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Freight Contract Management

Freight contract management that answers from the clause in force on the day the cargo is received, every amendment stacked beneath it and the commitment beside it.

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The problem

An amendment titled free time restored restores it for reefers only

A carrier service contract is signed once and amended all year. Free time, detention terms, surcharge caps and rates sit in whichever amendment last touched them, and nobody at quote time opens them in order. Sales quotes the term it remembers, and a busy analyst reads an amendment's title instead of its clause.

When a later amendment cuts a term, quotes already with shippers keep the old one, and the forwarder pays the carrier the difference once boxes sit past free time. Minimum quantities live in a spreadsheet updated monthly, if at all, so a shortfall arrives as a deficit invoice after the term, when no volume can move.

Built forHeads of procurementPricing analystsSales representativesOperations managers

The Problem Today

Carriers amend service contracts all year, so quotes carry free time and caps the carrier will no longer bill.

996,803
service contract amendments the FMC recorded in fiscal 2025 published
30 days
for a carrier to file an amendment after it takes effect published

Opened one by one before a quote

  • Base terms
  • Amendments
  • Rate sheets
  • Letters
  • A title quoted, its clause unreadA heading can promise more free time than its text grants
  • Commitments checked after the termA deficit invoice is the first sign of a short contract

The Solution

  1. Sales asks in plain wordsIt names carrier, lane, box and cargo date; agents find the contract
  2. One clause, every versionToday's text on top, older amendments beneath with struck words
  3. Read as the carrier billsA challenger finds the open quote the answer breaks
  4. Moves signed by two peopleCommitments are paced, and a second person approves a move

Built-in controls

  • Quotes are held at once and released by a second person
  • A carrier's free-text remark is read, never filed as a term
  • Rules from past rulings change answers only once approved

What You Get

Sales quotes the term the carrier will invoice, and procurement sees a short commitment while volume can still move.

  • Each value names its amendmentSection and amendment cited beside each term in an answer
  • Open terms settled with the carrierYes, no and date fields instead of a long email thread
  • Past rulings answer the repeat questionA ruling reappears when the same doubt comes up again
Features

Freight contract management features, from a sales question to MQC pace

Procurement, pricing, sales and the managing director use them to quote what the carrier will bill and keep each contract on pace. Its screens follow one free-time question on a forty-foot high cube.

demoSample data throughout: forwarder, carriers, shipper, staff, contracts and amounts are invented.

  1. 01Questions in

    Ocean carrier contract questions from sales and operations in one queue

    • Questions from email, chat and the quote screen. What reps and planners ask about free time, caps and increases lands in one list with who asked and when, not in an inbox.
    • A business-hour clock on each. Questions past the clock are flagged, so pricing can answer before the shipper books.
  2. 02Agents at work

    Contract agents steered mid-run, each step cited to its section and letter

    • Section, letter and confidence per step. Pricing can check each citation and confidence score before a value reaches the answer.
    • No answer before the contract is read. A half-finished run shows nothing to quote from.
    • A plain instruction adds or skips a step. Asking for another port adds it under the person's name; an instruction saying not to leaves the plan as it is.
  3. 03In force today

    Free time clause as it stands on the date the cargo is received

    • Base contract and amendments built into one clause. Sales gets the free time the carrier will bill for that box, lane and receipt date, with its amendment cited.
    • Older versions stacked beneath, struck words shown. Pricing sees what changed and when without opening each amendment in turn.
    • Minimum quantity pace on the same screen. A free-time concession is weighed against the volume still owed on that contract.
  4. 04Amendment page

    Amendment title checked against its clause before an answer relies on it

    • Text governs over the heading. A title promising more than its clause is flagged, so the answer sales quotes from rests on the clause text.
    • Conflicts routed to the carrier in writing. Wording the contract leaves open becomes a written question, not an assumption inside a quote.
  5. 05Contract desk

    Every answer read first the way the carrier's contract desk would invoice it

    • Later amendments, equipment, cargo and day counts tested. Each way the carrier could bill differently surfaces while the answer can change, before a detention invoice.
    • Agents' own draft corrected in place. When a point catches the draft, such as a margin worked at the wrong month's rate, struck and added words show the revision.
    • A source or a named person per point. What documents settle is closed with a citation; the rest goes to procurement or to the carrier by name.
  6. 06Open quotes

    Open quotes rechecked against the free time in force and held before booking

    • Quotes with shippers compared with each change. Open quotes still promising a term an amendment cut are found before a shipper books on them.
    • Exposure priced from the per diem clause. Procurement sees what the old term would cost if the shipper books as quoted.
    • Held at once, released after a second check. A hold is immediate; a corrected version reaches sales only after the pricing analyst checks work someone else prepared.
  7. 07Ask the line

    Unclear contract wording put to the carrier as yes, no and date questions

    • Fixed questions drafted from the conflict. A carrier answers exactly what the contract left open, in fields that read straight into the record.
    • Released only by a person. Nothing reaches the carrier's sales contact until procurement or the analyst presses send.
    • Remarks outside the fields kept for a person. A carrier's note reaches the head of procurement in its exact words and never turns into a term.
  8. 08MQC what-if

    MQC shortfall projected at today's pace, priced before any volume moves

    • Each contract paced against its minimum quantity. A short contract shows while months remain to move volume, instead of on a deficit invoice.
    • Do nothing, move volume or ask the carrier. Extra freight, deficit avoided and the other carrier's own commitment sit side by side, so one fix does not break another contract.
    • Pace, volume and rate gap editable. Each projection carries an assumed label until the analyst confirms it, and a slower recent pace can be tried beside the term to date.
  9. 09Second signature

    Moving volume between carriers needs the managing director's signature

    • What-if opened before approval. A second signature records that the director read the numbers; whoever proposed the move cannot approve it.
    • Agree and send-back in one dialog. A send-back returns the move with its reason; approval sets the allocation from its start date.

Four desks that quote, price, plan and own each carrier contract

Procurement owns the contracts, pricing reads them, sales quotes from them and operations plans pickups against them.

Heads of procurement

Hold the carrier contracts, rule on hard questions and spread volume across carriers

  • Shortfalls seen with months left in the term
  • Quotes on an old term held at once
  • Line answers in fields, remarks read in full
Pricing analysts

Read each amendment the day it lands and answer most contract questions

  • Amendments read and linked to their sections
  • Older versions stacked under every answer
  • Corrections checked, never their own
Sales representatives

Give shippers free time and surcharges before they book

  • A yes or no with the clause behind it
  • No power to change a contract
  • A corrected quote only after a second check
Operations managers

Plan pickups at each port against the last free day

  • Free time in force today by carrier and box
  • Last free days with holidays marked
  • A named person when no contract covers a lane
More screens

Renewal dates, FMC filings, port terms and the carrier's side of the portal

Around each answer sits a contract book: where a term came from, when it was filed, and what it means at the port this week.

Seven contracts and two shipper arrangementsTerm, amendment count, pace against the minimum quantity and renewal notice date per contract; one runs 90 short at pace, one expires in 18 days.
One contract, amendment by amendmentEvery amendment with its signed and effective dates, the sections it changed and its FMC filing date, marked within 30 days.
An amendment waiting for the analystArrived by email the afternoon before, its changes read and linked; confirming stays locked until the analyst opens the signed letter.
Free time in force at SavannahCombined or split free time per contract and box, each cell tied to its clause, and containers due with last free days pulled forward for Thanksgiving.
What the line's contact seesA line's sales contact ticks a box, picks a date and a day count, and may attach a file; anything typed in the note box is read by procurement.
Rules taken from past rulingsThree rules in force, a fourth on day counting drawn from a past ruling and awaiting approval, and one rejected: an email is a reason to ask for an amendment.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Signed amendments, open quotes and shipments counted by bill of lading date

Records behind each answer and each pace figure.

Service contracts and signed amendmentsSaved in document management or sent by a carrier's pricing desk, read the day each one arrives.
Open quotes and shipmentsFrom the forwarding system: quotes checked against the terms in force, shipments counted toward each commitment.
NVOCC service arrangementsArrangements with shippers, read for any free-time or volume promise of their own.
FMC filing datesEach amendment's filing, checked against the window after its effective date.
Line answers in fixed fieldsThrough the carrier portal, with any attached file such as the carrier's tariff rule.

Quotes, volume and rules stay with procurement and the managing director

No quote changed or sent by an agentQuote watch drafts the correction; procurement prepares it, the pricing analyst checks it and sales sends it.
No volume moved between carriersEach option is played forward by the volume planner; procurement proposes and the managing director approves.
No term taken from a carrier's remarkOnly a signed amendment or a fixed field changes the record; remarks go to procurement.
No verdict on a commercial callAsked whether to quote more free time or resist a deficit charge, the assistant gives no legal view and points to whoever makes that call.

None of the eight agents quotes, sends a question or moves a box

Each hands off to another agent or, where a call is needed, to a person by role.

Amendment reader

Reads each new amendment, links it to the sections it changes, and checks its effective date and FMC filing window.

  • Confirms none of its own readings
  • Treats no email as an amendment
Question reader

Names the carrier, contract, lane, port, equipment and date of cargo receipt in a question.

  • Never guesses a contract; names who decides when none covers the lane
Clause tracer

Finds the clause in the base contract and every amendment that touches it, and builds the text in force on the receipt date.

  • Never reads a title as the text
  • Never resolves a conflict silently
Answer writer

Writes the answer with every value cited to its clause and amendment, and revises it in place when the challenger catches an error.

  • States no term without its source
  • Answers no should-we with a verdict
The carrier's contract desk

Reads the answer, the agents' own draft included, as the carrier would bill it: later amendments, equipment and commodity exceptions, day counts and the open quotes it breaks.

  • Lets no point pass without a source
  • Never calls the carrier wrong
Carrier query

Drafts structured questions to the carrier's sales contact and reads the fixed fields back.

  • Releases no question by itself
  • Files no remark as a fact
Quote watch

Checks open quotes against the term in force, reads the shipper's service arrangement, and drafts corrections.

  • Never changes or sends a quote
Volume planner

Paces every minimum quantity, projects the term end and plays options forward.

  • Moves no volume
  • Labels every projection as assumed

What forwarders ask about freight contract management

What is freight contract management?

Freight contract management is keeping a forwarder's carrier service contracts, their amendments and their commitments in one place and answering from them. Here agents read each amendment, answer a plain question with the clause in force on the date of cargo receipt, and pace each minimum quantity, while people decide quotes and volume.

How is an amendment handled before the carrier files it with the FMC?

A carrier may file an amendment after it takes effect, so the FMC's records can lag the term in force. Each signed amendment is read the day it arrives, and its filing date is tracked against the window.

How is an MQC shortfall projected, and what does it cost?

Shipments are counted toward each contract's minimum quantity and carried forward at the pace so far, labeled as an assumption. Its cost is the liquidated damages per FEU short that the contract sets, priced beside the cost of moving volume from another carrier.

Does it read our NVOCC service arrangements with shippers too?

Yes. When an open quote is corrected, the shipper's service arrangement is read for a free-time term of its own, so a correction is not undone by a filed promise to that shipper.

What if the carrier's answer contradicts our own reading?

A fixed field that disagrees lowers the answer's confidence, shows that the carrier says otherwise, and names the head of procurement to decide. A rule built on the opposite reading cannot be approved while the carrier's field contradicts it.

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Ask one of your contracts
a question sales asked last week.

Bring a carrier service contract with its amendments, and we will answer one of your own free-time questions against it, clause by clause.

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