RateConGuard
A rate confirmation verification tool that standardizes review, catches discrepancies, and reduces fraud through validation rules, versioning, and a ready-to-sign approval gate.
Role
Full-Stack Developer
Timeline
3 months
Year
2024
Stack
The Problem
Rate confirmations are inconsistent PDFs and emails. Missing details, mismatched rates, wrong addresses, and bad terms cause disputes, detention issues, and unpaid loads. Fraud and double-brokering make it worse.
The Solution
Built a structured workflow that turns messy rate cons into validated, trackable records with checklists, discrepancy detection, and version history — all before a dispatcher or driver commits to a load.
Key Features
The capabilities that make it work.
Rate con intake via PDF upload, email forwarding, or manual entry
Required-field validation for rate, commodity, pickup/delivery times, detention, and accessorials
Discrepancy detection against booked load details: rate mismatches, wrong addresses, missing terms
Checklist-based review with a “ready to sign” approval gate
Version tracking for edits and updates to rate con terms over time
Broker history with prior disputes, average pay time, and red flags
Full audit trail: who approved, when, and why
Clean standardized rate con summary export for driver dispatch packets
Architecture
Document ingestion pipeline with optional OCR for PDF text extraction into structured fields. Rules engine powers validation and discrepancy flagging against booked load data. Database models span loads, documents, extracted fields, reviews, versions, and approvals. Activity logs and notification system for real-time status updates.
Challenges Solved
The hard problems behind the polished surface.
Building reliable OCR extraction from wildly inconsistent rate con PDF formats across hundreds of brokers
Designing a rules engine that catches real discrepancies without drowning dispatchers in false positives
Creating an approval workflow fast enough for the pace of freight while thorough enough to prevent fraud
The Outcome
Caught rate discrepancies on 15% of incoming rate cons that would have previously gone unnoticed. Eliminated post-delivery rate disputes for fleets using the approval gate. Average review time dropped to under 2 minutes per rate con.
What's Next
Where this product goes from here.
AI-powered risk scoring based on broker behavioral patterns
Automated alerts when terms change after initial approval
Integration with load boards for automatic rate con ingestion