Portals
Customer portal
What your customers see when they sign in, their shipments, documents, invoices, statement and rate confirmations, and what they can send you.
The customer portal is where your customers follow their own containers without calling your desk. They see their shipments and nothing else: where each box is, its last free day, what has been billed, what they owe and how to pay it. Anything they send you, a rate query or a message, is a proposal or a conversation; it never changes a record by itself.
- Where
- /portal/customer, after signing in at /portal/login
- Who
- Customer contacts you invited on Portal control
- Sees
- Only loads where their company is the customer
- Tabs
- Shipments, Documents, Invoices, Statement, Confirmations (each shown only if its switch is on)
- Sends
- Rate queries (to Approvals) and shipment messages
This page is written for your staff, so you know what your customer sees. You can share it with customers too.
Which tabs appear
Each tab depends on a switch on Portal control. A tab whose switch is off is removed, not greyed out, and its address refuses to work.
| Tab | Switch | Address |
|---|---|---|
| Shipments | See their shipments (always the home page) | /portal/customer |
| Documents | Documents | /portal/customer/documents |
| Invoices | See payment status | /portal/customer/invoices |
| Statement | Download a statement | /portal/customer/statement |
| Confirmations | Rate confirmations | /portal/customer/confirmations |
Shipments
The home page answers "what is moving, and what do I owe?"
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In progress | Shipments not yet ready for billing, invoiced, paid or cancelled, out of the total |
| Unpaid | What is open on their invoices, or "Nothing outstanding" |
| Oldest past due | Days the oldest invoice is past its due date, in red when above zero, with the overdue amount; otherwise "All within terms" |
Two charts follow: Owed by age (measured from the day each invoice fell due) and By status (how many containers are at each status).
Containers lists every shipment as a card with a milestone rail showing how far the box has got. With the Search switch on, a box finds a shipment by container, reference or booking number.
One shipment
Click a container to open it. A shipment that is not theirs shows "not found", never "not allowed", so nobody learns that a reference exists.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Heading | The load ID and its status |
| Container summary | The container number (never shortened), a red "N days past last free day" or amber "N days of free time left" badge, then route, cargo, booking, expected date, last free day and empty-returned date |
| Journey | The eight milestones, each stamped when your desk recorded it |
| Tracking | Reported positions of the truck. Positions from a simulated provider are marked Simulated feed. Before pickup: "No live positions · Starts once on the road." |
| Charges | Only the charges billed to the customer, with "Not yet invoiced" where that applies, or "Nothing billed yet" |
| Balance | How much is paid, a Paid or unpaid badge, and a How to pay link to Invoices |
| Paperwork | The documents on this shipment they may see |
| Messages | The thread with your desk, when the "Message the desk" switch is on. See Shipment messages |
Documents
Every document on their shipments that a customer may see, newest first: Documents, Emailed and Kinds figures, then a table with the document, container, when it was raised, where it was sent, and a download button.
| A customer sees | A customer never sees |
|---|---|
| Customer Invoice, POD Request, Debit Note, Credit Note | Carrier Bill, Rate Confirmation (the carrier's), Carrier Confirmation, Dispatch Sheet, Delivery Order: these show what the move cost you |
A document with no stored copy keeps its download button disabled: "No PDF is on file for this copy. Ask us and we will send it." With none: "No paperwork yet".
Invoices
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Open balance | Invoiced and unpaid |
| Past due | What is overdue, or "All within terms" |
| Invoices | How many, and how much has been paid |
A Billed and paid chart shows each month. Your invoices lists each invoice, newest first:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Invoice | Number and issue date |
| Containers | Every container on it |
| Due | Due date |
| Amount | Total |
| Status | Paid, N days past due, Part paid, or open |
| (download) | The invoice PDF |
With none: "No invoices yet · We invoice on delivery."
Pay by wire
With the See wire details switch on, a Pay by wire box shows your bank details from Company profile, each with a copy button: Beneficiary (your registered name, because a bank rejects a transfer whose beneficiary does not match the account), Bank, Account number, Routing / ABA, MC docket, USDOT and Remit-to address.
Statement
Their statement of account over a date range they choose with From and To. The range is in the page address, and PDF downloads exactly what is on screen.
| Figure | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Outstanding | As at the To date |
| Brought forward | Open before the From date |
| Invoiced | In the range |
| Paid | Applied in the range |
| Oldest item | The oldest open item |
A Running balance line chart and an Entries table follow: date invoiced, reference, container, billed, received and balance, ending with the closing balance. If To is before From: "Range ends before it starts". With nothing in the range: "Nothing billed · Widen the range."
Rate confirmations
The rate you confirmed to the customer, built from the charges billed to them (never the carrier's rate). Figures: Confirmed, Invoiced and Confirmed value. Each booking is a card with its number, charge lines, an invoiced or Not invoiced badge, and Open shipment.
Query a rate
Click Query a line
On the confirmation card.Say what is wrong
Pick Which line (or "The confirmation as a whole") and write What looks wrong.Click Send query
The card shows Query sent for review: "A person on our desk reviews it, and the confirmation is reissued if agreed."
When things are refused
| Message | Why |
|---|---|
| "That shipment is not one of yours." | The reference belongs to another customer |
| "This is not available on your portal." | The feature's switch is off |
| "Your portal session has ended. Sign in again." | The session expired |
| "Your account is read-only until billing is fixed." | Your own Harbor subscription is read-only; customers can look but not send |