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Carrier Sourcing

Carrier sourcing that starts from the carriers who already ran the lane for the brokerage, ranked on their own loads, before anyone opens a load board.

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See one Memphis load covered from bench to rate con ↓

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The problem

The carrier that ran this lane cleanly all fall never got the call

A carrier sales rep covers a dozen or more loads a day. The history of each lane sits in the TMS, but its screens list loads, not carriers' records, so the rep scrolls inboxes, calls the dispatchers they remember and posts to a public board when memory runs out.

Replies come back as free text and get negotiated on the phone. Buys over target are approved with a nod and no record. Whether a carrier tends to cancel on the pickup weekday lives in check calls and claim files nobody reads at the moment of choice, and a cancellation on pickup day is covered again at a same-day rate that can erase the margin.

Built forFreight brokersCarrier sales repsCarrier sales managersCarrier relations teamsVPs of carrier sales

The Problem Today

Reps cover loads from memory and the load board, so carriers who already ran the lane well are never asked.

1,611: fraud reports a brokers' group logged in six months, up 65% published
456K: for-hire interstate carriers a rep could call, federal count published

Searched by hand for each load

Past loads
Inboxes
Memory
Load board

Pickup-day fall-offsCovering again on the day pays a same-day rate
Over-target buys on a nodRates above target approved with nothing written down

The Solution

The lane's history read firstEach carrier that ran it for the broker, with a year of loads as dots
Offers sent in fixed fieldsTexts and emails to contacts of record; free text goes to the rep
A challenger plays it forwardEach reply run to pickup against the carrier's own weekday record
A manager signs over targetBuys past the approval line need a second name before the rate con

Built-in controls

Offers only to phones and emails of record
Free-text replies opened by the rep first
Identity check before any rate confirmation

What You Get

Each load goes to a carrier that has already run the lane well, and a buy above target carries the manager's name.

A reason on every rowRank, record and last rate side by side for each carrier
The draft gets checkedA challenger tests the agents' own counts before booking
Contacts of record onlyTexts only where the carrier agreed; a STOP ends them

Features

Carrier sourcing features, from the rep's question to the signed rate con

Carrier sales reps use them to cover a load from their own lane history, and managers to sign what goes over target. The screens follow one dry-van load of patio furniture.

demoEvery brokerage, shipper, carrier, person and rate shown here is sample data.

01Lane bench
Carrier sourcing from your own lane history, with a reason for each place
- Every carrier that ran the lane for you. The rep starts from carriers with loads on this exact lane instead of strangers calling off a public board.
- A year of each carrier's loads as dots. On time, late, claim and fell off read at a glance, and each dot opens its load record.
- A written reason beside each rank. A carrier that fell off this lane sits lower and its row says why, so nobody is dropped from view.
02Agent run
Agents for capacity sourcing you can watch, check line by line and steer
- Each agent's plan, reads and conclusion. Every line is timed and cited, so the rep can test any count against the loads behind it.
- Steering in plain words. An instruction typed mid-run changes the plan at once and is logged under the rep's name, without reshuffling the top of the bench.
- Clearance rungs read from onboarding. Each carrier's cargo limit is set against the load's value before an offer goes out.
03Offer form
Load offers texted to contacts of record and answered in fixed fields
- Offers only to phones and emails of record. Texts reach only numbers the carrier gave for load offers, and a STOP ends them at once.
- Rate, empty time and truck as fields. The answer lands on the bench as values the agents can compare, with nothing for the rep to retype.
- Notes held for the rep. A note on the form is shown word for word and blocks the booking until the rep opens it.
04Replies
Carrier capacity replies lined up beside each carrier's lane record
- Each reply next to the carrier's record. Rate, empty time and place sit on the same row as the history, so the rep compares like with like.
- Window and dock checks on each reply. A truck that empties after the pickup window or the dock's close is marked before anyone books it.
- Re-ranked when a count changes. When a count is corrected the row moves, and the old reason stays on screen struck through.
05Fall-off risk
A challenger that plays each reply forward to the pickup day
- Each reply on a pickup-day track. Empty time, window and dock close sit on one line, so a tight reply shows before it is chosen.
- The carrier's own weekday record. Fall-offs on the pickup weekday across all lanes come up, a history one lane alone would hide.
- Corrects the agents' own draft. A count the history reader got wrong is fixed in view before the rep relies on the ranking.
06Compare and book
Buy, margin and fall-off odds compared before the rep proposes a carrier
- Expected cost with the fall-off chance priced. A cheaper reply with a weak record is weighed at what it would likely cost, beside its quoted rate.
- Assumptions the rep can edit. Change the re-cover rate or a fall-off count and the expected columns recompute, so the rep sees how far the choice rests on each one.
- Reason code plus the rep's own words. Each proposal records why this carrier, so the manager and the next rep can read the reasoning.
07Approval
Over-target buys signed by the carrier sales manager, record in hand
- An approval line on every load. Buys past the line wait for the carrier sales manager, sorted by each load's cover-by clock.
- Signing held until the evidence is opened. The manager opens the carrier's lane record, its reply and the challenger's play before the signature becomes available.
- A code to approve or to send back. Approving or sending back records a code plus the manager's reasoning, and the rep who proposed a buy cannot sign it.
08Rate confirmation
Rate confirmation held until the per-load identity check clears
- Drafted and held by the booking clerk. No rate confirmation leaves on its own; the rep sends it only after the steps before it are done.
- Identity check before sending. The booking goes to the per-load fraud check first, so the rate con reaches a carrier whose identity chain holds.
- Each step with a name and a time. Proposal, signature, identity check, send and the carrier's signature line up on one track for the auditor.

Reps cover the loads, managers sign the premiums, the VP approves the rules

Four people at the brokerage share one bench, each with powers the others do not have.

Carrier sales reps

Cover each load by its clock: ask, steer, send offers and propose the booking

The lane's record before the first call
Replies as fields, notes held for reading
Fall-off odds priced beside each buy

Carrier sales managers

Sign buys above the approval line and teach the bench through their rulings

Record, reply and challenge in one place
Approve enabled only after opening the evidence
Their rulings proposed as rules for the VP

Carrier relations managers

Keep carrier records honest and propose preferred, resume or do-not-use

Each offer outcome written into the record
Disagreeing sources left for a person to settle
Declines kept with their fixed reason

VPs of carrier sales

Approve learned rules, settings, preferred status and do-not-use decisions

No rule applied on its author's word
Setting changes waiting for a second name
Each signature's meaning in the audit trail

Thursday fall-offs, a miscounted draft and a truck empty after the dock shuts

What the bench and the challenger turned up on one load before anyone booked it.

Two of nine Thursdays fell off

One carrier ran this lane 5 for 5 on time, but 2 of its last 9 Thursday loads with the brokerage fell off, both taken below its own rate history.

The history reader's own draft

Its row counted Thursday fall-offs on this lane only, 0 of 1. Corrected across all lanes, that carrier moved from #3 to #5.

A truck empty after the window

The cheapest reply, $1,890.00, had its truck empty Thu 16:00, after the 12:00–14:00 pickup window and the 15:00 dock close.

A re-cover above the shipper rate

This lane's two same-day re-covers in 90 days had a median of $2,410.00, $30.00 above the load's $2,380.00 shipper rate.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

More screens

The day's loads, offers, records and rules around the Memphis bench

Where the rep's other loads wait, where offers are counted, and where carriers' records and learned rules are kept.

Loads to cover list: 14 loads with shipper, lane, pickup, value, target and shipper rate, cover-by clock, state and note — **Loads to cover**The rep's 14 loads with cover-by clocks and states, out of 640 booked today and 118 still without a carrier.

Offers and replies: 1,206 offers today, one load's five answers, decline reasons, free text for a person and opt-outs — **Offers and replies**Today's offers, answers and declines with fixed reasons, the free text waiting for a person, and texting consent and opt-outs.

Carrier record for the leading carrier: 12-month strip on Memphis to Columbus, 0 of the last 7 Thursday loads fell off, contacts of record — **One carrier's record**A year on this lane as dots, Thursday loads, contacts of record, an impersonation watch and what the manager wrote last time.

Carriers table: loads with the brokerage in 14 months, this lane in 90 days, Thursday fall-offs, clearance rung, texts and status — **Carriers on this lane**Loads in 14 months, this lane in 90 days, Thursday fall-offs, rung and texting status for each carrier.

Preferences learned: proposed rule M-07 to rank a known carrier within 3% over target, the eight rulings behind it, waiting for the VP — **A rule learned from rulings**A rule drawn from eight of the manager's rulings. It waits for the VP, never for the manager whose rulings taught it.

Audit trail: identity check result, the manager's approval with its signature meaning, three evidence opens and the rep's proposal — **Audit trail**Who opened what and when, the maker's and checker's reasons, and what the manager's signature attests.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Seven agents read, rank and offer, and none of them books a load

One agent's output is the next one's input, and the rep sees every handover and the limit written into each job.

History reader

Reads the brokerage's loads on the lane: carriers, rates, delivery receipts, check calls, claims and fall-offs.

Counts no load it cannot cite

Clearance reader

Reads each carrier's rung and cargo limit from onboarding against the load's value.

Never changes a rung; rises happen in onboarding

Bench ranker

Ranks by record on the lane, weekday fall-offs, rate history against target, distance from the last drop and rung.

Never hides a carrier; a lower place says why

Outreach agent

Sends structured offers to contacts of record and reads back only the form's fields.

Never texts a number that is not of record or has opted out
Never negotiates

Fall-off risk

Plays each reply forward to pickup and checks the other agents' drafts.

Never books, rejects or labels a carrier

Booking clerk

Drafts and holds the rate confirmation and hands the load to the identity check.

Never sends a rate confirmation itself

Load record keeper

Writes every delivered load and offer outcome into the carrier's record.

Leaves a record alone when two sources disagree

What carrier sales teams ask about carrier sourcing

What is carrier sourcing?

Carrier sourcing is how a broker finds a truck for each load. Here the carriers that already ran the lane for you come first, ranked on their own loads, and offers go out in fixed fields to their contacts of record. The rep books, and a manager signs any buy above target.

How is this different from posting a load to a board?

A board brings calls from carriers the brokerage has never used. The bench starts from the carriers with a record on the lane, shows that record as a year of loads, and offers the load to them first.

What happens to a carrier's free-text reply?

Only the form's fields change a load. A note or an email is marked as not compared, shown word for word, and blocks the booking it concerns until a named person opens it. The audit trail records who opened it, or that nobody did.

Who approves a buy over the target rate?

The carrier sales manager, for buys past the approval line. Approve stays disabled until the manager has opened the carrier's lane record, its reply and the challenger's play, and both sides of the decision take a reason code.

Does it check the carrier's identity before the rate confirmation goes out?

Yes. The booking clerk holds the rate confirmation and hands the load to the per-load identity check in the brokerage's fraud prevention work. The rep sends the rate con only after that check answers.

Can the agents text carriers who have not agreed to it?

No. Texts go only to numbers a carrier gave for load offers, quiet hours apply, and a STOP or any clear request ends texts at once. The brokerage's counsel owns the consent rules; the agents give no legal advice.

Freight Brokerage