Customer Rate Cards
Rate Cards allow pricing to be setup for the consignment(s) based on Service Levels, Freight Items, Zones, and various pricing structures.
To setup a rate card you will need to have at least one service level, Freight Items e.g. Cartons, Items and/or Pallets etc as well as a zone listing in place which separates different areas being suburbs or Postcodes for different prices.
The setup for agent rate cards is largely the same as what is detailed in this article. The main difference lies in where you enter or create the rate card. Agent rate cards are created under Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Card.To Add a new Rate Card
1. To add a new rate card, go to Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards, rate card page will display as shown below.
2. Click on the New Rate button, a pop-up for create new rate will display as shown below.
3. Select the customer with the help of drop-down button and then click on Create button as shown below.
4. Once rate card is created, the new rate card will display on the rate card list, and detail of new rate card will display on the right side of the screen as shown below.
5. On rate card info screen, set the zone listing required for this rate card using the Zone Listing drop-down button and click on Update to save the changes.
6. Once step 5 is completed, now we are ready to setup our rates by clicking on the effective date hyperlink as shown above, you will be redirected to rate set-up page as shown below.
7. Now, on rate page, fill the details for all the 4 steps i.e., Service Levels, Freight Item, Route and Rating Details as describe below.
a. In step 1, select the service level.
i. To add/update the service levels, on service level step, click on "plus" icon, a pop-up Add a service level to the rate schedule will display and with the help of drop-down button, select the applicable service label and then click on Add button as shown below.
b. In step 2, select the applicable freight item.
i. To add/update the freight item, on freight item step, click on "plus" icon, a pop-up Add a freight item to rate schedule will display and with the help of drop-down button select the applicable freight item and then click on Add button as shown below.
c. In step 3, select the route.
i. To select the route, on Add Zone Source field, select the applicable sending zone with the help of drop and down button, as shown below.
This (These) Source Zone(s) will be the most common zone from which your freight will be sent.
ii. Once you select the source zone then a drop down with 'to' zones will display as shown below.
ii. Click on any "to" zones to select it.
If required then we can setup different rates in each of these zones, based on your agreed rates with your customer.
d. In step 4, setup the rates. There are different types of rates i.e., Flat Rates, Quantity Rates, Weight Rates, Distance Rates, Time Rates, Service Min. Charge and Service Max. charge.
i. Flat Rates: These rates will apply once for each connote and would be your basic charge on a connote & kilo rate setup.
ii. Quantity rates: These rates will apply for each item based on the quantity of items entered against the consignment.
iii. Weight Rates: These rates are based on weight which are typically used in conjunction with a Flat or Basic rate.
iv. Distance Rates: These rates will charge per kilometre and charging is based on the distance calculated between the sender and receiver locations for the delivery and can also be overridden to be based on departure from your depot and return even if the driver performs deliveries in the course of their travels.
Please note this distance calculated may be impacted various factors including Address Accuracy, GPS of driver pickup and delivery locations and will likely not always align with the same result you may receive from other mapping software as we assume the shortest route by distance.
v. Time Rates: These rates will charge per minute, and charging is based on the time calculated to perform the delivery and includes option to override based on time taken to depart from and return to depot even if the driver proceeds directly to the next delivery.
Please note this time calculated may be impacted by various factors including Address Accuracy, GPS of driver pickup and delivery locations and will likely not always align with the same result you may receive from other mapping software as we assume the shortest route by distance.
vi. Minimum/Maximum Charge: These rates are based on the entire charge of the consignment including all of the above charges and can be set to allow for small charges based on few items or low weights where the cost to service this area or the expected/agreed volumes with customer have not been achieved on this occasion and are entered as a price exclusive of any levies and taxes.
Extra Information
1. If you wish to add multiple quantity charge, this can be done by click on plus icon (+) as shown below.
2. One you click on the plus icon, another field will create and so on, as shown below.
3. As you can see above, if there are 5 items these will be charged as $5.00 each, 5 to 10 items will be charged as $2.00 each.
4. If you wish to charge the first 4 items in this example $20.00 then the fifth at $10.00, enable the toggle for Progressive Rate by clicking on it in Yes position as shown below.
Charging the Greater of the Cubic Weight Equivalent vs the Dead KG Weight - how to
Transvirtual has the ability to automatically charge and apply the greater of the cubic weight equivalent or the dead weight via cubic multi setup.
The purpose of a Cubic Multiplier is to convert the cubic value of a consignment item row to an equivalent weight value. If this value is greater than the original dead weight value, the system will price the consignment using the cubic weight value calculated through the Cubic Multiplier.
To use a Cubic Multi setup, you need to ensure that step 4 of the rate card uses Weight rates.
1. To setup this process, use Cubic Multiplier, found in step 2 of a rate card as shown below.
Common Cubic Multiplier values are 250 or 333.
2. The system uses a formula when applying cubic weight (using a cubic multiplier) = (length x width x height) x Cubic Qty x Cubic Multiplier x weight rate for relevant zone.
For Example:
Customer Price Calculator can be used to test rate card setups. Click here for more information on this.
1. As you can see in the above screenshot, the weight rate for Adelaide to Adelaide is $20 per KG. Every KG will incur an extra $20.
2. You will notice in the above that there is one item listed here and it has one large dimension. The cubic value specified based on these dimensions is 4.
3. When a Cubic Multiplier of 250 is added to this Carton freight item (Step 2 of the rate card), the resulting price is much higher than simply charging for the dead weight.
4. If there was no Cubic Multiplier setup in this example, the price would be the below:
You can see that, when a Cubic Multiplier of 250 has been added, the resulting price is much higher because the system is converting the item row cubic to a weight rate and charging for this.
Keep in mind that the system automatically charges the higher of the cubic weight equivalent vs the dead kg weight value!
A consignment item row refers to a single row of a consignment. The above images only have one Consignment Item row.
Pro-rata rate setup; what is this and how to setup?
If required, rate cards in TransVirtual allow users the ability to setup pro-rata rates that can be applied to consignments when using quantity rates.
These are setup in step 2 of the rate card and are attached to the appropriate freight items:
These are setup in step 2 of the rate card and are attached to the appropriate freight items:
Pro-rata weight is the most commonly used of these.
A good example of where this would be used would be when you want to charge for excessive weights, but you typically charge quantity rates for that freight item. Maybe you normally charge a quantity rate for pallets (set price per pallet), but you want to charge extra if a pallet exceeds a specified weight?
A good example of where this would be used would be when you want to charge for excessive weights, but you typically charge quantity rates for that freight item. Maybe you normally charge a quantity rate for pallets (set price per pallet), but you want to charge extra if a pallet exceeds a specified weight?
How could this be setup?
To use a Pro-rata weight setup, you need to ensure that step 4 of the rate card uses quantity rates.
1. To set-up ProRata weight rate, on Freight Item (Step 2) section, manually enter the weight at which you wish to start charging extra for when an item exceeds that weight and then click on Update button as shown below.
The Pro-rata weight field works per item on a consignment item row!
2. Once you do this, any items exceeding that weight will be charged extra.
For Example:
1. As you can see the above screenshot, Adelaide to Adelaide is Zone 1 to Zone 1 and when a pallet is sent between these locations it would normally cost $10.
2. However, we have implemented a pro-rata weight of 1000 and this pallet has a weight of 1500 for this pallet. This means that the pallet will be charged extra because it exceeds the standard allowable weight limit.
3. The resulting price is $15 per pallet (rather than 10) plus any applicable levies and GST etc.
3. The resulting price is $15 per pallet (rather than 10) plus any applicable levies and GST etc.
4. It is important to note that the pro-rata weight setup applies per item.
For example:
a. As you can see the above screenshot, there are 2 pallets and the total weight for these two is 1500kgs. This means that the pro-rata does not apply because it will only apply to each pallet that exceeds 1000kg; in this scenario each pallet would weigh approximately 750 kgs (the system averages the weight between the number of items), which is under the allowable 1000kg.
b. As a result, the standard $10 per pallet rate applies and no extra is added on.
The formula used for pro-rata weight is:
(Dead Weight / Item row quantity) / pro-rata weight value x standard quantity rate for relevant zone.
So; Dead Weight divided by Item Row Quantity, divided by the pro-rata weight value, then multiply by quantity rate.
In the above example for 2 pallets the formula would have looked like: (1500 / 2) / 1000 x 10 = $7.50 per pallet
This is a lower amount than the standard $10 rate per pallet, hence the standard pricing is used.
In the above example for 2 pallets the formula would have looked like: (1500 / 2) / 1000 x 10 = $7.50 per pallet
This is a lower amount than the standard $10 rate per pallet, hence the standard pricing is used.
Pro-rata height and area setups can be implemented in a similar fashion to the above, though these are less commonly used in TransVirtual.
Importing Rates
Please Click here for information on importing rates
Copy Rate Schedule
If you have two customers with similar rate structures or simply have a template rate card to construct other rate cards from you can copy these via the below process.
1. Navigate to Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards, click on Customer Transport Rates (By default Customer Transport Rate page will open, if not then click on it).
2. On customer transport rate cards page, click on the rate card from the rate card list on the left that you wish to copy, the relevant rate card info will display on the right side of the screen as shown below. 
3. On the bottom side of the card info section, you will see rate schedules and Rate Shadowing section, here, click on the Plus (+) icon to add a new schedule to the customer you're copying the rate. 4. A popup Add a new rate schedule will display, here you need to select a date for the rate card to apply from and then a list of alternate rates cards as shown below.
5. On add a new rate schedule screen, select the rate card with the help of drop-down button and then click on create button. The schedule will then populate with the relevant rate card details.
Freight Item Overrides
Freight Item overrides allow you to force line items to price differently to their description depending on criteria set. Most common use of this is, if a pallet were larger than 1.2m x 1.2m then due to this function you can charge accordingly due to pallet oversized dimensions.
1. Once you setup your rates, on freight item tab in Step 2, you can expand this, and you will see the Override button as shown below.
2. Click on Override button, a popup Review/Edit data filter screen will display as shown below.
3. Now, set your criteria and you can use the data filter wizard to create these as describe below.
4. In this example we are going to make an Item which is over 50kg in weight and to be charged as a Skid price. Here, first select the field in this case the Average Weight of the Single Item Row to be greater than 50 and click on Add button to add the rule.
5. You will now have your logic as shown below.
6. We can now select which Alternate Freight Item we wish this to price with the help of drop and down button as shown below.
7. In this example this will be a Skid (Express), now any matches to this freight item where the average weight is equal to 50kg we will price these using skid (Express) rates.
8. Another example of this as follows is to override to an alternate freight item but rather than have rates individually setup we can multiply according to your requirements.
E.g. A pallet greater than 1.2m x 1.2m may be charged at double the price due to space taken in a truck. So as below we have a Pallet Freight Item and Pallet - Oversize.
9. Under the Pallet Freight Item click on Override button and setup the data filter as shown below.
In this example we will have 2 parameters i.e., length and width as shown above.
10. The result will be in the examples as shown below.
In this case the system has included the word 'and' meaning that both the length and width will need to be over 1.2 for this to apply. If needed, then you can change this "and" word to "or" if you wish to apply this rule on one of the dimensions will need to be greater.
11. Select the alternate freight item with the help of drop-down button and click on Save button.
12. We now move to our override under the Pallet - Oversize freight item, here click on Override button as shown below.
13. In this case, no need to set any further parameters, here simply click on the Use Rate from Alternate Step 2 tab as shown below.
14. Now select in which alternate freight items price to use, in this example, we will set the prices against the Pallet freight item and as we wish to charge double the quantity so manually enter the '2' in the Multiply Qty field. Be cautious when using weight and qty breaks as multiplying the qty could force the price to go into an alternate qty break depending on your desired result.
15. Once you set the overrides, the Step 3 will display a message as no rates have to be set as shown below.
Rate Card Increase
From time to time, you may need to increase the rates for your customers or Agents. This section helps you, how to increase the rate as describe below.
The process to increase rate is same for both Agent and Customer rates.
1. Navigate to either the customer or agent rate card pages, go to Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards, and click on Customer Transport Rates or Supplier Transport Rates tab.
2. On customer/supplier transport rate page, click on the applicable rate card you wish to increase the rate.
If needed, use the search filters to find the appropriate rate card and then select the correct rate card by clicking on it.
3. Once you click on the appropriate rate card, the detail of that rate card will display on the right side of the screen as shown below.
4. On rate card detail page, click on Plus (+) icon as show above, a popup add a new rate schedule will display as shown below.
The blue/white question marks next to headings/fields are clickable and give you an explanation on what each field/heading is used for.
5. Select the new schedule effective date you wish to have this rate increase start from, manually add percentage increase/decreases in the percentage filed and then click on Create button to add it.
6. You will then see your new schedule listed under the effective rate schedules. The rate increase will be effective from the 'Effective Date'.
7. The new rate schedule has now had the increase applied to all aspects of the previous rate card.
You can also increase the rate via rate card and click on Uprate button, to know more about uprate click here.
Charging for Distance (km) or Time (min)
If needed, you can add charge(s) for Distance (per km) or Time (per minute), to a consignment. The best way to do this is set up a rate card with specified values from zone to zone.
This requires the Optimal Route Module to be enabled
1. The first thing you need to do is to ensure that you have the Optimal Route (ETA) Module enabled.
To enable the optimal route module, go to Configuration > Operational Task > Global Setup, scroll down and go to Add-on Modules section and enable the Optimal Route Module with the help of toggle button.
2. It is very important that you have this module enabled as doing so provides you with ability to rate based on distance and time figures from point A to B for a consignment. The system calculates the distance from the sending address to the receiving address, as well as the time it would take to complete this trip.
You will notice that after enabling this module, two new sections (Distance Rates and Time Rates) appeared in step 4 of the rate card.3. Once you enabled this module, manually enter the desired Distance and/or Time rates into the appropriate rate card as shown below.
The above screenshot gives an overview about distance rates only, but you can do the same with time rate also.
The blue/white question marks next to the fields are clickable and explain what these fields are used for/do.
4. Once you enter values for this (these) field(s) than any new consignments will acquire these rates (if applicable). If there are any pre-existing consignments, these will pick these rates up after a re-price is done and assume that they are applicable to the consignment, correct customer etc.
4. You can see the pricing information for a consignment in the Finance tab of that consignment.
Extra Information
1. If needed, then there is an option in the rate card where you can enter the Distance or Time charges manually as describe below.
Manual Distance/Time Entry: This means that rather than the system calculating a price automatically based on the distance between sender and receiver locations (and the calculated time required to travel between these points), you can manually enter a distance/time for this charge. What will happen if you have this toggle enabled is that the system will apply a 0 price to your consignment initially, which you will then change to the price you deem correct:
This may be particularly useful if you don't know what these charges are initially. You may not know these values until after the delivery is done, and so having these 0 charges there ready to be changed may come in handy.
Price Each Line Independently
When you enable the toggle for Price Each Line Independent, the cubic weight in each line will be priced separately and not added together.
For Example: Customer today "Demo", they have their rate card set to "Price Each Line Independent".
You can navigate the Price Each Line Independent toggle by going to Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards, select the applicable rate card and then click on Expand icon as shown above.
1. Once the consignment is created, with appropriate details, Demo rate card will calculate the cost based on the flat rate.
2. As you can see in the below consignment the charge weight has been calculated by each line individually.
3. Now, go to finance tab where you can see the price breakdown.
4. As you can see the difference, we will turn off the Price Each Line Independent setting, the cubic weight is now multiplied and calculated together.
5. In conclusion, this setting is used to separate the charge weights so that it can be priced individually.
This can be a handy tool when you have large consignments, however, it will need to be monitored regularly to ensure the desired outcome.
Additional Services
In Transvirtual, you have the ability to add additional charges for any additional services you may provide alongside the consignment. Click Here for Detailed Instructions.
Additionally, however you can override your account wide charge for individual customers via their rate card.
1. To add additional charges in rate card, first locate and open rate card and click on the current rate schedule, the rate card detail page will open as shown below.
2. On step 1 of the rate card, expand the service level and click on the Additional Services button, a popup for review/edit the default additional service item rates will display and update the additional rate accordingly as shown above.
Type the prices relevant for this customer over the system prices as shown above. -1 can be entered for no charge to be applied for this particular customer.
3. Once done, click on Save button to save the changes.
4. You can also apply different additional prices per route in step 4 of the rate schedule as shown below.
Shadow Rates
In TransVirtual there is a concept of Shadow Rates which has two main functions
- Customers can obtain rates from Agent Rate cards with a margin/markup applied where required.
- If a customer has a specific set of rates but can also shadow a primary rate card which may have a fully comprehensive set of rates e.g. customer has agreed rates for pallets, but they send a carton as a one off for which they don't have agreed rates for, and this can price from a primary set of rates for your business.
Setup
1. Once you have created your agent rate cards or primary rates, select the customer rate card you would like to apply these against and click on shadow rates tab as shown below.
2. Click on Plus (+) icon, a pop-up for add shadow rate will display as shown below.
3. Select the rate card you want to shadow with the help of drop-down button and click on Create button to add the rate as shown above, the new rate card will be display on shadow tab, click on Expand icon and apply any required margin/markup and then click on Update button as shown below.
4. These rates will then become available when customers are creating a consignment.
Related Articles
Rate Cards Imports
Transvirtual has the ability to import rate cards via csv file. Importing a Rate Card When creating/adding the rate cards, you have the ability to import a csv file to create/add the rate card, rather than manually fill the details (steps 1-4) within ...Rate Increases
Rate Increases In Transvirtual you have the ability to apply varying increases to your rate cards. Using this tool, you can apply percentage or dollar value increases to your rates across multiple rate cards using the same zone listing. Different ...Customer Service Ticket EDI Export
In Transvirtual there is the ability to create Customer Service tickets for a consignment. The purpose of these tickets is to raise any issues to the attention of your team so that they can be resolved. Transvirtual can export any created ticket ...Transport Price Check Tool (Customer/Agent)
Transport Price Check Tool The price calculators, mimic the connote creation page and allows you to enter details and return prices based on your rate cards. Both the Customer and Agent Price Calculator pages work the same way. These calculators ...Customer Invoicing
Customer Invoicing Identifying Rating/Pricing Issues When using TransVirtual pricing etc from time to time you may experience an unexpected price or no pricing against a consignment. These will be flagged upon invoicing and highlighted in the invoice ...