Truckers who want a piece of the B2B Internet action are getting behind the "ship now" button.
B2B, which stands for Business-to-Business, once referred to Yellow Pages for businesses serving other businesses rather than consumers. Now B2B sites are emerging on the Internet alongside retailers like Amazon.com.
But the Amazons of the Internet normally ship via UPS or the U.S. Postal Service. B2B suppliers often need other carriers; when a buyer clicks the "ship now" button on a B2B web site it means freight for a carrier somewhere. So more and more transportation providers are trying to become choices at the "ship now" button.

Plastics companies, for example, buy resins, compounds and industrial supplies from various vendors at a site called PlasticsNet.com. Now, according to a Jan. 4 press release, when they press the "ship now" button, the default setting will be Schneider Logistics, the subsidiary of truckload giant Schneider National, Inc. Schneider will get whatever has been purchased to wherever it has to go.
In December, Click Logistics, a division of Cardinal Logistics, became the provider of choice for BusinessHere.com, a web site providing a wide variety of goods to business and industrial buyers. A Click spokesman said the company is seeking participating carriers.
These announcements follow a November agreement by Yellow Freight, the second largest less-than-truckload carrier in the United States, to deliver shipments of over 150 pounds purchased through a number of Internet sites, including eBay, the popular auction site.