What is a rate confirmation, and what has to be on it.

Every load you broker runs on one page. Not the broker-carrier agreement, which the carrier signed once and has never looked at since. Not the BOL, which a shipping clerk printed and a driver signed without reading. The rate confirmation. It says what the truck gets paid and what it agreed to do for the money, and when something goes wrong, it is the first thing both sides pull up.

This guide covers what a rate confirmation is, how it fits with the other documents, what has to be on it, the clauses that actually decide disputes, and the mistakes I see brokers make on it every week.

1. What a rate confirmation is

A rate confirmation (rate con, load confirmation, or carrier confirmation, depending on the office) is the document a broker sends to a carrier to confirm the terms of one specific load. Rate, pickup, delivery, commodity, equipment, accessorials, payment terms, and the rules. The carrier signs it and sends it back. From that point it is the load-level contract between broker and carrier.

It sits on top of the broker-carrier agreement, the master contract the carrier signed during onboarding. The agreement sets the general rules (insurance requirements, payment terms, no re-brokering, claims procedure); the rate con applies them to a load and adds the specifics. In a dispute, the two are read together, and the rate con usually wins on anything it explicitly addresses.

2. Rate con vs. BOL vs. load tender vs. carrier agreement

Four documents get mixed up constantly, including by people who have been doing this for years.

The important distinction for a broker: the rate con is your contract with the truck; the BOL is the shipper's contract with the truck. The carrier's rate comes from the rate con. Claims for damaged freight run on the BOL. If the BOL and the rate con disagree about the commodity, the weight, or the stops, you have a problem that should have been caught before dispatch.

3. The 16 things it must include

If any of these are missing, the rate con is incomplete, and incomplete means arguable.

1. Your load number and the shipper's PO or reference number.
2. Broker identity: legal name, MC number, address, the rep's name and direct line.
3. Carrier identity: legal name, MC and USDOT numbers, address. Must match the FMCSA record and the insurance certificate exactly.
4. Pickup: facility name, full address, date, appointment window or FCFS, hours, and a contact number.
5. Delivery: same, for every stop.
6. Commodity as the shipper describes it, including hazmat class if applicable.
7. Weight and piece count (pallets, bundles, pieces).
8. Equipment: type, length, and specifics (reefer set point and continuous vs. cycle, tarps and size, chains and straps, liftgate, pallet jack, team).
9. Linehaul rate, stated clearly as all-in or plus fuel.
10. Fuel surcharge if separate: the amount or the formula.
11. Accessorials, each with its amount: detention (free time and hourly rate), TONU, layover, stop-off, lumper (and who pays and how), tarping, driver assist.
12. Total agreed amount.
13. Payment terms: net days, quick-pay option and fee, required documents to get paid (signed BOL, lumper receipts, rate con), and where to send them.
14. Special instructions: temperature checks, seal requirements, no-stop-off rules, tracking or check-call requirements, driver requirements at the dock.
15. The terms and conditions (the clauses in the next section).
16. Signature block, with the carrier's printed name, title, date, and the driver's name, cell, truck number, and trailer number.

That last line is the one most rate cons skip, and it is the one that keeps a double broker off the load. If the driver and truck are on the rate con, the dock can match them at check-in.

4. The clauses that decide disputes

The fine print at the bottom is where the money is. These are the clauses that have settled real arguments, in plain language. Your brokerage's legal counsel writes the actual wording; your job is to make sure it's there and to know what it does.

• No re-brokering or subcontracting. The carrier named on the rate con hauls the load on its own equipment, and handing it to anyone else forfeits payment and makes the carrier liable for the consequences. This is the clause that gives you a claim when a load gets double brokered.
• No back-solicitation. The carrier will not contact your shipper to haul for them directly for some period (one to two years is common), with a stated penalty (often a commission on any freight moved).
• Detention terms. Free time (two hours is standard), hourly rate after that, and the documentation required (in/out times on the BOL or a dock stamp). Detention without documentation is detention you won't collect from the shipper, which means you'll pay it yourself or fight the carrier.
• Late and service penalties. What happens if the truck misses the appointment: a deduction, a rescheduling fee passed through, or refusal. Make it specific.
• Tracking and communication. The carrier agrees to check calls, ELD or app tracking, and immediate notification of delays. Failure to track is a breach, not a courtesy issue.
• Claims procedure. How damage or shortage is reported, the time limits, and the carrier's liability (full value unless agreed otherwise; watch for carriers trying to insert released-value limits).
• Payment documentation. No signed BOL, no payment. Lumper receipts required for reimbursement.
• Agreement precedence. A line saying the rate con is subject to the broker-carrier agreement and that, where they conflict on a load-specific term, the rate con governs.

5. Mistakes that cost brokers money

In rough order of how often I see them:

• Dispatching before the signed rate con is back. The carrier is rolling with no contract. Every dispute from here is your word against theirs.
• "All-in" that isn't. The carrier reads all-in as including fuel; you meant linehaul. Write it out: "$2,450 all-inclusive, fuel included" or "$2,100 linehaul plus $350 FSC."
• Accessorials missing. Detention gets charged, it's not on the rate con, the shipper won't pay it, and now you're choosing between eating $300 and losing a carrier.
• Carrier name doesn't match the certificate. "ABC Transport LLC" on the rate con, "ABC Transportation Inc." on the insurance. If there's a claim, the insurer will notice.
• Wrong or missing appointment details. The driver shows up at an FCFS facility that actually required an appointment, sits for six hours, and bills you for it. The rate con said nothing, so you owe it.
• No driver and truck on the signature block. Covered above. It's the cheapest fraud control you have.
• Reusing an old rate con. A template with last month's stop-off address or last season's temp setting. Read it before you send it, every time.
• Not keeping it. Store the signed rate con with the BOL, the POD, and the carrier's insurance certificate for every load. Claims come back months later.

The short version

The rate confirmation is your contract with the truck for one load. It needs the who, where, when, what, and how much, every accessorial with a number, the driver and truck on the signature line, and the clauses on re-brokering, back-solicitation, detention, tracking, and claims. Don't dispatch without it signed, and read it before you send it.

Related: how to spot a double broker before they're on the rate con at all, and the free weekly Load Letter for the rate, capacity, and fraud news that changes what you should be putting in the accessorials column.