Fixed routes with shippers

Updated 1 month ago by Ania

Who can use this function?

Function available to freight forwarders (TFF - Trans for Forwarders) and carriers (TFC - Trans for Carriers).

From this article you will learn how to:

  • accept a fixed route offer,
  • negotiate the terms of a fixed route offer,
  • negotiate, within a fixed route, a freight offer with a variable price.

Thanks to the module of fixed routes with shippers, you have the opportunity to receive permanent orders in cooperation with trusted contractors. In one place you can check the payment term, offer details, freight data or planned transports.

Receipt of a fixed route offer

  1. When a shipper sends you a fixed route offer, you will receive a notification. Click on it to navigate to the Fixed routes with Shippers module.

  1. The new offer will appear in the Under negotiation tab, with the Accept fixed route status. In the fixed route drawer, you can negotiate the price (see: Price a new fixed route as a carrier).

When agreeing on a contract, the shipper can choose a variable price as a form of settlement.
Variable price means that you agree with the shipper on a flexible form of settlement for the published freight. In a fixed route contract, the shipper only sets the currency. This allows you to choose the best freight offer for yourself.

More about the publication of freight offers with variable prices can be found below.

Getting to know the details of a given route

Familiarize yourself with the freight data, offer details and other information. The offer is addressed directly to you, giving you the possibility of permanent cooperation with a given contractor. You can accept the fixed route offer or reject the proposed terms.

For each accepted freight, carried out on fixed routes, a "No touch" fee is charged, according to the price list.

The principal may, however, cover this fee. Information on this can be found in the Details tab.

Negotiating the terms of the fixed route offer

You can negotiate or conditions of the fixed route offer. To do this, click the Refuse button and enter the reason for rejection.

  • If you decide to negotiate, write which conditions should be changed and why.
  • Confirm your decision with the red Refuse button to send the information.

The reason for rejection and the offer status will also appear in the Freight Data tab in the offer details.

If the principal decides to change the terms of a standing order offer, the offer status will change from Rejected to Accept

Accepting a fixed route offer

If you receive a fixed route offer from the client, you can:

  • Accept it. To do this, click the Accept button.
  • Reject it. To do this, click the Reject button.

If the offers of the route seem interesting to you and you are satisfied with the cooperation with a given company, you can turn on the Auto-acceptance option.
By using this solution, after the time specified by you, the offer will be automatically accepted on the Platform.
Note!
Please note that the Auto-acceptance option is not available for fixed routes with a variable price.

  1. If you accept the offer
  • you can additionally set the Auto-acceptance option. To do this, click Update.

  • To enable the option, move the slider to the green field and specify the time in minutes or hours (time range is from 5 minutes to 24 hours).
  • Then click Save.

  • If you enter an incorrect value, a message will appear on the Platform. Then correct the value and save the settings.

  • The saved Auto-accept option will be visible in the fixed route details window.
  • After acceptance, the fixed route will be visible in the Active tab.

  • If the contractor sends a freight offer on the active fixed route, an auto-acceptance message will appear in the offer details window.

  • In the negotiation panel, you will see information about the time in which the freight offer will be automatically accepted. When you move the cursor over the clock icon, a message will appear.

  • If you do not want to wait for a predetermined time, you can accept the offer earlier - just click the Accept button.
  • However, if you do not want/cannot accept the offer, you can reject it by clicking the I'm not interested button.

Suspension of a fixed route

If you decide to suspend a fixed route, click on Fixed routes with shippers and go to the Active tab. A green button next to the Activity field indicates that the route is active. To change it, click on it to change its color to gray.

Select the date until which you suspend the selected route. Enter a reason for the suspension and click Suspend. The information will be sent to the shipper.

 

The button next to the Activity field turns gray.

To check the suspension details in the future, click on the desired route. Information about the fixed route is shown on the right.

  • Here you can also Unsuspend a permanent route by clicking on the Activity field and changing the color of the button to green.

End of cooperation on a fixed route

If you want to delete a fixed route that your company has agreed to, click on Fixed routes with shippers, on the Active tab, then select the fixed route you want to cancel and click the Archive a fixed route button.

  • Confirm your decision with the red Archive button.

On the right, you will see the details of the offer. Click Delete Fixed Route.

  • The archived route will be moved to the Archive tab and will have the Finished status.

You can also delete an offer for a fixed route in the same way, the terms of which you have not agreed to and which you are not interested in. To do this, click on the Fixed routes with shippers, the Under negotiation tab, and then on the route of your choice (the new offer or the one with the edited conditions has the Accept status).

  • In the same way you can Archive a fixed route offer, the terms of which you have not yet agreed to and which you are not interested in. Select the Fixed routes with shippers module, in the Under negotiation tab select a fixed route (a new offer or one with edited terms and with the Accept fixed route status).

On the right, you will see the details of the offer. Click Delete Fixed Route and then confirm your decision

  • On the right side you will see the details of the offer. Click on the Archive fixed route button.
  • Confirm your decision by clicking on the red Archive button.

The deleted route will be moved to the Archive tab.

Removal of the fixed route by the client

If the client decides to end cooperation on a given fixed route, you will receive a notification.

The fixed route will be moved to the Archive tab. For more details, click on the company name. The status changes to Finished.

Changes to the conditions of the offer of carriage on a fixed route

The shipper has the option to make changes to the route conditions or edit cargo information. The edited route with the new conditions is a copy of the previously accepted offer and will appear in the Under negotiation tab with the status Accept.

The Governing tab will still show the itinerary with the originally agreed terms of carriage until you accept the changes.

If you agree to the new terms, click Accept.

After your consent, the route with changes from the Under negotiation tab will replace the original version of the arrangement and will be found in the Active tab.

You can discard the changes made by the uploader. To do this, click Reject and enter the reason for rejection. The offer will remain in the Under negotiation tab until you are satisfied with the change of conditions and you accept it.

After accepting the conditions, the route with changes from the Under negotiation tab will replace the original version of the arrangements and will be found in the Active tab.

Freight offer with a variable price under a fixed route

The shipper can create a fixed route with settlement without a fixed price.

 Variable price means that you agree with the shipper on a flexible form of settlement for the published freight. In a fixed route contract, the shipper only sets the currency. This allows you to watch all the shipper's offers and negotiate rates according to the market price.

The freight offer published under such a fixed route can be:

  • accepted,
  • negotiated (also via the messenger),
  • rejected.
  1. When the shipper publishes a fixed route freight offer, you will receive a notification.
The shipper publishing freight offers can specify contact persons from your company who will take part in freight negotiations.
If the shipper does not specify any employee from your company, the contact person will be the employee who first accepts the offer.
  1. The freight offer can be found in the Search loads module, under For me tab.
For me tab includes all new freight offers within the fixed routes, addressed to you.

The expired offers will remain under the Received tab as long as the last published offer is active.
When you click on the Fixed routes label, a new tab will open with the source of the offers: fixed routes
  1. When you click on a freight offer, a drawer with details of the offer will open.

When submitting an offer, the shipper can enter a rate or publish it without a price.

You can enter your own proposal in the rate box in the following situations:

  • if the rate proposed by the shipper does not satisfy you and you want to negotiate it
  • when the shipper did not specify a rate.

Enter your proposal and click Send.

You can negotiate with several contact persons from the shipper's side, if he has specified any.
To see who else can make negotiations, click on the drop-down list next to the name of the contact person. If you decide to negotiate simultaneously with another employee, enter your rate and then click Send.

When you make an offer, it is also possible to withdraw it.

Negotiations will resume when you provide a new rate.

  1. A shipper publishing the freight quote could indicate several contacts from your company.
    Negotiations are open to all employees, which means you can see negotiations of your colleagues.
    In the freight details, click on the Negotiations tab and then Other Negotiations.

  1. As you can see, another contact person from your company has also made an offer.

Click on Back to the list of offers.

  1. When the shipper accepts your offer, you will receive a notification.

When you receive a freight offer from the Shipper, you can choose I'm not Interested if you have no interest in the offer. Once you confirm this option, no one from your company will be able to negotiate your freight.

Remember that you are resigning from this particular freight offer, not from the entire fixed route.

Freight offer with Buy now option

Within a fixed route, the shipper can publish a freight offer with a Buy now option. The shipper provides the rate at which he wants to sell the freight. If you accept the rate, you don't have to wait for the shipper's confirmation, the transaction will be concluded automatically.

The carrier that first accepts the rate will carry out the order.

Negotiate a freight offer with a variable price in the messenger

You can carry out negotiations with the shipper via the messenger.

For this example, let's assume that the shipper rejected your first offer.

  1. The shipper did not accept your rate. You will receive a notification.

  1. To run the messenger, click on its icon.
  1. Click Suggest a rate

  1. Enter a rate proposal and click Send.

When the shipper accepts your offer, the only thing to do is to accept the terms of the order. You will find them in the Orders module, under the Active tab.

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