim…

Produce the CHECKLIST of trade documents a shipment of THESE goods to THIS destination commonly needs — the paperwork that, if missed, gets the box fined, held or the duty overpaid. Returns the always-on commercial set (commercial invoice, packing list, Bill of Lading or Sea Waybill), the GOODS-TRIGGERED specials (lithium-battery Dangerous-Goods declaration for electronics/batteries, Safety Data Sheet + DG for chemicals, ISPM-15 wood treatment / phytosanitary for furniture/wood, textile & origin declarations for apparel/footwear), the DESTINATION import-regime filings (US Importer Security Fil…

The reverse flow almost nobody models: goods have to come BACK from the destination market — what do you do with them? Give the lane + how many units + their value + condition (defective / RMA / over-stock / surplus), and it prices the three dispositions per unit and picks the best NET RECOVERY: RETURN (reverse freight ≈1.6× forward + recondition/handling, reclaiming the re-export DUTY DRAWBACK already paid — 99% recovery, but Section-301 duty is carved out), DESTROY in destination (cheap, zero product value, still drawback-eligible) or LIQUIDATE into the destination secondary market (some cas…

Choose the right freight INTERMEDIARY — freight forwarder, 3PL/4PL, customs broker, NVOCC or carrier-direct — and know how to grade them. Give a NEED profile (priority cost vs service, cargo specialisation reefer/dangerous-goods/project/e-commerce/high-value, annual volume, corridor count, whether you need warehousing, whether customs is the hard part) and it scores every provider archetype on weighted criteria (corridor coverage, specialisation, technology/visibility, customs depth, cost, service, financial stability), RANKS them, recommends the provider TYPE (+ a pairing, e.g. niche forwarde…

The UNIFIED decision tool — integrates EVERY freight-pulse layer (rate/forecast, all-in cost, transit & reliability, mode-choice, procurement, port congestion, carrier/alliance, emissions, equipment availability, Incoterms, demurrage & detention, and cargo insurance) into ONE actionable answer for a CONCRETE shipment. This is the tool that makes freight-pulse insustituible: it doesn't just price one layer, it WEIGHS them all coherently. Give the lane + merchandise value (+ optional weight/volume, ship date, urgency, deadline, product, Incoterm, carrier) and it returns: the recommended MODE (ur…

Run a WHAT-IF on a lane: recompute the COST and TIME impact of a structural change to the freight market, on top of freight-pulse's engines. Scenarios: 'red-sea-reopen' (Suez/Bab-el-Mandeb reopens and Asia-Europe / the Suez share of Asia-US-East services return from the Cape-of-Good-Hope diversion → shorter transit, war-risk & diversion surcharges fall — only material on Suez-exposed lanes); 'fuel-spike' (bunker VLSFO up X% → the BAF/bunker portion of the all-in rises; pass fuel_spike_pct); 'cny' (Chinese New Year front-loading: the pre-CNY rush spikes the spot rate and the equipment crunch an…

The strategic CHINA+1 / NEARSHORING decision, quantified. Give the SAME product (or HS code) + a destination market + the China-equivalent FOB cost, and it compares making it in China vs Vietnam / India / Mexico / Turkey (and Thailand / Indonesia / Malaysia) on the three axes that actually decide it: TOTAL LANDED COST per origin — manufactured cost (relative labour/productivity index) + the real freight from each origin's export gateway + the real DUTY, so Section 301 penalises China→US, USMCA makes Mexico→US duty-free, and EVFTA makes Vietnam→EU duty-free (all through the genuine duty tables,…

Assess SPECIAL / NON-STANDARD CARGO for a lane — dangerous goods, refrigerated (reefer), and out-of-gauge — the moves a plain 'dry box' rate model can't price or clear. DANGEROUS GOODS (IMDG): give a hazard class ('3', '2.1', 'class 9') or a commodity that classifies to one (e.g. 'paint' → Class 3 flammable liquid, 'lithium batteries' → Class 9), and it returns the IMDG hazard family, the STOWAGE category (on/under deck), the SEGREGATION requirements against any other classes you list in the same booking, the documentation burden (the shipper's Dangerous Goods Declaration + class-specific pape…

The CFO / supply-chain-director cumbre tool: ONE comparable number per strategy that ties the WHOLE chain together. Give a product + destination + per-unit baseline FOB + annual demand, and it composes, PER STRATEGY (origin × mode): PRODUCT cost (origin cost index), all-in FREIGHT (door-to-door), DUTY/landed (Section 301 / FTA preference), INVENTORY cost (safety stock + cycle holding driven by the lead time & its variability), CAPITAL-IN-TRANSIT (pipeline value × cost of capital), and a RISK premium (lane-risk score × inventory value). It ranks the strategies by TOTAL TCO and shows WHY the ran…