Load tender
A load tender is the formal offer to a carrier (or broker) to haul a specific shipment at a specific rate. In modern freight, tenders are EDI 204 (or REST API equivalent) messages sent from a TMS (transportation management system) to a carrier's dispatch system. The carrier responds with EDI 990 (accept or reject). The full cycle — tender, accept, dispatch, BOL — is what moves freight from "we need this shipped" to "the truck is on the way."
Why it matters
Load tendering is the operational gateway between shipper inventory decisions and carrier capacity. A slow or fragmented tender process — phone calls, emails, manual entry — caps how many shipments a logistics team can manage per day. An automated tender flow (TMS-to-carrier or shipper-API-to-carrier) lets the same team move 5-10x the volume with the same headcount. Tender acceptance rates are also a critical carrier-quality metric: a carrier with 95% acceptance is a partner; 70% is unreliable.
When to use it
Build automated load tendering when shipment volume exceeds what a human dispatcher can hand-tender in real time. For shippers running 50+ shipments per day, automated tender is the difference between a real ops team and a chronic backlog. For carriers, accepting tenders quickly and consistently is the path to becoming the preferred supplier on a shipper's routing guide.
How Warp thinks about it
Warp's POST /api/v1/freight/book IS the load tender — a single API call from quote to dispatch, no EDI 204 setup, no carrier-by-carrier integration. The booking endpoint handles tender routing internally; the shipper sees one Bearer-token call, gets back a shipment ID and tracking number, and the freight moves.
Frequently asked questions about load tender
What is load tender?
A load tender is the formal offer to a carrier (or broker) to haul a specific shipment at a specific rate. In modern freight, tenders are EDI 204 (or REST API equivalent) messages sent from a TMS (transportation management system) to a carrier's dispatch system. The carrier responds with EDI 990 (accept or reject). The full cycle — tender, accept, dispatch, BOL — is what moves freight from "we need this shipped" to "the truck is on the way."
Why does load tender matter in freight?
Load tendering is the operational gateway between shipper inventory decisions and carrier capacity. A slow or fragmented tender process — phone calls, emails, manual entry — caps how many shipments a logistics team can manage per day. An automated tender flow (TMS-to-carrier or shipper-API-to-carrier) lets the same team move 5-10x the volume with the same headcount. Tender acceptance rates are also a critical carrier-quality metric: a carrier with 95% acceptance is a partner; 70% is unreliable.
When should you use load tender?
Build automated load tendering when shipment volume exceeds what a human dispatcher can hand-tender in real time. For shippers running 50+ shipments per day, automated tender is the difference between a real ops team and a chronic backlog. For carriers, accepting tenders quickly and consistently is the path to becoming the preferred supplier on a shipper's routing guide.
How does Warp handle load tender?
Warp's POST /api/v1/freight/book IS the load tender — a single API call from quote to dispatch, no EDI 204 setup, no carrier-by-carrier integration. The booking endpoint handles tender routing internally; the shipper sees one Bearer-token call, gets back a shipment ID and tracking number, and the freight moves.