How to Prepare a Freight RFQ

Anything left out of a freight request is handled in one of two ways. It is priced defensively, which makes the quote higher than it needed to be. Or it is excluded, which makes the quote lower than the movement will actually cost and moves the difference onto an invoice later. The most expensive request is the vague one that produces an attractive number.

A complete request also filters the responses. A forwarder that reads a well-specified request and quotes without asking anything has probably not read it, and that tells you something before you have committed anything.

None of this requires a formal template. It requires the physical facts about the cargo, the physical facts about both ends, the commercial terms, and an honest statement of what is fixed about the timing.

A purchase-order description tells a forwarder almost nothing. "Machine parts" can be four cartons or one crate that will not fit through a door. What is priced is space, weight, handling and risk, so those are what a request has to describe.

• What the goods actually are, in plain terms — this decides acceptance, documentation and whether any special rule applies
• Number of packages and the packaging type, because loose cartons, pallets, crates, drums and skidded machinery are handled differently
• Dimensions of each package type as packed, including the pallet and any protective frame — the space consumed is what is being sold
• Total gross weight, stated as gross and not net; packaging and pallets are not a rounding difference, and quoting on net weight understates the load
• The weight of the heaviest single package, and whether it has designated lifting points — this decides the handling equipment needed at both ends
• Whether packages are stackable and, if so, what may be placed on top; an unstackable unit occupies the space above it and is charged for it
• Whether anything overhangs its pallet, because overhanging cargo cannot be loaded tight against the next unit
• Any temperature requirement, with the range that must be held, since this changes the equipment and the whole plan around it
• Whether anything is regulated or hazardous — including batteries, aerosols, solvents, magnets and equipment containing fuel or residues, which shippers rarely think of as dangerous
• The value of the goods, which is needed for insurance and for formalities and is not the same as the freight cost

City-to-city pricing hides the two things most likely to break a delivery: what vehicle can reach the address, and what happens when it gets there. A quote given on a city pair and executed at a specific address is a quote that will be revised.

• Full address and premises type at each end: a factory with a dock, a distribution warehouse, a private address, a construction site, an exhibition venue and a terminal all imply different vehicles and different times
• How the vehicle will be loaded and unloaded, and by whom — dock level, forklift, crane, tail-lift, or by hand
• Access constraints: vehicle length and height limits, turning space, surface, restricted zones, permits and any local vehicle restriction. A site that needs a smaller vehicle changes the whole quote, and it is the most common late discovery
• Opening hours, and whether an appointment or booking slot is required and how far in advance — waiting time is chargeable and a missed slot can cost a day
• Who the contact is at each end, and whether they are expecting the shipment at all
• Whether either end is a port, an airport, a rail terminal or a bonded facility, since each brings its own access rules and procedures

The agreed Incoterms rule belongs in the request, together with the named place it is used with. The rule on its own is incomplete: the named place is what makes it operative, and a rule quoted without one leaves the most contested part of the arrangement undefined.

Say who arranges export and import formalities, and whether either party already has a representative appointed. Say whether the goods move under any particular customs procedure or status. These are not details a forwarder can discover; assuming the other party has them in hand is one of a routine reason for a shipment to stop.

Say who is insuring the goods. Carrier liability and cargo insurance are separate things, and a movement travelling without cover on the goods is a decision that should be made deliberately rather than by default.

Requirements vary by shipment, commodity, jurisdiction and trade lane. Confirm what applies with the relevant authority or an authorised customs representative rather than relying on what applied last time.

Give the date the cargo will genuinely be ready and the date it must arrive, and say which of the two actually binds. A preference presented as an absolute deadline buys a more expensive plan than the business needs. A real deadline presented casually gets planned as though it could slip.

Say whether the movement is a one-off, occasional, or a repeating flow, and give an honest indication of frequency and volume. A recurring flow can be planned around and is quoted on a different basis from a single shipment. Overstating volume to improve a first price is self-defeating, because the correction arrives with the second shipment.

Mention any seasonal window, production date or contractual commitment that sits behind the dates. A responder who knows why a date matters can offer alternatives when the obvious plan is not available; one who does not will simply report that it cannot be done.

Freight quotes are only comparable if they cover the same thing, and by default they do not. Asking every responder to answer in the same shape costs one paragraph and saves the entire comparison.

• What is included and what is excluded: collection, loading and unloading, waiting time allowance, terminal handling, formalities, delivery, and any charge arising after arrival
• How long the price is valid, since freight pricing is time-bound and a quote without a validity is an opening position
• What happens if weights and dimensions differ at loading — reweighing and remeasuring are standard practice, and the correction policy is worth knowing before it applies
• Who the contracting party is and in what capacity it contracts, and what liability basis applies to the movement
• Whether cargo insurance is included, offered separately, or not offered at all
• What the responder still needs before it could book — the size of that gap tells you how carefully the request was read

Ask enough responders to have a genuine comparison and few enough that each response is considered. A request sent to a long list produces short answers, and several responders may approach the same underlying carrier, which makes the market look worse rather than better.

Compare on landed scope, not on the headline figure. Adjust each response to the same inclusions before ranking, and weigh two things that never appear in the price: the quality of the questions the responder asked, and whether the scope was stated clearly enough to hold.

Tell the responders who were unsuccessful. It costs a message, and it decides how seriously the next request is treated — the shippers who get considered pricing are the ones who are known to run a real process.