Which version of the sheet is current?
A coordinator quotes a shipment using the carrier's rate sheet from the shared drive. The sheet was replaced two weeks ago; the new one is in the pricing manager's inbox. A surcharge notice from the same carrier came in the week before and changes the total. The quote goes out low. The shipment moves, the invoice from the carrier arrives, and the margin has gone.
It is not carelessness. There are dozens of sheets, updated often, and they live wherever the person who received them saved them.
Why rates get lost
Carrier rates change often, arrive in many formats, and come with notices that modify them. Holding them in spreadsheets means every quote depends on someone finding the right file.
- Each carrier's sheet has a different layout and charge naming.
- Validity dates are in the sheet header or the email, not in a field anyone can search.
- Surcharge notices arrive separately and are not linked to the rates they change.
- Sheets are saved in personal folders and inboxes.
- Nobody can say which rates are in force on a given day.
What stale rates cost
Quotes on expired rates either lose margin or, when the rate went down, lose the business to someone quoting the new one. Missed surcharges come straight off your profit on the shipment. Pricing staff spend time answering 'which is the latest sheet' instead of negotiating. And new staff cannot quote confidently for months, because the knowledge of where the real rates are is held by the people who have been there longest. When a carrier invoice arrives higher than expected, working out whether the carrier is wrong or your quote was wrong means finding which sheet was used, which is often impossible.
The rate store we build
- Each carrier's and partner's sheet format is mapped once. New sheets are loaded by dropping them into a folder or forwarding the email, and the store reads them into one structure: lane, equipment or weight break, charges, currency, validity.
- Charge names are mapped to your own standard list, so the same charge is called the same thing across carriers.
- Surcharge notices are read as they arrive and attached to the carrier and lanes they affect, with their effective dates. Anything unclear goes to the pricing manager to confirm.
- A search by origin, destination, mode, equipment and shipment date shows only rates valid on that date, with every surcharge added and the source sheet linked.
- Rates approaching expiry are listed, so pricing can chase new sheets before quotes go out on old ones.
- The quote desk and your forwarding system can read from the store, so every quote uses the same rates.
| Question | Spreadsheets | Rate store |
|---|---|---|
| Which rate is current? | Find the latest file | Filtered by shipment date |
| Which surcharges apply? | Search the inbox | Attached to the rate |
| When do these expire? | Read the header | Listed ahead of expiry |
| Same charge, different names | Worked out each time | Mapped to your charge list |
What pricing looks like afterwards
Coordinators search one place and get the rates that apply on the date they are quoting, with surcharges included. The pricing manager maintains the store, not a collection of folders. Old rates can still be looked up for a past shipment, which helps when a carrier invoice is questioned. And comparisons across carriers for a lane become a search, not a project.
Recognise this?
- Rate sheets live in personal folders.
- Quotes have gone out on expired rates.
- Surcharges are missed on quotes.
- Carrier invoices regularly exceed what was quoted.
- New staff cannot find the right rates.