<p>Incoterms^® define the obligations, including the roles and responsibilities, risks and cost to be allocated to the seller and buyer for the logistics of moving the goods from the seller to the buyer to satisfy the end customer. The choice of the Incoterms^® rule is often left to departments which are not logistics aware, or to standard clauses in legal frameworks which may have existed for many years. These are potentially high risk, resulting in increased delays, costs, extra work, and a resulting decrease of market competitiveness. These choices are rarely strategically made to maximize the potential to satisfy the customer and, therefore, to maximize competitiveness. The model considers the type of cargo in terms of bulk, breakbulk or containerized, the strategic forces of buying power, corruption, and logistics infrastructure and then adds these to the requirements for this trade lane. The model provides even a novice professional an appropriate, strategically driven, Incoterms^® rule that preserves the available competitive advantage.</p>