Freight Funding Process

Freight is the shipping fee typically associated with purchasing physical instructional materials or technology. Freight or shipping costs related to requisitions and disbursements made in EMAT, the state’s online instructional materials ordering system, do not come out of a local educational agency's (LEAs) Instructional Materials and Technology Allotment (IMTA) funds, per state legislation.

The cost of freight is paid by the state freight fund. LEAs can receive state freight funds to pay for freight costs through EMAT. The process to receive freight funding depends on whether the instructional materials or technology were purchased through a requisition or a disbursement:

A requisition is an order placed in EMAT in which TEA sends the order directly to the publisher and deducts payment from the LEA's allotment.
A disbursement is a request for funds in EMAT (not an order for materials) that LEAs use to purchase instructional materials or technology services directly from a publisher or vendor.

Note to Publishers: refer only to the information provided in the Freight Funding Steps: Requisition section.

Freight Funding Steps: Requisition

Shipments Weighing 150 Pounds or More

LEAs submit a requisition for instructional materials in EMAT.

The publisher may send an invoice for freight costs directly to the LEA.

If an invoice is received, the LEA can submit a disbursement request in EMAT to receive freight funds to pay the invoice. Note: Freight requests should only be submitted once the exact freight cost is known.
- In the Long Description field of the disbursement request, enter the publisher's name and requisition ID from the original requisition.
  - For example: “Publisher: Generic Publisher Name, Requisition ID: D000123456”
    - The requisition ID is in the original request that contains the instructional materials purchased. Go to the district start page and find the EMAT Requisition List. Then, identify the requisition ID associated with the freight funds being requested.

Note: After the freight disbursement is submitted in EMAT, it will be processed in the same manner as all IMTA disbursements are processed.

Shipments Weighing Less Than 150 Pounds–For Publishers Only

Publishers should use TEA’s FedEx account to pay for freight costs of shipments less than 150 pounds.

Submit a TEA Help Desk ticket to request the TEA FedEx account number.

Publisher contacts FedEx directly (1-800-463-3393) to arrange for shipping.
- Publishers must include the transaction ID from the EMAT requisition on all FedEx documents.

Freight Funding Steps: Disbursement

LEAs submit a disbursement request for funds in EMAT to purchase instructional materials or technology services. Note: Freight requests should only be submitted once the exact freight cost is known.

LEA can submit a disbursement request in EMAT to receive funds to pay the freight or shipping costs.
- In the Long Description field of the disbursement form, enter the publisher's name and transaction ID from the original disbursement. For example: “Publisher: Generic Publisher Name, Transaction ID: D000123456”
  - The transaction ID can be found in the original disbursement request that contains the instructional materials purchased. Go to the district start page and click on the allotment disbursement link. Then, find the transaction ID associated with the freight funds being requested.

Note: After the freight disbursement is submitted in EMAT, it will be processed in the same manner as all IMTA disbursements are processed. Freight disbursement requests approved in the same payment period are grouped together into one payment. As such, the same document number, payment ID, payment date, and amount will show on the View Payment Information link for both the instructional materials and freight disbursement requests. LEAs will not see freight payments in their allotment report.

Contact Information

Instructional Materials and Implementation Division
1701 North Congress Avenue, Room 3-110
Austin, Texas 78701-1494