How to Submit RFP Bid

Have you been invited to participate in a Shipper's RFP Event? Awesome! Carriers can submit bids for an RFP event using the Emerge RFP platform. Once you've registered for an Emerge account, there are two ways to submit bids:

• In-App Bid Submission
  • Submit a Bid
  • Edit a Bid
  • Delete a Bid
• Upload Bid Submission via File
  • Upload Bids
  • Edit/Delete Bids
• Troubleshooting Errors When Uploading Bids

In-App Bid Submission

Users can submit their bids directly within the Emerge platform. This is helpful for events with limited lanes, mini-bids, and users who prefer to avoid spreadsheets. 

Submit a Bid

1. From the Dashboard, locate your RFP Event in the 'Bidding open' section
2. Click Bid to open up the Lanes tab
3. Click the Lane you want to bid on. The submission menu should pop up on the right side of the screen
4. Fill out the fields and click Submit
   • For details and definitions of each lane field, hover your mouse over the icon
5. Once you've submitted a bid on a lane, you'll see a on the lanes table next to the lane name

Note: Required fields will be indicated with a icon

Edit a Bid

1. From the RFP Event, click on the Lanes tab
2. Click on the lane you wish to edit your bid for
3. Change the bid amount to the new value
4. Click Submit to save your new bid

Note: If lane data has changed since your last response upload, a banner reading "Event Data Has Changed" will appear on the Lanes page notifying you with an option to download/view new changes

Delete a Bid

1. From the RFP Event, click on the Lanes tab
2. Click on the lane you wish to delete your bid for
3. Click Delete Bid
4. On the pop up window, click Delete if you're sure you want to delete your bid
   1. Note: This action is not reversible.

Bulk Delete: If you're like to bulk delete bids, you can select your lanes using the checkbox on left column of the Lanes table. Once you've checked your lanes, click Delete

Tips and Tricks

• Quickly navigate between lanes using your keyboard
  • [J] for the previous lane
  • [K] for the next lane
• Export your bid submissions by clicking Download Lanes
• You can submit bids using both In-App Bid Submission and Upload Bid Submission via File if you want to take a hybrid approach

Upload Bid Submission via File

Users can also submit bids by uploading a bid submission file. This is helpful for bulk uploads, events with many lanes, or users who are more comfortable using Excel.

Upload Bids

1. From the Dashboard, locate your RFP Event in the 'Bidding open' section
2. Click Bid to open up the Lanes tab
3. Click   and follow the instructions on the screen to download the Lane Template you'll need to fill in your bid submissions
4. Click Download template to download the Lane Template spreadsheet file. Open the file using Excel
5. Fill out the fields for the lanes you wish to bid on
   • Columns in orange indicate fields that you will fill out. (required fields have an * )
   • For details and description on each column, click the column name and a yellow text box with information will appear
   • Some columns (ex. Rate Mode Type) will have a dropdown pick list available.
6. Save your file and then upload into the platform by clicking  or dragging and dropping your file into the window
7. Click to upload your bid submission

Note: You can update your bid as many times as you want during the bidding window. If you upload a new spreadsheet, the newest version will be submitted with any changes, it will not keep previous versions.

Edit Bids

1. Navigate to to the Lanes tab
2. Click Download Lanes to download the latest lane template
3. Open the file spreadsheet and update or remove your bids
4. Back in the Emerge platform, click Upload Bid Response and finish the upload process (steps 3-7 in previous section)

Note: If lane data has changed since your last response upload, a banner reading "Event Data Has Changed" will appear on the Lanes page notifying you with an option to download/view new changes

Delete Bids

• To delete bids, follow the same steps in Delete a Bid section

Troubleshooting Errors When Uploading Bids

If you receive an error when uploading your file, you may be asked to download an error file. 

Troubleshooting Steps

• Click DOWNLOAD to download the file that will list out any bids that require correction
• Open the file and read the message in the "Errors" column
  • All rows highlighted yellow indicate correction is required
  • All cells highlighted red indicate the exact field requiring correction
• Important: Make the required changes in your original Lane Template upload file in Step 4 above
• Re-upload your updated file by repeating Steps 6 & 7 above

Example Error Messages

"The file upload failed. The file either has incorrect column headers or is missing columns altogether. Here are the columns needing attention: Mode Type, Rate Mode Type Please fix and try again."

• The file that was uploaded is either missing columns or the columns are out of order. Download a new copy of the lanes file and transfer your bid over to the new file. Upload the new file.

"Volume entry cannot exceed estimated volume value"

• The volume you can enter is from 1 to the estimated volume the shipper has provided.

"Flat Rates must be >= 100 RPM Rates must be between 0.2 and 150"

• There are minimums and maximums to rates that you can enter. If the requested rate is for an RPM, then the value must be between $0.20 and $150. For flat rates, please enter a value that is at least $100.

"The following fields cannot have more than two decimal places:"

• The column referenced in the message cannot have a value more than two decimal places. The formatting on the file can mask that there are more decimal places. Select the red cell and view the formula field. Adjust the value so that it is two decimal places
  
  

"The following required fields are missing: Rate Mode Type"

• If you are bidding on the lane, make sure that all of the orange headers with the * are filled out
• If you are not bidding on the lane, make sure that all of the orange headers are blank for that lane. 

Questions/Issues? Check out the Dynamic RFP FAQ for Carriers or reach out to the Emerge Application Support team for assistance!

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Need Support? Our Application Support Team is available to help! Click Submit a request at the top/bottom of the page or Chat Us using the chat bubble on the bottom right of the screen.