{"id":30601,"date":"2026-11-02T11:42:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T06:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gocomet.com\/blog\/?p=30601"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T06:12:23","slug":"freight-rfp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gocomet.com\/blog\/freight-rfp\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Run a Freight RFP When Rates Change Every Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The freight rate you agreed for a lane last month has probably moved already. Across the ocean freight quotes we analysed from January to September 2026, the average rate for the same container on the same lane shifted by a median 17.5% from one month to the next. Nearly half the moves were bigger than 20%. Some happen inside a week: in June, Drewry\u2019s index had Shanghai to Rotterdam up 15% in a single week<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On volatile lanes, an annual price often stops matching the market long before the contract ends. So shippers re-price mid-term, and the RFP has to keep up. In our conversations with shippers about freight tenders<\/a>, 39% still run them on email and Excel, and one said a quarterly re-bid \u201ctakes five to 10 days\u201d just to gather, compare and renegotiate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide shows how to run a freight RFP you can re-run whenever the market moves: what to prepare, how to collect and compare bids, how to award, and which steps to hand to software so the team only makes the decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a freight RFP?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A freight RFP (request for proposal) is a structured request to carriers or freight forwarders to bid on your lanes. It sets out your lanes, volumes and service needs, collects comparable bids, and ends in contract rates with service and capacity terms for a set period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A carrier RFP goes straight to shipping lines, airlines or trucking companies and suits stable, high-volume lanes. A freight forwarding RFP goes to forwarders and suits door-to-door moves, several origins and volume that varies. Many shippers run both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has changed is how often the RFP runs. It used to be a once-a-year event, built from scratch each autumn. When quotes move by double digits in a month, it has to be something you can run again next quarter without rebuilding it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the difference between a freight RFP and an RFQ?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An RFQ (request for quotation) asks for a price, usually for one shipment or a short period. An RFP asks for price plus service, capacity and contract terms, and it ends in a contract. Use an RFQ for spot and irregular lanes, and an RFP for stable lanes where service matters as much as the rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two sit in a wider set of bidding events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Event<\/strong><\/td>What you ask for<\/strong><\/td>Use it for<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
RFI (request for information)<\/td>What bidders can do, where they operate, their licences<\/td>New lanes or regions where you don\u2019t know who can serve<\/td><\/tr>
RFQ<\/td>A price for one shipment or a short period<\/td>Spot moves, irregular lanes, small volumes<\/td><\/tr>
RFP<\/td>Rates plus service, capacity and terms for a contract<\/td>Stable, high-volume lanes<\/td><\/tr>
Reverse auction<\/a><\/td>Lower bids in timed rounds; bidders see only their rank<\/td>Clearly defined lanes where price is the main lever<\/td><\/tr>
Mini-bid<\/td>A re-bid on a few lanes during a contract<\/td>Lanes where the market or a carrier\u2019s service has moved<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What trends are shaping freight RFPs in 2026?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As of October 2026, four shifts are changing how shippers run freight RFPs: spot rates that move week to week, contracts amended mid-term, re-pricing written into some contracts, and more freight moving between contract and spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The swings haven\u2019t settled. Shanghai to Rotterdam stood at $3,632 per 40ft on 22 October<\/a>, about 16% below its June level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are shippers doing about it?<\/strong> In US ocean shipping, they are amending contracts more and signing fewer new ones. The Federal Maritime Commission logged 996,803 amendments to service contracts in fiscal 2025<\/a>, up 148,000 on the year, while original contracts fell by about 2,000. The FMC\u2019s reading is that shippers \u201crelied more heavily on amending existing contracts and redirected some volume to the spot market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some shippers are writing re-pricing into the contract itself, and advisers recommend it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n