How Instant Courier Quotes are Calculated
Using a Freight Management Platform can be confusing, because for the most part, people have no idea how it works, or how to even get started. This leads to confusion and ultimately staying well away from technology platforms, however, in this article we’ll discuss how online courier quotes are generated and why you should use a smart, technology-driven, online courier service.
What is a Courier Quote?
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, a courier quote is basically an estimate of shipping costs by a courier from A to B. The quote is generated by relying on the details you provide, such as the pickup and delivery locations, the type of objects being shipped, and of course the weight and dimensions of each box, carton, pallet etc. This courier quote can be considered as the best price and delivery time frame in which the courier can complete the job. When we refer to the word ‘job’, we mean the booking and requirements.
The shipper (the person generating the quote) has also the option of seeing additional courier quotes for the same job, which makes for total transparency of costs and any additional charges.
Why an Online Courier Quote Calculator?
Online courier quote calculators like One World Courier, make it fast and easier to create and look through many different quotes on one screen (using One World Courier), then simply choose the best option. Even today, many Australian businesses still struggle making phone calls or emailing different couriers to request shipping quotes, then waiting for a call-back to get the price. This often led to hours or days of waiting for responses, and tedious negotiation before settling on a reasonable courier rate. Thanks to modern logistics technologies, digitised (paperless) courier networks and tech-driven freight matching algorithms, instant courier quotes have become the norm. What you ultimately see on screen are courier rates that have been run through computer algorithms connected to Courier API which provide shipper’s with bookable rates instantaneously, and these rates are locked in.
How are Courier Costs Calculated?
Each Courier service provider in Australia and across the world, uses a distinct method for calculating courier costs, often considering a combination of factors such as date, weight, and lane to establish a rate. Digital courier networks like One World Courier harness machine learning (ML) to gather accurate courier quotes and generate more precise courier prices.
One World Courier’s and partner ML models assess millions of data points, including historical shipment records, real-time volume data, capacity indicators, seasonal fluctuations, shipment timing, macroeconomic factors, regional courier density, courier delivery quality (DIFOT), and more. By employing ML and advanced AI algorithms to determine accurate courier pricing for the end user. The One World Courier freight software, because of its Cloud architecture can promptly respond to courier pricing requests and generate accurate pricing and availability that truly reflects the shipper’s requirements.
How can Courier Quotes be Calculated?
One World Courier owns and operates a FREE-to-use Freight Management Platform which can simplify and streamline your business shipping tasks. The platform is FREE to use, with no usage or membership fees whatsoever.
Using our freight technology platform means courier quotes are a breeze. You’ll never have to spend endless hours researching and gathering different shipping prices from multiple couriers. We’ve done the work and created a unique online portal to bring everything under one platform, making it totally transparent and safe.
Beginning a Courier Quote
Using the One World Courier freight platform, courier quotes can be generated in only 6 steps. Simply tell the system which country the goods are to be picked from and delivered to, including post codes, and finally, add whether the pickup and delivery address types are commercial or residential. That final stage of generating a freight quote is super-important and will affect the final price you may pay for the shipment. It can be a complex process to understand when talking about whether the courier picks up, delivers to a commercial or residential location. Residential deliveries, especially for larger or heavier parcel, boxes and cartons (20+ KG), can attract courier fees such as manual handling, residential delivery surcharge and even a heavyweight residential fee can be charged by the courier if there is a recomputed package dimension during either the transit phase or due to a volumetric conversion.
Courier quotes are generally calculated as either a flat rate per parcel, box etc, but there are max limits to the dimensions and weight which can be carted. When package size increases and weights increase, then so does the final courier quote. Manually quoting a courier charge therefore can take some time, because special calculations have to be made based on the dimensions of the package (box, carton, roll etc).
With intelligent online courier quoting platforms such as our own, smart algorithms and decision tree methodology is in-built, and will auto-calculate and convert package dimensions and weights to the correct size for accurate volumetric weight conversion.
Find out more about volumetric / cubic weight, why it exists and how it is calculated into the final courier quote.
Browse from dozens of couriers on our platform who are essentially bidding for your work. The technology behind the platform takes the shipment information and transfers it to every courier company on our platform, and basically asks them if they can do the job. Each courier service replies with their best price (there could be more than one price for standard, expedited or next day delivery etc), and when the goods can be picked up and delivered. One World Courier provides everything you need to get fast courier quotes, make an instant booking, and manage your domestic and international courier freight operations in less time than traditional methods.
Three Questions Regarding Online Courier Quotes
Numerous carriers and brokers now offer quotes through online courier calculators. While online quotes may initially appear attractive, the final invoice may surpass the original online courier quote. Here are a few things to think about when assessing whether the displayed price aligns with what you’ll actually pay:
- Is this courier quote price guaranteed, and if it changes, how will I know?
- Will my shipment be delivered on schedule, or should I allow a day or two either side?
- If something goes wrong, who can I talk with? Is there any support, or am I a YOYO customer? (You’re On Your Own)
- Are the goods covered by any warranty if things go wrong?
One World Courier: Trustworthy Courier Quotes
With One World Courier, shipper’s of all types can generate instantly bookable courier quotes. One World Courier will match your courier requirements with our extensive network of high-quality couriers. You can track every shipment progress in real time inside the platform, or alternatively track the shipment using the courier tracking number which is passed into our own digital network. One World Courier’s freight platform generates real-time pricing using machine learning algorithms that account for current market conditions and current shipment volume per courier, ensuring the most favorable quote is only presented on screen.
Click to make a booking, finalise the exact pickup and delivery address details and with one click, courier shipping and address labels are formatted and ready to be printed, or sent to the shipper themselves. Everything is at your fingertips, from courier quote selection, instant booking and invoicing.
Compare your Current Courier Quotes with Other Providers
Once you’ve used One World Courier’s courier quote calculator to generate a series of quotes for your shipment, you can simply compare it with what you’re paying at the moment. We see this as one of the advantages of our FREE to use platform over other courier quoting services. When an account is created with us, there’s no fees other than the cost of transporting your goods from A to B. This means our platform is perfect to use as another tool to compare courier quotes with what you’re using at the moment. Sure, you can continue to keep all your eggs in one basket and keep using the same provider, but what happens if you start to send different sizes and weights?
Are your current prices still competitive? Could spending a couple of minutes with One World Courier mean saving 100’s of dollars on those awkward or aberrant bookings with your current provider? How do you know you’re getting the best price and customer service support 100% of the time?