PORTLAND, Ore. — TransCore has introduced Rate Index Pro, a Web-based product designed to enable those involved in truckload lane rate pricing and contract negotiations to perform single-lane lookups in real time or submit a single multi-lane request in bulk format and receive prevailing market rate data in minutes. TransCore’s Rate Index Pro is available by monthly subscription priced according to customer usage.

Rate Index Pro is a database comprised of more than 12 million truckload lane rates. Data is based on freight bills from a pool of carriers consisting of large and mid-size fleets spanning all major markets in the US and Canada. Data is provided in multiple levels of detail, including market, area, and state.

Beta tests with transportation sales professionals working on actual RFQs (Requests for Quotes) showed that they could perform bulk-rate pricing calculations in minutes rather than the hours they had otherwise planned to spend.

“Multi-lane rate calculations used to take me hours, but I can now do them in a fraction of the time,” said Eric Aeschliman of Amino Transport. “A recent 500-lane scenario took less than five minutes to process.”

Pricing analysts and managers can use Rate Index Pro to analyze historical trends, investigate new regions for growth, and benchmark based on market performance to maximize asset yield. For brokers, dispatchers, and transportation sales professionals at smaller companies, Rate Index Pro can be used as a ready reference for current rates and is designed to allow them to negotiate a price competitive with the market.

“Rate Index Pro is designed to help freight brokers and carriers in today’s tightening economy, where no one can afford to leave money on the table or be priced out of the market,” explained David Schrader, vice-president for TransCore’s Freight Business Service. “Customers can review 13 month-rate histories, compare state-to-state inbound and outbound rates, see load-to-truck ratios by state, and use the profit calculator to quickly and accurately calculate final price and margin.”

Customers can request lane rates for multi-lane deliveries based on city and state names, or three or five digit zip codes. Rate information is provided for three equipment types: dry van, refrigerated, and flatbed.

Rate Index Pro monthly subscriptions start at $29 per month. Access the tool by visiting rateindex.transcore.com.