Knowing the difference between static rates and dynamic rates is important when using the WebCargo platform. The focus of this article will be to show you how to use the static rates tool in order to search for rates and save your quotations, in order to be able to start negotiations with your customers.

Let’s have a look at how you can search for rates on your WebCargo account.

Important: the quotation feature is currently only available for Professional, and Enterprise accounts.

1. Make a search

There are two ways you can make a static rate search. The first is on the homepage after logging in, where you can make a simple search using the origin and destination without entering any weights and dimensions and clicking on Rates.

Making a search this way takes you to the Air tab and will load all available rates. The second way is to start a static rate search is by clicking on the Air tab.

Here you’ll have more options to narrow down your search by adding information about your weights and dimensions.

For now, we will focus now on searching for rates by using the Add Pieces tab, but if you wish to find out what each part does, read this article.

Start by entering the number of pieces you are looking to ship, then the weights and dimensions. Your totals will be automatically calculated. If you are also looking for insurance, you can enter your Cargo Value. It’s also important to include whether you want the total to calculate all charges.

Once you’ve entered your cargo information, click on the Rates button. This will collect all available static rates from different airlines.

2. Select your rates

Once your results have loaded, you can then scroll through and select those that are most suitable for your shipment. Click on the corresponding line with the rate you want to save or click on the corresponding checkbox to select the rates.

Important: if you see the blue Book button, this means that this rate is available using the dynamic eBooking feature. Clicking on this will open up the eBooking tool, which you can read more about here.

Notice that some rates also have icons to the right of them. You can find out what each of these icons means by reading this article.

Once you have selected your rates, you’re now ready to save the rates. Scroll above the rates, but below the initial search boxes, and look for the floppy disk icon which if you hover above shows Save quotation.

Click on this symbol to be taken to the page to save your quotation. Clicking on this will redirect you to a page where you can enter more details about your quotation, such as the Customer Details, PDF Settings and any other Quotation Details to be included, such as the validity date, Incoterms, Services, and more.

3. Save your quotation

Under the first Customer details section, if you have previously added a customer you can enter the email address or name to select them from the drop-down list. It will automatically fill in all of the fields, or you can click on Add New Customer to add new customer details.

Within the second column, you have the PDF Settings. Here you can choose the language of the downloadable PDF, the template if you are quoting for a specific client, the subject of the quote, any surcharges, and you can select the boxes of the data you’d like to have on your quotes. This includes Airline details, Product Information, Validity of the rates and more. Underneath you have the options for the Excel quote too.

Tip: If you want to have a personalised template, this can be created by our team for an additional fee. Please reach out to us if you’d like to find out more.

In the final column, you can find the Quotation details section. Here you can enter rate validity dates, incoterms, the city it is valid from, type of service, pick up and delivery address, payment terms, commodity type, expected profit, and attach any supporting documents and add codes that can help your quote.

Finally, below the shipment details section you the area where you can add your own terms and conditions to the quote. If you have created a template for terms and conditions beforehand, select it from the Template dropdown.

You can format the template, add links to URLs and add images if necessary. When you have checked everything, click on the Save button. To find out how to add a template for terms and conditions, click here.

You will then be redirected to the Quotation tab, where you can see your newly created quote as well as all other quotes previously created.

To see how you can edit, request updates and manage your quotations read this article.