The rig
Eleven tools, and what each one refuses to do
None of these carry a rate card, a transit table or a fee schedule. You type the figures you were quoted or measured; the tool does the arithmetic and says where the answer stops being reliable.
Why no rates are built in
Published rates change without notice, and a desk that hard-codes them ends up quoting last year’s numbers with this year’s confidence. Where a figure is a matter of public rule rather than a vendor quote, it is used and dated; where it is a vendor figure, you supply it.
The tools
Chargeable weightA parcel can weigh two kilograms and still be billed at six, because the box is mostly air. This shows which of the two figures wins and by how much.The weight and three dimensions you were given, plus the divisor printed in your line’s rate cardParcel mergeMerging spreads one shipping fee over more items, but the combined box is often bulky enough that volumetric weight eats the saving. This settles which happens.Each parcel’s weight and dimensions, the divisor, and how much larger the combined box would beExchange rateA rate that looks close to the market rate can still add several percent once the fixed fee is counted. This puts a number on the overhead.The rate from your payment record, the agent’s stated markup, and any fixed fee per transactionLine pickerQuotes arrive as a wall of similar numbers. This ranks them on the three things that actually differ, including how much you trust the line.The quotes you were given, and a 1–5 rating of how well you know each lineTransit logPublished transit times are ceilings, not averages. After five shipments on one line your own median is a better number than any rate card.Routes and day counts from shipments you have actually trackedSeason windowsA warehouse closure and a capacity crunch look identical from a tracking page. This separates the two by direction and by cause.A date you are considering for a purchase or a shipping requestQC coverageA set of eight photos can look thorough and still leave the one question you care about unanswered. This shows exactly which one that is.A tick list of the shots present in the set you were sentSize chartsSize labels travel badly between markets. Measurements do not. This compares numbers instead of letters.Both charts, using the same measurement name on each side, and the tolerance you are willing to acceptImport chargesThe bill at the door mixes three different things: duty, tax, and the carrier’s fee for collecting them. This separates them.The declared value, the destination market, and the thresholds and rates for that market — pre-filled where this desk has verified them, editable alwaysRequest listMost avoidable losses happen between the QC photos and the sealed box, in requests nobody thought to make in writing.What is in the order and which kind of line it is going onChecklist exportAdvice spread across nine stages is hard to use on the day you order. This narrows it to the lines that apply to one parcel.The stage you are at and the checks you want included