Ocean events let you run RFPs for international ocean freight directly in Emerge — collecting container-based rates, arbitrary charges, and transit times from your carrier network without forcing your bid into a standard truckload template.

Unlike Full Truckload (FTL) templates, which come with a fixed, bundled set of fields, Ocean templates are fully flexible. You choose exactly which fields to collect, and you can define your own rate types (e.g., rate per 20-foot container, rate per 40-foot container) instead of relying on Emerge's default truckload rate types.

Pro feature. Ocean event support is available to Pro Shippers with Ocean access enabled. If you don't see Ocean as a mode option when creating a template, contact your Customer Success Manager to request access — this is enabled per account and isn't automatically turned on for all Pro shippers.

⚠️ Important: If you remove the volume field from your template to simplify it, you'll lose access to automated optimization. You can still run manual allocations and publish awards using the bid rank column in your event results — you just won't get an auto-generated lowest-cost scenario.

🌍 International currency note: Emerge doesn't currently support non-USD pricing natively. If you're collecting rates in another currency, add a custom field to indicate the currency (e.g., "EUR," "GBP") and use the cost formula editor to apply a conversion rate. Also note: carriers without a U.S. DOT/MC registration can't be onboarded automatically — non-U.S. carrier onboarding is still a manual process.

Step 1 — Start a new template and select Ocean
Go to Template tab, click Create Template, and choose Ocean as your mode type.

Step 2 — Define your origin and destination
At minimum, you need an origin and destination field. Most ocean shippers use origin port and destination port. City/state also works if you prefer.

Step 3 — Set your rate response type
Choose from Emerge's defaults (line haul, all-in) or select Other to create a custom type — e.g., "Standard 40' Rate" or "Standard 20' Rate."

Step 4 — Customize your lane fields
Your base template includes lane name, origin, destination, estimated volume, and volume frequency. From here:

Step 5 — Configure your participant response fields
Add the fields you want carriers to bid on — for example, standard 40' rate, standard 20' rate, arbitrary/accessorial charges, and transit time.

Step 6 — Set up your cost formula
Emerge auto-populates your primary rate field as the cost formula. Edit it to add accessorials, minimum rates, or conditional logic as needed.

Step 1 — Start a new event and select your Ocean template

Step 2 — Upload your lanes
Use the lane template you built above to upload your lane data (Excel upload, same as a standard event).

Step 3 — Invite your participants
Remember: Emerge brokerage and Premier Carriers are not invited by default to Ocean events. Build your participant list manually.

Step 4 — Publish your bid
Review and publish. Once bidding opens, participants will see only the fields you configured — e.g., "Bangkok → Boston" instead of a full FTL lane view.

If your template doesn't include volume, you won't be able to generate an automated lowest-cost scenario — but you can still allocate manually (or via upload) and publish primary or backup awards, even at zero awarded volume. Carriers can still accept their award, and you'll have your rates on file.