The rate con turns a phone call into an agreement. It arrives as a PDF, it gets skimmed for the rate and the appointment times, and it gets filed. Most of the money that goes missing in a small carrier's year goes missing in the fields nobody read.
The money section
- Line haul — the base charge for the movement itself
- Fuel surcharge — usually cents per mile on loaded miles only, so check whether it covers your deadhead
- Accessorials — stop-off pay, tarping, driver assist, layover
- Detention — the free time and the hourly rate after it. If this is blank, you have no claim later
The terms that bite
Detention free time
Two hours is common. What matters is that the rate con says so and states the hourly rate afterwards. Without it in writing, a broker's goodwill is your only recourse and goodwill does not survive a busy week.
Lumper responsibility
Whether lumpers are reimbursed, and how — a payment code or your own money against a receipt — changes both your cash position and whether you get it back at all.
Invoicing requirements
Which documents must accompany the invoice, and where they go. A complete package on the day of delivery is worth more than a rate increase you had to negotiate for.
Why this document matters beyond the load
The rate con contains the broker, the lane, the rate, the miles and the surcharge. That is enough to compute rate per mile, compare the broker against every other broker you run for, and rank the lane against your cost. One page holds the whole judgement.
Which is why it is the first document fleetchart reads, and why an unread stack of them is a business running on memory.