Rate Confirmation

A rate confirmation – sometimes called a rate con – is the contractual agreement between a shipper (or broker) and a carrier for a specific shipment. It locks in the linehaul rate, any pre-approved accessorials, fuel surcharge terms, pickup and delivery appointments, and equipment requirements. Once signed or acknowledged by the carrier, it becomes the baseline against which the eventual invoice is audited.

A standard rate confirmation includes the shipper and carrier names, origin and destination addresses, pickup and delivery dates and times, the agreed rate (often broken into linehaul and fuel), payment terms, commodity description, weight, and any special instructions – temperature requirements for reefer loads, driver unload expectations, or appointment scheduling notes. For LTL shipments, it may reference the applicable tariff or contract number rather than a per-load rate.

The rate confirmation is the single most important document in freight finance. It's the source of truth when an invoice arrives and the charges don't match expectations. If the carrier invoices $2,800 but the rate con says $2,400, the shipper has clear, documented grounds for a dispute. Without a rate confirmation – or with a vague one that doesn't specify accessorial terms – the shipper has little leverage when unexpected charges appear.

Best practice is to store rate confirmations digitally, linked to the corresponding shipment record, so they're immediately accessible when the invoice arrives. Shippers who can pull up a rate con in seconds resolve disputes faster and pay carriers more accurately than those digging through email threads or shared drives.