---
title: "How Rates Work in Sistrack"
description: "Rates in Sistrack work like a smart system that automatically calculates the price of each shipment based on three main factors."
url: https://sistrack.com/en/docs/pricing/como-funcionan-las-tarifas/
category: pricing
section: docs
updated: 2026-07-28
---


*Markdown version for agents. This page on the web: https://sistrack.com/en/docs/pricing/como-funcionan-las-tarifas/*


# How Rates Work in Sistrack


## 📚 Introduction

Rates in Sistrack work like a smart system that automatically calculates the price of each shipment based on three main factors:

1. **From where to where?** (The shipping route)
2. **How fast?** (The service type)
3. **How much does it weigh or measure?** (The calculation method)

## 🔄 The Step-by-Step Process

### Step 1: Customer Requests a Quote
When a customer wants to send a package, they provide:
- 📍 Origin address (where it ships from)
- 📍 Destination address (where it's going)
- 📦 Package characteristics (weight, size)
- 🚀 Desired service type (standard, express, etc.)

### Step 2: The System Identifies the Zones
The system looks up which zones each address belongs to. It can do this in three ways, and combines them:

- By **location** (state and city), which is common in countries where postal codes aren't widely used
- By **postal code**, exact or within a range
- By the country's **wildcard zone**, which acts as a fallback and is **always** added

The same address can belong to several zones at once. The system gathers all of them and then checks which **active routes** exist between the origin and destination zones.

> Multiple zones matching isn't a bug: it's what lets specific rates coexist with a general one. Who wins is decided in step 3, by priority.

### Step 3: Rate Lookup
With the route identified, the system looks up:
- The price configured for that specific route
- The price of the selected service (standard, express, etc.)
- The applicable calculation method (fixed price, by weight, by volume)

### Step 4: Final Price Calculation
Depending on the configured method:
- **Fixed Price**: The set amount is applied
- **By Weight**: Weight is multiplied by the price per kilogram
- **By Volume**: Calculated based on the package's dimensions

### Step 5: Presentation to the Customer
The system shows:
- 💵 The final shipping price
- ⏱️ The estimated delivery time
- 📋 The included service details

## 🏗️ System Components

### 🗺️ Geographic Zones
Zones are groupings of areas that share the same shipping price. For example:
- **"Downtown" Zone**: All postal codes in the city center
- **"Suburbs" Zone**: Residential areas around the city
- **"Rural" Zone**: Towns and outlying areas

**Advantage**: You don't need to set a price for every single postal code, just for zone groups.

### 🛤️ Shipping Routes
A route is the combination of:
- **Origin Zone** + **Destination Zone**

Example:
- Route 1: Downtown → Downtown (local shipments)
- Route 2: Downtown → Suburbs (metropolitan shipments)
- Route 3: Downtown → Rural (long-distance shipments)

### 📦 Service Levels
The different delivery types you offer:

**Standard Service**
- Delivery in 3-5 business days
- Economical price
- Ideal for non-urgent shipments

**Express Service**
- 24-hour delivery
- Premium price
- Real-time tracking

**Priority Service**
- Same-day delivery
- Special price
- Preferential handling

> **Includes pickup:** When configuring a service type you can turn on the **"Includes pickup"** option. Orders created with that service automatically schedule the package pickup at the sender's address, without having to create the pickup by hand. See the pickups guide for details.

### 🧮 Calculation Methods

**1. Fixed Price (Flat Rate)**
- A single price regardless of weight or size
- Example: "All envelopes cost $5"
- Ideal for: Documents, standard products

**2. Price by Weight**
- The cost increases based on the package's weight
- Example: "$2 per kilogram"
- Ideal for: General merchandise, varied products

**3. Price by Volume (Volumetric Weight)**
- Considers the space the package takes up
- Calculated as: (Length × Width × Height) ÷ Factor
- Ideal for: Large but lightweight packages

## 💡 Full Practical Example

**Situation**: Maria wants to send a 5kg package from downtown Madrid to a small town in Valencia.

### 1️⃣ Zone Identification
- **Origin**: ZIP 28013 (Madrid) → "Madrid Downtown" Zone
- **Destination**: ZIP 46960 (rural Valencia) → "Valencia Towns" Zone

### 2️⃣ Route Verification
- The system finds the route: "Madrid Downtown → Valencia Towns" ✅

### 3️⃣ Available Options
The system shows the rates configured for this route:

| Service | Method | Calculation | Price |
|----------|--------|---------|--------|
| Standard (3-4 days) | By weight | 5kg × $2/kg | **$10** |
| Express (24 hours) | By weight | 5kg × $3.5/kg | **$17.50** |
| Priority (same day) | Fixed price | Flat rate | **$35** |

### 4️⃣ Maria's Choice
Maria selects "Express" because she needs it to arrive tomorrow.
**Final Price: $17.50**

## 🎓 Advanced Concepts

### Seasonal Rates
You can configure special prices for:
- 🎄 Christmas (higher rates due to high demand)
- 🌴 Summer (special promotions)
- 🛍️ Black Friday (volume discounts)

### Minimum Billable Weight
Even if the package weighs less, a minimum is charged.
Example: "Minimum 1kg" - A 200g envelope is charged as 1kg.

### Tiered Rates
Different prices depending on weight ranges:
- 0-5 kg: $10
- 5-10 kg: $15
- 10-20 kg: $20
- Over 20 kg: $25

Two details worth keeping in mind:

- The price of a tier is the **total price for that tier**, not a price per kilo. If you also set a base price, the tier price **is added** to it.
- Tiers apply **above** their starting weight. A package that weighs exactly 5 kg doesn't fall into the tier that starts at 5 yet; it falls into the previous one.

### Rule Priority
If you have several rates competing for the same route and the same service, **the one with the lowest priority number** wins. That is: priority 1 applies before priority 10.

That order matters more than it seems, because an address usually belongs to several zones at once (its own and the country's wildcard), which makes several rates compete:

1. Inactive rates, those for a different delivery mode, and those outside their validity dates are discarded.
2. The remaining ones are sorted by priority, from lowest to highest number.
3. The first one is tried. If the package exceeds its weight or size limits, **the next one is tried**, and so on.
4. The first one that accepts the package sets the price.

> **Recommendation**: use different priority numbers for rates of the same service on the same route. If two share a number, the result stops being predictable.

That step 3 is useful on purpose: you can have a cheap rate with strict limits and, behind it, a backup rate with a higher priority number that picks up the packages that don't fit the first one.

### Delivery Mode
Each rate belongs to a specific mode:

- **Door to door**: picked up at the sender's address and delivered to the recipient's.
- **Agency to agency**: the customer drops the package off at an agency and the recipient picks it up at another.

Modes **never substitute for each other**. If a shipment is agency-to-agency and you only have door-to-door rates for that route, that shipment can't be quoted. Each mode needs its own rates.

### Weight-Based Pricing Templates
When you configure prices by weight, you create a **template** with its base price, its per-unit price, and its tiers. That template can be reused across several rates, which saves a lot of work.

> ⚠️ **Careful**: editing a template changes **every** rate that uses it. It's the usual explanation for "I changed one price and others moved on me." Before modifying a template, check how many rates are using it.

### Kilograms and Pounds
Each rate has its own weight unit. If the shipment's weight comes in a different unit than the rate's, the system converts it automatically before calculating and before checking the limits. You don't have to convert anything by hand.

### Rates by Customer
You can assign custom prices to specific customers on flat-rate rules. When that customer checks shipping options, they see their special price instead of the base price. Useful for commercial agreements or high-volume customers.

For more details, see the [rates by customer guide](/en/docs/pricing/tarifas-por-cliente/).

## ✅ System Advantages

### For Your Business
- **Flexibility**: Adjust prices without coding
- **Control**: Define complex pricing strategies
- **Automation**: No more manual calculations
- **Scalability**: Grow without limits

### For Your Customers
- **Transparency**: Clear, predictable prices
- **Options**: Different services based on need
- **Speed**: Instant quotes
- **Trust**: No price surprises

## 🚨 Important Points to Remember

1. **Zones must be well defined** - Make sure every postal code is assigned
2. **Routes must be active** - Verify origin-destination combinations exist
3. **There must always be a rate** - Configure at least one option for each route
4. **Changes are immediate** - Be careful when modifying prices in production

## 📝 Summary

Sistrack's rate system:
1. **Identifies** where the shipment is going from and to
2. **Looks up** the rate configured for that route
3. **Calculates** the price based on the chosen method
4. **Presents** the options to the customer
5. **Applies** the selected price to the order

## 🎯 Next Steps

Now that you understand how the system works, we recommend:
1. Learning about [Geographic Zones](/en/docs/pricing/zonas-geograficas/)
2. Understanding the [Calculation Methods](/en/docs/pricing/metodos-de-calculo/)
3. Reviewing the [Practical Examples](/en/docs/pricing/ejemplos-practicos/)

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*Have questions? Check our [FAQ](/en/docs/pricing/preguntas-frecuentes/) or contact support.*