The Rating Engine, Rebuilt
A smarter alternative to project44, Banyan & the SMC3 rate API
When a quote depends on one feed, an outage or a missing accessorial costs you the last 20%. QuoteIQ combines direct carrier APIs, your own contracts, and internal rating logic into one accurate, batch-capable quote — and it rates right on top of your SMC3 base tariff.
LTL rating, parcel and truckload from one rating API — carrier rates, your own LTL rates and internal rating logic reconciled before the quote ever leaves.
Audit-grade accuracy, up front — the same engine that powers our freight-invoice audit rates your loads.
This is about LTL rating. If you run project44 for truckload visibility, keep it — that is a different job, and we read that feed rather than replace it.
See it on your lanesWhy teams outgrow their rating API
A raw carrier or consolidator API looks simple — until the edge cases start costing you margin. Our free course covers how an LTL price is actually built if you want the mechanics first.
The Last 20%
Accessorials, volume and linear-foot triggers and carrier rule quirks are where a quote and an invoice stop matching. That last 20% is where margin leaks and re-rates happen.
What Are You Priced On?
If your rating is billed per seat or per license, your cost tracks headcount instead of freight — and you find out how much leverage you have at renewal.
No Internal Fallback
When an API drops — or a carrier pushes a GRI you never approved — you either can't quote, or you overpay silently and never catch it.
Three rating sources, reconciled into one quote
QuoteIQ layers three rating sources into one accurate quote — so you're never dependent on any single API being right, or even being up.
Direct Carrier APIs
Credentialed, real-time connections in your name — the credentials are yours, direct to the carrier.
API Plus
We go beyond the raw API — layering accessorials, volume/linear-foot triggers, and carrier rule quirks the APIs miss, so the quote matches the invoice.
Your Blankets + Internal Rating
Load your own contracts and blankets, or rate internally off a base tariff (e.g. SMC3) with your discounts, fuel, and minimums — no dependency on a carrier API staying online.
Batch & No Licensing Fees
Rate hundreds of loads at once. API-first and priced on transactions — not seats, not licenses, not dev-hour change orders.
What is a hybrid rating engine?
A hybrid rating engine prices freight from more than one source at once. It rates the same shipment three ways — direct credentialed carrier APIs, your own loaded contracts and blankets, and internal rating logic on top of a base tariff such as SMC3 — then reconciles them into one quote. The failure mode it is built around is single-source dependency: if a quote comes from one feed and that feed is missing an accessorial, a volume or linear-foot trigger, or a carrier rule quirk, the quote is wrong and nothing catches it until the invoice arrives. Because hybrid internal logic does not require any API to be online, quoting continues through an outage, and an unapproved carrier increase surfaces as a discrepancy against your own contract rather than a silent overpayment.
What to ask when you're comparing rating engines
Evaluating project44, Banyan, the SMC3 rate API or anyone else? Here is what QuoteIQ does, and the question we would want you to put to every vendor on your list — including us.
| QuoteIQ | Ask every vendor on your list | |
|---|---|---|
| Rate sources | Carrier APIs, your contracts and blankets, and internal rating logic — reconciled into one quote | How many independent sources price a shipment? |
| Your SMC3 base tariff | Keep CzarLite / RateWare — QuoteIQ rates on top of it rather than replacing your base-rate source | Does it rate on top of my base tariff, or replace it? |
| When an API goes down | Internal rating keeps quoting | Can I still quote during a carrier API outage? |
| Accessorials & carrier rule quirks | Human-encoded on top of the API — volume and linear-foot triggers included, so the quote matches the invoice | Which accessorials and triggers are handled beyond the raw API response? |
| Unapproved carrier increase | Surfaces as a discrepancy against your own contract | Would an unapproved GRI show up, or pass straight through? |
| Carrier credentials | In your name, direct to the carrier | Are the carrier credentials mine, or the vendor's? |
| Batch rating | Hundreds of loads at once, included | Is batch rating included, or priced separately? |
| Pricing model | Per transaction — no seats, no licenses, no dev-hour change orders | Am I billed per seat, per call, or per transaction? |
| Beyond rating | Same platform adds Live Audit, carrier data sync and a white-label TMS — no re-integration | What does adding audit or carrier data sync later actually require? |
The right-hand column is a checklist, not a claim about anyone. Ask us the same questions — and hold us to the answers.
Behind the engine: logistics subject-matter experts and Lean Six Sigma, not just software.
How the rating actually works
Mode-neutral at rating: see every option, then choose. If you can describe how a rate is built, the engine can rate it — contracts, tariffs, carrier APIs and your own internal rules.
Rate anything you can describe
Direct carrier connections plus internal logic. If the rule can be written down it can be rated — including for the carriers who will never hand you an API.
Batch rating, not a side service
Rate hundreds of loads at once in the same tool. No sending a file to a third party and waiting for it to come back, and no separate charge for the privilege.
Errors stopped before the quote
Why audit a mistake that should never have happened? Address and dock-type validation, density-based class suggestions and accessorial flags all run before the number leaves. Same density logic as our freight class calculator.
Start with rating. Grow into the rest.
Replace your rating layer first. When you're ready, the same platform adds Live Audit, carrier data sync, and a white-label TMS — no rip-and-replace, no new integration. The rating engine is the front door to the whole Logistics OS.
Book a walkthroughWhere quotes and invoices come apart
The failure modes this engine was built against, written up in detail.
Why Your Quote Doesn't Match the Invoice
A quote and an invoice disagree for a short list of repeatable reasons. Most of them are decided before the freight moves.
Nov 2025Rating & QuotingCarrier API, Consolidator, or Your Own Rating Logic?
Three ways to price LTL, three different failure modes. The question isn't which one wins — it's what happens when the one you chose is wrong.
Feb 2026LTL for BrokersBlanket Rates or Your Own Carrier Contracts? Both, In That Order.
Blanket rates get you selling on day one. Your own contracts pay better but take volume you don't have yet. The order matters more than the choice.
Dec 2025Replace your rating stack
Tell us which rating provider you're on today and what it's costing you — we'll show you what hybrid rating looks like on your own lanes.