Written as a two-page memo to Petrie Rowing's operations director, this composite for MT434 Unit 3 picks one carrier for 410 commercial shipments after pricing every surcharge. Searches like "mt 434 unit 3 assignment example", "mt434 unit 3 sample" and "mt434 unit 3 example" land here.
What a finished MT434 Unit 3 carrier selection memo looks like
Two pages in memo format, with a header block, a recommendation paragraph, one table and a short risk section. The lane covers 410 less-than-truckload shipments a year to fitness studios, hotels and campus recreation centers, averaging 1,150 pounds, with 46 light enough to hit minimum charges. Three bids are compared. A national carrier quotes $41.20 per hundredweight plus 31 percent fuel, a regional carrier interlining east of Denver $36.80 plus 34 percent, and a broker $44.50 with fuel included. Liftgates are needed on 30 percent of deliveries and appointments on half. Service history converts to money at $185 per late delivery and $900 per claim. Rate alone ranks the bids $173,512, $194,258 and $209,818; fully loaded, the broker leads at $248,494, ahead of $259,812 regional and $286,112 national.
How a MT434 Unit 3 example is structured
Recommendation first, in three sentences: the carrier, the annual cost and the condition under which the choice should be reopened. Next comes the table, one column per bid and one row per cost element, so a reader can watch the ranking change as rows accumulate. Base linehaul and fuel lead, then minimum charges on the 46 small shipments, then liftgate and appointment fees, then two service rows. On-time rates of 93, 86 and 95 percent become expected late deliveries of 28.7, 57.4 and 20.5 a year, and claim rates become 3.7, 6.6 and 2.1 claims. Why the broker wins despite its rate gets one paragraph: its $44.50 already includes fuel, while the regional carrier's $36.80 becomes $49.31 once 34 percent is added, and the interline handoff then doubles lateness. The risk section tests fuel, since only the broker's price is fixed, and closes with a review date.
Three sentences before the table
The memo opens on its answer: contract the broker's carrier for twelve months, expect $248,494, and revisit if fuel surcharges fall about seven points. A director reading nothing else still has the decision.
Rows that reorder the bids
Base linehaul, fuel, minimums, liftgates, appointments, lateness and claims each take a row with a running total. The regional carrier leads only on base linehaul; after appointments it trails by just $432, and service costs reopen the gap.
Why the interline costs more
Freight bound east changes trailers at a partner terminal, and the memo ties the regional carrier's 86 percent on-time record to that handoff. Late deliveries cost $185 each because studio installation crews must be rebooked.
Small shipments tell a different story
On the 46 light loads, minimums of $160, $195 and $210 favor the regional carrier. The memo notes this without splitting the lane, since separate contracts would lose the broker's volume price.
The fuel clause
Only the broker's rate includes fuel. If surcharges on the other two bids dropped by roughly 6.7 points, the regional carrier would become cheaper, so the contract carries a fuel review at six months.
Where marks go in MT434 Unit 3
Choosing on base rate is the trap this MT434 memo exists to catch, and papers that rank carriers by hundredweight price alone usually pick the wrong one here. Accessorials count heavily wherever a rate sheet was supplied: liftgate and appointment fees, fuel percentages and minimums each have to appear, applied to the right share of shipments. On-time performance quoted as a percentage but never converted to cost leaves the reader to guess what 86 percent means in dollars. Burying the recommendation after two pages of comparison frustrates the format. A fuel-inclusive bid set beside fuel-exclusive ones, with nothing said about what happens if diesel moves, draws comment as well. A stated review point, a date or a trigger, shows the writer understands that a carrier decision is a contract, not a permanent answer.
Get a MT434 Unit 3 example written to your instructions
Carrier bids, rate sheets and a lane description from your Unit 3 prompt are the useful inputs; add your rubric and the memo format your course expects, if it names one. We return a composite memo that prices every accessorial, converts service records to cost and leads with its decision. First custom sample, free, within 24-48h.
MT434 Unit 3 questions, answered
What belongs in a carrier selection memo besides rates?
Usually fuel surcharges, accessorial fees such as liftgate and appointment charges, minimum charges, and service measures like on-time percentage and claims ratio. The strongest memos convert those service measures into an expected annual cost so every bid can be compared in dollars. Where your case supplies only some of these, use what it gives and say which factors you could not price.
How should on-time performance be turned into money?
Multiply the share of late shipments by annual volume to get expected late deliveries, then multiply by what one late delivery costs the shipper, such as a customer credit, a rebooked crew or an expedited replacement. Your case may give that cost directly. If not, state a reasonable estimate and its basis, because readers check the assumption as closely as the arithmetic.
Should the memo split freight between carriers?
It can, and some prompts invite it. Splitting lets each carrier handle the shipments it prices best, but it can cost volume discounts and add management work. If you recommend a split, show the savings net of those losses. Many graders prefer one clear recommendation with a named backup carrier over a split that is never costed.