Use this article to: Set up and manage pricing for customer consignments based on service levels, freight items, zones, and pricing structures.

Summary

Rate cards control how consignments are priced. They use service levels, freight items, and zones to calculate charges based on quantity, weight, distance, time, or flat rates.

This guide covers:

• Creating and editing rate cards
• Setting up standard and advanced pricing
• Managing rate increases
• Using shadow rates and overrides

Prerequisites

Before creating a rate card, ensure you have:

• At least one service level configured
• Freight items defined (e.g., Cartons, Pallets, Items)
• A zone listing that separates areas by suburb or postcode
• Appropriate user permissions (Finance access)

Note: Agent rate cards follow the same process but are created under Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Card (not Rate Cards).

                           

Create a Rate Card

Navigate to: Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards

1. Click New Rate

 

      2. Select the customer from the dropdown

      3. Click Create

      4. Set the Zone Listing for this rate card

      5. Click Update

      6. Click the Effective Date hyperlink to begin rate setup

 

Configure Rate Settings (4 Steps)

Step 1: Service Levels

• Click the + icon
• Select the applicable service level
• Click Add

              

Step 2: Freight Items

• Click the + icon
• Select the applicable freight item (e.g., Pallet, Carton)
• Click Add

                

Step 3: Routes

• Select the Source Zone (where freight originates)
• Select the Destination Zone(s) from the dropdown
• Repeat for additional routes as needed
  

                

Note: Different rates can be set for each zone combination.

            

Step 4: Set Rates

                                                                                                                             

Available rate types:

Rate Type	Description	Use Case
Flat Rate	Applies once per consignment	Basic charge per connote
Quantity Rate	Per item based on quantity	Charging per carton/pallet
Weight Rate	Based on total weight	Used with flat or basic rate
Distance Rate	Per kilometre	Calculated between sender/receiver addresses
Time Rate	Per minute	Calculated travel time between addresses
Min/Max Charge	Applies to total consignment	Ensures minimum revenue or caps maximum

Adding Multiple Rate Tiers:

• Click the + icon to add price breaks
• Example: 1-5 items at $5.00 each, 6-10 items at $2.00 each

Progressive Rates:

• Enable the Progressive Rate toggle
• First 4 items charge $20.00, 5th item charges $10.00 (cumulative)

Export Rates

1. Select the rate card from the list

Cubic Weight vs Dead Weight

The system automatically charges the greater of cubic weight or dead weight.

Setup:

1. Use Weight Rates in Step 4
2. Add a Cubic Multiplier in Step 2 (common values: 250 or 333)

              

Formula: (Length × Width × Height) × Cubic Qty × Cubic Multiplier × Weight Rate

Example:

• Weight rate: $20/kg (Adelaide to Adelaide)
• Item dimensions create cubic value of 4
• Cubic multiplier: 250
• Result: Higher charge than dead weight alone

Test using: Customer Price Calculator (Finance menu)

If there was no Cubic Multiplier setup in this example, the price would be the below:

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Pro-rata Rates

Charge extra when items exceed a specified threshold (weight, height, or area).

Common use case: Charge extra for pallets exceeding standard weight.

Setup:

1. Use Quantity Rates in Step 4

      2. In Step 2, enter the threshold in Pro-rata Weight field

  

      3. Click Update

Formula: (Dead Weight ÷ Item Qty) ÷ Pro-rata Value × Quantity Rate

Example:

• Standard rate: $10/pallet
• Pro-rata weight: 1000kg
• Single pallet weighing 1500kg = $15 (extra charge applied)

Example: 

• Two pallets totalling 1500kg = $10/pallet (each pallet ~750kg, under threshold)

Note: Pro-rata applies per item, not total consignment weight.

Pro-rata height and area setups can be implemented in a similar fashion to the above, though these are less commonly used in TransVirtual. 

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Edit a Rate Card

Select the rate card from the list

Click the Effective Date to open rate details

Update any of the 4 steps (Service Levels, Freight Items, Routes, Rates)

Click Update to save changes

For step-by-step instructions on editing each section, see the Create a Rate Card section above.

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Importing Rates

Please Click here for information on how to import the rates.

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Copy Rate Schedules

Use this to duplicate rates between customers with similar pricing structures.

Important: Ensure the new customer rate card has the same Zone Listing configured before copying rates. Mismatched zone listings will cause pricing errors.

Navigate to: Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards

Select the rate card you want to copy from

Click the + icon in the Rate Schedules section

3. Select an effective date for the new schedule

4. Select the source rate card from the dropdown

5. Click Create

 

The new schedule will populate with all rate details from the source card.

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Freight Item Overrides

Force items to price differently based on specific criteria (e.g., oversized pallets).

Common use case: Charge double for pallets exceeding 1.2m × 1.2m.

Setup:

1. In Step 2, expand the freight item
2. Click Override

      3. Set your criteria using the data filter wizard

      4. Select the Alternate Freight Item to use for pricing

Example 1: Weight-based override

• Rule: Average weight of single item > 50kg
• Action: Price as "Skid (Express)" instead

 

1. You will now have your logic as shown below.
   
   

     

1. We can now select which Alternate Freight Item we wish this to price with the help of drop and down button as shown below.
   
   

 

Example 2: Dimension-based override

• Rule: Length > 1.2m AND Width > 1.2m
• Action: Price as "Pallet - Oversize"
• Multiplier: 2× (charges double the standard pallet rate)

 

     

In this example we will have 2 parameters i.e., length and width as shown above.

1. The result will be in the examples as shown below. 
   
   

        

Note: Change "AND" to "OR" if only one dimension needs to exceed the threshold.

1. Select the alternate freight item with the help of drop-down button and click on Save button.
   
   

      

5. We now move to our override under the Pallet - Oversize freight item, here click on Override button as shown below.

      

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Once you set the overrides, the Step 3 will display a message as no rates have to be set as shown below.

      

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Rate Increases

Navigate to: Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards > Customer Transport Rates (or Supplier Transport Rates)

Use search filters to find the rate card

   

      2. Click the + icon in the Rate Schedules section

      3. Select the new Effective Date

      4. Enter the Percentage Increase/Decrease

      5. Click Create

               

The new schedule will appear under Effective Rate Schedules and apply from the specified date.

                                            

You can also increase the rate via rate card and click on Uprate button, to know more about uprate click here.

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Distance and Time Charging

Prerequisites:

• Enable Optimal Route (ETA) Module
• Navigate to: Configuration > Operational Task > Global Setup > Add-on Modules
  

Setup:

1. Ensure the Optimal Route Module is 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. Enter Distance Rates and/or Time Rates in Step 4

      3. Save changes

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.

            

Manual Distance/Time Entry:

• Enable the Manual Entry toggle in Step 4
• System applies $0 initially
• Update manually after delivery when actual figures are known

            

Note: Re-price existing consignments to apply new distance/time rates.

    

View pricing details in the Finance tab of each consignment.

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Price Each Line Independently

When enabled, cubic weight for each consignment line is calculated separately (not combined).

Navigate to: Finance > Configuration and Setup > Rate Cards > Expand Rate Card

 

Effect:

• Disabled: All line cubic weights combine before pricing
• Enabled: Each line cubic weight prices independently
  

Example:

• Line 1: 15kg weight charges separately
• Line 2: 5kg weight charges separately
• Result: Two separate charges vs one combined 20kg weight charge

1. 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.
   
   

Use case: Large consignments where line-by-line pricing provides better accuracy.

Important: Monitor regularly to ensure desired pricing outcomes.

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Additional Services

Add charges for services provided alongside consignments (e.g., tailgate, after-hours delivery).

Account-wide Charges

Configure default charges under: Configuration > Finance > Additional Services

Customer-specific Overrides

In the rate card:

1. Open the rate schedule
2. In Step 1, expand the service level
3. Click Additional Services
4. Override system prices with customer-specific rates
5. Enter -1 for no charge
6. Click Save

  

Route-specific pricing:

• Set different additional service prices per route in Step 4

                                    

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Shadow Rates

Shadow rates provide fallback pricing when detailed rates don't exist for a customer.

Use cases:

1. Customer obtains rates from agent rate cards (with markup)
2. Customer has agreed rates for some items but needs fallback for others
   

Important: Shadow rates only apply when detailed rates are not configured. If detailed rates exist, they take priority.

Setup:

1. Create your agent rate cards or primary rates
2. Select the customer rate card
3. Click the Shadow Rates tab

      4. Click the + icon

      5. Select the rate card to shadow

 

      6. Click Create

      7. Apply any margin/markup required

      8. Click Update

      

Shadow rates are now available when customers create consignments.

Import Rates

For bulk rate imports, see the separate Import Rates article.

Common Issues

Issue: "No rate card found" error
Cause: Customer not linked to a rate card
Resolution:

• Link the customer to an existing rate card, or
• Create a new rate card for the customer

Issue: Rates not applying to consignments
Cause: Effective date is in the future or zone listing mismatch
Resolution:

• Check the effective date is today or earlier
• Verify zone listing matches between rate card and consignment locations

Issue: Copied rates not working
Cause: Zone listing mismatch between source and destination rate cards
Resolution:

• Set the same zone listing on the new rate card before copying rates