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Rate confirmation
A rate confirmation is the written record of the rate, the lane, and the terms a broker and a carrier agreed to for one load.
Last updated 11 October 2026.
People call it a rate con. It is the paper that follows the phone call, and it is the one you will wish you had when the carrier's invoice does not match what you remember.
It names the carrier, the stops, the dates, the equipment, the linehaul, and the extras you actually agreed: detention terms, a lumper, a truck ordered not used. If it is not on the rate con, it is an argument after the truck has already rolled. Get it signed, or accepted by email, before dispatch.
Your payable and the customer's invoice both have to match it. A rate typed from memory, or a rate that changed in a text and never made the document, is how a load gets paid wrong. The fields a person re-keys are the ones that drift: carrier, rate, stops, and any extra charge.
It is not the bill of lading, and it is not the proof of delivery. The bill of lading travels with the freight. The proof of delivery shows it arrived. The rate con is the money agreement between you and the carrier. Mix them up and billing chases the wrong paper.
FreightScout reads those fields off the rate con and waits for your approval before the note hits the load. It does not invent a rate. A number that does not match what you agreed waits. How FreightScout reads rate confirmations.
Questions people actually ask
What if a text and the rate confirmation disagree?
The rate confirmation is the agreement. A text that never made the document is how you pay the wrong number. Put the change on the rate con before the truck rolls.
Is a rate confirmation the same document as the bill of lading?
No. The rate confirmation is what you pay the carrier. The bill of lading is the shipping paper that rides with the freight. Keep the rate on the rate con.