Freight RFP (Request for Proposal)

A freight RFP is the primary mechanism shippers use to establish their carrier network and contract rates. The shipper packages their lane data – origins, destinations, volumes, frequency, equipment needs, service requirements – and distributes it to a pool of carriers and brokers for competitive bidding. The results set the routing guide and contract rates that govern the shipper's freight operations for the next year.

A well-run RFP includes more than just lane-level pricing. It captures accessorial rate schedules, fuel surcharge mechanisms, capacity commitments, service-level expectations, and sometimes technology requirements like tracking or EDI capabilities. The shipper evaluates bids not only on price but also on carrier reliability, geographic coverage, and historical performance – assuming they have that data available. The output is a routing guide that assigns primary and backup carriers to each lane, forming the operational playbook for the logistics team.

The pain point with traditional freight RFPs is that they're enormous, manual efforts. Shippers spend weeks preparing bid packages in spreadsheets, distributing them via email, collecting responses in inconsistent formats, and then normalizing everything to make comparisons. For a mid-market shipper with 200–500 lanes, this can consume the better part of a month – and the results start decaying the moment the ink is dry because market conditions keep moving.

Progressive shippers are shortening their RFP cycles and supplementing annual events with mini-bids on underperforming lanes throughout the year. They're also using rate benchmarking data to evaluate bids against market rates in real time, rather than relying solely on carrier-submitted pricing. The goal is shifting from a once-a-year procurement event to a continuous optimization strategy.