US Patent 7711629 Freight fulfillment and trading platform

Network-based, computer-implemented techniques and arrangements for fulfilling multi-modal freight shipment involving at least two transportation modes between a first location and a second location are disclosed. In one implementation, there is included receiving a derivative purchase request for capacity between the first location and the second location, the derivative purchase request having contract requirements that specify at least a shipment volume and a performance time. There is further included ascertaining from a database of available derivative contracts a plurality of potentially suitable derivative contracts that satisfy the contract requirements. There is also included selecting a subset of the plurality of potentially suitable derivative contracts to satisfy the derivative purchase request, the subset including at least a first derivative contract for a first mode of the two transportation modes and a second derivative contract for a second mode of the two transportation modes.