How Orbit Marketplace distributes Tours to Carriers via auctions and instant offers, how to read an offer's dispatch state (open, won, declined, revoked, expired), and how to hand a Tour to another bidder after the round.
Orbit Marketplace is a powerful platform feature that enables both automated and manual distribution of Tours to Carriers, matching the right Carrier at the right price. It serves as a central hub for managing transport opportunities through competitive auctions and fixed-price instant offers, providing operators with flexible tools to efficiently match Carriers with Tours.
Key Highlights
Dual Distribution Methods: Choose between competitive auctions or fixed-price instant offers
Automated Sequences: Create sophisticated distribution workflows combining Carrier selection, scoring, and offer management
Real-time Notifications: Keep all participants informed through multiple communication channels
Fine-grained Access Control: Manage marketplace operations through detailed permission settings
When a carrier bids in Orbit Cockpit, they can choose how long that bid remains binding. They can use the auction end, an available preset, or a custom date and time. Orbit only offers deadlines that meet the marketplace minimum and, for an auction with an end time, do not pass that end.
A carrier with an active standing bid can update its binding deadline without changing the bid amount. When the deadline passes before the auction ends, that bid no longer participates in the auction.
Sequences automate the entire matching process between Tours and Carriers in Orbit Marketplace. When set up carefully and tailored to specific cases, Sequences enable you to fully automate large parts of your Carrier-side operations. A Sequence takes one of two forms:
Built from SequenceBricks: the Sequence combines one Select, one Score and one Distribute SequenceBrick. Each SequenceBrick can be managed individually and used in more than one Sequence, enabling you to re-use logic and procedures. You build these Sequences in Orbit MissionControl.
Simple form: the Sequence states in a few settings how a Tour is handed out. It either assigns the Tour to one carrier, or tenders it to the matching carriers as an Instant Offer or an Auction, optionally an Instant Offer followed by an Auction. You define a simple Sequence through the Orbit API, as described in Simple Sequences.
Orbit runs both forms the same way. When a simple Sequence runs, Orbit turns it into the Select, Score and Distribute steps described below, so it behaves like a Sequence built from those SequenceBricks.
There are three types of SequenceBricks: Select, Score and Distribute. In a Sequence, they are executed in this order. First, a given number of Carriers are selected. Next, they are individually assigned a score. Finally, in the Distribution SequenceBrick, previously selected and scored Carriers are sent individual offers or are invited to competitive auctions using a user-defined workflow: a combination of Wait Steps and Actions.
Select SequenceBricks
The Select SequenceBrick allows Operators to create rules for choosing which Carriers will be processed by the sequence. You can apply multiple selection rules in combination. Select Rules considers all carriers present in the system at the time of execution.
Carriers can be filtered based on the following criteria:
Carrier
Carrier Creation date
Carrier Name
Carrier E-mail
Carrier Phone
Carrier Country
Carrier City
Carrier Postal Code
Carrier Region
Carrier Properties
Carrier’s Vehicles
Has Vehicle Where Extras: at least one vehicle satisfies the vehicle extras the tour requires (yes or no)
Has Vehicle Where Property: at least one vehicle has the given property value
Has Vehicle Where Cargo Space Height (cm): at least one vehicle's cargo space height passes the comparison with the tour's maximum load height
Has Vehicle Where Payload Capacity: at least one vehicle's payload capacity passes the comparison with the sum of the tour's load weights
Has Vehicle Where Total Weight: at least one vehicle's total weight passes the comparison with the sum of the tour's load weights
Has Vehicle Where Fits Loads: at least one vehicle can fit the tour's loads (yes or no)
Has Vehicle Where Weight Utilization with at most: the carrier's best-fitting vehicle would use at most the given percentage of its weight capacity for the tour's loads
Has Vehicle Where Volume Utilization: the same for volume
Has Vehicle Where Ldm Utilization: the same for loading metres
Carrier’s Users
Has User Where Extras: at least one user satisfies the carrier user extras the tour requires (yes or no)
The above filters can be set relative to either fixed values or dynamically using characteristics of the Tour in question like:
Number of stops
Maximum weight
Tour price
Vehicle class requirements
Start date and time
Region
Score SequenceBricks
The Score Brick makes use of the same rules accessible by the Select SequenceBrick, but extends them with the option to either add or subtract a score to the carrier. This will help us to choose the carriers for a given step of the Distribute Brick according to their scoring.
Distribute SequenceBricks
The Distribute SequenceBrick is the workflow that sends the offers. It works through the scored carrier list in a chain of Wait Steps and Actions, each Action sending an instant offer or opening an auction for a slice of that list. The two step types are described below.
In the Distribute Brick you add a Wait Step (Add Wait Step) or an Action (Add Action).
A Wait Step sets a time the sequence waits, which is useful before or between Actions. The wait time can be set with either:
absolute (a set number of seconds/minutes/hours/days)
relative (a percentage of the time until the tour starts; you can also set a minimum and a maximum duration to limit the range)
An Action consists of two parts, the carrier selection and the actual action to be executed.
The Carrier selection uses the previously created scored list of carriers and can be done in one of three ways:
absolute (setting a range of absolute values, for example 1. (highest scored) - 10. of the scored carriers list)
percentage (setting a range in percent, for example the top 10% of the list)
points (setting a range in points, for example between 500 and 1000 points)
The setup for the execution of the action follows a similar pattern as the configuration of the Auction or Instant Offer in the Marketplace itself, here we set:
Instant Offer or Auction
Visible or Secret Auction
Price (initial price or suggested price)
an optional auction end
similar to the Wait Step described above, we can set absolute values, or values relative to the start of the tour, this will be evaluated when the sequence is executed.
These settings allow for flexible design of the Distribute Brick of your sequence to:
Define distribution patterns and timing
Configure waiting periods between distribution phases
Set carrier group sizes for offers
Sequence Pattern Example:
1. Select top-scored (for example top 10%) carriers2. Create auction for selected group3. Wait for specified duration4. If no acceptance, create instant offers at adjusted price5. Distribute to remaining eligible carriers
A simple Sequence hands out a Tour in one of two ways, without any SequenceBricks:
Form
What happens when the Sequence runs
Assign
The Tour is assigned to the carrier you chose, without an offer. If that carrier is not active at that moment, the Sequence ends with No Select Results and the Tour stays Unassigned.
Tender
Every active carrier that matches the carrier filter receives an Instant Offer or is invited to an Auction. Without a carrier filter, every active carrier is included. The carrier filter uses the same carrier criteria as the Select SequenceBrick.
A tender sets:
Offer type: Instant Offer or Auction. Auctions from a simple Sequence are visible auctions.
Price: a fixed price, or the price set on the Tour at the moment the Sequence runs. It is the initial price of the Instant Offer or the Auction. An Auction with a price of zero opens without an initial price.
Validity: how long carriers can accept the Instant Offer or bid in the Auction, in whole hours from 1 to 720. If your organisation awards Auctions manually, an Auction ends no later than the latest start of the Tour.
Instant Offer, then Auction (optional, Instant Offer only): after the Instant Offer, the Sequence waits for the same number of hours and then continues with an Auction at the same price and validity.
Integrated carriers never receive an Instant Offer or an Auction invitation from a Sequence, even when they match the carrier filter. An assign can hand a Tour to an integrated carrier directly.
In Orbit MissionControl, a simple Sequence appears under Settings → Marketplace → Sequences next to the Sequences built from SequenceBricks. There you can rename it, change its description and set it active or inactive, and you launch it from the Marketplace like any other Sequence. Its form, price, validity and carrier filter are set and changed through the Orbit API, where the simple form is the Sequence's way field and prices are given in euro cents.
When a simple Sequence needs more than its few settings, convert it into a Sequence built from SequenceBricks through the Orbit API. Orbit creates a Select, a Score and a Distribute SequenceBrick that do exactly what the simple form did, names them after the Sequence and their type, and the Sequence uses them from then on. It runs as before, and a run already under way for a Tour carries on unchanged. Afterwards you edit the Sequence and its SequenceBricks in Orbit MissionControl like any other. Orbit cannot turn the SequenceBricks back into a simple form: to make the Sequence simple again, set a new simple form through the Orbit API.
Only an active Sequence can be launched for a Tour. To switch a Sequence on or off in Orbit MissionControl, open Settings → Marketplace → Sequences, choose Edit on the Sequence, set the switch to Active or Inactive and choose Save.
Switching a Sequence off always works, even when the Sequence could no longer run: when its name is empty, or when a carrier or SequenceBrick it uses has been deleted. Switching it on checks the whole Sequence first. If something is missing, the Sequence stays inactive and Orbit MissionControl names the problem, next to the field or in the message Sequence Could Not Be Activated. Give the Sequence a name in at least one language and make sure the carrier or SequenceBricks it uses exist, then switch it on again. The carrier of a simple Sequence is set through the Orbit API.
The Marketplace implements a comprehensive notification system:
Channels:
Email notifications
Mobile push (In-app) notifications
Browser push notifications
Notification Types:
New Offer
Undercut (auction updates)
Lost (auction/offer status)
Won (successful bid)
Tour Assigned
Tour Unassigned
Carriers can customize their notification preferences for each type of communication channel.
Connect does not ask for browser notification permission when a carrier signs in. After a successful bid or instant acceptance, Connect opens an explanation dialog describing how browser notifications report new offers, undercuts and auction wins. Choosing Not now or closing the dialog pauses it for 30 days on that browser. Carriers can also open notification settings to see a hint about the browser's notification state and enable notifications while permission is undecided.
When an operator moves an assigned tour to another carrier, the previous carrier gets the Tour Unassigned notification, just as if the tour had been unassigned from them. If the tour had a driver, only that driver is notified.
The Marketplace is the carrier-facing view, inside Orbit Connect, of the offers you have sent. Each offer for a Tour is a Callout, and carriers browse them through a set of tabs that are simply filtered lenses on the same offers:
Available: open offers a carrier can act on right now.
Requested: offers sent to the carrier and awaiting their response.
Bid Received: auctions the carrier has placed a bid on.
In Sequence: offers currently being handled by an automated sequence.
Declined, Won, Expired and Revoked: offers that have reached an outcome.
A carrier only ever sees its own offer and its own rate, never the underlying order or the customer's pricing.
An individual offer moves through a small set of states. In plain terms:
Open: the offer is live and waiting for the carrier to respond.
Won: this carrier got the tour, by accepting an instant offer or winning an auction.
Declined: the carrier said no.
Revoked: you, the operator, pulled the offer back.
Expired: the offer lapsed: either its time ran out, or another carrier won and the remaining offers were closed out.
These outcomes are not interchangeable, and the difference matters when you review why a tour did or did not find a carrier. Only Declined reflects a carrier's own decision. Revoked is your own action, and Expired simply means the offer timed out or was closed because someone else won. Neither is a rejection by the carrier.
Assignment itself is nothing more than the outcome of a won offer. You do not set a tour's carrier by hand while offers are running; when an offer is won, the tour is assigned to that carrier automatically. Until then the tour stays unassigned while its offers are live. A tour with an open offer is mid-dispatch, not overlooked.
The Marketplace panel stays available once a round is decided. In Orbit MissionControl, choose Open Marketplace in the Tour's actions menu, whatever its status. The panel shows the Tour's last round with its bids, so you can see who offered what and hand the Tour to another bidder when the winning carrier backs out.
Each decided round has a card of its own: one for the auction and one for the instant offer, in the order they were started. A card shows:
Outcome: Assigned to and the carrier, when this round gave the Tour its current carrier, otherwise Ended Without Assignment.
End and participants: when the round ended, how many carriers took part and how many bids came in.
Bids: on an auction, one row per carrier with its last bid, lowest first, and the date and time the bid was placed. The carrier holding the Tour is marked Assigned. A bid the carrier withdrew during the round is struck through and marked Withdrawn. A bid whose binding deadline passed during the round shows Lapsed.
Notice: at the foot of an auction card, the reminder that the round has ended and its bids no longer bind.
An instant offer's card shows who started it instead of a bid list.
What else the panel shows depends on the Tour's status:
Assigned: only the round's cards and the line naming the Tour's carrier. The carrier table and the controls to start a new auction, instant offer or Sequence are hidden.
Not Assigned: the round's cards sit above the carrier table, so you can pick a bidder or start a new distribution from the same view.
Any other status, such as Running or Tour Completed: the round's cards, read-only.
While a round is open, a bid can bind the carrier until its deadline (see Bid validity). Once the round has ended, no bid binds the carrier any more: it is the price the carrier offered on the date shown next to it. Before you give the Tour to a bidder of a decided round, confirm the price with that carrier.
When the Tour is Assigned, every bid of another carrier that was not withdrawn offers Change Carrier.
Open the Tour in Orbit MissionControl and choose Open Marketplace.
On the bid of the carrier who should take over, click Change Carrier.
Read the confirmation. It names both carriers, the bid price next to the current price and the date of the bid.
Click Change Carrier to confirm.
The change does three things:
Price: the Tour's price becomes the new carrier's bid.
Driver and vehicle: both are cleared, because they belonged to the previous carrier.
Previous carrier: receives the Tour Unassigned notification, as described under Notifications.
The panel stays open and shows the Tour with its new carrier.
When the Tour is Not Assigned, for example after you unassigned the winning carrier, the same bids offer Assign instead. It gives the Tour to that carrier at their bid straight away, without a confirmation. A withdrawn bid offers neither button, and both buttons are disabled when you lack the permission to edit the Tour.
Note
The card shows the latest round of each offer type only. When you start a new auction or instant offer, the new round replaces the card of the earlier one of that type, and the earlier round's bids are no longer shown in the panel.
For example, Nordlicht Spedition awards a Tour from Hamburg to Lyon to Spaceport Shipping Co. for €420. A day later, Spaceport Shipping Co. reports that it has no truck free. Julia opens the Marketplace, sees that ACME Ltd bid €450 in the same auction, calls ACME Ltd to confirm the price, and clicks Change Carrier on its bid. ACME Ltd gets the Tour at €450, and Spaceport Shipping Co. receives the Tour Unassigned notification.
Create the Sequence through the Orbit API with a name and its simple form: assign to one carrier, or tender with an offer type, a price and a validity.
In the Marketplace in Orbit MissionControl, select the Tour, open Launch Sequence and choose the Sequence.
Pronto Pizza, a chain with 25 locations across Madrid, uses Orbit Marketplace to manage their delivery operations efficiently during peak hours.
Scenario: During weekends, Pronto Pizza experiences high order volumes across all locations. They need to quickly dispatch drivers for time-sensitive deliveries while maintaining cost efficiency.
Marketplace Implementation:
Sequence Setup
Select Brick:
Carrier City: Madrid (where restaurant locations are)
Carrier Postal Code: Specific codes matching restaurant delivery zones
Carrier Properties: Has "Food Delivery" and "Thermal Bag" properties
Score Brick:
+100 points for carriers with "Premium Thermal Equipment" property
+200 points for carriers with "High Rating" property
+150 points for carriers with "Consistent Delivery" property
-50 points for carriers with "Recent Delay" property
Distribution Workflow
When a new batch of pizza orders is ready, the system creates an instant offer for the top 10% scored carriers
Offers expire after 120 seconds
If no acceptance, the system creates a visible auction for the next 30% of carriers
Auction runs for 180 seconds with the initial rate visible
Results:
94% of deliveries are assigned within 3 minutes
Customer satisfaction increased due to faster delivery times
Delivery costs decreased by 12% through competitive bidding during non-peak hours
Orion Logistics, based in Singapore, manages container shipments between major ports in Asia and Europe. They use Orbit Marketplace to coordinate with trucking providers for final-mile deliveries.
Scenario: When cargo vessels arrive at the Port of Rotterdam, Orion needs to arrange transportation to distribution centers across Western Europe, with varying urgency and price sensitivity.
Marketplace Implementation:
Tiered Distribution Strategy
High-Priority Shipments: Instant offers to premium carriers with temperature-controlled vehicles
Standard Shipments: Secret auctions to qualified carriers
Bulk Shipments: Visible auctions to maximize cost efficiency
Automated Sequence for Standard Container Delivery
Select Brick: Filters for carriers with:
Appropriate vehicle class for container transport
Valid certifications for cross-border transport
Operations in destination country using Orbit’s Region feature
Score Brick:
+300 points for carriers with previous on-time delivery record
+200 points for carriers with specific equipment (container locks, tracking)
+100 points for carriers with multilingual drivers
Weighted scoring based on distance from port (closer carriers score higher)
Distribute Brick:
First action: Instant offers to top 5% of carriers with 2-hour expiration
Wait step: 2 hours
Second action: Secret auction to next 15% of carriers with 8-hour duration
Third action: Visible auction to all remaining qualified carriers
Results:
78% reduction in dock waiting time
Improved carrier relationships through fair opportunity distribution
15% cost savings on non-urgent shipments through competitive bidding
Enhanced visibility of transport options for operations team
The auction can be manually ended by the operator, or it will automatically end at its configured end time if one was set. The tour can then be redistributed through a new auction, instant offer or direct assign to carrier.
Can I modify an active auction?
Active auctions cannot be modified, but they can be ended manually if needed and a new distribution can be started.
How do carriers get notified of new opportunities?
Carriers receive notifications through their configured channels (email, push, in-app). They can manage their notification preferences in their account settings.
What happens if multiple carriers accept an instant offer simultaneously?
The system processes acceptances in order of receipt. Once an offer is accepted, it is automatically withdrawn from other carriers.
Can I edit a simple Sequence in Orbit MissionControl?
You can rename it, change its description and set it active or inactive under Settings → Marketplace → Sequences, and you can launch it from the Marketplace. Its form, price, validity and carrier filter are set and changed through the Orbit API. To edit it in Orbit MissionControl as a Sequence built from SequenceBricks, convert it through the Orbit API first.
Can I switch off a Sequence whose carrier or SequenceBrick was deleted?
Yes. Switching a Sequence off always works. Before you can switch it on again, the Sequence needs a name and a carrier or SequenceBricks that exist.
What happens if someone else changes a Sequence while I edit it?
Orbit MissionControl saves your edit only to the version of the Sequence you opened. If someone changed the Sequence in the meantime, in Orbit MissionControl or through the Orbit API, saving shows Sequence Was Updated by Someone Else and then the Sequence as it is stored now, with their change. Your changes are not saved, except switching the Sequence off, which always goes through. Choose Edit and make your change again. A save that changes only the switch is not checked against the version and goes through.
Can I give a tour to another bidder after the auction has ended?
Yes, as long as the tour is Assigned or Not Assigned and the bidder did not withdraw their bid. Open the Marketplace for the tour and click Change Carrier or Assign on that bid. The bid no longer binds the carrier, so confirm the price with them first.
What happens to the previous carrier when I change the carrier?
The previous carrier receives the Tour Unassigned notification, just as if you had unassigned the tour. The tour's driver and vehicle are cleared, and its price becomes the new carrier's bid.
Can I combine different distribution methods?
Yes, through sequences you can create sophisticated distribution strategies combining both auctions and instant offers with conditional logic and timing rules.
