NetDespatch 1 million landmark with Amtrak
26 September 2005

NetDespatch has reached a landmark 1 million online bookings from its contract with overnight parcel company Amtrak. This is the number of collection and delivery jobs that have been booked via the web by Amtrak customers. It provides clear evidence of the success of Amtrak’s online collections and despatch services which use NetDespatch to automate and manage web booking, labelling and tracking.

Amtrak’s online despatch service gives its customers an easy way to book, label and track their shipments by simply connecting to the web. The facility is available to any Amtrak customer irrespective of volumes. Online Despatch is set to replace Amtrak’s own implant solution called InTouch which will further boost online bookings.

“The web is becoming more and more important and our Online Despatch service has been a big hit with Amtrak customers. In the past we had to provide a dedicated PC and special software in order to provide electronic bookings and even then, it was only viable with high-volume shippers. With NetDespatch we now have an instant solution available to anyone, anywhere. It is so simple to use and easy to integrate with customers systems as well” says Joe Dudley, Amtrak's Business Services Manager.

Bookings made by Amtrak's customers using NetDespatch are immediately available to Amtrak's depot network so collections and deliveries can be planned in 'real time'. The system eliminates hand written consignment notes, manifests and labels which are all time consuming and prone to errors. The online software address-checks and generate bar coded labels on the spot, and synchronise immediately with Amtrak's central systems.

“Amtrak has always been at the forefront of new services and technology and it is very encouraging to see how quickly online booking has taken off. Amtrak is the first carrier to implement NetDespatch throughout both collections and delivery services and we are currently busily integrating for new Amtrak services that are about to be launched” says Becky Clark of NetDespatch.