Air cargo forwarder website with rate requests in Montreal: cost (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

In air freight, shippers send the same request to three forwarders and often pick the first one that replies with a clear price. A website with chargeable-weight rate requests, AWB tracking and lane pages costs 18,000 to 32,000 CAD in 2026 for a Montreal forwarder handling 6,000 AWBs a year, delivered in 9 weeks. The client completes the request in 2 minutes and your team quotes in 20 minutes instead of 3 hours.

A 2-minute rate request: what the form must ask

Most rate requests arrive incomplete: weight without dimensions, no airport code, undeclared dangerous goods. The form must guide the shipper and automatically compute the chargeable weight, the higher of actual and volumetric weight (length × width × height in cm divided by 6,000).

The site does not show firm prices, since air rates move weekly. It can show an indicative range per zone to avoid out-of-budget requests, then pass a complete file to the pricing desk.

2026 budget and features by tier

AWB tracking relies on carrier prefixes (014 for Air Canada, 057 for Air France, 176 for Emirates) and a status aggregation API billed at 150 to 450 CAD per month depending on volume. Also plan 220 to 380 CAD per month for maintenance. In Quebec, Law 96 makes a French version mandatory for a business serving local clients, so the advanced tier includes it by default.

Lane pages, the engine of qualified traffic

A page such as "Air freight Montreal to Dakar" or "Air freight Montreal to Shanghai" ranks on high-intent searches. Each page should list flight frequencies, usual transit times (for example 2 to 3 days to Dakar via Paris, 3 to 5 days to Shanghai with a connection), required documents and local customs constraints. For Africa, mentioning destination clearance and local partners reassures exporting SMEs.

Mini case study

David, director of an air freight forwarder in Montreal, receives 900 rate requests a year by email, 40 % of them incomplete. Each quote costs an average of 3 hours of follow-ups and calculation. With a 25,000 CAD website, requests arrive complete and time drops to 20 minutes: across 900 requests, the team saves about 2,400 hours a year. Conversion rises from 22 % to 28 %, or 54 more shipments, at an average margin of 650 CAD, about 35,000 CAD of extra annual margin. The site pays back in roughly 9 months before counting the time saved, as an estimate.

FAQ

Can the site show an automatic price?

A range per zone and weight bracket is realistic, for example 4.00 to 6.20 CAD per chargeable kg to West Africa. The firm price is still validated by the pricing desk because fuel surcharges change monthly.

Does AWB tracking work for every carrier?

An aggregation API covers more than 150 airlines. For the rest, the site redirects to the carrier tracking page with the number prefilled.

How are dangerous goods handled?

The form asks for the IATA class and UN number, then flags the request to a DGR-certified agent. This triage avoids about 15 % of quotes being redone.

Can the site connect to our forwarding software?

Yes, on the complete tier, via API or structured export to your TMS. This connection accounts for roughly 5,000 CAD of the budget.

How long until launch?

Nine weeks on the advanced tier, including 2 weeks to write the 20 lane pages with your team. Providing your transit times per lane speeds up the writing.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your AWB volume, main lanes and forwarding software: we will price a website between 18,000 and 32,000 CAD depending on tracking and automation. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.