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Load Tender Automation

Load tender automation that reads each shipper's email, spreadsheet or PDF into an order, stop by stop, with every field tied to the line it came from.

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See one three-stop tender read, checked and priced ↓
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The problem

The sheet says Friday, the draft BOL says Saturday, and the rep types one

Shippers without EDI send load tenders as email bodies, PDFs, spreadsheets and forwarded threads, and customer service reps retype every stop, appointment, reference and extra service into the TMS before carrier sales can cover the load.

A forwarded thread often disagrees with itself, and a PO copied from last week's bill of lading looks right. Receiver rules such as a delivery PO, an appointment number, load locks after a partial unload or a lumper at the door live in people's heads. The first to notice is the driver at the gate, and the next is billing, when the invoice comes back short-paid.

Built forFreight brokersCustomer service repsOperations managersAccount managersCarrier sales teams

The Problem Today

Reps retype each emailed tender into the TMS, from threads that disagree with themselves.

39.3%
of stops held drivers past their time in 2023, a study found published

Retyped from each tender email

  • Stops
  • Appointment
  • PO and BOL
  • Fuel step
  • Turned away at the dockA closed PO or missing appointment number shows up at the gate
  • Short-paid at invoice timeA wrong reference comes back as a deduction weeks later

The Solution

  1. Each field tied to its lineEmail body, forwarded thread, spreadsheet and PDF read stop by stop
  2. The receiving dock played firstA challenger walks each stop as the receiver will, own draft included
  3. Questions out as fieldsThe planner answers field by field; anything typed goes to the rep
  4. Priced against the rate on fileOptions played forward; booking below the rate takes a second signature

Built-in controls

  • Booking below the rate on file takes two signatures
  • Outside free text never edits an order
  • Declines and TONU bills go to the account manager

What You Get

Reps book from the tender's own lines, and carrier sales gets what the dock will hold the driver to.

  • Clean tenders booked on their ownWhen every field agrees, the dock check passes and the rate matches
  • An evidence file per orderFields, questions, answers and signatures in one export
  • Shipper rules that build upLearned from rulings and steers, applied once approved
Features

Load tender automation features, from the forwarded email to the rate approval

Customer service reps use them to turn emailed tenders into orders before the respond-by time; operations and account managers sign what falls outside the rate or the rules. The screens follow one three-stop tender of patio furniture.

demoThe broker, the shipper, its planner and receivers, the loads and the rates are sample data.

  1. 01Tender in

    Load tender email, spreadsheet and draft BOL shown as they arrived

    • Thread, sheet and PDF side by side. The rep reads the tender as the shipper sent it, headers included, before a single field is typed.
    • The shipper's respond-by clock in view. Minutes left to answer stay on screen, so the tender is accepted before it moves to the next provider in the shipper's guide.
  2. 02Stop strip

    Load tender laid out as a stop strip, every field threaded to its source line

    • Each field tied to the line it came from. Hovering a field lights its source, so the rep checks the order against the tender without re-reading the thread.
    • Missing references left open and asked. A delivery PO or appointment number the tender lacks stays open and goes to the planner, never filled with a guess.
    • A steer that becomes a shipper rule. Telling the agents a shipper needs a PO for every stop adds the check now and proposes a rule for the operations manager.
  3. 03Sources disagree

    Conflicting appointment times in a forwarded thread shown side by side

    • The newest dated source taken, the rest shown. When the email, the sheet and the draft BOL give different appointments, the strip says which it took and why.
    • Each message read by its own date. An older message quoted lower in a thread cannot override the scheduling change sent after it.
  4. 04The run

    Order entry automation run by six agents, each hand-off timed and cited

    • Plan, reads, findings and confidence per agent. The rep or the manager can follow how each field got its value and which agent was unsure.
    • People's instructions logged with the plan. A steer shows who gave it, what changed in the plan and which rule it proposed.
  5. 05Dock check

    Each stop walked as the receiving dock will check it, before booking

    • PO, appointment number, load locks and lumper per dock. What would get a truck refused at the gate is found while the tender can still change.
    • Mistakes in our own draft caught. A PO copied from last week's bill of lading or a missing load lock is caught before booking.
    • Hours of service checked per appointment. A delivery one driver can reach only if loaded out on time is marked tight and handed to carrier sales.
  6. 06Questions

    Missing tender details asked of the shipper's planner in fixed fields

    • One question per missing field. The planner answers exactly what the order needs, and each answer changes only its own field.
    • Reminders to waiting shippers in one click. The rep chases each tender still waiting before its respond-by time.
  7. 07Planner's reply

    Shipper's planner answers in a reply form that changes only its own fields

    • A form for the shipper instead of an email. Planners answer without writing a paragraph, and nothing outside the fields can change the order.
    • A note box read by a person. Anything typed outside the fields goes to the rep unscored, and the order waits until it is read.
  8. 08Rate check

    Tender rate checked against the rate on file, linehaul, fuel and stop-off

    • All-in amount split into its parts. Linehaul, fuel and stop-off are matched to the rate agreement, so a stale fuel step shows as the difference.
    • Options played forward on editable assumptions. Booking at the tender, accepting at the rate on file and asking for a re-tender are compared on margin and on the respond-by time.
    • The manager's earlier rulings recalled. How the same kind of difference was decided before sits beside the choice.
  9. 09Approval

    Below-rate booking held for the operations manager's countersignature

    • Tender and rate sheet opened first. The manager opens the tender thread and the rate agreement before approve works.
    • Reason codes both ways. Approving and sending back each carry a code and a note, and nobody signs a booking they proposed.

Four desks a load tender passes before it becomes an order

The rep books, the operations manager signs what falls below the rate, the account manager owns the customer calls, and carrier sales covers the result.

Customer service reps, order entry

Reading each tender, steering the agents, booking and sending the acceptance

  • Fields tied to their source lines
  • Questions to the planner in one click
  • What the dock will refuse, before booking
Operations managers

Bookings below the rate on file, shipper rules on stops and settings

  • Tender and rate sheet to open first
  • Earlier rulings beside each difference
  • Rules proposed from reps' steers
Account managers

Declines, truck-ordered-not-used bills and rate or fuel rules

  • Declines routed for a second signature
  • Layover bills with both documents attached
  • Fuel-step rules learned from rulings
Carrier sales reps

Covering orders once they exist

  • Equipment, load locks and appointment numbers on the order
  • Tight hours flagged before dispatch
  • Shipper fields they cannot edit
Around the tender

The morning board, shipper rules, changes and each order's audit trail

Screens the tender desk keeps open beside one forwarded thread.

This morning's tendersEach tender with its format, lane, stops and respond-by time. Clean ones become orders under the clean-tender rule; the rest wait on a shipper or a person.
Rate agreement on fileThe shipper's rate agreement as the rate checker read it, with lane linehaul, stop-off charges and the fuel table, and the passages it used highlighted.
Shipper rulesRules in use, including the clean-tender rule, and proposed ones with the steer or rulings they came from. A rule applies only after the right person signs it.
Changes and cancellationsA change to a booked order compared field by field. A time change applies at once; a layover or truck-ordered-not-used bill waits for the account manager.
Audit trailReads, questions, steers, proposals and signatures, each stamped with who acted, human or agent, and why. A CSV and a per-order evidence file download from here.
Settings and who decidesThe clean-tender rule, respond-by alerts and who proposes and who countersigns each kind of decision. The administrator proposes; the operations manager approves.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The agents

Seven agents read, check and draft, and none can book below the rate

Each passes the tender on by name; the rep books and the managers sign.

Inbox reader

Splits each tender email, thread and attachment into fields, each with its line.

  • Never treats a forwarded message as newer than its own date
  • Never opens links in an email
Stop builder

Lays out stops, appointments, references, freight and equipment; when sources disagree, takes the newest dated one and shows the rest.

  • Never fills a field without a source
Dock challenger

Walks each stop as the receiving dock will: PO, appointment number, trailer and load locks, lumper, and reachability under hours of service.

  • Never passes a stop without a cited receiver note or rule
  • Never contacts a receiver
Question agent

Asks the shipper's planner one field per gap and reads each answer back into its own field.

  • Never reads a typed comment as an answer
  • Never asks the same field twice
Rate checker

Compares the tender with the rate on file and plays the options forward.

  • Never changes a rate
  • Never books below the rate on file
Order writer

Drafts the TMS order and the acceptance, and creates the order on the rep's say or under the clean-tender rule.

  • Never sends an acceptance with an open question or an unsigned rate difference
Change watcher

Reads changes and cancellations to booked orders and lines them up against the order.

  • Never changes a booked order
  • Never bills a TONU by itself

A rate below file, a decline or a rule change waits for a second person

Clearing a wrong field or holding an order takes effect at once; anything that costs money or binds the customer does not.

Booking below the rate on file takes two signaturesThe rep writes why; the operations manager signs only once the tender and the rate agreement are open on screen.
Declines and TONU bills go to the account managerA decline is a customer conversation, so the account manager signs it as second person.
Shipper free text never edits an orderA planner's note reaches the rep verbatim and keeps the order on hold until the rep reads it.
Booked orders change only by a personThe change watcher compares; the rep applies a change, and any money waits for the account manager.
Receivers are reached through the shipperThe shipper owns its receivers, so every question goes to the shipper's planner.
Settings wait for the operations managerChanges are proposed by the administrator and take effect once operations signs off.

What brokerage operations leaders ask about load tender automation

What is a load tender?

A load tender is a shipper's offer of a load to a carrier or broker: stops, appointments, references, freight and rate, with a time to answer. Load tender automation reads each one, from email or EDI, into an order with each field tied to its line.

Does it handle tenders that arrive by email instead of EDI?

Yes. It reads email bodies, forwarded threads, spreadsheets and PDF bills of lading the same way it reads an EDI load tender, and lays each one out stop by stop.

What happens when the thread contradicts itself?

The stop builder takes the newest dated source and shows the others beside it, so the rep sees both and can ask the planner to confirm.

Does it accept tenders on its own?

Only clean ones: each field from one source or agreeing sources, each stop passed by the dock check, and the rate matching the rate on file to the cent. A sample of those is re-checked by a second rep, and anything else goes to a person.

How is the tendered rate checked?

The rate checker splits the tender into linehaul, fuel and stop-off and compares each with the shipper's rate agreement and fuel table. A booking below the rate on file needs the operations manager's signature.

Can the shipper's planner see our other tenders?

No. The planner's view answers only about that tender: the fields asked, the planner's own answers and the broker's reply.

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Forward us a tender
that went wrong.

Send one thread your team retyped, and we will read it into stops with you, field by field, and walk each dock.

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