Rate Guard KB — launch bundle

How Rate Guard protects your quotes

Rate Guard locks the fuel-surcharge component of a quote against mid-conversation price spikes above your configured threshold.

The mechanics in 30 seconds

• Arming: toggle Rate Guard before sending any quote (in-app tour available).
• Threshold: per-company default ±5%; CSAs can adjust within permitted bands.
• Trigger window: protection runs from quote-send until quote-expiry (default 72h).
• Settlement: if the fuel index moves beyond threshold inside the window, the original surcharge is honored automatically and the delta is booked to CargoDesk's hedge account — never billed to your customer.

What it does not cover

• Toll or customs volatility; multi-leg requotes after customer edits; quotes sent while arming was still pending confirmation.

Configuring thresholds & permissions

1. Open Settings → Surcharge policy → Rate Guard.
2. Set company default band (±3% to ±10%). Wider = safer margin for you, higher premium line.
3. Role scoping: only Finance Admin may raise beyond ±7%; CSA edits within their band log an audit entry.
4. Per-quote override allowed during send dialog; must be re-selected each time (no silent stickiness — compliance requirement).

Audit trail: every change lands in Reports → Policy audit, exportable CSV.

Billing & settlement FAQ scenarios

Three worked examples (written for this fictional launch):

• Spike under threshold: no protection event, normal invoice — check with the Finance toggle "show RG events" to prove it.
• Spike over threshold, quote expired: protection lapsed at expiry; the new conversation gets fresh rates — this is by design to avoid infinite hedges.
• Customer edited the quote: edited quotes invalidate RG — a revised quote requires re-arming.

Toggle missing or greyed out

1. Starter plan: there is no toggle, only an upgrade prompt. Send the plan comparison; pricing exceptions go to the Sales CSM.
2. Growth or Enterprise, no toggle: usually a stale bundle after the deploy. Hard refresh and log in again; tag the ticket #rg-cache.
3. Greyed out: Admin console → Feature flags → rate_guard_v1. Flag off and the account is on the entitlement list: enable it and confirm with the user before closing.
4. Flag on and still grey after a refresh: a rollout-group problem. Escalate to engineering with the workspace ID, a screenshot of the flag state and one sentence on the impact.

Frequently asked at launch