Keystone Transport's Weekly Fuel Surcharge Now Runs Itself
Diesel price fetch, rate calculation, management approval, CRM update, and customer notification, running every Tuesday as one automated cycle with a full audit trail.
Executive summary
Keystone Transport's weekly fuel surcharge process was handled largely by hand. Diesel prices were checked manually, rates were calculated in a Zoho Sheet disconnected from CRM, and every price change had to be translated into updated customer rates one record at a time.
We built an end-to-end automation on Zoho Creator, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Cliq that runs the entire FSC cycle every Tuesday without manual intervention. It pulls the current diesel price from the U.S. EIA API, calculates proposed rates from a configurable table inside Creator, routes them to management for one-click approval, updates CRM with an automation note behind every change, and notifies customers and the internal sales team.
★★★★★5.0 rated Zoho partner profileA Weekly Cycle Held Together by Hand
Diesel prices had to be checked manually each week, and rate calculations were run against a Zoho Sheet rather than anything connected to CRM.
Every price change had to be manually translated into updated customer rates across separate Fuel Surcharge records, covering both standard price-based categories and custom negotiated rates for specific customers such as Amish Country Poly and Archbold Furniture.
No structured record tied a rate change back to who reviewed and approved it, and there was no built-in way to notify customers or the internal sales team once a change was confirmed. Price lookup, calculation, approval, CRM update, and notification each happened separately every week, with real risk of a step being missed, delayed, or applied inconsistently.
One Automated Tuesday Cycle
We automated every step of the weekly cycle, leaving management a single decision to make and a clear record behind every rate that changes.
- 01
Automatic Price Fetch
We pull the current New England diesel price directly from the U.S. EIA API each week, replacing the manual price lookup.
- 02
Rate Calculation Without a Spreadsheet
A configurable FSC Table inside Zoho Creator, covering 17 price brackets, calculates proposed rates for all CRM Fuel Surcharge records automatically.
- 03
Built-In Approval Step
Management receives an email with a clear rate comparison and approves or denies with one click via a Zoho Form, guarded against duplicate submissions.
- 04
CRM Update and Audit Trail
Once approved, CRM records update automatically and we create an automation note plus a linked note for every change, so there is a clear record of what changed and when.
- 05
Tiered Notifications
Customers automatically receive only the rate information relevant to them, while the internal sales team is notified through Zoho Cliq and email.
- 06
Built to Scale
Adding a new custom customer means adding a CRM record and a rate column. No developer work is required, and the next Tuesday cycle picks it up automatically.
Zoho Creator
Zoho CRMZoho CliqZoho Forms
Zoho FlowHow the Cycle Runs
The cycle starts with a live price and ends with notified customers. Management steps in at one point only, to approve or deny, and every downstream update follows from that decision.
Approve or Deny, Nothing Else
James and the team step in only at the approval point. Every other step of the weekly cycle runs on its own.
An Audit Trail Behind Every Rate
Each approved change writes an automation note and a linked note in CRM, so what changed and when is a matter of record rather than recollection.
Growth Without Developer Work
A new custom-rate customer needs a CRM record and a rate column, and it is picked up automatically the next Tuesday.
The Impact Since Go-Live
“Just wanted to give you a shout out and thank you for the excellent job you did on the Automated Fuel Surcharge system you set up. The screens, the forms, the entire look is very professional, clean, modern like we all like. Use this project as a sample of what we are looking for in design and execution!”
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