News Releases

The news releases contained on Descartes' site are for historical purposes only. Information contained within the releases was believed to be accurate at the time of issue, however, the Company will not and specifically disclaims any duty to update this information.

current news releases

Rentway Ltd. Uses Descartes' Web-Based Routing Service To Optimize Cargill Foods' Delivery Network

Network-Based Routing Drives Costs Out of Cargill's Routing Operations

Waterloo, Ontario - Thursday, April 20, 2000, 7:30 AM EDT -- The Descartes Systems Group Inc. (NASDAQ:DSGX), (TSE:DSG), a leading provider of B2B Internet logistics solutions, announced today that Cargill Foods Toronto is the first of Rentway's customers to take advantage of the revenue-generating capabilities of Descartes' network-based routing solution. This announcement follows Descartes' announcement last Friday of Rentway Ltd., Canada's largest truck leasing and rental company, offering value-added services for route optimization to its customer base with Descartes' Web-based routing solution (see April 14 release).

Cargill Foods Toronto distributes case-ready fresh cut meats from a central food preparation plant to a grocery chain of 250 stores throughout Ontario, Canada. Rentway chose Descartes' Web-based routing service to create an optimized route plan for Cargill's Ontario-wide distribution network, increasing the productivity of their drivers and driving costs out of their daily delivery routes.

"Descartes is enabling Rentway to rapidly create new value-added services for our customers," said Bruce Toner, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Rentway. "As the largest truck leasing and rental company in Canada, we further increase our competitiveness by offering the flexibility of a routing service paid for on a fee-per-usage basis without the large up-front investment required by traditional routing solutions. We also create cost savings that we can pass along to our customers."

"Rentway provided us with a routing solution that not only saved routing costs and identified the best size of fleet for our operations, but also enabled us to benchmark our transportation services," said Mark Nicholls, Marketing Manager of Cargill Foods Toronto. "Using Descartes' Web-based routing software, Rentway established least-cost routes and expected travel times which we used to ensure maximum productivity from truck drivers. As a benchmarking tool alone, the Descartes software is expected to significantly improve our bottom line in what would have been lost productivity."

"Logistics providers like Rentway can better retain and attract organizations with value-added services that complement their logistics operations," said Art Mesher, Executive Vice President at Descartes. "Descartes will continue to develop network-based services that add this high level of value and attract new members to logistics communities."

Descartes' Web-based route optimization solution is ideal for planning next-day routes, and best serves national companies with dispersed operations, and small companies with 20 vehicles or less. Using information about appointments, driver skills and capabilities, job priorities, vehicle capacities, product weights and volumes, and other criteria, the routing software sequences driver stops to meet preferred delivery times and provides drivers with an easy-to-read routing plan that management can also use to measure driver performance.

About Rentway

Rentway (www.rentwayltd.com) provides business-to-business (B2B) truck fleet management services including full-service leasing, rentals, maintenance & repair and route optimization services across Canada and in several proximate US locations. With a fleet of over 10,000 heavy trucks, Rentway operates the most extensive network of heavy-duty truck shops and related services in Canada. Rentway is a subsidiary of Trimac Corporation, (www.trimac.com) an industrial transportation and logistics services corporation that employs over 6,400 people across North America (TSE:TMA).

About Cargill Foods

Cargill Foods Toronto is part of Cargill's red meat business, which is a leader in providing innovative red meat solutions to targeted customers and consumers. Cargill is an international marketer, processor and distributor of agricultural, food, financial and industrial products.

About Descartes

Descartes is a leading provider of end-to-end logistics solutions that facilitate B2B e-commerce. Descartes' e-fulfillment software and exchange solutions enable companies to create high-speed, high-performance fulfillment networks called DeliveryNets. DeliveryNet solutions empower organizations to deliver reliable, responsive customer service in a profitable manner and to create innovative new products and services.

DeliveryNet solutions leverage Descartes' Internet-based Global Logistics Network, an open, worldwide network of shippers, receivers, carriers, logistics service providers, e-marketplaces, vertical portals, and transportation exchanges. The result is a global e-fulfillment information infrastructure that provides cost savings and revenue opportunities for businesses that need to manage physical product movement.

Descartes products are licensed today by more than 850 companies in 35 vertical industries in over 50 countries worldwide. For more information about Descartes, visit www.descartes.com.

All registered and unregistered trademarks mentioned in this release are the property of their respective owners.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

Sandra Walsh
Descartes Systems Group
(800) 419-8495 ext. 2209
swalsh@descartes.com

Jennie Svitavsky
Mindstorm Communications
(212) 320-2155
jsvit@mindstormcomm.com

current news releases