Inbound Freight Specialist

About this role

ShipMonk isn't just a 3PL — we're the tech-powered growth partner for ecommerce brands, running 12+ owned fulfillment centers across the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe so our merchants can stress less and grow more.

Position Overview The Inbound Freight Specialist is responsible for managing the end-to-end delivery appointment scheduling process across ShipMonk's fulfillment center network. Using the DataDocks scheduling portal as the primary platform, this role serves as the central point of coordination between carriers, freight brokers, merchants, and warehouse operations teams. The Specialist ensures that merchant inventory arrives on time and without delays by maintaining accurate appointment calendars, enforcing scheduling requirements, and resolving exceptions swiftly.

Key Responsibilities Appointment Management • Monitor and manage the DataDocks scheduling portal throughout the day, approving and canceling appointments across all active ShipMonk warehouse locations (US, Canada, Czech Republic, and UK). • Review all pending appointments to verify accuracy — including ASN, pallet/carton counts, load type, and BOL alignment — before approving. • Identify and flag potential duplicate appointments; communicate with carriers via the DataDocks Messages feature and hold in pending status until confirmed. • Enforce appointment requirements: 5+ pallets or 30+ floor-loaded cartons require a scheduled appointment at least 24 hours in advance (with merchant-specific exceptions). • Ensure a minimum two-hour interval is maintained between floor-load appointments, and that floor-load slots are scheduled at the start of the day where possible. • Cancel appointments that fall below minimum thresholds, documenting reasons in appointment notes. • Maintain accurate notes for all appointment changes, including the name of the requester for record-keeping purposes.

Carrier & Merchant Communication • Serve as the primary point of contact for carriers and brokers via the appointments@shipmonk.com inbox, DataDocks Messages, and warehouse-specific Slack dock channels. • Guide carriers new to DataDocks through the three-step onboarding process for accessing and booking within the portal. • Respond to inquiries regarding appointment status, receiving hours, pallet/carton requirements, and scheduling availability using established email signature templates. • Direct freight-related inquiries to the appropriate team (Transportation, Support, Logistics) based on the nature of the request. • Collect required shipment details (ASN, destination, load type, pallet/carton count) when information is missing, and escalate if unresolved within 24 hours of the appointment

DataDocks Portal Administration • Perform bulk ASN/PO uploads to DataDocks three times daily (9:30 AM, 12:30 PM, 3:30 PM) using exported data from Metabase and the standardized upload template. • Manually add individual ASNs to DataDocks when bulk upload timing does not capture newly created ASNs. • Perform company/merchant bulk uploads to keep active account data current in the portal. • Maintain and update inbound receiving hours, daily capacity limits (pallets and floor loads), and blocked dates for holidays and peak periods across all locations. • Onboard new ShipMonk warehouse sites to DataDocks by gathering site information, coordinating with the DataDocks team, creating Slack dock channels, and conducting ops training sessions. • Manage DataDocks user access for operations teams — up to 10 active users per site — and maintain the Ops User List.

Exception Handling • Evaluate exception requests from merchants and carriers who are unable to book their preferred delivery date due to capacity constraints. • Check the DataDocks calendar for availability and, when capacity is at or near threshold, post requests to the appropriate Slack dock channel tagging Inbound Leads, the Ops Manager, and the merchant's Happiness Engineer. • Communicate exception outcomes (approved or declined) to the requesting party and update appointments accordingly. • Manage merchant-specific exceptions, including unique scheduling rules for accounts such as Brooklinen/Marlowe, Cocokind, Dr. Squatch, Ooni, Il Makiage, Spoiled Child, and Fresh Clean Tees.

Reporting & Capacity Monitoring • Generate and distribute the weekly Appointment Product Summary Report to the Transportation team, covering all completed appointments with key metrics including wait time, processing time, turnaround, and average quantities. • Produce and share the daily Inbound Capacity Output each morning, reflecting current pallet and floor-load scheduled volumes per location versus daily thresholds. • Flag locations exceeding 75% capacity in the daily output, note pending exception requests, and notify the Transportation Manager of any at-risk situations. • Post the Inbound Capacity Output to both the logistics Slack channel and each individual dock channel.

Operations Coordination • Maintain clear communication with warehouse operations teams via dedicated Slack dock channels to coordinate drop vs. live-unload decisions, appointment timestamp corrections, and delivery status updates. • Update appointment timestamps (Arrived, Started, Completed, Left) when corrections are submitted by ops, ensuring reporting accuracy. • Assist in setting DataDocks capacity parameters to zero during holidays, receiving blocks, and peak periods as approved by the VP of North American Operations and relevant site leadership.

Qualifications Required • 2+ years of experience in freight coordination, dock scheduling, transportation logistics, or a related supply chain role. • Proficiency with scheduling or transportation management platforms; experience with DataDocks or similar appointment scheduling tools is strongly preferred. • Strong written communication skills with the ability to correspond professionally and efficiently with carriers, brokers, and internal stakeholders. • Proficiency in Microsoft Excel or Google S

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