How to price an FCL quote, step by step (with a worked example)
Nine steps from buy rate to margin, and a full 40HC Ningbo to Melbourne example.
Practical notes on quoting for owners and ops managers of small freight forwarders and customs brokers. No hype, no vendor comparisons, sources linked where a number is claimed.
Free tool: the freight calculator for chargeable weight, CBM and LCL W/M.
Nine steps from buy rate to margin, and a full 40HC Ningbo to Melbourne example.
What each detail changes, and a copy-paste reply for the ones customers leave out.
Response time, quotes per person, win rate, margin per quote and quote accuracy: how to measure each from a simple log and what to fix first.
The break-even volume, the costs the ocean rate hides, a worked example, and how to quote both options so the customer can choose.
BAF, LSS, CAF, PSS, GRI, THC, ISPS and Australian terminal charges, and how to show them so customers aren't surprised.
Typical validity for sea and air, the wording to use, and what to do when a quote expires.
Chargeable weight, airline rate and surcharges, origin and destination charges, customs, delivery, validity and exclusions, with a template to copy.
When to follow up, what to say, a follow-up template, asking why you lost, and tracking your quote win rate.
Base rate and fuel, chassis days, pre-pull and yard storage, waiting time, overweight and hazmat, port fees and per diem, with an example drayage section.
USD ocean freight to Vancouver, Montreal or Halifax, rail to Toronto, CBSA clearance under CARM, duty and 5% GST, and cartage, with two currency totals.
Ocean freight to LA/Long Beach or New York, the ISF (10+2), customs entry and bond, duty and tariffs, MPF and HMF, and drayage, with a worked example.
Sea freight to Felixstowe or Southampton, the CDS declaration, duty, 20% import VAT and postponed VAT accounting, and haulage, with a worked example.
Sea or air freight, terminal charges, the TradeNet permit and importer registration, 9% GST on CIF value, duty when it applies and local delivery.
UN number, class and packing group, the SDS, packing and training, the DG declaration, carrier acceptance and surcharges, plus a checklist to paste into your reply.
Buy and sell rates, markup versus margin with worked examples, per-line versus total margin, a dollar floor per shipment, and when to show an all-in price.
Sea freight to Auckland or Tauranga, the customs entry, the Customs and MPI goods levy, biosecurity checks, 15% GST and door delivery, with a worked example.
Spreadsheets and templates, rate-management tools and email-based AI drafting: what each is good at, where it breaks, and how to choose.
The five steps in every quote, why intake and assembly come before the rate lookup, how to measure it, and which decisions stay with a person.
Reading unstructured email, extracting packing lists and invoices, drafting quotes from your own rates, and what still needs a human.
The weight-or-measure rule, how minimums dominate small shipments, and two worked examples into Melbourne with sample rates.
The 6,000 divisor, where 167 kg per cbm comes from, checking the next rate break, and a full PVG to MEL quote.
EXW, FCA, FOB, CFR, CIF, DAP and DDP from the forwarder's side: where your import quote starts and what to exclude.
Seven tabs (FCL, LCL, air, local charges, door zones, customs, rules) and the columns that let anyone quote from it.
Brokerage, the ABF import processing charge, biosecurity charges and BICON, duty and import GST, with current published amounts.
How importers actually buy freight, why the first complete reply sets the benchmark, and a practical process for replying within the hour.
Where the minutes go in a small forwarder's quoting, a one-minute triage rule, what to template, what to automate, and when a draft beats a template.
The seven parts of an import quote, line by line, with a worked example: 1 x 40HC FOB Ningbo to Melbourne, door delivery to Dandenong South 3175.
A sourced summary of the Value Packs change of 1 December 2025, how to think about cost per shipment, and why email-based quoting automation is the low-risk first step.
A reusable reply structure, the six questions that cover most missing details, and tone tips that get quotes approved instead of queried.
Forward a real quote request to try@getlaneworks.com and a drafted reply comes back in about two minutes, priced from a sample tariff. Send your rate sheet and it uses your rates.
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