Getting started
Introduction
Harbor TMS runs an ocean drayage brokerage end to end: arrival notice to cash, in one system. This is the manual for every screen, every rule, and how it is built.
What Harbor is
Harbor TMS is freight brokerage software built for ocean drayage: moving containers between the port or rail yard and the customer. It is sold as a service to brokerages. Each brokerage gets its own private company account (an "org"), its own staff, its own customers and carriers, and its own customer and carrier portals.
It replaces the spreadsheet, the email thread and the sticky note. A container comes in on an arrival notice, becomes a load, gets a carrier, moves, is delivered, is invoiced, and is paid, and every step happens on one record that the whole team can see.
What it protects you from
The software enforces the brokerage's own rules on the server, so nobody can skip them by accident or on purpose:
| It will not let you | Because |
|---|---|
| Dispatch a carrier that has not cleared compliance | R1 · Carrier compliance |
| Book a load for a customer who is over their credit limit | R2 · Customer credit |
| Email a carrier at an address FMCSA does not have on file | R3 · Carrier emails |
| Move a box before the steamship line or customs advance is paid | R4 · Advance before moving |
| Let the system choose a carrier rate for you | R7 · A human picks the carrier rate |
| Let a customer or carrier change your data from a portal | R8 · Portal submissions are proposals |
All fourteen rules are on Freight rules.
How these docs are organised
The three applications
| Application | Who uses it | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The website | Buyers looking at Harbor | The site's home page, plus these docs at /docs |
| The panel | Your staff: owner, managers, sales, dispatch, finance, compliance | /app (sign in at /app/login) |
| The portals | Your customers and your carriers | /app/portal/login, with their own separate sign-in |
A fourth area, the super-admin console, is for the people who run Harbor itself and manage every brokerage on the platform.
What is built and what is next
Everything described in these docs is built and working. Some outside services (FMCSA, Stripe, load boards, live tracking) run in a clearly labelled simulated mode until a real account key is saved. What is still on the list is on the Roadmap, and every change is recorded in the Changelog.