How Laneway works for carriers, shippers, and logistics providers.
Laneway gives you a new tool to price allocation separately, improving utilization and weekly yield.
An AEU (Allocation Equivalent Unit) is a tradable loading guarantee for a specific service, week, and equipment type. The shipper pays a fee to confirm their slot. If they don't use it, they forfeit the fee. If the carrier rolls the cargo, the carrier pays a penalty.
Yes. AEUs only work within existing carrier-shipper contracts. A shipper must already have a service contract with you to purchase an AEU on your services. Laneway doesn't create new commercial relationships — it gives you a better mechanism for managing allocation within the ones you already have.
AEUs live alongside your existing contracts. A shipper must already have a contract with you to purchase an AEU on your services. Laneway reinforces carrier-shipper relationships — it aligns incentives through a separate, transparent price for the space component on top of the contract you've already negotiated. Your terms, and commercial relationships stay exactly as they are.
A shipper purchases an AEU through Laneway, then attaches the AEU code to your existing contract booking process. Your system recognizes the code and attaches the loading guarantee. The booking itself flows through your existing processes — Laneway just adds a reservation layer on top.
You control the initial AEU price and the supply of available reservations. If space becomes scarce, you raise primary AEU prices accordingly. Laneway doesn't set prices — you do. On the secondary market (shipper-to-shipper resales), prices are set by supply and demand, but the carrier always controls the tap.
When space has its own price through AEUs, there's no need for PSS. PSS exists because space scarcity was never properly priced — it's a reactive surcharge that approximates what space is worth. Once you price space directly, that surcharge becomes redundant. GRI and other cost-based surcharges like BAF are unaffected — those cover the cost of running the ship, not the value of the space on it.
No. The AEU price simply adjusts to reflect market conditions — when space is plentiful, AEUs cost less, and when space is tight, AEUs cost more. Your service contracts always stay intact.
This is unlikely, for several structural reasons. First, you control the supply and the primary price. If demand is surging on a lane, you raise primary AEU prices to capture that scarcity value directly. Shippers can't front-run you because you control the tap.
Second, the speculator takes real downside risk. They're betting on a capacity crunch that may not materialize. If the market softens — blank sailings get reinstated, demand weakens, new capacity enters — they're stuck with reservations nobody needs. There's no offsetting hedge. The risk is binary and operational.
Third, AEUs require an existing carrier contract. Every buyer is an actual market participant with cargo operations — not a pure financial speculator. The universe of potential flippers is inherently small and operationally constrained.
And even in the scenario where an AEU does appreciate — a genuine capacity crunch — the space ends up allocated to whoever values it most, which maximizes utilization at no cost to you.
Laneway strengthens the carrier-customer relationship. The customer holds a contract with the carrier, still books cargo with the carrier, and still ships with the carrier. Laneway is the mechanism for managing allocation — not for managing the commercial relationship. The carrier sets the AEU price, controls which services are listed, and defines availability.
Carriers pay a nominal annual listing fee to make AEUs available on the platform. For each AEU transaction, Laneway receives a commission.
Start with a single service. We'll help you define AEU pricing, select the services to list, and onboard your first shippers. Most carriers begin with a pilot on one service to prove the model.
We're onboarding our first carrier and shipper partners now. Reach out to learn more about the current pipeline and where your customers fit.
Lower your base rate and get guaranteed, flexible allocation for the space you actually need.
An AEU (Allocation Equivalent Unit) is a tradable loading guarantee for a specific service, week, and equipment type. You pay a fee to confirm your slot. If you don't use it, you forfeit the fee. If the carrier rolls your cargo, the carrier pays a penalty.
Yes. AEUs live alongside your existing carrier contracts, not in place of them. You can only book using AEUs with carriers you already have a commercial relationship with, on lanes covered by your agreement. Laneway doesn't replace your contracts — it unbundles the space component so you can manage it separately.
You purchase AEUs through Laneway by service and week. When you're ready to book, you attach the AEU code to your existing contract booking process. The carrier recognizes the code and your space is guaranteed.
You resell them. AEUs are tradable — if your plans change, you can list unused AEUs on the secondary market and recover some or all of the cost. Acting early gives you the widest pool of buyers. If you'd rather not take that risk, buy AEUs closer to sailing when your forecast is more confident.
The carrier pays a penalty — typically a multiple of the reservation cost.
No. In soft markets, you're overpaying for space that's already available. In tight markets, you're getting rolled off vessels you planned around. AEUs address both — the price adjusts to reflect actual scarcity, so you only pay for space when it's worth paying for. Your service contract stays intact either way.
When space has its own price through AEUs, PSS goes away. PSS exists because space scarcity was never properly priced — you absorb it with no transparency into how it's set. Once space is priced directly through AEUs, that surcharge is redundant. GRI and other cost-based surcharges like BAF are unaffected — those cover the cost of running the ship, not the value of the space on it.
There is no fee to access Laneway. When you purchase an AEU, the seller pays a commission to Laneway — not you. If you resell an AEU, the same commission applies to that transaction.
If you have existing ocean freight contracts and want to explore what it looks like when the space component of your base rate is separately priced and tradable, reach out. We'll walk you through how AEUs work on your specific lanes and help you build a business case tailored to your operations.
We're actively building our carrier network. Availability depends on which carriers have integrated with the platform. Contact us for the latest on carrier participation and which trade lanes are currently supported.
Whether you hold the carrier contract yourself (NVOCC) or manage freight on behalf of shippers who do (OCM), Laneway gives you a tool to purchase and manage flexible allocation — reducing rework and strengthening your client relationships.
An AEU (Allocation Equivalent Unit) is a tradable loading guarantee for a specific service, week, and equipment type. If the reservation goes unused, the buyer forfeits the fee. If the carrier rolls the cargo, the carrier pays a penalty. Over time, resale capability will let you transfer unused AEUs rather than forfeiting them.
If you hold the carrier contract (NVOCC), you buy AEUs directly against your own agreements — the same way any shipper would, just adding a guarantee layer to bookings you're already making. If your shipper holds the contract (OCM), you operate as their AEU desk — managing the reservation lifecycle on their behalf, including buying, tracking, and reselling when demand shifts.
You purchase AEUs based on your customers' forecasts, by service and week. When you're ready to book, you attach the AEU code to your existing contract booking process. The carrier recognizes the code and your customers' space is guaranteed.
You resell them. AEUs are tradable — if a customer's volume drops or shifts lanes, you can list unused AEUs on the secondary market and recover some or all of the cost. Acting early gives you the widest pool of buyers. If you'd rather not take that risk, buy AEUs closer to sailing when your forecast is more confident.
Yes. Laneway provides API access so you can build AEU purchasing, selling, and portfolio management directly into your existing TMS or customer portal. You manage the reservation lifecycle within your own systems — buying, tracking, reselling — without switching between platforms.
No. In soft markets, your customers are overpaying for space that's already available. In tight markets, their cargo gets rolled and you're managing the fallout. AEUs address both — the price adjusts to reflect actual scarcity, and the operational savings — fewer booking failures, less rework, better margin — come from the mechanism, not the market condition.
When space has its own price through AEUs, PSS goes away. PSS exists because space scarcity was never properly priced — you absorb it with no transparency into how it's set. Once space is priced directly through AEUs, that surcharge is redundant. GRI and other cost-based surcharges like BAF are unaffected — those cover the cost of running the ship, not the value of the space on it.
There is no fee to access Laneway. When you purchase an AEU, the seller pays a commission to Laneway — not you. For OCM providers managing AEUs on behalf of shippers, Laneway shares part of its commission with you for each new customer you onboard.
Laneway provides APIs for reservation management. At the simplest level, you purchase AEUs through Laneway and attach them to bookings you're already executing with carriers — minimal lift. For deeper integration — managing the full AEU lifecycle within your own TMS — we provide documentation and support. The technical effort scales with how far you want to go, and you can start simple.
Reach out to discuss your customer base and the lanes where the hidden cost of space — booking failures, rework, exception handling — is most challenging. We'll help you quantify the operational savings and define the right starting point, whether that's buying AEUs against your own contracts or managing them on behalf of your shippers.
We'd love to hear from you. Reach out and we'll walk through how Laneway fits your operations.
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