Air events let you run RFPs for air freight directly in Emerge — collecting weight-based rates and service-level pricing 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, Air templates are fully flexible. You choose exactly which fields to collect, and you define your own rate types (e.g., rate per pound, rate per kilogram) instead of relying on Emerge's default truckload rate types.

Pro feature. Air event support is available to Pro Shippers with Air access enabled. If you don't see Air 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 note: Emerge doesn't currently support non-USD pricing natively — if collecting non-USD rates, add a custom currency field and apply a conversion rate in your cost formula. Also, carriers without a U.S. DOT/MC registration can't be onboarded automatically; non-U.S. air carrier onboarding is still a manual process.

Step 1 — Start a new template and select Air
Go to Templates tab > Click Create Template, and choose Air as your mode type.

Step 2 — Define your origin and destination
At minimum, you need an origin and destination field. Most air shippers use origin airport code and destination airport code. 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., "Rate per Pound." Add a description so carriers know exactly what to submit.

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, rate per pound, minimum rate, and airport handling fee/accessorial.

Step 6 — Set up your cost formula
Emerge auto-populates your primary rate field as the cost formula. Ex: multiplying rate per pound × shipment weight. Edit further to add accessorials, minimum rates, or conditional logic for different service levels (standard, overnight, door-to-door).

Step 1 — Start a new event and select your Air 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 Air 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.

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.