A freight rate is a price

Price

-Definition:In ordinary usage, price is the quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services.In modern economies, prices are generally expressed in units of some form of currency...

 at which a certain cargo

Cargo

Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...

 is delivered from one point to another. The price depends on the form of the cargo, the mode of transport

Mode of transport

Mode of transport is a term used to distinguish substantially different ways to perform transport. The most dominant modes of transport are aviation, land transport, which includes rail, road and off-road transport, and ship transport...

 (truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

, ship

Ship

Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...

, train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

, aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

), the weight

Weight

In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force on the object due to gravity. Its magnitude , often denoted by an italic letter W, is the product of the mass m of the object and the magnitude of the local gravitational acceleration g; thus:...

 of the cargo, and the distance

Distance

Distance is a numerical description of how far apart objects are. In physics or everyday discussion, distance may refer to a physical length, or an estimation based on other criteria . In mathematics, a distance function or metric is a generalization of the concept of physical distance...

 to the delivery destination. Many shipping services, especially air carriers, use dimensional weight

Dimensional weight

Dimensional weight, used in shipping and freight, is a billing technique which takes into account the XYZ axis dimensions of a package.-Significance:Shipping costs have historically been calculated on the basis of gross weight in kilograms or pounds...

 for calculating the price, which takes into account both weight and volume of the cargo.

For example, bulk coal long-distance rates in America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 are approximately 1 cent/ton-mile. So a 100 car train, each carrying 100 tons, over a distance of 1000 miles, would cost $100,000.

In ship chartering, freight is the price which a charterer pays a shipowner for the use of a ship in a voyage charter.