Load Tender

A formal offer from a shipper or broker to a carrier to move a specific freight load for a specified price.

A load tender, also known as a tender of shipment, is a formal document or electronic notification (often via EDI 204) from a shipper or broker to a trucking company. It details all the critical information about a potential freight shipment, including the pickup and delivery locations, appointment times, freight description (weight, dimensions, commodity type), required equipment, and the proposed payment rate. The carrier then has the option to accept or reject the tender. Accepting the tender creates a contractual obligation for the carrier to execute the shipment according to the specified terms, which are then typically finalized in a rate confirmation. Rejecting it simply means the carrier is not interested in that particular load. For small carriers and owner-operators, quickly and accurately evaluating load tenders is crucial for maintaining profitability and operational efficiency. The acceptance rate of tenders is also a key metric for shippers in evaluating carrier performance.

Example

A dispatcher receives an EDI 204 load tender for a 42,000 lb load of paper products from Green Bay, WI to Dallas, TX for a rate of $2,500. The tender specifies a pickup on Tuesday at 08:00 and delivery on Thursday at 14:00. The dispatcher must accept or reject this tender within the specified one-hour response window.