System and method for providing a price quotation for a transportation service having promotional event notification capabilities

27) A method for providing price quotation information for shipping goods, comprising:

• a) causing a computer to deliver first information to a user, the first information prompting the user to enter at the computer a parameter, the parameter specifying a given characteristic of a transportation service,
• b) in response to an entry by the user indicative of the parameter, interacting with a database of promotional events, the database of promotional events including a plurality of entries, each entry mapping a discount eligibility criterion to a promotional event, for identifying an entry in the database of promotional events associated to a certain promotional event and to a certain discount eligibility criterion, wherein the certain discount eligibility criterion would be satisfied if the parameter was altered;
• and
• c) causing the computer to deliver second information to the user indicative of the certain promotional event;
• d) causing the computer to deliver third information to the user indicative of price quotation information.

48) A method for requesting a price quotation information for shipping goods by rail, comprising:

• a) displaying first information at a client system prompting a user to enter at the client system information about a rail transportation service for shipment of goods, said information including at least one parameter specifying a given characteristic of the rail transportation service for shipment of goods;
• b) sending to a server system the at least one parameter;
• c) receiving at the client system from the server system information about a certain promotional event;
• d) displaying to the user at the client system information about a certain promotional event;
• e) prompting the user to enter a selection data element allowing the user to indicate whether a modification to the at least one parameter is desired;
• f) sending to the server system the selection data element;
• g) receiving at the client system from the server system pricing information about the price for the shipment of the goods and displaying to the user at the client system the price information for the rail transportation service for the shipment of the goods.

49) A server system for providing a price quote for shipping goods by rail, said server system including a program element for execution by a CPU, said program element comprising:

• a) a first program component for causing a client system connected to the server over a computer network to display first information to a user, the first information prompting the user to enter at the client system a parameter, the parameter specifying a given characteristic of a transportation service;
• b) a second program component operative to interact with a database of promotional events, the database of promotional events including a plurality of entries, each entry mapping a discount eligibility criterion to a promotional event, said second program component being operative for identifying an entry in the database of promotional events associated to a certain discount eligibility criterion and to a certain promotional event, wherein the certain discount eligibility criterion would be satisfied if the parameter was altered;
• and
• c) a third program component for causing the computer to deliver second information to the user indicative of the certain promotional event;
• d) a fourth program element component for causing the computer to deliver third information to the user indicative of price quotation information.

57) A client-server system for providing a price quote for shipping goods by rail, comprising:

• a) a client system;
• b) a server system, said client system and said server system operative to exchange messages over a data network;
• c) a first program component executed on said server system for sending messages to said client system for causing said client system to display first information to a user, the first information prompting the user to enter at said client system a parameter, the parameter specifying a given characteristic of a transportation service;
• d) said client system being operative to send messages to said server to communicate to said server the parameter;
• e) a second program component executed on said server for interacting with a database of promotional events, the database of promotional events including a plurality of entries, each entry mapping a discount eligibility criterion to a promotional event, said second program component being operative for identifying an entry in the database of promotional events associated to a certain discount eligibility criterion and to a certain promotional event, wherein the certain discount eligibility criterion would be satisfied if the parameter was altered;
• and
• f) a third program component executed on said server for sending messages to said client system for causing said client system to display second information to the user, the second information being indicative of the certain promotional event.

61) A computer readable storage medium including a program element for execution by a CPU, said program element comprising:

• a) a first program component for causing a computer to deliver first information to a user, the first information prompting the user to enter at the computer a parameter, the parameter specifying a given characteristic of a transportation service;
• b) a second program component operative to derive a first price quote for the transportation service at least in part on the basis of the parameter;
• c) a third program component operative to interact with a database of promotional events, the database of promotional events including a plurality of entries, each entry mapping a discount eligibility criterion to a promotional event, said third program component being operative for identifying a given entry in the database of promotional events, the given entry being associated to a certain discount data element and to a certain promotional event, the parameter when altered being a match to the certain discount eligibility criterion;
• and
• d) a fourth program component for causing the computer to deliver to the user:
• i) a second information indicative of the price quote;
• ii) a third information indicative of the certain promotional event;
• and
• iii) a fourth information prompting the user about the acceptance or rejection of a modification to the parameter, the modification to the parameter being such that the when the modification to the parameter is applied, the resulting modified parameter becomes a match to the certain discount eligibility criterion.