Legal

Terms of Use

The short version: RateAnchor is a decision-support tool, not a financial advisor, attorney, freight broker, dispatcher, or transportation intermediary. You remain responsible for your business decisions and for verifying information before relying on it. Purchases and subscriptions in the mobile apps are billed by the Apple App Store or Google Play under that platform's rules, and subscriptions renew until you cancel through the platform. Your base subscription price is locked for as long as your subscription stays continuously active. The business information you enter is designed to stay on your device; the limited technical information involved in operating the App is described in our Privacy Policy. Florida law governs, and most disputes go to individual arbitration, with a 30-day opt-out and a small-claims option. Nothing here takes away rights the law gives you.

1. Agreement and eligibility

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you and Midnight Engine Labs LLC, a Florida limited liability company ("MEL," "we," "us," "our"), governing your use of the RateAnchor mobile application, the rateanchor.app website, and related services that reference these Terms (the "App"). RateAnchor does not currently include a separate web application; if MEL later offers one, these Terms will be updated to describe it before it is offered. You accept these Terms by tapping "Agree & Continue" (or an equivalent affirmative control) in the App, or by purchasing a subscription or other paid entitlement after being presented with these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App. IMPORTANT: SECTION 16 CONTAINS AN INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, A CLASS-ACTION WAIVER, AND A WAIVER OF THE RIGHT TO HAVE COVERED DISPUTES DECIDED BY A JUDGE OR JURY, SUBJECT TO THE EXCEPTIONS AND THE 30-DAY OPT-OUT DESCRIBED THERE. You must be at least eighteen (18) years old, or the age of legal majority where you live if greater, to use the App. If you use the App on behalf of a company or other organization, you represent that you have authority to bind it, and "you" includes that organization.

2. License

Subject to these Terms, MEL grants you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to use the App for your own lawful business or personal purposes. Except where applicable law gives you a right that cannot be restricted, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, sublicense, or commercially exploit the App; reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to extract its source code; circumvent access restrictions or security measures; use automated means to scrape or bulk-harvest the App or its service endpoints; falsely represent yourself as MEL or RateAnchor; or use the App in violation of these Terms or applicable law. No rights are granted except those expressly stated.

3. Subscriptions, trials, and purchases

Mobile billing. Purchases made through the Apple App Store or Google Play are processed by that platform and are also subject to its payment, billing, cancellation, and refund rules. MEL does not receive or store your payment-card credentials for purchases processed by those platforms. If MEL later offers a separate web or direct-purchase option, the terms presented with that purchase will govern its billing.

Automatic renewal. Paid subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period at your locked base price described below, unless cancelled before renewal in accordance with the procedures of the platform through which you purchased. Renewal timing, authorization holds, billing dates, and payment processing are controlled in part by the platform.

How to cancel. Cancel through the platform where you purchased — on Apple devices through your Apple account's subscription settings; on Android through Google Play's subscription settings. Cancellation stops future renewals and does not end paid access already provided for the current period unless the platform or applicable law provides otherwise. Deleting the App does not cancel a subscription.

Free trial. Where a free trial is offered, its length, conversion terms, eligibility, and the price that follows are disclosed before you start it. A trial that converts to a paid subscription must be cancelled before the platform processes the conversion; platform rules govern trial eligibility, forfeiture of unused trial time, and conversion timing.

Refunds. Refund eligibility and processing depend on the platform through which you purchased, that platform's policies, MEL's ability to issue or approve a refund where the platform permits developer-initiated refunds, and applicable law. MEL may facilitate refunds where permitted but is not obligated to provide one except as required by law, platform rules, or an express written MEL policy. Nothing in these Terms limits any non-waivable refund right you have under applicable law.

Your locked base price. For a continuously active RateAnchor subscription, MEL will not increase the base subscription price it controls for that same plan. Your base price stays locked while the subscription renews without interruption. A renewal recovered within the platform's billing-grace or payment-recovery period is treated as continuous. The lock does not prevent changes resulting solely from taxes, VAT or similar government charges; currency conversion; legally required charges; platform-controlled pricing mechanics outside MEL's reasonable control; switching to a different plan; purchasing a separately priced add-on, product, or service; or ending the subscription and subscribing again later. If your subscription expires, is cancelled, or otherwise ceases to be continuously active, a later subscription is priced at the offer then available. If MEL lowers the base price of the same plan, MEL will apply the lower price to continuously active subscriptions where the platform supports it. Nothing in this section requires MEL to include future stand-alone products or separately sold add-ons in an existing subscription; what a subscription includes is described in the App at the time of purchase.

4. Founding Operator offer

The "Founding Operator" purchase is a one-time paid entitlement limited to the first one hundred (100) qualifying purchasers across the Apple App Store and Google Play combined.

Eligibility and cap. Eligibility is determined by the earliest platform-confirmed successful purchase records reasonably available to MEL. If platform latency, synchronization delays, or similar technical circumstances allow more than one hundred purchases to complete before the offer can be closed, MEL will honor every completed purchase. A refunded, reversed, fraudulent, or charged-back purchase does not retain Founding Operator benefits. Once the offer is closed, MEL is not required to reopen it because of later refunds, chargebacks, or cancellations.

What you receive. For the lifetime of the App as defined below, a valid Founding Operator receives, without any recurring subscription charge, every feature that is part of RateAnchor's paid membership, including capabilities added to the membership later (any usage meter that applies to a capability applies equally to Founding Operators), the Founding Operator badge if offered, and the founder support channel described in the App while it is offered. Founding Operators are not affected by any subscription price change. MEL may separately create and charge for materially distinct stand-alone products that are not part of the RateAnchor membership; such separate products are not automatically included.

"Lifetime" defined. "Lifetime" means the period during which MEL, or a successor that assumes these obligations, commercially offers RateAnchor with a paid membership. It refers to the commercial life of the product, not the lifetime of the purchaser, a device, or a platform account, and is not a promise that RateAnchor will operate for any minimum number of years.

Scope and transfer. The entitlement attaches to the platform account used for the purchase and is subject to that platform's account, family-sharing, restoration, and device rules. Unless law or the platform requires otherwise, it is non-transferable, non-resalable, has no cash value, and is not convertible to cash, credit, or another product. It is not an investment, security, or ownership interest in MEL.

Change of control; wind-down. If RateAnchor is acquired or transferred, MEL will use commercially reasonable efforts to require the successor to honor valid Founding Operator benefits while it continues to offer the membership. If RateAnchor is permanently discontinued, Founding Operator benefits end with the product; where reasonably practicable MEL will give at least ninety (90) days' advance notice. This section controls over any other provision concerning Founding Operator benefits.

5. Not professional advice or transportation services

RateAnchor provides calculations, estimates, market-reference information, educational materials, workflow tools, and decision-support resources. It does not provide financial, legal, tax, accounting, investment, insurance, transportation-regulatory, or other licensed professional advice, and using it creates no attorney-client, accountant-client, fiduciary, advisory, agency, brokerage, dispatch, or similar relationship with MEL. The App does not guarantee any freight or market rate, profitability, payment, fuel or operating cost, the accuracy or availability of market information, the legitimacy, solvency, safety, or performance of any third party, regulatory compliance, recovery on a claim, success in a dispute, any legal or administrative deadline, or any business outcome. Calculations depend on the accuracy of your inputs. You are solely responsible for the rates you quote or accept, the loads you haul, the parties you work with, the documents you submit, the representations you make, the contracts you enter, and the business decisions you make.

Broker and carrier information. RateAnchor may surface publicly available records, government information, and educational red-flag prompts. A clean result is not a guarantee that a party is legitimate, safe, creditworthy, or trustworthy; a flag or prompt is not an accusation of fraud or wrongdoing. MEL does not independently investigate every party appearing in public records; you must verify material information yourself.

Guides, letters, templates, and informational resources. The carrier resources library, in-app guides, the DataQ builder, the claim kit, and any template, worksheet, letter, or deadline the App helps you prepare are general information, not legal advice, and create no attorney-client relationship. Laws, regulations, agency procedures, deadlines, and third-party requirements change; MEL has no duty to update them, and you must verify the current requirements before you rely on them or act on a deadline. Any document you prepare or send using RateAnchor is your document, sent under your own name and authority.

No freight brokerage or dispatch service. MEL is not acting through RateAnchor as a freight broker, dispatcher, motor carrier, freight forwarder, or transportation intermediary. RateAnchor does not arrange transportation between shippers and carriers, accept freight, negotiate transportation contracts on your behalf, select a carrier or shipper for you, control freight movement, or collect transportation compensation. If MEL ever introduces a materially different service involving such activity, separate terms and any legally required arrangements will apply.

6. Third-party data, platforms, and services

RateAnchor may display, retrieve, or calculate information derived from third-party, public, or government sources, including sources associated with the EIA, NWS/NOAA, FMCSA, USDA, and the U.S. Census Bureau. Those sources may be delayed, incomplete, inaccurate, unavailable, changed, or discontinued; MEL does not control them and does not guarantee their accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or availability. Agency and third-party names are used for identification only and imply no sponsorship or endorsement. The App also depends on operating systems, app stores, networks, APIs, hosting, and other third-party services; MEL is not responsible for outages or changes caused solely by services outside its reasonable control.

7. Your content, device storage, backups, and privacy

User Content. "User Content" means the substantive information you create, enter, import, or store through RateAnchor — costs, quotes, loads, lanes, Broker Book entries, rate-confirmation information, records, notes, documents, and settings. RateAnchor is designed so that User Content stays on your device unless you intentionally export, share, transmit, or back it up using a feature that sends it off the device. MEL claims no ownership of your User Content.

Backups. Where the App offers backup and restore, you control the backup file and are responsible for creating and keeping it. Loss, theft, damage, deletion, corruption, device failure, or a failed restore can permanently lose locally stored information; MEL cannot recover it.

Technical, transaction, and support information. User Content is distinct from the technical, platform, transaction, network, diagnostic, or support information that app stores, operating systems, network infrastructure, third-party services, or MEL may process where necessary to operate, secure, support, or administer the App — for example, the parameters of a lookup you request through MEL's own service endpoints and the standard server logs those requests generate. MEL's handling of any information it actually receives is described in the RateAnchor Privacy Policy at https://rateanchor.app/privacy.html. If a technical data practice is inconsistent with this section, MEL will revise the applicable disclosure rather than rely on this section.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the App for an unlawful, fraudulent, abusive, or deceptive purpose; misrepresent an App output as a guarantee, certification, government determination, or MEL endorsement; use App information to knowingly harass, defame, threaten, or defraud anyone; probe, attack, disrupt, overload, circumvent, or gain unauthorized access to the App or its infrastructure; scrape, bulk-harvest, or redistribute MEL's service endpoints or proprietary content without permission; introduce malicious code; interfere with another user's lawful use; falsely imply affiliation with MEL; or use the App in violation of anyone's intellectual-property or other rights. MEL may restrict or suspend access associated with material abuse, security threats, unlawful activity, or material violation of these Terms.

9. Intellectual property and feedback

The App — its software, design, interface, text, graphics, databases, compilations, the RateAnchor name and branding, and the anchor-road mark — is owned by or licensed to MEL and protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. "RateAnchor" is a trademark of Midnight Engine Labs LLC. Open-source components remain subject to their own licenses, identified in the App.

Feedback. If you voluntarily provide ideas, suggestions, feature requests, or other feedback, you grant MEL a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free right to use, reproduce, modify, implement, and commercialize it without compensation or obligation to you; MEL acquires no ownership of your unrelated User Content by doing so.

Stories you send. If you send a story through “Share your story,” you grant MEL a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, display and publish it on rateanchor.app and in RateAnchor marketing, and to edit it for length, spelling, formatting or clarity without materially changing its meaning — only as the option you chose allows: with your first name, last initial, city, state and equipment if you chose “Yes — with my first name”; without your identifying attribution if you chose “Yes — without my identifying attribution”; and not at all if you chose “No — just for the RateAnchor team” or made no choice. Your answer to “what would make RateAnchor better” is Feedback under the paragraph above and is never published. You may ask MEL to remove a published story at any time with its removal code or the email address you gave (see the Privacy Policy); MEL will remove it from rateanchor.app and its own marketing within 30 days, but cannot recall copies others have already made. You confirm that the story is your own, is truthful, and contains no one else’s confidential or personal information.

10. Warranty disclaimer

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE APP AND ALL INFORMATION, CONTENT, FEATURES, CALCULATIONS, DATA, AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." MEL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, ACCURACY, QUIET ENJOYMENT, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. MEL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE APP WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; THAT ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; THAT THIRD-PARTY DATA WILL BE ACCURATE OR AVAILABLE; THAT CALCULATIONS OR ESTIMATES WILL MATCH ACTUAL RESULTS; THAT LOCALLY STORED DATA WILL NEVER BE LOST; OR THAT USE OF THE APP WILL PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULT. WHERE A JURISDICTION DOES NOT ALLOW A WARRANTY EXCLUSION, IT APPLIES ONLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

11. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MEL AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST LOADS, LOST OPPORTUNITIES, LOST DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE APP OR THESE TERMS, REGARDLESS OF THE THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, STATUTE, OR OTHERWISE) AND EVEN IF MEL WAS ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES WERE POSSIBLE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, MEL'S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE APP OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU ACTUALLY PAID FOR RATEANCHOR IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM OR (B) FIFTY U.S. DOLLARS ($50). Nothing in these Terms limits liability that applicable law does not permit MEL to exclude or limit, including for fraud or willful misconduct; where a limitation is not allowed, MEL's liability is limited to the smallest amount legally permitted.

12. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify, and hold harmless MEL and its members, managers, officers, employees, contractors, and agents from third-party claims, proceedings, damages, judgments, losses, liabilities, and reasonable costs and attorneys' fees arising out of or relating to your unlawful or improper use of the App; the rates you set, quote, negotiate, or accept; the loads or transportation transactions you undertake; the parties you transact with; documents, statements, claims, filings, or communications you prepare or send using the App; your User Content; your violation of another person's rights; or your material breach of these Terms. This does not apply to the extent a claim results from MEL's own material breach, fraud, willful misconduct, or other conduct for which indemnification cannot lawfully be imposed on you. MEL will give reasonable notice of a covered claim where practicable and may control its defense and settlement, but will not agree to a settlement that admits wrongdoing by you or imposes a non-monetary obligation directly on you without your consent, not to be unreasonably withheld. You will cooperate reasonably in the defense.

13. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the App at any time; stopping or deleting the App does not cancel a paid subscription, which must be cancelled through the billing platform. MEL may suspend or terminate access where reasonably necessary because of a material violation of these Terms, fraud or unlawful activity, abuse or security threats, legal or regulatory requirements, or permanent discontinuation of the App, and where practicable will give notice and an opportunity to cure a material breach. Founding Operator benefits remain governed by Section 4. Sections 4 (where applicable), 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 18, and 19, accrued payment obligations, and any provision that by its nature is intended to survive, survive termination.

14. Changes to these Terms

MEL may update these Terms prospectively. For material changes MEL will give reasonable advance notice through the App, the RateAnchor website, or another reasonable method before the revised Terms take effect, and will update the Effective Date and version number. Changes will not retroactively alter rights or obligations arising from a dispute that arose before the change unless applicable law permits and the affected party agrees. For material changes to the arbitration agreement, class-action waiver, or other dispute-resolution provisions, MEL will require renewed affirmative acceptance rather than relying on continued use. For other validly noticed changes, continued use after the new effective date may constitute acceptance to the extent permitted by law; where applicable law requires a different method of consent, that law controls.

15. Apple App Store and Google Play

Apple. If you obtain the App through Apple's App Store, Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement and other mandatory App Store terms govern the Apple software license; these Terms supplement them and do not replace them. To the extent Apple's terms require: Apple is not responsible for MEL's operation or support of the App; Apple is not responsible for claims relating to the App except as its own terms or applicable law require; Apple and its subsidiaries are intended third-party beneficiaries of the provisions Apple's terms require them to be able to enforce; and where Apple's mandatory terms conflict with these Terms concerning an App Store transaction, Apple's terms control to the extent of the conflict.

Google Play. If you obtain the App through Google Play, your purchase and use are also subject to applicable Google Play terms and policies, which control to the extent a mandatory Play term conflicts with these Terms.

16. Governing law and dispute resolution

PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT AFFECTS YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS.

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, except that the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of the arbitration agreement below. Nothing in these Terms eliminates consumer rights that applicable law does not permit you to waive.

Informal resolution first. Before starting arbitration or any other formal proceeding, the complaining party must send the other a written description of the dispute and the relief requested (to MEL: support@rateanchor.app). The parties will try in good faith to resolve it for sixty (60) days after receipt. Applicable statutes of limitation and contractual filing deadlines are tolled during this period to the extent legally enforceable. Most issues are resolved with an email.

Individual arbitration. Except as excluded below, disputes arising out of or relating to the App, these Terms, or the relationship between you and MEL will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by JAMS under its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures (or its Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures for claims over $250,000) and, for a dispute arising from personal, family, or household use, its Consumer Arbitration Minimum Standards, before one neutral arbitrator, who may award any individual remedy a court could. You will have a reasonable opportunity to participate in choosing the arbitrator, and the arbitration may not be located where it would preclude your access to it. Hearings may be held by video. If you are a consumer, the only fee you will be required to pay is $250 (or less, as the JAMS standards provide); MEL pays every other administrative fee and all of the arbitrator's compensation. If JAMS is unavailable or declines to administer a dispute for a reason other than MEL's own failure, the parties will agree on a substitute administrator, and failing agreement a court may appoint one under the Federal Arbitration Act.

Small claims. Either party may bring an individual claim that qualifies for small-claims court instead of arbitration.

Arbitration opt-out. You may reject this arbitration agreement by emailing support@rateanchor.app with the subject "Arbitration Opt-Out" within thirty (30) days after you first accept these Terms, including information reasonably sufficient to identify your RateAnchor entitlement. Opting out does not affect the rest of these Terms.

Class-action and representative-action waiver. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND MEL AGREE THAT COVERED DISPUTES WILL BE RESOLVED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, AND EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO BRING, JOIN, OR PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS, COLLECTIVE, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. AN ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE CLAIMS OF DIFFERENT PERSONS EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY THE APPLICABLE JAMS RULES OR NON-WAIVABLE LAW. If this waiver is held unenforceable for a particular claim or form of relief, that issue proceeds in the legally required forum and the remainder of this agreement continues to apply.

Mass arbitration. If seventy-five (75) or more substantially similar demands are filed against MEL by or with the assistance of the same or coordinated counsel or group, the JAMS Mass Arbitration Procedures and Guidelines and associated fee schedule govern to the extent applicable and enforceable, with fees allocated consistently with the Consumer Arbitration Minimum Standards where they apply.

Jury-trial waiver. WHERE ARBITRATION APPLIES, YOU AND MEL WAIVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE THE COVERED DISPUTE DECIDED BY A JUDGE OR JURY.

Provisional relief. Either party may seek temporary judicial relief to preserve the status quo, prevent unauthorized access, or protect intellectual-property or security rights pending arbitration, without waiving arbitration.

Courts where arbitration does not apply. Any dispute not subject to arbitration will be brought in a state or federal court located in Florida, except where applicable consumer-protection law gives you a non-waivable right to another court or venue; you and MEL consent to that jurisdiction and venue subject to those rights.

17. Export controls and sanctions

You may not use, export, re-export, transfer, or make the App available in violation of applicable U.S. export-control, sanctions, or trade laws, and you represent that you will not knowingly use the App in a manner prohibited by them. Nothing in these Terms requires MEL to provide services where doing so would violate applicable law.

18. Relationship of the parties

These Terms create no partnership, joint venture, franchise, employment, fiduciary, transportation-agency, brokerage, or other agency relationship between you and MEL, and neither party may bind the other.

19. General terms

Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the policies expressly incorporated into them and any purchase-specific terms validly presented to you, are the entire agreement between you and MEL concerning RateAnchor; the Privacy Policy separately describes MEL's handling of information.

Severability. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted or severed, and the rest remains in effect; the specific rule in Section 16 controls for the arbitration agreement and class waiver.

No waiver. MEL's failure to enforce a provision does not waive its right to enforce it later; a waiver is effective only in a writing by an authorized person.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without MEL's written consent except where law gives you a non-waivable right. MEL may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, sale of RateAnchor or substantially all related assets, or transfer to an affiliate or successor, subject to non-waivable consumer rights and Section 4.

Force majeure. MEL is not liable for delay or failure caused by circumstances reasonably beyond its control, including natural disasters, severe weather, war, civil disturbance, labor disruption, government action, internet or telecommunications failure, power outages, third-party platform failure, cyberattack, or failure of external data sources, except where law provides otherwise.

Electronic notices. MEL may give legally permissible notices electronically through the App, the RateAnchor website, an email address you provide, or another reasonable electronic method; you are responsible for maintaining access to any contact method you provide.

Third-party beneficiaries. Except for Apple and its subsidiaries to the extent required by Section 15, these Terms create no rights for any third party. Headings are for convenience only.

20. Contact

Midnight Engine Labs LLC · Florida, USA · Support and legal notices: support@rateanchor.app · Privacy inquiries: privacy@rateanchor.app · Privacy Policy: https://rateanchor.app/privacy.html