# CargoFlow complete product walkthrough

21 chapters • Production interface • Test and demo shipment examples

## 00:00:00 — Welcome to CargoFlow

Welcome to CargoFlow. In this complete walkthrough, we will follow freight from the first customer request through shipment execution, delivery, billing, and closeout. We will also explore CargoFlow Signal, the AI assistant that helps your team understand priorities and decide what to do next. CargoFlow brings ocean, air, and truck operations into a connected workspace, with import, export, and domestic directions. The screens in this tour are from the current application. Shipment examples are marked as test or demonstration records. Available modules and actions depend on the workspace, your role, and the connected providers. Let us start with how an operator finds the right work.

## 00:00:47 — Navigation and Command Center

The Command Center is your starting point. At the top, search by File ID, master bill, air waybill, container, purchase order, or customer. Use shipment visibility to focus on your own work, all team work, or an operator where your role permits it. The sidebar groups operations, final mile, compliance, workspace tools, finance, intelligence, and system settings. The active-file, at-risk, and due-item cards open the corresponding work. The priority queue helps you identify urgent shipment issues. Commercial and booking attention highlights planning problems before they become live-file problems. Lifecycle by desk shows where ownership sits. The Morning Brief and change summaries depend on your shipment scope and eligible work, so an empty active queue can correctly produce an empty brief.

## 00:01:41 — Rates and procurement

Before quoting, open Rates and procurement to understand your buy costs. CargoFlow supports rate information for ocean and air, including full-container and less-than-container movements. Compare contract, spot, agent, and tariff information where configured. Review the lane, effective dates, equipment, currency, transit time, free time, and additional charges. Pricing rules help translate the selected buy information into a proposed sell price and margin. The recommendation is a starting point for review. Check that the rate applies to the shipment date, cargo, and service before using it. When a rate is carried into a quote, preserve the cost snapshot so your team can later compare the accepted estimate with actual charges.

## 00:02:32 — Quotes and the Commercial Pipeline

The Commercial Pipeline keeps customer requests, quotes, and pre-shipment work together. Start with the customer, direction, mode, lane, cargo, and expected dates. Build the quote using reviewed charges and buying information. Follow the quote through its recorded status and customer decision. Customer acceptance can move the commercial record toward shipment creation and billing preparation, but acceptance alone does not mean freight has moved or money has been collected. Review ownership, documents, and readiness before conversion. CargoFlow carries the commercial context forward so operators can see the agreed service and finance can understand the original price. Open the associated record instead of re-entering the same information in disconnected spreadsheets.

## 00:03:26 — Purchase orders, supplier readiness and intake tools

Pre-shipment execution starts before the cargo becomes a live operational file. Add the purchase orders that belong to the movement and assign the relevant supplier. Track cargo readiness and the required document checklist. Multiple purchase orders can travel on one shipment, while each order keeps its own readiness information. A supplier portal, when enabled, lets the supplier update permitted readiness details and submit documents without opening your internal shipment workspace. Submitted documents go through the configured security and internal review process. Review conversion blockers and decide when the plan is ready to become a live shipment. The goal is to carry the purchase-order and document context forward once, with a traceable connection between the original plan and the operational file. The Logistics Directory stores customers, providers, and facilities for reuse. Bulk Import stages structured shipment rows. Review mappings, test or live scope, duplicates, and validation before applying an import.

## 00:04:34 — Booking and capacity planning

Bookings connects the commercial plan with the intended movement. Review the schedule, capacity, and cutoff requirements. Record the proposed booking and move it through planning, requested, and confirmed states as evidence becomes available. Capacity controls help prevent a confirmed plan from exceeding the recorded allocation. A confirmed booking can write the relevant movement information back to the shipment. Keep booking confirmation separate from a carrier request that has not been acknowledged. Direct carrier or agent transmission depends on the configured integration and provider response. Use the planning view to find ownership gaps, approaching cutoffs, and exceptions early. This keeps the operation from discovering an unresolved booking only when the cargo is already ready to leave.

## 00:05:27 — Open a shipment and generate its File ID

Select New Shipment to open a file from scratch. Choose the direction, mode, and load type, then identify the customer. Add the known origin, destination, booking, bill reference, carrier, Incoterm, and cargo description. CargoFlow shows an illustrative File ID format and assigns the next available number when the file is created. Add multiple purchase orders and, for containerized cargo, multiple containers. Each container has its own equipment, pieces, weight, and volume. Enter kilograms or pounds and review the corresponding conversion. The readiness indicator shows what is still missing. CargoFlow's basic intake allows the file to develop as information arrives; workspace rules may add requirements. Use Generate File ID and Open Shipment only when you are ready to create the operational record.

## 00:06:25 — Shipment overview, parties and routing

Open a shipment to see its identifiers and operational summary. The workspace organizes overview, tracking and milestones, delivery, broker work, tasks and alerts, documents, billing, and activity. The overview brings cargo, customer, shipper, terminal, container freight station, and final-delivery details together. The movement chart separates estimated departure and arrival from actual departure and arrival. Added rail, drayage, truck, container-freight-station, and transload movements become part of the shipment story. Open a movement to review its endpoints, provider, facility, date, and status. CargoFlow checks continuity and can point out a missing final-mile connection. Review a suggestion before saving it. The intended result is a route that describes every handoff from origin through final delivery.

## 00:07:23 — Air freight and dimensional weight

For air freight, choose Air during file creation. Enter the master air waybill using the three-digit airline prefix and eight-digit serial format. CargoFlow uses its airline directory to help identify the carrier and checks the entered reference. Add package quantities and dimensions in centimeters. The interface shows the equivalent inches and calculates total volume and volumetric weight. In this example, three packages measuring one hundred twenty by one hundred by eighty centimeters produce two point eight eight cubic meters. At the displayed six-thousand divisor, volumetric weight is four hundred eighty kilograms. With two hundred thirty-one kilograms gross weight, the suggested chargeable weight is four hundred eighty. The carrier's tariff, divisor, and rounding rules remain authoritative. Dimensions can also be maintained as the file develops.

## 00:08:22 — Export and compliance preparation

Select Export when the shipment is leaving the origin country. CargoFlow exposes export-specific preparation alongside the general movement workflow. Review the exporter and consignee information, commodity details, and the compliance fields required for the movement. Where applicable, maintain classification, value, origin, license or exemption information, and the filing reference. CargoFlow helps organize and validate the information; it does not make a government filing accepted simply because fields are complete. Electronic export and other regulatory transmission depend on an enabled, properly configured provider and its returned status. Keep the filing evidence and acceptance reference attached to the file. Review cutoff timing and the booking before cargo is tendered, then follow actual movement and delivery in the same shipment workspace.

## 00:09:22 — Tracking, containers and exceptions

Tracking gives the team a view of movement evidence, schedule changes, and operational risk. Open a shipment or container to review the latest recorded status and source. CargoFlow distinguishes estimated dates from actual events and surfaces freshness information so an old update is not mistaken for a current one. Review changes in estimated arrival, last free day, holds, and upcoming deadlines. Container views help operators work with each equipment unit while staying connected to the parent shipment. External carrier coverage depends on provider configuration and successful responses; a supported workflow does not guarantee every carrier is connected. Use alerts and the shipment timeline to understand what changed, identify who owns the next action, and verify the operational evidence before updating the file.

## 00:10:19 — LCL consoles and groupage

For less-than-container cargo, Consols and Groupage connects a shared master movement with its house shipments. Create or open the consol, review the master reference and route, and attach the appropriate houses. Each house remains a distinct operational record while participating in the shared movement. Use destination deconsolidation information to understand the handoff to the container freight station and the next delivery step. Shared charges can be allocated for review rather than silently copied as unrelated costs. Inspect the allocation method and amounts before posting them to billing. Attachment, detachment, and history help explain how the master and houses have changed. This gives the team one view of the grouped movement and a controlled view of each customer's individual freight.

## 00:11:11 — Documents, Smart Paste and HBL

The Documents section keeps the checklist and secure vault connected to the shipment. Review each required item as pending, missing, received, or not required, using the appropriate evidence. Drag supported files or email correspondence onto the shipment, or use Browse Files. Uploads remain subject to size limits, security checks, and access controls. Smart Paste and assisted intake help turn supplied text or documents into proposed shipment information. Review extracted names, references, dates, quantities, and units before saving. House bill generation can reuse the shipment's parties and cargo information. Inspect the document preview and correct any incomplete details before releasing the bill. A generated house bill is still a document requiring operator review; it does not independently prove that the goods were received or the movement completed.

## 00:12:12 — Tasks, approvals, notes and conversations

Tasks and Alerts turns missing information and exceptions into work the team can act on. Open the relevant shipment, identify the task, review its due date and owner, and update the status when the underlying work is actually done. Approvals add a review step where the workspace requires one. Use File Notes for operational context and shipment conversations for communication attached to the file. Keep the intended audience clear: internal discussion and customer-visible conversation are different channels. Handoffs connect the next desk or operator with the remaining work. The activity trail records changes so the team can understand who changed the file and when. This reduces the need to reconstruct a shipment's history from scattered messages after a problem appears.

## 00:13:04 — Broker handoff and regulatory work

The Broker workspace brings customs preparation and release evidence into the shipment context. Review the broker, entry information, document packet, and outstanding requirements before handing the file over. Import security filing and other applicable compliance work should be tracked against the correct shipment and deadline. CargoFlow separates customs status, carrier release, and operational delivery readiness; one completed item does not replace the others. The regulatory and rate-authority tools help organize applicable authority, filing, and provider status. Live filing requires the configured provider and an acknowledged response. Use Broker Handoff to identify missing documents, record the handoff, and follow returned evidence. The operator still verifies that the release information is valid for the cargo before authorizing the next physical step.

## 00:14:03 — Delivery and final mile

Delivery and Final Mile connects cargo availability with the practical pickup and delivery plan. Review the terminal or container freight station, carrier, pickup requirements, appointment, destination, and delivery contact. Confirm customs and carrier release and any other applicable operational gates before dispatch. Keep last-free-day exposure, storage, and equipment timing visible while coordinating the move. Record the actual pickup and delivery evidence when it becomes available. Proof of delivery belongs on the shipment rather than in an unrelated folder. Where equipment is involved, follow the empty-return or interchange work through its own completion. A scheduled appointment is a plan; it is not proof that delivery occurred. Use the recorded milestones and documents to support the final status.

## 00:14:59 — Billing, costs and accounting handoff

Billing brings customer charges, vendor costs, and readiness into the same operational file. Review the accepted quote, then enter or confirm actual charges and expenses. Compare estimated and actual amounts so the team can explain a change instead of losing the original commercial agreement. The workspace shows sell, cost, and margin information according to role permissions. Check invoice readiness and the relevant supporting documents before posting. Corrections and reversals should retain their connection to the original transaction. Accounting export and QuickBooks workflows depend on mapping, configuration, and successful reconciliation. A prepared export is different from a posted accounting transaction. Review the queue and returned status, then confirm that the finance outcome matches the shipment's billing record.

## 00:15:56 — Customer and partner portals

Customer access is designed around the information that customer should see. When enabled, a customer can review shared shipments, permitted milestones, approved documents, and the relevant conversation channel. Customer self-service can include shipment creation, pre-shipment requests, reserved file numbering, and quote decisions under the workspace's rules. Internal buying costs, margins, notes, staff tasks, and ownership details remain governed by role and scope. Customer and supplier uploads do not become trusted operational documents simply because they were submitted; they require the configured review process. Supplier and carrier portals provide narrower workflows for their permitted records. Administrators manage access and invitations so the portal follows the correct customer, supplier, or carrier relationship.

## 00:16:52 — Analytics and reporting

Analytics helps the team understand the operation beyond a single file. Review workload, shipment status, exceptions, and the other measures available to your role. Reports turns operational information into a view that can be shared or exported for the intended audience. Choose the scope and filters before interpreting a total. Customer reporting can use approved shipment visibility and configured schedules, with a Send Now workflow where available. A report should explain the records included and the period it covers. Historical files remain useful for reviewing completed work and audit evidence. Use these views to identify recurring delays, uneven workload, or missing closeout information, then return to the underlying shipment to investigate rather than treating a dashboard number as the complete story.

## 00:17:47 — CargoFlow Signal: ask, understand, act

Select the CargoFlow assistant button to open Signal. Ask a practical question such as, what should I work on next, which shipments need attention, or what is blocking this file? Signal uses the operational context available within your access scope to explain priorities and guide you to relevant records. The current build can compare stored priority history where a meaningful earlier snapshot exists, so a claimed priority change can be tied to recorded factors. Read the evidence and the next-action explanation. Open the suggested shipment to inspect the source information. AI assistance does not turn an estimate into a confirmed event. Operational changes and external actions remain subject to the interface's review and confirmation steps. Signal is most useful when the shipment data is current and complete.

## 00:18:41 — Closeout and the complete operating rhythm

Closeout is the final review, not simply a button to hide the shipment. Verify the applicable delivery evidence, required documents, outstanding tasks, release information, and billing state. Complete the file when the operational work is genuinely finished. Completed Files preserves the record for search, review, and history, with a controlled reopen action when follow-up is needed. The complete CargoFlow rhythm is: prepare the commercial request, review buying and pricing, confirm readiness and booking, create the live file, follow the movement and exceptions, coordinate release and delivery, reconcile billing, and close with evidence. Signal supports that rhythm by helping the team understand priorities and the next step. Visit CargoFlow to arrange a demonstration using the modules and provider connections that fit your operation.