Draft freight quotes from customer rate requests
Rate requests arrive by email in many formats. The system reads the lane, equipment and dates, pulls contract rates and recent market data you already hold, and drafts a quote for a rep to adjust and send. For brokers where reps quote from memory and spreadsheets.
Draft freight quotes from customer rate requests
6 steps
At a glance
- Trigger
- A customer rate request arrives by email or portal.
- Typical inputs
- Rate request emails and spreadsheets
- Customer contract rates and margin rules
- Recent loads and carrier rates on the lane
- Fuel schedule and accessorial tables
- Systems it usually connects to
- Outlook
- McLeod
- Salesforce
- Google Sheets
- How the work splits
3 rules, 2 model, 1 person steps
How it runs, step by step
6 steps, each tagged by what does the work. Rules are fixed logic, a model reads or drafts, and a person decides.
- Rules Fixed logic in code
- Model AI reads or drafts, with a confidence score
- Person A named person decides
- 1
Read the request
ModelA model extracts origin, destination, equipment, weight, dates and any special requirements from the message or spreadsheet.
- 2
Validate the lane
RulesLocations are standardized and checked, and requests with missing details are queued for a question back to the customer.
- 3
Pull the pricing inputs
RulesContract rate, recent buy rates on the lane, fuel and accessorial tables are collected from your own systems.
- 4
Apply margin rules
RulesA suggested sell rate is computed from your margin rules, with the basis shown to the rep.
- 5
Set the price
PersonThe rep decides the final rate, based on market feel and the customer relationship.
- 6
Draft the response
ModelA model writes the quote email, and the rep sends it. Won and lost outcomes are recorded against the quote.
Where people approve
The decisions that stay with your team, whatever the confidence score says.
- The rep sets and sends every quote.
- Quotes outside the margin floor need manager approval.
- Spot quotes for new customers follow your credit rules.
KPIs to track
What to measure, before and after. Targets come from your own baseline.
- 01Minutes from request to quote
- 02Quote win rate by lane and customer
- 03Quotes below the margin floor
- 04Requests lost to slow response
Questions about this workflow
Does the model set the price?
No. Pricing is rules and the rep's judgment, and the model is used only to read the request and write the email. We prefer it that way because pricing errors cost money directly.
What market data does it use?
Only data you already have the right to use, such as your own recent loads and carrier quotes, and any rate source you subscribe to. We do not scrape sites that forbid it.
Which steps use rules, a model and a person?
Rules: validate the lane; pull the pricing inputs; apply margin rules. Model: read the request; draft the response. Person: set the price. Rules are fixed logic in code. A model reads or drafts and reports its confidence. A named person decides.
What do we need to start?
Typically: rate request emails and spreadsheets; customer contract rates and margin rules; recent loads and carrier rates on the lane; fuel schedule and accessorial tables. You also need read access to Outlook, McLeod, Salesforce and Google Sheets, or the equivalents you use. A workflow audit measures your volumes and past cases first, then gives a fixed price for the build, so you can decide with real numbers.