What Is a Rate Confirmation? Fields, Template, and Records
Updated 2026-08-10
A rate confirmation — “rate con” on the phone — is the load-specific written agreement a broker sends a carrier before pickup, stating the agreed rate, the stops, the equipment, and the terms that apply to that one load.
It is not the same document as the broker–carrier agreement. The broker–carrier agreement is signed once and governs the whole relationship: insurance, indemnity, payment terms, re-brokering prohibitions. The rate con governs one load. Most master agreements contain a clause saying which document controls when the two conflict. That clause decides disputes, so read it before you argue about one.
What goes on a rate confirmation
Blank fields are where money leaks. This is the field list, and what each one costs you when it’s missing.
| Field | Why it’s on the document | What a blank field costs |
|---|---|---|
| Broker name, MC number, address | Identifies who owes the money and lets the carrier verify authority | Carrier can’t check your authority or bond; slows tender, invites fraud checks |
| Load / pro number | The key everything else is filed under | Invoice can’t be matched; payment sits in exceptions |
| Carrier name, MC/DOT number | Ties the tender to the authority you vetted | You can’t prove which carrier you tendered to in a double-brokering claim |
| Equipment type and length | Reefer, dry van, flatbed, 53’ vs 48’ | Wrong trailer shows up; you eat a TONU or a re-cover at spot |
| Commodity, weight, piece/pallet count | Drives legality, class, and load planning | Overweight at the scale, or a reefer load quoted as dry van |
| Temperature setting and continuous/cycle | Reefer loads only — this is a claims field | The cargo claim lands on the party who can’t prove the setting |
| Pickup: address, date, appointment window, number | The clock everything else runs against | Detention and late-fee disputes become one word against another |
| Delivery: address, date, appointment window, number | Same, at the other end | Same |
| Total linehaul rate, and the currency | The number everybody actually reads | Nothing to enforce |
| Fuel surcharge — included or separate | Whether the rate moves with diesel | Argument every week the fuel surcharge resets |
| Accessorials with triggers and caps | Detention, layover, TONU, lumper, extra stops | Carrier bills what it thinks is fair; you pay or lose the carrier |
| Detention terms: free time, hourly rate, cap, proof required | The most-disputed accessorial in freight | Unwinnable disputes on both sides |
| Lumper handling: who pays, how it’s reimbursed | Cash the driver fronts at the dock | Driver pays out of pocket and the reimbursement fight starts |
| TONU terms | What’s owed if the load cancels after dispatch | You negotiate it while the truck is already sitting |
| Required documents for payment (signed BOL, POD, lumper receipt) | Defines a complete invoice | Invoices arrive incomplete; DSO climbs |
| Payment terms and quick-pay option | When the carrier gets paid | Carrier calls your AP department instead of hauling |
| Re-brokering / co-brokering clause | The line between lawful co-brokering and double brokering | You lose the argument about consent |
| Contact for issues in transit, with after-hours number | Where problems go at 2 a.m. | The problem waits until morning and becomes a claim |
| Signature blocks and date | Assent | The carrier says it never agreed |
Copy-paste rate confirmation template
Fill the brackets. Anything you delete, delete on purpose.
RATE CONFIRMATION
Broker: [Legal name] · MC [######] · [Address]
Contact: [Name] · [Phone] · [Email] · After-hours: [Phone]
Carrier: [Legal name] · MC [######] · DOT [#######]
Load #: [######] Date issued: [YYYY-MM-DD]
EQUIPMENT
Type: [Dry van / Reefer / Flatbed] Length: [53' / 48']
Special: [Straps, tarps, food-grade wash, TWIC, team]
FREIGHT
Commodity: [Description] Weight: [##,### lbs] Pieces: [##] [pallets/units]
Reefer setting: [## F] [continuous / cycle] Pre-cool: [## F]
STOP 1 — PICKUP
[Facility name, address]
Date: [YYYY-MM-DD] Appointment: [HH:MM–HH:MM] [or FCFS HH:MM–HH:MM]
Pickup #: [######] Contact: [Name, phone]
STOP 2 — DELIVERY
[Facility name, address]
Date: [YYYY-MM-DD] Appointment: [HH:MM–HH:MM]
Delivery #: [######] Contact: [Name, phone]
RATE
Linehaul: $[#,###.00]
Fuel surcharge: $[###.00] [or "included in linehaul"]
[Extra stop / tarp / detention advance]: $[###.00]
TOTAL: $[#,###.00] USD
ACCESSORIAL TERMS
Detention: free time [#] hours per stop, then $[##]/hour, capped at $[###]/day.
Payable only with in/out times documented on the signed BOL or by [tracking source].
Must be reported to broker before free time expires.
Layover: $[###] per 24 hours after [#] hours, pre-approved in writing.
TONU: $[###] if cancelled after dispatch and before loading. Deadhead beyond
[##] miles reimbursed at $[#.##]/mile with proof of dispatch.
Lumper: [Broker pays direct via [service] / Carrier pays and is reimbursed at cost
with legible receipt submitted with the invoice].
Extra stop: $[##] per additional stop.
PAYMENT
Terms: [##] days from receipt of a complete invoice packet.
Complete packet = signed BOL/POD + this rate confirmation + [lumper receipt,
scale ticket, lumper/accessorial approvals].
Quick pay: [#]% fee, [#] business days. [Or: not offered.]
Send invoices to: [email/portal].
CONDITIONS
1. No re-brokering, co-brokering, interlining, or subcontracting of this load
without the broker's prior written consent. The carrier signing below must
transport the freight on its own authority and equipment.
2. Carrier must maintain [$###,###] cargo and [$#,000,000] auto liability, with
the broker named as certificate holder.
3. Accessorials not listed here require written approval before they are incurred.
4. Detention, TONU, and layover claims must be submitted within [##] days of delivery.
5. The signed broker–carrier agreement dated [YYYY-MM-DD] governs; where it
conflicts with this confirmation, [that agreement / this confirmation] controls.
Carrier signature: ______________________ Date: __________
Print name / title: ______________________The records rule brokers forget
Under 49 CFR 371.3, a broker must keep a record of each transaction showing, among other items, “the name and address of the consignor,” “the name, address, and registration number of the originating motor carrier,” “the bill of lading or freight bill number,” and “the amount of compensation received by the broker for the brokerage service performed and the name of the payer.” The regulation sets the retention period plainly: “Brokers shall keep the records required by this section for a period of three years.”
Two consequences operators underrate:
- Each party can ask to see it. The rule states that “each party to a brokered transaction has the right to review the record of the transaction required to be kept by these rules.” A carrier chasing a margin dispute can invoke this.
- Your rate cons are part of how you satisfy it. If your rate confirmations live only in a rep’s sent folder, your three-year record is one laptop away from gone.
Where rate confirmations go wrong
Sent after the truck is loaded. The document is supposed to be the agreement, not the receipt. Once the freight is on the trailer, your negotiating position on accessorials is gone.
Accessorials with no trigger. “Detention as per broker policy” is not a term. A number, a free-time threshold, a cap, and the proof required — that is a term.
Rate typed twice. Linehaul in the rate block, a different total at the bottom. Carriers invoice the higher one; you argue for 30 days over $75.
No named signer. A signature nobody can identify is a weak record if the load is later disputed.
Silent on re-brokering. 49 CFR 371.2 defines a broker as a “person who, for compensation, arranges, or offers to arrange, the transportation of property by an authorized motor carrier.” A carrier that hands your load to someone else is arranging transportation. If your paperwork never said it couldn’t, you are arguing about consent instead of pointing at a clause.
FAQ
Is a rate confirmation legally binding? It is normally treated as the written agreement for that load, and both sides act on it. What it is not is the whole contract: the master broker–carrier agreement usually carries the insurance, indemnity, and re-brokering terms, and usually states which document wins in a conflict. If you want a specific term enforced on a specific load, it belongs on the rate con in writing, not in a phone call.
What’s the difference between a rate confirmation and a bill of lading? The rate con is the agreement between broker and carrier about money and terms. The bill of lading is the shipment document created at pickup between shipper and carrier — it evidences the goods, the receipt, and, when signed at delivery, the proof of delivery. A carrier gets paid by pairing them: the rate con says what was promised, the signed BOL says what happened.
How long does a broker have to keep rate confirmations? Three years for the transaction records described in 49 CFR 371.3. The rate confirmation itself is the cleanest place most of those fields live, so brokers typically keep the rate con for the same period as the record.
Can a carrier change the rate after signing? Only by agreement. In practice the change arrives as an accessorial claim after delivery — detention, lumper, extra stop. That is why the accessorial block on the rate con matters more than the linehaul number: it decides in advance which post-delivery claims you owe and what proof you require.
Do I need a signed rate confirmation before dispatch? You want one. An unsigned confirmation still evidences what you offered, but a signed one removes the “we never agreed to that” conversation on the exact terms — detention caps, TONU, re-brokering — where money is actually lost.
Related
- Detention fees: rates, rules, and how to bill them
- TONU (truck ordered not used)
- Co-brokering vs double brokering
- Linehaul vs fuel surcharge vs accessorials