Rate Profile Checklist:

Before continuing with the setup of your new rate profile, there are several important considerations to keep in mind:

1. Lane Structure

Decide how the lanes should be structured in your profile:

• Row level by equipment type: each equipment type is represented by a separate row, and therefore a separate lane.

• Column level by equipment type: different equipment types are represented in separate columns.

2. Column Groups and Column Setup

Once the rate profile has been created or copied, and the structure of the rate card has been defined, you will need to configure the column groups, columns, and their respective properties. These settings control how the columns behave during a tender event—for example, whether they are displayed to suppliers, or whether they are mandatory or optional.

2.1. System Columns

Our system includes a set of mandatory columns that are required for proper operation. These columns must not be modified, deleted, disabled, or omitted.

These include:

• Valid From
• Valid To
• Supplier Code
• Lane ID

2.2. Rate Profile Groups

Rate Profile Groups are used to visually group related columns for a better overview and a cleaner layout.

Rate Profile Groups can be created from scratch using the + sign. Existing groups can be edited using the pencil icon or copied using the double-sheet icon.

When creating or updating a group, you can adjust the following values:

• Denotation: Group name
• Alias: Database name. Use the same value as the Denotation, but replace spaces and special characters with underscores
• Type: Always use “Set”
• Colour: Adjusts the font colour for all columns belonging to this group
• Background Colour: Selects the background colour for the entire group

2.3. Rate Profile Columns

Rate Profile Columns can also be created from scratch using the + sign. 

Existing columns can be edited using the pencil icon or copied using the double-sheet icon.

2.4. Configuring Columns Properties

a. Details Panel:

• Denotation: Column name
• Alias: Database name. Use the same value as the Denotation, but replace spaces and special characters, including brackets, with underscores
• Status: Columns can be set to active or inactive. Inactive columns will not be displayed or used anywhere
• Column ID: System-related ID that cannot be changed

b. Column Properties:

Column properties are used to define the behaviour of each column during RfQs and Spots for suppliers. 

For Shippers, see the Options Panel below. The only exception is the spot creation behaviour, which also applies to shippers.

Each column has the following properties:

• Visible

• For LSPs: Should this column be shown to suppliers during an RfQ or Spot?
• For Shippers: When creating a Spot Request, should this column be shown on the creation screen, or is it not relevant for the spot setup?

• Read only

1. Should this column be visible but locked or greyed out?

• Mandatory

1. If the column is visible and not read only, should it be required for data entry?

• Inherit

1. For suppliers only: if the column is visible, should its values also be shown to suppliers?

• Unique

1. At this stage, Unique can be ignored, as the first four properties are the most relevant.

A typical example is a column such as Country Code: it should be visible to suppliers, and its value — for example, DE — should also be visible.

By contrast, a column such as FTL Price may be visible to suppliers, but the values from the previous year or tender period should not be inherited.

c. Options Panel:

1. Mandatory / Read Only

During rate upload to the RMGT, a column can be either mandatory or optional. The Mandatory checkbox controls this behaviour.

If a column is marked as Read Only, it cannot be modified until the checkbox is unchecked again.

2. Unique Key Relevant (UKR)

This is a very important setting in Freightos PROCURE, as it determines what makes a lane unique.

When uploading rates to a profile that already contains existing rates, issues may occur if PROCURE cannot determine whether the incoming rate should overwrite an existing one — in which case the system treats it as a duplicate — or whether a new rate should be created instead.

3. Import / Export

This option defines whether a column can be exported to Excel and whether it can be imported via Excel, or skipped during the import process.

4. Searchable, Visible, Overview

These settings are straightforward and control whether a column is searchable, visible, or shown in the overview. They allow you to hide certain columns from the overview without disabling them.

5. Rewritable

Rewritable allows you to overwrite the data in a column from the rate profile without needing to export and reimport the Excel template.

d. Description Panel:

Any description entered here can be displayed to suppliers as regular comments in the Excel files they use for quoting during an RfQ.

Important: The text entered here must not contain any formatting. This can easily happen when copying text from another source with formatting, such as Word or Excel. The easiest way to avoid this is to use Source Edit mode by clicking the pencil icon. In this mode, any text entered or pasted will be free of formatting.

e. Data Type Panel:

Each column must have a specific data type, which defines and restricts the type of content that can be entered in that column. For example, a column with the data type “Number” will not accept text values during an upload.

Each data type includes detailed parameters that can be adjusted, such as:

• Number → number of decimals
• Date → date format

These options only appear after you have selected the data type.

Note: Once a data type has been set, it may not be possible to change it, or it may only be possible to change it to a limited set of similar data types.

f. Font / Colours Panel:

Fonts and colours can be adjusted here.

Note: Column-level font and colour settings are overridden by Column Group settings, if these are defined.