Building software for charter purchasing and freight pricing
Appfront builds software for the back office of charter procurement: tariff agreements per charter and route recorded, including fuel surcharge and indexation, charter purchase invoices checked against the trips and the agreement, deviations for review, margin per customer and route, and an assessment of charters on price and performance. Dispatching trips and comparing prices are covered on our app page; this page is about agreements and settlement.
What is charter procurement and freight rate software?
Many transport companies and freight forwarders subcontract trips to charters: other carriers who drive for an agreed price. With regular charters, there are tariff agreements per route, per pallet, loading metre or kilometre, often with a fuel surcharge that moves with the market. After the trip, the charter sends an invoice, or the charter receives a credit note. Charter procurement software records the agreements and checks the settlement.
In many companies, tariff agreements live in emails and spreadsheets. Whoever checks a charter's invoice looks up the trip in the TMS and the agreement in a folder. Waiting time or an extra stop gets paid without being passed on to the customer. A charter applies an outdated fuel surcharge, and nobody notices. And which charters are cheap but often late is known only to the planner.
We build custom software because it has to fit the way you work: which TMS you use, how you agree terms with charterers, which units you calculate in, how you work out fuel surcharges, whether you work with invoices or credit notes, and how your accounting is set up. Dispatching trips can stay in your TMS or move to a dedicated app.
Agreements recorded
Tariff agreements per charter, route and unit, with fuel surcharge and indexation per period.
Invoices checked
Charter purchase invoices compared with the trip and the agreement, with deviations for review.
Margin and performance
Margin per trip, customer and route, and an assessment of charters on price, punctuality and damage.
How we build your charter procurement and freight rate software
We start with your charters: how many, which agreements, how invoices come in, and where margin leaks away.
Your charters, tariff agreements, surcharges, TMS, invoices or credit notes, and accounts.
Agreements per charter, route and unit, with fuel surcharge and indexation.
Trips from the TMS linked to the appointment, and purchase invoices checked against them.
Margin per customer and route, assessment of charters, and ongoing management.
What charter procurement and freight rate software actually does
The components below come up at almost every company with charters. Which ones you need depends on your agreements.
Tariff agreements
Rates per charter, route and unit, with validity periods.
Fuel surcharge
Surcharge and indexation per period in line with the agreement.
Invoice check
Charter invoices compared with the trip and the rate.
Deviations
Waiting time and extra stops reviewed and recharged.
Margin
Margin per trip, customer and route.
Assessment
Charters assessed on price, punctuality and damage.
Who we build charter procurement and freight rate software for
The software is designed for companies that subcontract many trips to charters.
Transport companies
An own fleet with charters added. Invoice checking is the core.
Freight forwarders without a fleet
All trips with charters. Margin per route matters most.
Logistics service providers
Regular charters under contract. Tariff agreements are what is needed.
International groupage
Charters across several countries. The fuel surcharge is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page covers the agreements with charter operators and how the office settles with them. For planning journeys and comparing rates, see our page on an app for charter purchasing. For transport management, see our page on a custom TMS. For purchase invoices in general, see our page on accounts payable management. You can find out how we work at custom software development.
If you want to calculate waiting time and demurrage from your trips according to the contract, take a look at our software for inland shipping trip reports.
Why choose Appfront for your charter procurement and freight rate software?
An invoice that isn't checked also pays for what wasn't agreed. That's what we build on: agreements in one place, every invoice checked against the trip, and a margin known per route.
Paying what was agreed
Every invoice is compared against the trip and the rate.
No missed recharges
Waiting time and extra stops are flagged and passed on to the client.
Better choices
Charters are selected on both price and performance.
Security and privacy in charter procurement and freight rate software
The software holds rates, purchase prices and margins: confidential information for you and your charters. Access is set per role: planners see the agreements, and the finance department sees the invoices and the margin.
The software runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage, daily back-ups and two-factor sign-in.
Frequently asked questions about charter procurement and freight rate software
Questions that transport companies and freight forwarders ask before getting started.
It records rate agreements per charter and route, calculates fuel surcharges and indexation, checks procurement invoices against the trip and the agreement, flags deviations, shows the margin per client and route, and assesses charters.
That app is for the planner: dispatching trips, comparing prices and allocating them. This software is for the office: recording the agreements and checking the settlement. They can work together, using the same charters and rates.
Yes, in line with the agreement with each charter operator, for example linked to a fuel index per period. An invoice with an incorrect surcharge stands out.
Yes. If you settle charters with credit notes, the software creates them based on the trips and the agreement, so there is no invoice left to check.
Deviations are put up for review, with the option to recharge them to the client. This keeps the margin per trip accurate.
Yes, provided your TMS makes journeys available. Journeys with the charter operator, route and units come from the TMS and are linked to the agreement.
Check that first. Some TMSs have a module for charters, and that is enough if your agreements are simple. Custom development makes sense for many charters with their own agreements, surcharges and indexation, or if you want to assess charters on performance.
Are charters paying what was agreed?
Tell us how many charters you work with, how you agree terms and how invoices are checked now. We'll show you what the agreements, the checking and the margin look like.