Award Scenario: Calculated variant of how jobs are distributed in a tender, showing what a particular allocation of lanes to forwarders costs per year.
At the end of a freight tender, many rate sheets are on the table, and the real question begins: who gets which lanes? An award scenario should help answer this question.
It distributes the lanes to the forwarders according to a certain rule and calculates what this costs per year at the expected volumes. Only the comparison of several scenarios shows which award fits best economically and in practice.
Typical award scenarios
| Scenario | Rule | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| One partner for everything | The forwarder that is cheapest overall gets all lanes | One contact, simple management | Too expensive on individual lanes, dependency |
| Best price per lane | Each lane goes to the cheapest bidder | Lowest costs | Many partners, high management effort |
| Limited number of partners | The cheapest allocation to no more than two or three forwarders | Compromise between costs and effort | Slightly more expensive than best price per lane |
| With backup | One main forwarder per lane and a second one in reserve | Security in case of capacity shortages | Additional coordination |
How a scenario is calculated
For each lane, the price of the assigned forwarder is multiplied by the expected volume per year. The sum across all lanes gives the annual costs of the scenario. It is important that the volumes are realistic: a scenario based on volumes that are too high or too low leads to the wrong decision.
Example with made-up figures: Four lanes, three forwarders, price per shipment.
| Lane | Shipments per year | A | B | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE 40 → DE 80 | 200 | €1,198 | €1,240 | €1,215 |
| DE 40 → DE 20 | 150 | €1,120 | €1,090 | €1,135 |
| DE 40 → AT 4 | 120 | €1,402 | €1,365 | €1,380 |
| DE 40 → CH 8 | 80 | €1,655 | €1,590 | €1,610 |
| Scenario | Costs per year |
|---|---|
| everything to A | €708,240 |
| everything to B | €702,500 |
| Best price per lane (A, B, B, B) | €694,100 |
Compared with "everything to B", the best price per lane saves €8,400 a year and manages with two partners. Whether the second partner is worth it is a trade-off between costs and effort.
What matters besides price
- Capacity: Can the forwarder also run the allocated volume at peak times?
- Quality: How punctual and reliable has it been so far?
- Dependency: What happens if the only partner fails?
- Effort: Every partner needs coordination, control and invoice checking.
Award scenarios with eFrexx
In eFrexx, you can play through as many award scenarios as you like directly in the system. They are based on the checked quotes of all bidders. This way, you see at a glance what each variant costs and make the decision based on your own criteria. You can also award directly from eFrexx. The system handles all communication for you.
Frequently asked questions
How many award scenarios should you calculate?
At least two: the cheapest allocation per lane and a variant with few partners. The comparison shows what simplicity costs you. Further scenarios are worthwhile if you want to favour or exclude certain forwarders.
Is the cheapest scenario always the best?
No. Every additional partner means coordination, invoice checking and management effort. On top of that come quality, reliability and the risk of depending on a single forwarder.
When do you calculate the scenarios?
After the quote deadline has passed and the rate sheets have been checked. Otherwise, incorrect or incomplete prices would distort the scenarios.