Measuring device and system for freight rate optimization

A system for managing a freight shipment comprising one or more freight units, wherein each of the one or more freight units comprises one or more products, the system comprising:

• a host computer system that comprises a web server and a database for storing, for each of a plurality of shipping carriers, carrier-specific shipping rules that specify rules for shipping freight for each carrier, wherein the host computer system performs steps comprising:
• receiving electronically information about the freight shipment wherein the received information comprises:
• the dimensions for each of the freight units;
• the weight for each of the freight units;
• and
• an origination location and a destination location for the shipment;
• determining, based on the received information and information about product types for the products of the freight shipment, whether each of the one or more products of the freight units should be designated as density-based for a shipping rate determination, wherein density-based means that the shipping rate calculated for a product depends on the density of that product;
• for each of the one or more products that is designated as density-based (“the one or more density-based products”), determining a density-based class of the one or more density-based products;
• determining a linear feet parameter for the shipment based on positional configurations of the one or more freight units, wherein the linear feet parameter for the shipment is the largest value of length, width, and height for the shipment;
• determining whether the linear feet parameter for the shipment exceeds a predetermined threshold value;
• based on the carrier-specific shipping rules stored in the database:
• determining one or more carriers that will ship the shipment based on the density-based class for the one or more density-based products and/or the linear feet parameter, wherein the host computer system determines the one or more carriers that will ship the shipment by performing steps that comprise, at runtime:
• generating a binary meta programming logic string for each of the one or more carriers, wherein the binary meta programming logic strings for each of the one or more carriers are based on evaluations of conditions corresponding to the carrier's shipping rules;
• and
• executing the binary meta programming logic string for each of the one or more carriers, wherein a valid result indicates that the carrier will ship the shipment;
• and
• receiving an electronic selection input for a selected carrier from the one or more carriers;
• and
• upon receipt of the selection input for the selected carrier, creating an electronic bill of lading file for the freight shipment.