The comparative statement for transport quotes.

Before a company pays a transporter, someone usually has to show that more than one price was asked for, and why the chosen one was chosen. That is the job of the comparative statement. Here is what one should show for transport, where it usually goes wrong, and what Rivo records for every load.

By Saeed Amin, founder of Rivo · 27 October 2026

What a comparative statement is

A comparative statement, often called a CS, puts the quotations for one purchase side by side, marks the one chosen and gives the reason. The purchase or finance team uses it to approve the purchase, and an auditor uses it later to check that the price was competed for.

For transport, the purchase is usually one load, or a number of trucks on one route, and the quotations come from transporters or, for sea freight, from freight forwarders.

What it should show

The load: where it goes from and to, the date, the goods, the weight, and the number and type of trucks.
Every transporter that was asked, including the ones that did not quote.
Every quotation on the same basis: per truck or per tonne, and what it includes, such as loading, tolls or extra drop-offs.
When each quotation arrived.
The lowest quotation.
The quotation chosen, and the reason when it is not the lowest.
Who made the statement and who approved it.

Where it usually goes wrong

The quotations are on different bases — one per truck, one per tonne, one with loading included — so nobody can say which is cheapest.
Prices are collected by phone, and there is no record of who quoted what, or when.
Transporters who were asked but did not reply are left off, so the statement does not show who was asked.
A transporter hears what the others quoted and sends a new price after them.
The statement is written after the award, to fit a decision already taken.
The reason for passing over the lowest quotation is two words, such as “better service”, which an auditor cannot check.

How to make one that holds up

Send the same load details to every transporter at the same time.
Ask for one basis, for example a price per truck that includes loading.
Set a deadline, and record the time each quotation arrives.
Keep each transporter’s price away from the others.
Mark the lowest. If you choose another, write the reason, chosen from a short list your company agrees in advance, so the reasons can be counted later.
Make the statement before the award, and have it approved by someone other than the person who collected the prices.

What Rivo records for each load

In Rivo, the prices for a load are collected as a live, blind bid: the transporters you invite bid for a number of minutes you set, and none of them sees another’s amount. Each transporter sees only its own bid and whether it is the lowest. See how a live freight bid works.

On the inquiry’s page your team sees every transporter invited, including the ones that did not bid, with each of their bids, the time to the second, and how much each bid was lowered. The lowest is marked. For sea freight the quotations sit side by side in one sheet: the price per container and in total, the shipping line, the sailing and arrival dates, how long the quote holds, the free days at the destination, and what each price includes.

When you award anything other than the lowest bid, or award before bidding has closed, Rivo asks for the reason, chosen from a fixed list. The reasons for not taking the lowest bid include a better transit time, equipment better suited to the cargo, a proven record on the route, and the lowest bidder not being able to confirm a truck; “Other” asks for a sentence. Administrators and managers are told by email when an award is not the lowest or is made early.

Every step — the invitation, each bid, the award, the transporter’s answer — is kept in the inquiry’s activity log, with who did it and when. Only your company sees the log. In Analytics, the awards that did not go to the lowest bid are counted by reason, so “why do we not take the lowest bid?” has an answer in numbers.

Who may award is set by role: administrators and managers on any inquiry, internal members only on the inquiries they posted, and viewers never.

Rivo does not print a comparative statement or collect signatures. The bids, the award and its reason stay on the inquiry’s page, and the figures by route and transporter can be downloaded from Analytics as a spreadsheet or a PDF report.