Freight and logistics quoting questions, answered
What carriers, forwarders, 3PLs and couriers ask before they move their quoting to QuoteCloud.
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QuoteCloud is quoting and eSignature software for freight businesses: lane quotes priced by your own rate calculator inside the quote, contract rate schedules, 3PL proposals and service reports, signed online. It doesn't book, track or invoice freight, and your rates and surcharges are your own figures.
Last reviewed by the QuoteCloud team
Rate calculators and pricing
Can QuoteCloud work out chargeable weight?
Yes, with your own formulas. A Spreadsheet block in the quote can work out cube, cubic weight with your conversion factor, actual weight and the greater of the two, then apply your zone rate or minimum and your fuel surcharge. The figures are yours: QuoteCloud runs the maths you set up.
How does the spreadsheet price the quote lines?
Any cell in the Spreadsheet block can be connected to a price line's description and unit price, and a price table total can be brought back into a cell, for example to show a price per pallet. Quantities are set on the price lines as usual, not by cells.
Can we import our existing rate spreadsheet?
Yes. The Spreadsheet block (Essentials and up) imports .xlsx files and supports formulas such as MAX, ROUND, IF and XLOOKUP, with tabs and cross-tab references, so your Rates and Quote tabs can come across as they are. The Spreadsheet block is on Essentials and up.
Does QuoteCloud look up fuel surcharges, distances or carrier rates?
No. QuoteCloud doesn't fetch rates, fuel indexes, distances or tolls. Your pricing desk keeps them in the sheet, for example one fuel surcharge cell on a Rates tab that every new quote from the template uses. Change that cell when your rate changes.
Can customers choose accessorials such as a tail-lift?
Yes. Accessorials can be optional lines in the price table that the customer ticks before accepting, and the totals update. You choose which lines are optional and which are fixed. The accepted document shows exactly which lines the customer ticked.
Quotes, schedules, proposals and reports
Which freight documents can we send from QuoteCloud?
Lane and spot quotes, contract rate schedules, tender responses, 3PL and warehousing proposals, and quarterly service reports with options to tick, each from your own templates and accepted or acknowledged online. Each one can carry price tables, your terms from the content library and signatures from several of the customer's people.
Can a rate schedule show last year's rates beside the new ones?
Yes. A schedule can show each zone's old rate struck through beside the new one with the change, alongside minimums, accessorials and your fuel surcharge clause, written once in your template. An expiry date on the schedule starts next year's review on time.
Can several of our customer's people sign?
Yes. A document can have several signers, such as a logistics manager and a finance director, and none of them needs an account. Each signer signs online, and the certificate of authenticity and audit trail cover every signature. No account is needed.
Can we lock our conditions of carriage?
On the Business plan, company content library blocks can be locked, so terms such as your conditions of carriage and fuel clause go out word for word. Only roles you permit can unlock them in the library. The content library itself is on Essentials and up.
Where QuoteCloud stops, so you know what stays in your systems
QuoteCloud prepares, sends and gets your documents accepted. The freight itself runs in the systems you already use.
No booking or dispatch
Bookings, dispatch and tracking stay in your transport management system. An accepted quote can pass to it through Zapier, Make or the API.
No rates fetched
Rates, minimums, cubic conversion and the fuel surcharge are your own figures in your own sheet. Nothing is looked up from outside.
No service measurement
On-time and claims figures in a service report come from your records; QuoteCloud doesn't measure them.
No freight invoicing
Consignments are invoiced from your accounts. QuoteCloud takes a deposit or full payment on signing through Stripe or PayPal.
AI assistants and QuoteCloud's MCP service
What is QuoteCloud's MCP service?
It lets an AI assistant your business uses work with QuoteCloud, on Essentials and up. With it, your assistant can be set up to find a customer, create a draft from a template, add lines from your price list or write a section, all for your team to review.
Does the AI send quotes to customers?
No. Anything your assistant prepares through the MCP service is a draft. A person on your team reviews it and sends it, your approval rules still apply, and the assistant reads only the systems and records you allow. The MCP service is on Essentials and up.
Can the assistant draft a service report from our shipment data?
It can be set up to read a shipment export from your transport management system and draft a quarterly service report from your template, with the numbers you report and commentary flagged for review. Your account manager checks and edits it before it goes.
What is the AI Co-Worker?
A separate Business plan feature that helps your staff inside the QuoteCloud editor, for example with wording for a section. Its output is flagged until a person accepts it. It doesn't write or send documents by itself. The MCP service is different: it connects an assistant you already use.
Signing, payments and renewals
Can customers accept a quote on their phone?
Yes. Customers open the quote from a link, tick any options, and accept and sign online on a phone, tablet or computer with no account needed. You receive a certificate of authenticity and an audit trail. One-time passcodes by email can be added for extra checks.
Can we take payment when a quote is accepted?
Yes, on Essentials and up. Connect Stripe or PayPal and ask for a deposit as a percentage or fixed amount, or full payment, on signing, for example a 3PL set-up fee or a one-off spot run. Monthly freight invoices stay in your accounts.
Do rate schedules renew automatically?
No. Each schedule has an expiry date, and the Expiring Soon filter shows which end next. Your team prepares next year's rates and sends them, one at a time or with bulk send, and each customer signs the new schedule.
Does QuoteCloud send reminders to customers who haven't signed?
No. Document tracking shows who has opened a quote or schedule, so your team knows whom to call. QuoteCloud doesn't send signing or payment reminders, and it doesn't bill in instalments. Spot quotes and schedules can carry an expiry date, and the Expiring Soon filter lists those ending next.
Try it on your next lane quote
Free for 14 days, no credit card required. Bring your rate spreadsheet and we'll convert one template during the trial.
Each answer, shown working in a freight document
Go from the question to the page that shows it, with fictional data from a sample carrier.
Chargeable weight
Cubic against actual weight, zone rates and minimums in a Spreadsheet block.
Rate calculatorsSame-day lane quotes
Linehaul, fuel and accessorials, accepted online.
Lane quotesAI-drafted quotes
Drafts from your data through the MCP service, reviewed by your team.
AI & MCPTenders and RFQs
A shipper's lane list priced lane by lane, with locked library answers.
Tenders & RFQsAnnual rate reviews
Expiring schedules, bulk send and tracking up to signature.
Rate reviewsDiscounts and margin
Approval rules and costs only your team sees.
Approvals
Integrations
Does QuoteCloud replace our transport management system?
No. QuoteCloud prepares and sends the quote, rate schedule or proposal and records the customer's acceptance. Bookings, dispatch, tracking and invoicing stay in your transport management and accounting systems, which can connect through Zapier, Make or the API. Your rates stay your own figures.
Can our booking form create a quote?
Where your booking form or TMS has a Zapier or Make connector, or can call the API, it can create a quote from your template with data items and price lines (Essentials and up). Zapier can also write values into calculator cells. API and Zapier documents carry a per-document fee by volume.
Which CRMs and accounting systems connect?
HubSpot and Zoho CRM connect through Zapier, and Pipedrive connects through Zapier or Make. Xero and QuickBooks Online are native on the Business plan, otherwise through Zapier. Microsoft Teams and Slack can show document updates, comments and actions. Your TMS connects through the API, Zapier or Make where it has a connector.
Plans and getting started
Which plan does a freight business need?
Essentials (US$39 per user a month) covers price tables, the Spreadsheet block, the MCP service, the API, Zapier and Make, bulk send and payments on signing. Business (US$59) adds approval workflow, content locking, version history, Gantt and the AI Co-Worker.
Is there a free trial?
Yes. Essentials and Business start with a 14-day free trial with no credit card needed, and QuoteCloud converts one of your templates during the trial. A Free plan covers one user and two documents a month with eSignatures. Paid plans include a 45-minute training session.
How long does it take to roll out?
It depends on what you bring. A sample plan for a carrier with one lane calculator, a rate schedule and a warehousing proposal runs about five weeks, including a week of pricing requests both ways. Onboarding and professional services are available.
Every page of the freight guide
From the first lane quote to the quarterly review, for carriers, forwarders, 3PLs and couriers.
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Lane & spot freight quotesA priced lane quote back the same hour: chargeable weight, linehaul, fuel and accessorials, accepted online.Explore
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AI-drafted quotes & reports with MCPAn AI assistant connected through QuoteCloud's MCP service drafts quotes and reports from your data for your team to review.Explore
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TMS, CRM & accounting integrationsYour transport management system, CRM and accounts, connected the way each one really connects.Explore
- Chargeable weight & rate calculatorsYour cubic conversion, zone rates and fuel surcharge in a Spreadsheet block whose cells price the quote lines.
- Contract rate schedulesA customer's lanes, zones, minimums and accessorials in one schedule, approved, signed and dated to expire.
- Freight tenders & RFQ responsesA shipper's lane list answered lane by lane, with your service, insurances and terms as locked library blocks.
- 3PL & warehousing proposalsPallets × weeks × rate, handling, pick and pack in a calculator, an onboarding plan and a set-up fee paid on signing.
- Quarterly service reportsShipments, on-time delivery and claims for each contract customer, with next quarter's options priced inside.
- Rate reviews & contract renewalsExpiring schedules found early, the new rates sent to every contract customer, and each one signed before expiry.
- Pricing approvals & marginsDiscounts and big contracts routed to the right manager, with cost and margin visible only to your team.
- Logistics templatesReal QuoteCloud templates for transport agreements, storage, service levels and quotes.
- QuoteCloud implementation for freight & 3PLYour rate tables rebuilt as a calculator, your templates converted, approvals set and the pricing desk trained.
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