Four ways to post Mexico and Canada freight

A load that moves once, or a lane that runs again and again. Freight you own, or freight you’re lining up trucks to win. Pick the posting that fits and carriers on the Cargado marketplace bid on it.

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Two questions pick the posting

Answer both and see the posting type, and what carriers see when you post it. Or jump straight to one of the four.

When does the freight move?
Have you won it?

Freight you own that moves once

Load

A Load happens one time, on a specific date and time, and you truly own it: it's already in your TMS and scheduled, with a rate from your customer. You just need a carrier.

Use it when
The load is in your TMS, scheduled, with your customer's rate.
Carriers bid
A rate for the load. On a cross-border move, they price each part: the Mexico portion, the border crossing and the U.S. portion.
After you book
It comes down when you book a carrier.
What a carrier sees: one load on one date and time, and a rate for each part of the move. Illustration with fictional lane, dates and freight, using Cargado's own field labels.

Freight you've won that repeats

Lane

A Lane is repeated freight you've won: a long-term lane, or a project, a set of loads over a timeframe. It runs as long as your customer's project does, a few weeks or six months.

Use it when
You've won freight that repeats, like three loads a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, through the end of the year.
Carriers bid
A rate per load, plus how many loads they can take.
After you book
It stays live after a match, so you can book more than one carrier.
What a carrier sees: the lane, how often it runs and for how long, a rate for each part of the move, and room to say how many loads they can take. This one is a six-week project. Illustration with fictional data, using Cargado's own field labels.

One load you haven't won yet

Potential Load

A Potential Load is a load you haven't won yet. A customer asks, “Do you have a truck for this one?” Post it as a Potential Load to get capacity and rates from carriers, then go back to the customer and try to win it.

Use it when
You haven't won the load yet. Carriers see it's a Potential, so you're honest with them: if it doesn't move, no harm, no foul.
Carriers bid
A rate you can quote from.
How long it's up
Up to two weeks. After bidding closes, you have three days to tell a carrier their bid is accepted.
Modes
Post it as Full truckload, Partial truckload (LTL) or Power Only.
What are Potential Loads?Potential Loads are freight that is available but the broker has not yet secured. They will try to win the freight using your rate and if they win, they will offer you the load at the rate you matched on.
The posting is labeled a Potential, and after a match the carrier reads the note above, word for word from the app. Illustration with fictional data.

Repeat or project freight you haven't won yet

Potential Lane

A Potential Lane is repeat or project freight you haven't won yet: an RFP, a small bid, or a project that hasn't started, say 10 loads a week from October through December. Post the lanes to line up trucks in hand and get real rates, then go back and win it.

Use it when
You want to see where carriers are on the lanes before you commit to your customer. Post each lane while you're still bidding. It also gets you real bids when Market Rates has too little data on a lane.
Carriers bid
A rate per load, plus how many loads they can take.
How long it's up
Up to two weeks. After bidding closes, you have three days to tell a carrier their bid is accepted.
Modes
Post it as Full truckload, Partial truckload (LTL) or Power Only.
What are Potential Lanes?Potential Lanes are lanes the broker has not yet secured. They will try to win the lane using your rate and if they win, they will offer you loads on this lane at the rate you matched on.
The posting is labeled a Potential, and after a match the carrier reads the note above, word for word from the app. Illustration with fictional data.

Steady volume belongs in a Lane, not a stack of Loads.

Post freight you've won as a Load or Lane, and freight you haven't as a Potential. Carriers remember when a load posted as won wasn't.

Line up trucks before you win the freight

A customer asks, “Do you have a truck for this one?” You haven’t won it yet. Post it as a Potential Load, or as a Potential Lane for repeat or project freight, to get capacity and real rates from carriers. Then go back to the customer and try to win it. Carriers bid the same way they do on freight you’ve won, and the posting is labeled a Potential, so you’re honest with them: if it doesn’t move, no harm, no foul.

Example: a customer's RFP

1

Post the bid lanes as Potential Lanes

One posting per lane.

2

Price your response from the bids

Price the rest of the bid file with Market Rates in Excel.

3

Win it, then book your carriers

Offer the loads to the carriers you matched with, at the rate you matched on.

A Potential stays posted for up to two weeks. After bidding closes, you have three days to tell a carrier their bid is accepted.

No rate on a lane? When Market Rates has too little data, post the lane as a Potential and let carriers bid.

On Tai? Only Committed shipments are eligible to post from Tai, when you or your posting rules publish them. Freight you haven't won yet goes in as a Potential directly in Cargado; posting Potentials from Tai is coming.

Pricing a whole RFP? See quoting and RFPs →

Full truckload, partial or power only? Compare the modes →

Four ways to post, in about a minute

Load, Lane, Potential Load, Potential Lane: the two questions, then each type in the product.

Bring freight you're working on

Book a demo to see how posting works, including loads and lanes you haven't won yet.

Book a demoRead the posting guide