A system for managing a shipment comprising one or more freight units, the system comprising:
- a measuring system for measuring dimensions and weight for each of the one or more freight units, wherein each of the freight units comprises one or more products;
- 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 information about the one or more freight units to be shipped, the information comprising:
- the dimensions for each of the freight units as determined by the measuring system;
- the weight for each of the freight units as determined by the measuring system;
- and
- an origination location and a destination location for the shipment;
- wherein the information is received from a user via a first web page on a web site provided by the web server;
- determining, based on the received information and information about product types for the products of the shipment, whether 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;
- and
- upon a determination that the one or more products of the one or more freight units is designated as density-based, determining a density-based class of the one or more products of the one or more freight units;
- 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 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
- updating the first web page such that when the first web page is reloaded it displays a ranking by shipping rate of the one or more carriers that will ship the shipment;
- receiving a selection input for a selected carrier from the one or more carriers displayed on the first web page;
- and
- upon receipt of the selection input for the selected carrier, creating an electronic bill of lading file.