The rate confirmation: read it before you sign.

What a rate confirmation is

A rate confirmation, or rate con, is the agreement between a freight broker and a carrier for a single load. The broker sends it after you agree a price; you sign it and send it back. From then on it's the reference for everything: the broker checks your invoice against it, and it's your proof of what was agreed if there's a dispute.

It's not the same as the bill of lading, which describes the freight and travels with it. BOL vs POD explains those.

What's on it

• The broker's details and their load number
• Your company, MC or USDOT number, and often the driver and truck
• Pickup and delivery addresses, dates, and appointment times or windows
• Commodity, weight, and equipment type
• The rate, fuel surcharge if it's separate, and accessorials
• Payment terms and billing instructions
• Special requirements: tracking apps, check calls, temperature, straps, tarps
• The broker's terms and conditions, often in small print on a second page

The 12-point check before you sign

1. The rate is the number you agreed. And is it all-in, or is fuel on top? Check before you haul, not at invoice time.
2. The dates and appointment times work with your hours of service and the miles in between.
3. Detention: how many free hours, the hourly rate after, whether there's a cap, and what proof they need, like in and out times on the BOL.
4. Layover and TONU: what they pay if the load is held overnight, or cancelled after you're dispatched.
5. Lumper: who pays it, and how you get reimbursed. Usually a receipt with the invoice, sometimes a comchek from the broker.
6. Extra stops: if there's more than one pickup or drop, what each extra stop pays.
7. Fines and deductions: late delivery, missed check calls, no tracking, late paperwork. Some rate cons have a long list.
8. Tracking requirements: whether they require a tracking app, and what happens if it drops.
9. Payment terms: Net 30, Net 45, and when the clock starts.
10. Quick pay: whether it's offered and what it costs, if you'll want it.
11. Billing instructions: where the invoice goes and which documents they require. See how to invoice a broker.
12. Your company details are right, and match the name, MC or USDOT number you were set up with. A mismatch can hold up payment.

After you sign

• Keep it with the load, so it's there when you invoice and when you need to prove what was agreed.
• Get changes in writing. Detention that runs long, a new delivery time, an added stop: ask for a revised rate con or an email approving it before you bill for it.
• Invoice against it. Every charge on your invoice should trace back to a line on the rate con or a written approval.

Is the rate worth it?

A rate con tells you what the load pays, not what it costs you to run. Before you sign, work out whether it clears your costs, including the empty miles to get to the pickup. Our cost per mile calculator does it in a minute.