What is Outlier Manual Flagging?
The Outlier Manual Flagging feature allows Shippers to identify and exclude unusually high or low bids that could skew event data, Real-Time Bid Feedback, and Lane Insights. By flagging these outliers, Shippers can ensure a more accurate and competitive bidding process.
Why is This Important?
Outliers can impact bid feedback and optimization, making it harder for Carriers—especially Premier Carriers—to understand where their bids stand. This feature gives Shippers more control over their data, leading to:
✅ More accurate bid insights
✅ Better optimization results
✅ A fairer competitive landscape for Carriers
How It Works
After bidding has closed for an RFP event, Shippers can manually flag outlier bid responses two ways:
1. Flagging Outliers Directly in the RFP Application
Steps:
Go to your RFP Event > Lanes Tab and select a lane
Select the checkbox next to the participant you want to flag
Click Manage Outliers > Flag as Outlier
2. Bulk Upload Outliers
Steps:
Go to your RFP Event > Home Tab
Click Upload Outliers
Download and open up the template file (excel)
On the rightmost column, change the Outlier value to Yes for your outlier rows
Save and upload file back into the portal
Optimizing Feedback and Analysis after Flagging
Once flagged, Shippers can choose to:
✔ Exclude flagged outliers from bid feedback – Prevents them from affecting Real-Time Bid Feedback for entire participant pool
✔ Exclude flagged outliers from optimization – Ensures they do not influence final event calculations.
For Carriers:
If a Carrier submits a bid that is flagged as an outlier:
It will be flagged in the carrier portal with a note saying:
"Your bid was flagged as an outlier and excluded by the shipper. Please contact the shipper for more details."
If outlier exclusion is enabled, the flagged bid may not be considered in bid feedback and optimization.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How are outliers flagged?
This is done manually by the shipper’s own logic. Once logic is determined, shipper can manually flag via upload file or in-app
When am I able to upload/edit outlier status?
Once bidding has closed, Outliers may be flagged via Upload or in the UI.
How do outliers function in multi-round RFP events?
In multi-round events, Outlier statuses will transfer over from Round 1 to Round 2 if and only if the Shipper chooses to configure Round 2 by copying lanes and responses from Round 1
What workflows can exclude outliers?
Shippers may exclude outliers from Real-Time Bid Feedback and/or Optimization Scenarios