What is the Market Benchmark on ShipperGuide?

The Market Benchmark is an average of full truckload spot transactional rates from several external rate providers and rates from the ShipperGuide platform for dry van, reefer and flatbed equipment types. 

It is a reference point of the market, however the actual bids shippers receive on ShipperGuide may vary based on real-time market conditions, carrier network availability, commodity details, accessorials and other factors.

Please note that the Market Benchmark rate will only return if the ShipperGuide New Quote mode is set for Full Truck Load, equipment type of Dry Van (DRV), Flat Bed (FBE), or Reefer (refrigerated trailer) and is not a Multi-Stop quote.

How can you enable the Market Benchmark on ShipperGuide?

The Market Benchmark data point is exclusively available only to subscription based ShipperGuide users providing shippers more information to make the most informed decisions for their operations. 

How can I prompt the Market Benchmark rate in ShipperGuide?

To prompt a Market Benchmark rate, simply create a new quote from the New Quote page. The Market Benchmark will be available at the top of the Rates tab on the Quote page. 

And similarly, from the Shipments Details workflow, click on “Get Quote” and you will be taken to the quote form page.

You will be able to access a previously generated benchmark rate within the Quote Details page. However, please note, the Market Benchmark rate will not refresh itself or retrigger a new value. To obtain a more updated Market Benchmark rate we recommend creating a new quote.

What data points can I find within Market Benchmark?

• Average Rate: An average of rates from the various providers
• Lower Bound / Upper Bound
  • Lower bound: 25th percentile of rates ordered from lowest to highest
  • Upper bound: 75th percentile of rates ordered from lowest to highest
• Lane Signal (Confidence on Rate): Confidence is based on the average historical period (within 7 to 90 days) and the number of providers. The more providers and the more recent the rate, the higher the confidence. 
  • Low Signal: Confidence on the benchmark is low
  • High Signal: Confidence on the benchmark is high

How do we know the Market Benchmark is accurate? 

It’s impossible to definitively measure the accuracy of any benchmark. A benchmark by definition is a reference against which things may be compared or assessed. If we were able to see all freight transactions in the market, this would be the ultimate reference to which we measure the new benchmark against (the truth). It’s important to acknowledge that the truth is unobservable and that we must rely on approximations derived from samples and statistics.