Procurement · 4 June 2026 · 6 min read
A practical checklist before your next RFQ season
Six things worth sorting before tender responses start arriving, from someone who has watched a lot of them arrive.
Tender season rewards preparation more than negotiation skill. If your lane list, volume history and current cost base aren't clean before responses arrive, you will spend the window reconciling instead of comparing.
Start with a definitive lane list including equipment and service level. Pull twelve months of actual volumes, not planned ones. Confirm which incumbent rates expire when. Agree internally what 'good' looks like per trade before you see any numbers.
Then decide how you'll compare responses. A structured template you enforce beats a flexible one you have to normalise afterwards — every time.
See Freight Puzzle with your own rates
Bring a handful of your carrier contracts to the call. We'll load them, quote a live shipment, and you can judge the difference for yourself.