Online price-quote platform Freightos Ltd. has launched a freight rate calculator that gives retailers, exporters, distributors, and wholesalers more visibility of shipping rates in a market with increasing use of spot quotes and rising rate volatility, the company said today.

The free tool improves transparency by offering real-time, multimodal, international full container load (FCL); less than container load (LCL); air; and trucking door-to-door freight estimates generated from live market rates, Freightos said.

While it admits there are other freight rate calculators in the market, Freightos claims its new product is the first one to tap into live market data, aggregated across multiple forwarders. "Algorithms and estimates are nice—this relies on real-time data," said Freightos Marketing Director Ethan Buchman.

Freightos launched the tool as a free beta version, but the company could still generate profit since the company offers users the opportunity to book rates Freightos' own marketplace after it generates the freight rate estimates.

The calculator uses routing and pricing algorithms to calculate fees and surcharges for trucking, air, and ocean shipping, calculating anticipated ranges for shipping along different lanes by a variety of modes. Freightos also offers an alternative version that provides freight shipping estimates directly to Amazon warehouses participating in the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program.

"The global economy needs dynamic, transparent data but global shipping has been a bottleneck," Freightos CEO and Founder Zvi Schreiber said in a release. "Our Freight Rate Calculator brings us one step closer to our goal of transparent freight. We anticipate this will provide a leg-up to small and medium-sized businesses that can benefit from AQWaccess to instantaneous and comprehensive freight estimates at real time market rates."