Read on to learn the differences between a spot quote and a contract rate. 

A spot quote can be generated on the spot from the marketplace when given a departure and an arrival port or location. The spot quote from the marketplace represents the ocean rates and can be filtered with different options, such as carrier or agents. 

If available, you can reserve a spot quote for a shipment by selecting a ready by date months into the future. Shippabo will honor that rate when the time comes. These rates do not include trucking rates or customs filing, as they are separate services that are optional if you have your own broker or trucker.

A contract rate is simply a rate a user has a contract for. These contract rates can be managed in our system and will appear as spot quotes when during the pre-booking phase. You can have multiple contracts loaded in our system and track your shipments on our system using those rates.