How to Configure and Troubleshoot Rate Cards in Qargo for Accurate Rate Calculations
Ensuring accurate rate calculations in Qargo requires careful configuration, proactive setup, and troubleshooting. Follow these guidelines to resolve common issues, optimize rate card setup, and configure specific scenarios such as indexing or maximum charge applications.
Common Rate Configuration Challenges
Overlapping Pricing Conditions: When the same conditions apply to both hourly and fixed rates within a vehicle category, this can cause unintended calculations. - Use conditional configurations to prevent conflicts. - Create distinct vehicle categories for specific use cases to avoid overlap.
Missing Rate Applications: Factors such as unsaved configurations or incompatible vehicle assignments can result in rates not being applied as expected from your rate card.3. Misinterpretation of Shipments: The system may interpret a single shipment as multiple consignments, leading to incorrect pricing. For example, if a shipment is split into two consignments, and no rate exists for the second consignment, the system might pull a rate from an unrelated table, resulting in an unexpected price.
Overlapping Rules in the Price List: When multiple rows in the price table match the same order criteria, the system applies the first matching row it encounters. If a more generic rule appears before a specific one, the system may apply an unintended rate, including a rate of 0 EUR.
Incorrect Service Level Conditions: Rate card entries with conditions like "IS NOT" for specific service levels can cause miscalculations. For instance, if 48h and 72h service levels are configured with "IS NOT" conditions, their rates may also apply to 24h shipments, leading to overcharges.
Preventing Overlapping Rate Calculations
To ensure that only the intended rate (hourly or fixed) is applied within a vehicle category, consider the following:
Use Mutually Exclusive Conditions - Add clear and distinct conditions to your rate calculations so that only one set of criteria is met per order. - This strategy avoids errors caused by multiple conditions applying to the same vehicle category.
Create Separate Vehicle Categories if needed - If no consistent conditions exist to differentiate pricing models, create a new vehicle category for specific cases. - Assign orders to the newly created category and ensure each rate type (hourly or fixed) applies only to its corresponding category.3. Examples of Correct and Incorrect Configurations: For instance, an incorrect configuration might use "IS NOT [48h/72h]" for 48h and 72h service levels, causing rates to apply to 24h shipments. A correct configuration would use "IS [48h/72h]" to ensure rates are applied only to the specified service levels, preventing overcharges.
Troubleshooting Missing Rate Applications
When rates are not being applied correctly, check the following configuration points:
Save Your Rate Card - After making any additions or edits to rates, ensure the rate card is saved to activate the new settings.
Verify Vehicle Compatibility - Verify that the vehicle assigned to the trip matches an appropriate vehicle category defined in your rate card.
Confirm Rate Coverage - Ensure your rate card includes rates for the specific route, postcode sequence, or other criteria relevant to your order.
Check Customer Linkage - If customer linkage is relevant in your setup, confirm the rate card is correctly linked to the customer account.5. Review Shipment Interpretation - Check if the system has split a shipment into multiple consignments and verify the rates applied to each.
Analyze Price Table Rules - Identify overlapping or conflicting rules in the price table and adjust their order or conditions.
Update Service Level Conditions - Modify incorrect conditions in the rate card to ensure they apply only to the intended service levels. For example, change "IS NOT [48h/72h]" to "IS [48h/72h]" for 48h and 72h service levels while retaining the correct rate for 24h shipments.
Summary
By following these configuration and troubleshooting steps, you can optimize your rate card setup and avoid common errors in Qargo. Prevent overlapping rate calculations by carefully defining conditions, creating separate categories, and ensuring specific rules precede generic ones in the price table. When facing missing or incorrect rates, review key setup elements like shipment interpretation, vehicle compatibility, and rate card linkage to resolve the issue effectively. Additionally, leverage advanced features such as setting up maximum charges for multiple stops and indexing price lists to manage complex pricing scenarios.
Setting Up Rate Cards to Apply the Highest Charge for Multiple Stops
If you need Qargo to apply the maximum charge when there are multiple stops along a route, follow these steps:
Access the Rate Card:
Navigate to the customer’s rate card within Qargo (e.g., under the 'Rate Cards' section).
Adjust the Calculation Basis:
Change the calculation basis for rates from "Route" to "Stop."
Select Maximum Stop Charge:
Configure the setup such that the system selects the maximum stop charge when multiple stops are involved, rather than summing up charges or using fixed rates per route.
Save Changes and Re-Rate Orders:
Save the adjusted rate card. If specific orders were rated incorrectly before this configuration, ensure they are eligible for re-rating (e.g., not invoiced yet), and re-rate them to apply the new settings.
Indexing and Configuring Price Lists in Qargo
To configure indexing for your rate cards:
Navigate to Configuration:
Go to the Rates > Configuration section in Qargo.
Access Order Input Settings:
Open the Order Input configuration menu.
Set Price Index Parameters:
Adjust the relevant fields to define the indexing rules for your rate cards. This ensures your rates apply correctly during order processing.