Transsmart offers cost prediction based on the transport contracts a customer has with one or more carriers. As the number of connected carriers has grown, so have the different types of contracts they use. To efficiently calculate transport costs, we developed the tariff engine. This article explains how the engine works and how customers can configure and maintain their own rates.
 

Sections in this article:

• Process description
• Basic configuration
• Buy Rates
• Other Tables
   

Process description

The diagram below shows how the rate calculation process is structured.

Schematic overview of the Transsmart rate calculation process:
 

During this process, transport costs are calculated or predicted. It also allows you to compare predicted costs with actual costs. Because shipping charges and surcharges are shown separately, it is possible to analyze the full breakdown of the total rate.

Basic configuration

The following tables are involved in the rate calculation process:

Only Buy Rates, Sell Rates, and Sell Margins can be configured by customers. All other tables can only be managed by an nShift employee.

The main focus is on the Buy Rates table. However, to support a comprehensive understanding of the system, all tables are briefly explained in the Other Tables section.

Buy Rates

The Buy Rates table is the foundation of the tariff engine. Unlike the previous setup, where only a single matching tariff line was used, the engine now evaluates all applicable lines and adds them together to determine the final rate. This allows rules defined at the collo, package or shipment level to all contribute to the calculation.

The following section explains the columns in the Buy Rates table, followed by examples.
 

Calculation Type

Query Type

The Query Type parameter is required to calculate certain exceptions. It is set to SINGLE by default, but two other values can apply:

• OR
• STAFFEL

OR

Use OR for surcharges where a shipment or collo is checked against multiple limits, such as:

• Total weight
• Total length
• Total width
• Total height
• Total convey_dimension

If any one of these limits is exceeded, the surcharge applies. An example of this is the PostNL conveyor surcharge.

 

STAFFEL

Use STAFFEL for KG-based contracts that include multiple weight scales. This allows multiple rate levels to be added together.

Example: DHL Express rate structure:

• Base rate up to 10 kg
• Additional scales (10–30 kg, 30–70 kg, 70–200 kg, 200–2500 kg)

With STAFFEL, the base price and the applicable scale price are added to produce the final rate.

Charge Group

There are two charge groups: SHIPPING and SURCHARGE.

• SHIPPING covers the basic transport costs.
• SURCHARGE covers additional fees such as fuel, customs, or oversize charges.
  Charge Groups can be further detailed using Charge Types.

Charge Type

Each line in the tariff engine also includes a Charge Type, which specifies the exact cost component. These components are managed in the Generics table.

Find an example of Fuel Rates table here.
 

Other Tables

Client Carriers

Possible parameters in the Client Carriers table:

In the Client Carriers table, customer and carrier parameters are defined. For rate calculation, the following parameters are relevant:

SHOWRATES: Determines which rates are visible in the online platform and API.

• BUY – shows only purchase rates
• SELL – shows only sales rates
• BUYSELL – shows both purchase and sales rates

USERATES: Specifies whether purchase (BUY) or sales (SELL) rates should be used when applying CHEAPEST logic (selecting the lowest transport option). One of the two must be selected.

TARIFFLOOKUP: Defines the source of rate calculation.

• ENGINE – uses the tariff engine (required for the tariff engine to function)
• NONE – no rates are calculated

• CARRIER – retrieves rates directly from the carrier, if available

   

TARIFF_LEVEL: Sets the hierarchy level at which purchase (BUY) rates are calculated. This is useful for customers with sub-account structures and are used to set which level the rates are calculated on:

• customer_id
• group_id

• organisation_id

   

SALES_TARIFF_LEVEL: Same function as TARIFF_LEVEL, but applied to sales rates.

CALC_SALES_MARGINS: When set to ACTUAL, enables recalculation of rates based on purchase invoices.

Zones

The Zones table determines the delivery zone for each booking. A zone can be defined at multiple levels:

• Carrier
• Customer
• Collection country
• Serviceleveltime
• Servicelevelother
• Cost center
• Or any combination of these

The resulting zone is used in the rate calculation, as different zones may have different rates.

Buy Weights

The Buy Weights table defines which weight should be used in the rate calculation. Because shipments may include both heavy and voluminous goods, the gross weight is not always the correct basis.

When factors for volume weight and/or load meter weight are applied, the system calculates three types of weight—gross, volume, and load meter—and uses the highest value.
Keep in mind that some rate structures (like those based on collo counts) might not depend on weight, so this table may not always impact the calculation.

Weight rules can be set at various levels:

• Carrier
• Customer
• Collection country
• Serviceleveltime
• Servicelevelother
• Cost center
• Packagetype
• Or combinations of these
   

Sell Weights

The Sell Weights table functions the same as Buy Weights but is used for sales rates and/or margins.

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