Rate Confirmations in Trucking: What to Check Before You Accept

What a rate confirmation is

A rate confirmation (rate con) is the broker’s written offer for one load: where it goes, when, for how much, and on what terms. When you sign it or accept it by email, it becomes the contract for that load, sitting on top of your broker-carrier agreement.

Most payment problems start here. A rate con that is vague on detention, missing a reference number or quietly strict on paperwork costs money weeks later, when nobody remembers the phone call.

The lines to check before you accept

The load itself

• Load and reference numbers: the broker’s load number, PO, pickup and BOL numbers. Your invoice must quote them exactly.
• Every stop: full addresses, appointment or first-come-first-served windows, and the order of stops.
• Freight: pallets, pieces, weight and any temperature, hazmat or tarp requirement. If the freight is different on the day, call before loading.

The money

• Line-haul rate and currency: CAD or USD, and whether fuel surcharge is included or separate.
• Free time and detention: how many hours free at each stop, the hourly rate after that, whether it is capped, and how it is measured (from appointment time or from arrival).
• Other accessorials: layover, TONU, lumper reimbursement, extra stops, tailgate or liftgate, inside delivery. See detention vs layover vs TONU.
• Payment terms: days to pay, quick-pay fees, and whether a factoring company receives the payment.

The rules that can void a charge

• Notice requirements: when and how you must report detention (often before free time runs out, by email to a named address).
• Lateness clauses: arriving late usually cancels free-time protection and can carry a penalty.
• Paperwork rules: a signed POD within a set number of days, receipts for lumpers, and sometimes in-out times signed by the facility.
• Tracking: some brokers require a tracking app or check calls and deduct for missed updates.

Red flags

• “Detention per shipper policy” with no hours or rate written down.
• A detention rate with no free time stated, or a cap so low it barely covers an hour.
• Rates or stops that do not match what was agreed on the phone. Ask for a corrected rate con before dispatching, not after.
• Penalties for late PODs that are larger than the detention you could earn on the load.

Keep the rate con with the load

The rate con is the reference for everything after dispatch: the free time the detention clock uses, the numbers billing quotes, and the terms you cite in a dispute. Keep it attached to the load record, not in a download folder, so the dispatcher, billing and anyone answering a dispute work from the same document.

Zonox reads rate confirmations and tenders sent to the dispatch Gmail and creates the load from them, sending anything it is unsure about to review. Customer-specific free-time rules and detention rates are set on the customer, so the detention flag and the invoice use the terms you agreed.

Next: what a POD must show and what goes on the invoice.