Where Are Rate Cards Used? Practical Logistics Locations & Systems

Rate cards show up in many places across the supply chain. If you’re new to logistics, it helps to map the common physical and digital locations where rate cards are consulted or applied. This entry explains key environments, typical workflows, and real examples so you can quickly recognize where a rate card matters.

Physical locations where rate cards matter

• Warehouses and distribution centers: On the operations floor, warehouse managers and supervisors reference rate cards to decide how to price inbound receiving, storage, picking, packing and outbound shipping. Client onboarding packages usually include the rate card so customers know standard fees.
• Carrier terminals and depots: Local carrier offices use rate cards to calculate spot quotes, determine detention and layover fees, and train customer service teams on chargeable events.
• Customer sites (shippers): Procurement teams keep copies of rate cards from carriers and 3PLs to compare costs during RFPs and budget planning. Logistics planners use them for routing and tender decisions.

Digital systems and platforms

• Transportation Management Systems (TMS): The TMS is one of the most common places rate cards are loaded. A TMS uses the rate card to calculate carrier costs, select the best carrier for a lane, and produce output for invoices and payouts.
• Warehouse Management Systems (WMS): WMS platforms apply warehouse rate cards to generate customer invoices based on receiving, storage time, picks, and value-added services.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems: ERPs pull rate information for financial accounting, revenue recognition, and customer billing.
• Freight broker and marketplace platforms: Online freight marketplaces and broker systems ingest multiple carrier rate cards to provide instant price comparisons and booking for shippers.
• APIs and integrations: Modern logistics providers publish rate card APIs so e-commerce platforms, ERP systems, and shipping calculators can pull live rates for checkout or automated tendering.

Documents and communication channels

• Contracts and SLAs: Rate cards are embedded in service level agreements or appended as exhibits to contracts, specifying pricing for the contract term.
• Sales proposals and quotes: Sales teams attach or reference rate cards in proposals so prospects understand base prices and optional charges.
• Customer portals: Many 3PLs and carriers provide web portals where clients can view their contract rate cards, billing statements, and historical charges.
• Internal knowledge bases: Rate cards and pricing rules are stored in internal wikis or playbooks for sales, onboarding, and customer service reference.

Examples of where rate cards drive decisions

• Route selection: A TMS compares two carriers’ rate cards for the same lane and chooses the lower landed cost considering base rates and accessorials.
• Fulfillment cost modeling: An e-commerce brand calculates total fulfillment cost by combining warehouse rate card lines (storage + picks + packing) with last-mile carrier rates from a rate card or API.
• Spot vs contract decision: A procurement team evaluates whether to accept a carrier’s spot rate or negotiate a contract rate card for predictable volume.

Where rate cards shouldn’t be used without care

• A single published rate card used for all customers can overlook negotiated discounts or special terms, so systems must support contract-specific overrides.
• Manual PDFs in shared drives are easy to misapply — ideally rate cards should be available in machine-readable format and integrated with systems that enforce the correct version and effective date.

In practice, rate cards live both in the physical environment where goods are handled and inside the digital systems that automate logistics decisions. Recognizing these places helps you know who to ask, where to find your applicable rates, and how to ensure pricing is applied correctly across operations and billing.