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BestTransport Forms Professional Services Group

Experience and Unparalleled Data Being Utilized to Provide Services for Shippers and Carriers to Optimize Relationships and Minimize the Impact of the New Hours of Service Regulations

COLUMBUS, Ohio (February 10, 2004) — BestTransport, the leading provider of on-line Transportation Execution Systems (TES), announced today the formation of a professional services group to provide Carrier Assessment, Carrier Acquisition and Shipper Collaboration services. BestTransport is leveraging the lessons learned from the over 2,500 shippers and carriers that are a part of the BestTransport Network to provide these BestPractices services to assist shippers with controlling costs, improving delivery service levels and increasing productivity.

Due to fluctuations in truck availability and the new Hours of Service Regulations, shippers are finding it increasingly difficult to cover loads quickly and cost effectively with their existing carrier relationships. BestTransport's services group enables shippers to work more effectively with existing carriers, find new carriers and identify other shippers using complementary lanes to collaborate on continuous move and backhaul routes. The services leverage the mass amount of information being captured by the BestTransport Network and the connections that already exist to a large number of carriers to ensure the most effective plans are created and executed. For example, carriers that represent over 90% of the flatbed moves in the United States are already members of the BestTransport Network, making the service ideal for shippers in the metals, building and forest industries.

"We looked to BestTransport's Professional Services Group to assess our carrier base to determine if we need more carriers and to identify areas where we can improve lanes to ensure loads are covered quickly and cost effectively," said Phil Withum, general manager commercial for Ohio Coatings, a BestTransport customer. "If the answer is more carriers, we like the fact that BestTransport has access to a large number of carriers that are already a part of the Network to ensure we target the most appropriate and ideal carriers."

In order to help shippers work with their carrier base more effectively, BestTransport is offering Carrier Assessment and Acquisition Services. As part of the offering, BestTransport works with a shipper to gain a better understanding of the carrier base by assessing existing relationships to identify lanes where opportunities exist to improve execution. If more carriers are needed, BestTransport can analyze the carriers within the BestTransport Network to identify potential new carriers based on a shipper's specific criteria, such as origin or destination. Once carriers are identified, BestTransport assists with establishing working relationships.

BestTransport is also offering Shipper Collaboration Services to enable shippers to collaborate with other companies that ship over complementary routes. BestTransport leverages the collective data on hundreds of thousands of shipping routes and load volumes captured by the Network to match shippers who can benefit by sharing contiguous routing and seasonally complementary volume opportunities to more effectively build mutually beneficial relationships with carriers. By targeting ideal carriers with high-value opportunities, the service provides a win-win opportunity for both shippers and carriers. The service includes identifying target routes that represent the greatest opportunities, analyzing mass amounts of data, and contacting potential shipper partners.

"We've provided these types of services for a number of years to our customers," said Rick Frio, vice president of professional services for BestTransport. "With the critical mass of shippers and carriers now using the Network, we are able to productize the services and form this group to expand our ability to help shippers and carriers work together more effectively." Carrier Assessment and Acquisition Services and Shipper Collaboration Services are available to both current customers as well as shippers that are not a member of the BestTransport Network. The BestTransport professional services group can tailor any combination of services to meet a shipper's specific needs. Fees can be structured as either success-based or fixed, depending on the services provided. Additional services will be productized and released during the year.

About BestTransport
BestTransport is the leading provider of online Transportation Execution Systems (BestTES) for companies that use trucks for outbound and inbound freight. Shippers and third party logistics providers utilize the BestTES to control freight costs, increase staff productivity and improve delivery service levels. Members of the BestTransport community securely access the Network via the Internet and use the BestTES to automate all aspects of transportation execution, including creating loads, selecting carriers, tracking shipments and consolidating freight bills. And, unlike purchasing software, with the BestTES there are no upfront licensing commitments and members only pay for the value received. The BestTransport Network processes thousands of shipments a day for companies such as Alcoa, Allegheny Technologies, Bull Moose Tube Company, Earle M. Jorgensen Company, Greif, Inc., and Pechiney and maintains connections to over 2,500 carriers. For more information, visit www.besttransport.com.