Every shipper has been there. You need a quote for a Dubai-to-Rotterdam FCL shipment. You send a WhatsApp message to one forwarder, an email to another, call a third. Three days later you have two quotes in your inbox, one missed call, and a decision you have to make with incomplete information.
This is the standard way freight procurement works at most companies. And it is costing you time, money, and mental energy.
Why the Old Way Breaks Down
The core problem is that freight quoting is fundamentally an information-gathering exercise, but the tools most shippers use — WhatsApp, email, spreadsheets — are designed for communication, not structured data collection.
When quotes arrive through different channels in different formats, you end up spending more time organizing the data than analyzing it. And if a vendor is late sending a quote or sends it in a currency you weren't expecting, the whole comparison falls apart.
There are three specific places where the traditional approach creates drag:
Sending RFQs is manual and inconsistent. Each forwarder gets a slightly different message. Some get more detail than others. If you forget to mention something — whether you need customs clearance, whether there's dangerous goods, what incoterm applies — you get back a quote that isn't comparable to the others.
Quotes come back unstructured. One forwarder sends a PDF. Another sends a WhatsApp voice note with a price. A third sends a long email with a breakdown that includes charges you've never heard of. Turning all of that into a side-by-side comparison requires manual work every single time.
There is no audit trail. When your finance team asks why you chose a particular forwarder for a shipment three months ago, you're digging through WhatsApp history and email threads. When you want to know whether rates have gone up since last quarter, you have nothing to compare against.
What a Structured RFQ Process Looks Like
The alternative is to treat freight procurement more like any other structured procurement workflow.
A good RFQ process starts with a single, complete request document. It specifies the route, freight mode, cargo dimensions and weight, any special requirements, and the services you need (door pickup, customs clearance, insurance, etc.). This document goes to all vendors simultaneously, in the same format, at the same time.
Vendors respond within a defined window — typically 24 to 48 hours. All responses come back in a structured format: rate, currency, transit time, validity date, and any additional charges called out separately.
You compare the responses in a single view. The selection is based on the total landed cost, not the first number that appears in your inbox. And once you select a vendor, that acceptance automatically kicks off the shipment creation process.
The entire process, from sending the RFQ to accepting a quote, should take less than five minutes of your time.
CBM Auto-Calculation Makes a Difference
One practical detail that matters: calculating cubic meters correctly.
A lot of freight quote errors happen because the shipper gave the forwarder approximate dimensions. The forwarder quotes based on estimated CBM. The actual shipment comes in larger. You get hit with extra charges at pickup or origin port that weren't in the original quote.
If your RFQ tool automatically calculates CBM from the package dimensions you enter — length, width, height, quantity — and sends that exact figure to vendors, the quote is based on the actual cargo, not an approximation. Fewer surprises at execution.
Vendor Response Rate Is a Metric
Once you have a structured RFQ process, something interesting becomes measurable: how often each vendor actually responds.
Most shippers have no idea that one of their three regular forwarders only quotes 40% of the RFQs they send, or that the forwarder they never use actually has the best response time. That information only becomes visible when every RFQ goes out through the same system and responses are tracked.
Response rate is one of the most useful signals for vendor management. A vendor who quotes consistently is more reliable than one who quotes selectively, even if the selective one occasionally wins on price.
Practical Steps to Improve Today
You don't need software to improve your RFQ process, though software does make it significantly faster. Even if you're still working through email, you can standardize what you send:
Create a single RFQ template that captures everything vendors need. Route, mode, cargo details, incoterm, required services, validity period you need quotes to cover. Use this template every time, without exception.
Set a response deadline. Tell vendors exactly when you need their quote by. When the deadline passes, make a decision with whatever quotes you have. Do not chase forwarders — if they miss the window, they miss the opportunity.
Keep a simple spreadsheet that records every RFQ you send, which vendors you sent it to, who responded, what they quoted, and what you decided. Do this for six months. You will have more insight into your freight procurement than most companies ever accumulate.
The goal is to make vendor selection a data-driven decision, not a relationship-driven guess. The data is there. You just need a process that captures it.
Logwo is freight management software built specifically for shippers. The RFQ builder sends structured requests to all your vendors simultaneously, tracks responses, and gives you a side-by-side comparison dashboard to make the selection. See how the RFQ process works →