Discover how Varsity’s real-time rating helps shippers control transportation spend

Although the supply chain industry evolves constantly, shipping costs continue to be one of its biggest sources of uncertainty. Major national carriers like UPS and FedEx have shifted towards dynamic pricing models that adjust based on real-time network conditions, causing shipping rates to fluctuate more frequently and more dramatically than ever before. This shift continues to add measurable volatility and complexity to daily shipping decisions.

Shippers also face rising pressures due to higher surcharges, capacity constraints, tariff-driven cost changes, and increased accessorial fees, all of which make transportation spend harder to control. Static rate tables and yearly contract updates can’t reflect these rapid changes. In order to keep margins intact, modern shippers need tools that can support smarter, faster, and more cost-efficient decisions at the exact time orders are processed.

Real-time rate shopping directly addresses this pain point, empowering businesses to compare a shipment’s cost, service type, transit time, and carrier-specific performance using current data, not outdated assumptions. As carrier pricing continues to grow more dynamic and less predictable, real-time rate shopping has become a critical capability for maintaining operational efficiency and cost control.

The Current Shipping Landscape: Why Costs Are Harder to Predict

As carriers adopt dynamic pricing structures, historical averages and annual budgeting frameworks lose reliability. Carriers are increasingly focused on maximizing revenue, applying targeted fees like residential surcharges and additional handling charges during high-demand periods to take advantage of shippers’ willingness to pay. Oftentimes, these fees can surpass headline general rate increases (GRIs) and significantly increase monthly parcel spend.

Additionally, FedEx and UPS introduced changes to dimensional (DIM) weight and cubic volume guidelines beginning in late 2025. Both carriers now round every fractional inch up when measuring packages, inflating billable weight and triggering Large Package and Additional Handling surcharges. Carriers also continue to implement surcharges and pricing adjustments sporadically throughout the year, making it nearly impossible to plan costs proactively. With all things considered, real-time decision-making becomes increasingly difficult, especially for those who rely on manual processes.

What Sets Real-Time Rate Shopping Apart?

Real-time rate shopping differs from traditional rating methods by using live carrier data instead of outdated rate files. It’s core differentiators include:

• Accurate Pricing: Pulls current rates and surcharges directly from carriers at the time the label is generated, minimizing billing adjustments and cost discrepancies.
• Dynamic, Automated Decision-Making: Compares all eligible services automatically, selecting the lowest-cost option that meets pre-defined business rules and customer expectations.
• Eliminates Manual Checks: Removes the guesswork, inconsistent decision-making, and time-consuming tasks by eliminating the need for manual rate lookups or cost comparisons. [Explore how to ease carrier selection pain points]
• Built-In Compliance: Enforces company-specific business rules while ensuring compliance with routing guides and operational requirements automatically.
• Workflow Integration: Integrates directly into existing workflows, streamlining rate shopping processes without slowing down throughput.

After identifying the key differentiators that make real-time rate shopping valuable, the next step is understanding how it actually works in practice. By integrating this capability within an advanced multi-carrier shipping software (MCSS) platform, shippers can execute these decisions consistently at scale.

Real-Time Rate Shopping and Multi-Carrier Shipping Software

Real-time rate shopping is most effective when it operates inside a MCSS, where carrier connections, business logic, and fulfillment workflows are all centralized within a single, unified system. Here’s how it works:

1. Order Data Entry: Shipment details including dimensions, weight, customer rules, and service requirements flow directly from the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, warehouse management system (WMS), or order management system (OMS) into your MCSS.
2. Live Rates Pulled from Connected Carriers: The MCSS retrieves live, accurate rates from all connected carriers, typically through an API or direct integration.
3. Business Rule Application: Once rates are pulled, the MCSS applies any shipper-specific business rules to ensure each option aligns with compliance needs or any other operational requirements.
4. Rate Comparison: The MCSS then evaluates all carrier and service combinations, comparing factors like total cost, transit time, service type, and carrier preference. This identifies the optimal routing choice based on cost-effectiveness and service level requirements.
5. Automated Selection: Your MCSS solution will automatically select the best-fit option for every package, eliminating the need for manual checks or rate lookups.
6. Labels, Documentation, and Tracking Generation: Once the carrier and service level are chosen, the MCSS automatically generates a compliant label and any required documentation. It then pushes tracking numbers back to your other systems, and customer-facing portals are updated in real-time.
7. Shipping Data is Captured: MCSS solutions store critical data including costs, selected carriers, service choices, and savings. This enables teams to leverage historical data when analyzing areas for cost optimization, performance, contract negotiations, and budgeting.

How Varsity Logistics Delivers Smarter Rate Shopping

While many shipping platforms offer rate shopping capabilities, few are equipped to handle the volume, complexity, and accuracy required for high-volume shipping. Varsity Logistics is a leading choice for multi-carrier shipping needs because it’s purpose-built for environments where precision, speed, and reliability are non-negotiable.

Varsity Logistics, the only holistic shipping solution for the IBM i, is designed to process high-speed rating and routing directly within the IBM i ecosystem. It is common for other systems to add rate shopping on top of existing workflows, however, Varsity embeds real-time rating into the core functionality of our robust software suite. This ensures that every shipment is evaluated with complete accuracy without risking performance slowdowns.

ShipSelect: Varsity’s Advanced Carrier Rate Shopping Module

ShipSelect by Varsity Logistics optimizes your shipping strategy with top-tier automated carrier rate shopping, helping businesses enhance cost management within a flexible, efficient shipping solution. Key ShipSelect features include:

• Rate Comparison: Compare real-time shipping rates for domestic and international shipments, evaluating by carrier, transit time, and service level.
• Customer Preference-Based Shopping: Varsity puts customers first by enabling carrier and service selection based on customer-specific preferences or requirements, ensuring consistent adherence to delivery expectations.
• Support for All Major Shipping Modes: Simultaneously rate shop across parcel, less-than-truckload (LTL), full truckload (FTL) carriers, and your own internal fleet within a single, unified process for multi-mode decision-making.
• Cost Transparency: Uncover the real cost of shipments, including extra fees, giving shippers accurate landed-cost comparisons and data to share with your customers.
• Automated Business Rules: Execute rate shopping automatically in the background using configured business rules to select the best-fit carrier and service level while ensuring shipments align with organizational requirements and routing guides.
• Flexible Integration: Choose the point of integration that best meets your organization’s needs with flexible connectivity to the web shopping cart, order entry, or shipping station.

Backed by advanced functionality, ShipSelect delivers consistent, accurate, and cost-focused carrier selection in an uncertain landscape where speed, reliability, and cost control are critical.

Secure Your Cost Control Advantage

Shipping costs will continue to fluctuate as more carriers adopt dynamic pricing structures, adjust shipping guidelines, and introduce new surcharges with little to no warning. That is why real-time rate shopping has become a necessary capability for shippers to keep pace with the modern demands of logistics.

By combining live rating with automation, compliance, and robust carrier connectivity, Varsity Logistics equips shippers to navigate cost volatility with confidence and control. With ShipSelect, teams gain a reliable way to compare carriers instantly, enforce business rules, and consistently select the most cost-effective option, resulting in significant savings on your bottom line.

Ready to see how real-time rate shopping can strengthen your shipping strategy? Contact Varsity’s team of shipping experts or schedule a pressure-free demo to see ShipSelect in action and learn how our IBM i-native platform helps leading shippers increase savings, improve accuracy, and streamline workflows.