Freight transportation marketplace

A freight transportation marketplace system accessible to users over a network, comprising:

• an account management system that assigns roles to the users;
• a buy/sell system for the creation of a tender agreement between at least two users;
• an order fulfillment system, wherein the order fulfillment system enables fulfillment of the tender agreement;
• an action defining system that defines possible user actions, possible user information and consequences of the possible user actions, comprises roles and events,
• wherein roles are assigned to users;
• wherein the possible user actions and the consequences of the possible user actions are defined by the roles and events;
• wherein the possible user information is defined by the roles and events;
• wherein any of the roles combined with any one of the events comprises a role/event combination;
• wherein the possible user actions and the consequences of the possible user actions are defined by the role/event combination;
• and
• the possible user information is defined by the role/event combination;
• a user interface that permits communication over the network among the marketplace and the users;
• and
• wherein, in the action defining system:
• the roles include
• at least one privilege, wherein the at least one privilege defines the possible user actions;
• and
• at least one scope, wherein the at least one scope defines the possible user information;
• and
• the events include
• at least one type;
• and
• at least one status wherein the at least one status defines a state of the type at a point in time and
• wherein the type and status restrict the possible user actions defined by the at least one privilege and the possible user information defined by the scope and together with the privilege and scope define the consequences of the possible user actions.

A freight transportation marketplace system accessible to users over a network, comprising:

• an account management system that assigns roles to the users, wherein the roles include buyers, sellers and account administrators and defines buyer and seller accounts and buyer and seller operations, wherein the account management system comprises:
• an account maintenance system that includes a user level which includes at least one user and defines user operations, a user group level which includes at least one user group and defines the buyer and seller accounts, wherein the at least one user group includes at least one user and defines the accounts and the roles, and a payor group level which includes at least one payor group and defines a membership status and the user groups,
• a rate management system for the seller accounts which includes a catalog rate management system, a fuel surcharge management system, and an accessorial fee management system,
• a track and trace system that archives track and trace events wherein the track and trace events archive the operations, and
• a reporting system that lists the operations archived by the track and trace system,
• a buy/sell system for the creation of a tender agreement between at least a buyer and a seller, comprising:
• a catalog sales system which facilitates private and public sales,
• an auction sales system which may includes seller's auctions and buyer's auctions,
• multi-leg freight transportation services, including multi-modal freight transportation services, seller-created multi-leg freight transportation services and marketplace-created freight transportation services, wherein the multi-leg freight transportation services are sold through the catalog sales system and the auction sales system,
• a matching system that, in response to a capacity query or a demand query, produces all matches from the catalog sales system and the auction sales system,
• a system for creating a purchase event, wherein the purchase event is created in response to the selection of any match by a user,
• a pricing system that creates a price for the selected match, and
• a tender agreement creation system which begins in response to the creation of a purchase event, allows at least two of the at least two users to review, negotiate, approve and cancel the tender agreement, consummates the tender agreement upon acceptance by the at least two users and includes the price;
• an order fulfillment system for the tender agreement which includes an exception management system which allows the at least two users to modify the tender agreement, a payment system which includes automated payment and distribution;
• and
• an action defining system, comprising means for determining
• at least one role, wherein at least one role is assigned to each of the users, comprising
• at least one privilege, wherein the at least one privilege defines possible user actions, and
• at least one scope, wherein the at least one scope defines possible user information, and
• at least one event, comprising:
• at least one type, and
• at least one status, wherein the at least one status defines a state of the type at a point in time, and wherein the type and status restrict the possible user actions defined by the at least one privilege and the possible user information defined by the scope and together with the privilege and the scope, define consequences of the possible user actions.

An order fulfillment system accessible over a network by buyers and sellers which enables fulfillment of a tender agreement, comprising:

• a exception management system enabling the tender agreement to be canceled;
• a payment system;
• and
• a seller's account which includes a seller's rules tariff and wherein the tender agreement is for a shipment and was consummated by a first party and a second party and the exception management system comprises the means for:
• allowing the first party to make a request for a change;
• determining if the shipment has been loaded;
• determining if the first party has the role of buyer;
• determining if the change is compatible with the seller's rules tariffs;
• if the shipment has been loaded and the first party does not have the role of buyer, or if the shipment has been loaded and the first party does have the role of buyer and the change is not compatible with the seller's rules tariff, or if the shipment has not been loaded, determining whether the second party accepts the change;
• if the second party accepts the change, amending the tender agreement to reflect the change;
• if the second party does not accept the change, determining whether the first party is willing to amend the request for a change;
• if the first party is not willing to amend the request for a change determining whether the first party wishes to revoke the tender agreement;
• if the first party wishes to revoke the tender agreement, revoking the tender agreement;
• if the first party is willing to amend the request for a change, allowing the first party to amend the request for a change and make a request for the amended request for a change;
• if the shipment has been loaded, the first party is the buyer, and the change request is compatible with the seller's rules tariff allowing the seller to make a good faith attempt to accommodate the change request.

An action defining system for use with a freight transportation marketplace system that comprises means for:

• determining possible user actions;
• determining possible user information;
• determining consequences for possible user actions;
• determining roles assigned to users and events;
• wherein the possible user actions and the consequences of the possible user actions are defined by a role/event combination including one of the roles and one of the events;
• and
• wherein the possible user information is defined by a role/event combination including one of the roles and one of the events;
• and
• wherein the roles include:
• at least one privilege, wherein the at least one privilege defines the possible user actions;
• and
• at least one scope, wherein the at least one scope defines the possible user information;
• and
• wherein the events include
• at least one type;
• and
• at least one status wherein the at least one status defines the state of the type at a point in time;
• and
• wherein the type and status restrict the possible user actions defined by the at least one privilege and the possible user information defined by the scope and together with the privilege and scope define the consequences of the possible user actions.