Counter-offer calculator: your floor and target rate before you call

How it's calculated

• All miles = loaded miles + deadhead to the pickup.
• Floor = your cost per mile × all miles. Below this, the load loses money.
• Target = (cost per mile + the margin you want) × all miles.
• Opening ask = target + your negotiating room, as a percentage.
• Each figure is rounded up to the next $25 and also shown per loaded mile, the way brokers quote.

The broker's offer is optional. Add it and the tool marks it on the line between your floor and your ask, so before you speak you know which call it is: counter, accept or walk away. Everything stays in your browser.

A worked example

EXAMPLE: your cost per mile is $1.90 and you want $0.40 a mile above it. A broker offers $1,900 for 800 loaded miles, and the pickup is 100 miles from where you'll be empty. You leave yourself 5% room above target.

The offer clears your floor but falls $175 short of your target, so it's worth a counter. The calculator writes it for you:

“Thanks for the $1,900. I'm 100 miles out from the pickup, so I can cover it at $2,200 ($2.75 a loaded mile). If you can get to $2,075 I'll take it now.”

If the broker meets you anywhere from your target up, take it. If they stop between your floor and target, it's your call: a short day, a good next load or a broker you want to work with again can make it worth it.

How to negotiate freight rates without a script that sounds like one

The numbers do half the work. The other half is how the call goes:

1. Ask before you price. Weight, commodity, pickup and delivery windows, detention terms, whether it's a live or drop load.
2. Give one number, with one reason. "I'm 100 miles out" is a reason a broker can repeat to the shipper.
3. Talk in their units. Brokers quote loaded rate, so say your ask that way, using the per-loaded-mile line.
4. Trade, don't just push. A later pickup, quicker pay or a better detention rate can be worth as much as dollars on the rate.
5. Close quickly when it works. Good loads move. If they meet your target, confirm and ask for the rate con.
6. Leave the door open when it doesn't. Thank them and say what you'd need next time on that lane.

Reading the result

The floor is a walk-away line

Below the floor, every mile costs you money. Taking a load there should be a choice with a reason, such as repositioning to a better market or getting home, not something you slide into because the day is long.

The target is the real goal

Set the margin from what you need to earn over a year, not from one good week. If you rarely hit your target, either the margin is out of line with your lanes or you're choosing loads that start too far away. Check both.

The ask is just an opening

Your opening ask should be believable. A small cushion leaves room to meet in the middle; a big one tells a broker you haven't done the math. Five to ten percent above target is plenty on most loads.

When the broker won't move

Sometimes the rate is the rate, because the broker's own margin is thin or the shipper has fixed it. Before you hang up, try the terms instead of the number:

• Detention starting at 2 hours instead of 3, with no cap.
• A TONU amount written on the rate con.
• Quick pay without a fee, or shorter payment terms.
• A pickup window that lets you take a closer load first and cut the deadhead.

Each one moves your real pay per mile without touching the rate. If none of them work and the offer is under your floor, thank the broker and move on. Saying no politely is part of negotiating freight rates, and brokers remember carriers who know their numbers.

Before you call, check the other side

You negotiate better when you know roughly what the load pays the broker. Our broker margin calculator shows the split when you know or can estimate the shipper rate. And when you've agreed a number, read the paper: what the rate con says is what you'll be paid, so compare it with the call using our guide on reviewing a rate confirmation.

If you're a shipper negotiating shipping rates with a broker or carrier, the same logic applies from the other side: the carrier has a floor, and offers below it won't get a truck. This tool is built for the carrier making the counter.

Let someone else make the call

A dispatcher negotiates rates for the transportation of goods on the carrier's behalf, which is what our desk does all day. We start from your floor, counter with the reasons above, and send you the load only when it clears your numbers. You confirm or say no, and the broker sends the rate con to you to sign. See how we push for better rates, check offers with the rate per mile calculator, browse all tools, or apply.