Set margin and fuel rules

Margin and fuel rules decide where each quote starts: a margin for a customer, a transport type or a lane, and a fuel surcharge for customers who send you their own fuel number. Rules apply to truckload quotes, single and batch. Set them up in Settings from the profile menu, or let Kit save one when you change a quote. Rules are in Outlook today, and Front and the Chrome extension get them in an upcoming update.

Change a rule later

A rule is never locked in. Say your Acme Shipper LLC rule is 15% and you want 12%. Pick whichever way is closest:

The change applies right away, including to the quote you have open. You'll see Updated margin rule. (or Updated Acme Shipper LLC. from Kit), with an Undo in case you clicked the wrong thing. To remove a rule, open it and click Delete rule.

Open Quick Quote settings

Click the profile icon at the top right of the sidebar and choose Settings. Quick Quote settings opens with two tabs: Margin and Fuel surcharge.

Your rules are yours. They change only the quotes you make, and teammates keep their own.

Set your default markup or margin

Default markup (or Default margin, if your company prices by margin) at the top of the Margin tab is where every quote starts unless a rule matches. If you've never saved one, it shows your company's default, so you can see what your quotes start at today. Type a number and pick Flat or %. It saves when you click away.

This is the same personal default you can save from a quote, and it applies in Batch Quote too.

Add your first margin rule

With no rules yet, the tab offers three ways to start: For a customer, For a transport type and For a lane. Once you have rules, click Add rule.

1. Click a starter. The rule opens with nothing picked; the line under each starter is only an example. The markup (or margin) starts at your default.

2. In New margin rule, pick the customer, transport type or market the rule is for: any of Customer, Transport type (Van, Reefer, Flatbed, Hotshot or Box Truck), Pickup market and Dropoff market. Leave a field on All to match anything. You can pick more than one value in a field.

3. Set the Markup (or Margin), in dollars (Flat) or %. A percent has to be under 100, and it can't be negative.

4. Check the sentence under the form, for example "Acme Shipper LLC quotes for Reefer start at a 15% markup."

5. Click Save rule. You'll see Saved margin rule., with an undo.

Your rules are listed under Customer rules, Transport type rules and Lane rules, numbered in the order a quote picks them. Click a rule to change or delete it. When the quote you have open matches a rule, that rule shows Applies to the quote you're on.

Lanes use DAT market areas, so a pickup market covers the whole area around a city, not one ZIP. Search by market name, state or the first three digits of a ZIP. A lane rule matches a quote's pickup and dropoff whether you pick a location suggestion or type a city and state or a ZIP. Customers come from your TMS, so customer rules and fuel rules need a TMS connected to Drumkit.

Which rule wins

When more than one rule matches a quote, the one highest on your list wins. Drumkit compares the fields in this order: customer, transport type, pickup market, dropoff market.

• Any customer rule beats a rule with no customer.

• A customer plus transport type rule beats the same customer alone.

• If no rule matches, the quote starts at your default markup or margin.

Two rules that name the same fields and match the same quote can't both be saved. Drumkit names the rule it overlaps by its number and offers Open that rule so you can narrow one of them. To test your setup, open Check which rule a quote gets under your rules, pick a customer, transport type and lane, and see where the quote would start.

Margin or markup: what a percent rule does

Your company prices by either markup or margin, and Settings uses the same word as your quotes: Default markup and a Markup field on a rule, or Default margin and Margin. A percent rule fills in that field on the quote. With a $2,350 buy and a 12% rule:

A flat rule works the same either way: a $300 rule makes Sell $2,650. To change which one your company uses, your Drumkit admin can email support@drumkit.ai.

Set a customer fuel rule

On the Fuel surcharge tab, Default fuel surcharge is where fuel comes from when no fuel rule matches. Drumkit pulls it for each quote, so you don't set a number here.

For customers who send you their own fuel number, add a customer fuel rule:

1. Under Customer fuel rules, click Add rule.

2. Pick one or more Customers. Each customer can be in only one fuel rule.

3. Type the Fuel surcharge per mile, up to $5.00.

4. Optional: pick a Price format in replies (Flat Rate, Per Mile, Both, Linehaul or Linehaul + FSC) if these customers always want the price written the same way. Leave it empty and you choose on each quote.

5. Check the preview of how replies will read, on a single quote or a batch, and click Save rule.

See a rule on a quote

When a rule sets the starting margin or fuel on a quote, you'll see an orange, underlined Rule label under the field in Rate Breakdown. It turns gray when you type your own number. Hover it to see which rule applied, for example "Applied your Acme Shipper LLC rule (15%)." Click Edit rule in the hover, or the pencil, to open that rule.

• A number you type on a quote is for that quote only. It doesn't change the rule. Click Rule to go back to the rule's number.

• For fuel, Rule sits next to the other fuel options such as DAT and DOE under Show fuel details.

• If the fuel rule has a reply format, it's picked under Show: in Draft Response, with a Rule label there too.

Rules work the same in Batch Quote: each lane starts at the rule that matches it.

Let Kit save it for you

Change the markup or margin on a quote and Kit asks whether to keep it. Pick where it should apply:

If a rule already set this quote's margin, Kit offers Update rule instead, to change that rule to your new number.

Kit doesn't offer to save a margin a rule can't have, such as a negative number or a percent of 100 or more. Type a fuel surcharge on a quote with a customer and Kit offers to save it as that customer's fuel rule. On a quote with a customer, change the format under Show: and Kit offers Save to fuel rule (or Update fuel rule if that customer's rule already sets a format). Dismiss Kit's message if you only want the change on this quote.

FAQs

Related

• Set buy rate, margin and sell rate

• Quote a single lane

• Send or draft your reply, and edit templates