PORTLAND, Ore. (Feb. 16) — DAT Services and Link Logistics, rivals in the electronic freight-matching business, will combine their databases of foreign or cross-border freight and equipment.

Customers with DAT will gain on-line access to information about Canadian loads and available equipment maintained by Link Logistics. In turn, Link customers will be able to search DAT’s database of leads on cross-border or U.S. domestic freight.

“A lot of our customers use both services,” said Link vice-president Rick Court. “This way, when someone posts a load on DAT, it gets posted on Link, and vice-versa. You won’t need two separate pieces of software, get two separate bills, etc. It’s seamless.”

DAT, headquartered in Portland, Ore., opened an office in Toronto last year to build a database of Canadian loads and available equipment. Mississauga, Ont.-based Link, the predominant freight-matching service in Canada, has been pursuing opportunities to give its customers on this side of the border access to a greater variety of loads in the U.S.

DAT will charge a fee each time a customer uses the combined database. Link will offer unlimited access for a surcharge to their monthly subscription.

The service is expected to be available in three months.

Court said the agreement with DAT precipitated the cancellation of a similar information-sharing arrangement with The Internet Truckstop, which posts available loads and trucks in the web.

The deal would have prohibited Link from developing Internet-based database access on its own. “We want to give customers a web address and let them post and retrieve everything online, live. We’re already well advanced on being able to this.”