Ocean freight quoting
Turn FCL and LCL requests into source-backed quote drafts.
Keep ocean freight, local charges, surcharges, minimums and validity visible as separate lines — from the customer’s email to the quote your team reviews.
- FCL per container
- LCL on the W/M basis
- Charges as their own lines
- Validity tracked
Where this number comes from
- 1
Volume 4.20 cbm from the packing list
- 2
Weight 3,150 kg → 3.15 revenue tons at 1,000 kg/cbm
- 3
W/M basis greater of 4.20 and 3.15 → 4.20 w/m
- 4
Ocean freight SEA-EU_LCL_Q3.xlsx row 8 · 74.00 per w/m · valid to 31 Oct
- 5
Rated 4.20 × 74.00 = 310.80 · above the 185.00 minimum
- 6
Origin charges SIN THC + doc + lift · 121.60 · quoted as own lines
- 7
Destination charges RTM THC + release · 180.00 · subject to local tariff
Illustrative sample data. Three sheets, kept as three sets of lines rather than one total.
Destination sheet expired 31 Aug
The RTM component is flagged and marked subject-to. The rest of the quote is still assembled.
Three sheets, three currencies, one quote.
An ocean quote is rarely one rate. It is an origin sheet, an ocean rate and a destination sheet, each with its own minimums and validity, assembled into a figure the customer sees as a single number — and disputes as a single number.
- 01Work out whether it is FCL or LCL from a description written in prose.
- 02For LCL, calculate volume from the dimensions and compare it against the weight.
- 03Apply the W/M basis, then check the minimum has not overtaken it.
- 04Find the ocean rate, then the origin charges, then the destination charges.
- 05Notice one of the three sheets expired last week.
- 06Decide what is included and what is subject-to, and write it out.
- 07Convert something into the customer’s currency, by hand.
FCL and LCL priced on their own bases.
Two different rating models, not one with a switch. A container is priced per container; loose cargo is priced on weight or measure, whichever is greater.
- 01Read the request.Ports or doors, cargo description, pieces, weight and dimensions, readiness date and Incoterms.
- 02Establish FCL or LCL.Container type and quantity for FCL. For LCL, the volume and weight that the W/M basis will be decided on.
- 03Price FCL per container.The rate for that container type and quantity, from a valid line on your own sheet.
- 04Price LCL on weight or measure.Weight against volume on the W/M basis, with the minimum charge respected where it beats both.
- 05Keep the components separate.Origin, ocean and destination charges stay as their own lines, so what is included and what is subject-to is legible.
- 06Draft with validity stated.Your format and terms, with the validity of the underlying rates carried onto the quote.
An LCL figure, opened into its parts.
Loose cargo is where an ocean quote is most often argued about, because the basis is invisible in the final number. This is that number opened up: the volume, the weight, which of the two the W/M basis selected, the minimum underneath it, and the origin and destination charges as separate sourced lines.
Read from the request
- Ports or doors
- FCL or LCL
- Container type and quantity
- Pieces
- Weight
- Dimensions
- Incoterms
Calculated — FCL
- Rate per container type
- Quantity
- Per-container minimum
Calculated — LCL
- Volume in cbm
- Revenue tons
- W/M basis selected
- Minimum charge
Kept as separate lines
- Origin charges
- Ocean freight
- Destination charges
- Surcharges
- Included or subject-to
- Validity
What happens when something is missing.
This is the half of automation worth interrogating. Freitt says so rather than filling the gap — no invented rate, no assumed weight, nothing sent unread.
Every component still visible.
- 01FCL and LCL are rated on their own bases.
- 02The W/M decision is shown, not just the result.
- 03Origin, ocean and destination stay separate lines.
- 04Validity carries from the rate line to the quote.
- 05A person reviews and sends.
Use this when
- You quote both FCL and LCL from your own contracted rates.
- Origin, ocean and destination charges come from different sheets.
- LCL minimums are being missed, or applied inconsistently.
- Customers query which charges were included and which were not.
Look elsewhere when
- You need live spot rates and carrier booking rather than your own contracts.
- Your requirement is rate procurement across many partners and formats.
- Project and break-bulk cargo priced by negotiation rather than by sheet.
- You need container tracking after the booking. Freitt tracks the quote.
Ocean freight quoting, answered.
Something else on your mind? Bring it to a live quote session — thirty minutes, no deck, on one of your own RFQs.
Volume and weight are both calculated and both shown, the greater is used as the chargeable basis, and the minimum charge is applied where it beats that. The quote shows which of the three produced the figure.
Yes, where your sheets carry them. Each container type and quantity is priced from its own valid rate line rather than scaled from another.
They stay as their own lines. Folding origin and destination charges into an ocean figure is how a quote becomes impossible to explain when the customer compares it with another one.
That component is flagged. The rest of the quote is still assembled, so you can chase one rate rather than rebuild the whole thing.
Charges are quoted in the currency your rate sheet is written in, and currency is one of the things your pricing rules can act on. What it will not do is invent a conversion rate you have not given it.
Then the margin, and who signs it off.
Rules by lane, mode and customer sit on the rate line, and a value threshold decides which ocean quotes a person has to see before they can be sent.
See margins and approvalsFlow view
Approval
If total > 10,000
Hold for a second pair of eyes
Follow-up chaser
- Tue — quote sent
- Thu — 48 h, no reply
- Follow-up drafted
Chasers and clarifications are drafted, never sent on their own.
See it live
Bring one FCL and one LCL request.
Two bases, two sets of sheets, both priced in front of you in half an hour.
30 minutes · no deck · your rates stay private