Cargo Express Turns to Descartes for End-to-End Visibility for Its Retailer Customers

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 23, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) Logistics Conference -- Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG) (Nasdaq:DSGX), a federated global logistics network, announced that Cargo Express, LLC, a leading transportation logistics solution provider specializing in ocean import/export, is using Descartes' Visibility solution to provide its retailer customers with real-time, end-to-end visibility into shipments coming from production facilities in China.

Using Descartes' Visibility solution, a value-added solution of the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN), Cargo Express can provide its retailer customers with visibility into the movement of goods in and out of its consolidation facility, provide transportation milestone statuses and examine performance metrics. Working with Descartes in the initial implementation of warehouse messaging visibility, Cargo Express was able to provide seamless communications with a global partner network, transition 30% of its shipments to significantly lower freight-on-board costs, reduce its demurrage charges, improve its load factor by about 10% by shifting to larger containers for multiple shipments, and monitor the status smaller parcel loads inbound and outbound to the consolidation centre.

Visibility through the Descartes GLN has given our retailer customers the ability to prioritize shipments. For example, with one customer, it shifted about 30% of its volumes over the recent fall season to lower-priced, longer lead-time processes, which has saved it hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Joe Pfender, co-founder and President of Cargo Express. Working with Descartes to integrate transportation milestones from origin receipt through to final destination, we can enable expanded supply chain visibility that offers intelligent selection of cheaper, lower-cost routes while meeting the customer's product demand and distribution requirements.

Cargo Express recognized that by getting early visibility to receipt of goods against purchase order line items, their customers were able to more efficiently support the way loading was handled at the production facility, resulting in more efficient container usage and lower freight costs, said Cindy Yamamoto, Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at Descartes.

Cargo Express has been using the Descartes GLN as its value-added network (VAN) for over a decade. This multimodal network of transportation providers and customers facilitates the interchange of logistics information and helps companies manage their logistics functions more effectively. Today, the Descartes GLN connects thousands of shippers with 90+ air, 30+ ocean, and 1400+ truck carriers, along with regulatory agencies such as the Federal Maritime Commission and U.S., Canadian, Dutch and Indian customs agencies. It handles numerous standards and message specifications for manufacturers, retailers and distributors at both a regional or global level to help operators gain greater visibility into and control of global inbound and outbound shipments. The Descartes GLN supports a series of additional applications that leverage the community connected to the multimodal network and enable rate management, customs filing and compliance, multimodal track and trace, shipment and fleet management, and more.

For more information about Descartes visibility solution and solutions for retailers, visit Descartes' representatives at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) Logistics Conference at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Conference Center in Orlando, Florida from February 22 to 24th at booth 305.

About Cargo Express, LCC

Founded in 1996 in Yardley, Pennsylvania, Cargo Express, LLC is a transportation logistics solutions provider that specializes in ocean import/export. As part of its day-to-day operations, Cargo Express coordinates intermodal and domestic transportation services across rail, truck and air; consolidates shipments from various manufacturing operations on behalf of its clients; and provides customs brokerage services to ensure the clearance of goods through U.S. Customs. Currently the company has contracts with over 15 different shipping lines and operates in 21 different countries on six continents. Its primary area of focus is the Trans-Pacific trade lane.

About Descartes

Descartes (TSX:DSG) (Nasdaq:DSGX), is making the world a better place by enabling global organizations with logistics-intensive businesses to save money by improving the productivity and performance of their operations. Underlying Descartes' offerings is the Descartes Global Logistics Network (GLN), one of the world's most extensive multi-modal business application networks. As a federated platform, the Descartes GLN combines with component-based 'nano' sized applications to provide messaging services between logistics trading partners, shipment management services to help manage third party carriers and private fleet management services for organizations of all sizes. Descartes' solutions and services deliver results by enabling organizations around the world to reduce administrative costs, billing cycles, fleet size, contract carrier costs, and mileage driven; improve pickup and delivery reliability; and optimize working capital through fleet visibility. Descartes' 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 more than 450 employees and is based in Waterloo, Ontario, with operations in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Montreal, Miami, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Derby, London, Stockholm, Shanghai, and Toronto. For more information, visit www.descartes.com.

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