> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.terminal.africa/tship/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.terminal.africa/tship/rate-cards.md).

# Rate Cards

The Rate Cards API allows you to read the carrier rate cards your account is priced on and download them as a PDF or spreadsheet.

A **rate card** is the price table your account is quoted from for a given carrier: a grid of weight bands against delivery zones, in a single currency. When you request a rate, Terminal resolves the card that applies to your account and prices the shipment from it.

{% hint style="info" %}
These endpoints are **read-only**. They expose the carrier-wide cards Terminal has assigned to your account. They do not create or modify rate cards.
{% endhint %}

### The Rate Card Object

This section describes the different attributes available for a rate card.

| Attribute      |            | Description                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| -------------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| carrier        | *string*   | Unique slug for the carrier the card belongs to e.g. ***dhl-ng***.                                                                                                                                       |
| carrier\_name  | *string*   | Display name of the carrier.                                                                                                                                                                             |
| description    | *string*   | Description of the rate card. Can be empty.                                                                                                                                                              |
| directions     | *array*    | One entry per service direction the carrier prices for you, each with its own rate card. See [Rate Card Directions](/tship/miscallaneous/rate-card-directions.md).                                       |
| pricing        | *object*   | The price matrix. Returned on the detail endpoint only. See [Rate Card Pricing](/tship/miscallaneous/rate-card-pricing.md).                                                                              |
| pricing\_grade | *enum*     | Commercial tier your account sits on for this carrier. Must be one of ***standard*** (default published pricing), ***strategic*** (negotiated) or ***strategic-pro*** (negotiated, highest volume tier). |
| rate\_card\_id | *string*   | Unique reference for the rate card. Returned on the detail endpoint; on the list it appears per direction.                                                                                               |
| transit        | *object*   | Transit time range across the card's zones, not a per-shipment estimate. See [Rate Card Directions](/tship/miscallaneous/rate-card-directions.md).                                                       |
| updated\_at    | *datetime* | Time the rate card was last updated.                                                                                                                                                                     |

### How a card is resolved

Which card applies to you depends on three things, and all three are recomputed on every request:

* **Carrier** — each carrier has its own cards.
* **Your account country** — returned as `user_country` on each entry.
* **Service direction** — `local`, `export`, or `import`.

A carrier therefore appears once in the list with one `directions` entry per direction it prices for you. Carriers with nothing assigned are omitted rather than returned empty.

Only cards that are currently **active** and currently **assigned to your account** are reachable. A card that is draft, disabled, or no longer yours returns an error rather than stale pricing, so a card you can read here is always a card you can be quoted on.

### What you will not see

The prices returned are the full prices you are charged, with all surcharges already applied — `includes_surcharges` is always `true`. The derivation behind those prices (base cost, markup structure, per-band surcharge overrides) is not exposed: `band_surcharge_overrides` is always returned as an empty array.


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