Posting Available Loads to Load Boards

This article explains how the Tai TMS advertises your available shipments on external truckload load boards to find carrier capacity, which boards it works with, and how posting, reposting, and removing a load work.

Overview

The Tai TMS can advertise your available loads on external truckload load boards — the online marketplaces where carriers look for freight to haul. Instead of logging into each board separately and re-typing the same load, you manage the posting from inside the TMS, and the system sends the load out to the boards your organization has connected. This helps you reach more carriers and cover loads faster, and it keeps your postings consistent across every board because they all start from the same shipment in the TMS.

The set of boards the TMS can work with is broad but not universal. Which boards you can actually post to depends on which board connections your organization has set up and enabled.

How it works

Load posting is handled by an automated background process in the Tai TMS. For each shipment you have set up to advertise, the system performs one of three actions against each connected board:

Post — Create a brand-new advertisement for the available load, including its lane (origin and destination), pickup and delivery dates, the equipment/trailer type, the rate you are offering, and any comments.
Repost — Refresh an advertisement that is already live so carriers see it again with your latest details.
Remove — Pull the advertisement down so the load is no longer shown to carriers.

When you advertise a load you can choose which connected boards to use, how many days the advertisement should stay up, whether it should repost automatically and how often, and the offer rate and comments to show. Which action runs on a given pass depends on where the posting is in its life: a load that has never been posted is posted; a live load that is due for a refresh is reposted; a load you have marked for removal, or whose advertising period has ended, is taken down.

For each advertisement it creates, the Tai TMS keeps an identifier — either one the board returns or one the TMS derives from the shipment, depending on the board. Because of that, when you later refresh or remove the load, the action targets the same advertisement instead of leaving a stray copy behind.

Supported load boards

The Tai TMS can post to these load boards:

DAT
Truckstop
10-4
123 Loadboard
Motive (formerly Keep Truckin)
Load Board Network
Trucker Tools — works through its own capacity connection rather than the standard list of boards you pick from when posting a load
DAT Convoy Marketplace — synchronized through its own marketplace connection

In addition to these, the TMS includes a general connector that can be configured to post to certain other partner boards. Which boards you actually post to depends on the connections set up for your organization and the credentials you have provided for each one. A partner name appearing in the connection setup list does not by itself mean the TMS can advertise loads there; posting is supported only for boards like those named above.

Reposting is not identical on every board

A repost always aims to get your load back in front of carriers with current details, but boards differ in how they allow it:

Update in place. On some boards, such as Truckstop and boards reached through the general connector, the TMS updates the existing advertisement.
Remove, then post again. On several other boards, such as 10-4, 123 Loadboard, and Motive, the TMS takes the old advertisement down and immediately posts a fresh one. On those boards a repost can show up as a new listing rather than an edited one. The behavior for DAT depends on how your organization's DAT connection is set up.
No scheduled repost. Load Board Network does not support automatic scheduled reposting. Any repost frequency or advertising duration you enter is ignored for it.

If an in-place update on Truckstop cannot be applied because the load is in a state that does not allow updates, the system posts the load again as a new advertisement so it stays visible.

Edits and live postings

Some boards receive your shipment edits shortly after you save them, so the live advertisement stays current. For the other boards, a change reaches the board the next time the load is reposted or you resubmit it, so there can be a gap between your edit and what carriers see.

Business rules & limits

Each board needs valid credentials. You must have a working connection (valid credentials that are not expired) configured for a board before the TMS can post to it. If a board's connection is invalid or expired, that board's loads will not post and those loads will show an error. A connection that has been flagged as failing is skipped on the regular posting runs until it is fixed.
A problem with one board does not stop the others. Load posting runs separately for each board, and for most boards separately for each of your accounts on it. If one board — or one of your accounts on a board — fails, your other boards and accounts still post normally, and each load generally reports its own success or error so you can see which ones went out.
Postings have an end date. Each posting is advertised for the number of days you choose. Once that period ends, the TMS automatically takes the advertisement down.
Loads come down automatically when they are covered or canceled. When a carrier is assigned to a truckload shipment (including by accepting a carrier quote), or when the shipment is canceled, the TMS marks that shipment's postings for removal and takes them off the boards.
A repost needs a schedule. A live posting is reposted automatically only if you set a repost frequency. Without one, the advertisement stays as posted until it is removed, expires, or you resubmit it.
Equipment types are mapped to each board. Every board has its own list of trailer/equipment codes. The TMS maps your shipment's equipment to the closest match on each board, and an unusual or unspecified trailer type falls back to a general default for that board, so the equipment shown on the board may be broader than what you entered.
Long comments and notes may be shortened. Some boards limit how long comments and stop notes can be, so very long text may be cut off in the advertisement. For example, DAT shortens each comment to 70 characters.
Stop dates should be in order. On some boards, stops must be in chronological order — a later stop cannot have an earlier ready/pickup date than an earlier stop. A posting with out-of-order stop dates can be rejected by the board.
The posted rate is your offer rate. The rate advertised to carriers is the offer rate on the shipment. Motive receives it as a whole-dollar amount, so any cents are dropped.
Posting is not instantaneous. Load posting runs on a regular automated cadence, roughly every few minutes, rather than the very instant you click. Loads set to post go out on the next run, and reposts happen on their schedule, so there can be a short delay before a posting appears, updates, or comes down. Trucker Tools works differently: its loads are sent when the shipment's status changes, rather than on the repeating schedule.

Frequently asked questions

Which load boards can the Tai TMS post my available loads to?

The Tai TMS can post available loads to DAT, Truckstop, 10-4, 123 Loadboard, Motive (formerly Keep Truckin), Load Board Network, Trucker Tools, and DAT Convoy Marketplace, and it includes a general connector for certain other partner boards. The list is broad but not universal: exactly which boards you post to depends on the board connections enabled for your organization and the credentials you have set up for each one.

A partner appears in my connection setup list, but I can't post loads to it. Why?

In the Tai TMS, the connection setup list includes more partners than the boards that accept load postings. Being listed there does not mean the TMS can advertise loads on that partner. Posting is supported only for load boards such as DAT, Truckstop, 10-4, 123 Loadboard, Motive, Load Board Network, Trucker Tools, DAT Convoy Marketplace, and boards set up through the general connector.

If I edit or repost a load I already posted, will it create a duplicate on the board?

You should not end up with two live copies. In the Tai TMS, some boards update the existing advertisement in place, and others take the old advertisement down and immediately post a fresh one. Either way, the system tracks an identifier for each advertisement, so the old copy is the one that is refreshed or removed. On boards that replace the advertisement, you may see it appear as a new listing.

Does reposting work the same on every board?

No. In the Tai TMS, repost behavior depends on the board. Some boards, such as Truckstop, update the existing advertisement. Several others, such as 10-4, 123 Loadboard, and Motive, remove the old advertisement and post a new one. Load Board Network does not support automatic scheduled reposting at all, so repost frequency and duration settings are ignored there. DAT behavior depends on how your organization's DAT connection is set up.

What happens if one of my load boards fails or my credentials are wrong?

In the Tai TMS, load posting runs separately for each board, and for most boards separately for each of your accounts on it, so a failure on one board or one account does not stop your other boards from posting. The affected loads show an error (for example, an authentication error when credentials are invalid or expired), while loads going to your other connected boards continue to post normally.

Can the Tai TMS repost my loads automatically?

Yes, on boards that support it. In the Tai TMS, you can give a load a repost frequency, and it is refreshed on that schedule so carriers see it again without you re-entering anything. Without a repost frequency the advertisement is not reposted automatically. Load Board Network is the exception: it does not support scheduled reposting.

Will my load come down from the boards when I book a carrier or cancel it?

Yes. In the Tai TMS, when a carrier is assigned to a truckload shipment or the shipment is canceled, the load's postings are marked for removal and taken down on the next run of the automated posting process. Postings also come down on their own once their advertising period ends.

Why did the equipment type on the load board look different from what I entered?

In the Tai TMS, each load board has its own set of equipment/trailer codes, so the system maps your shipment's equipment to the closest option on each board. If the trailer type is unusual or was not specified, it falls back to a general default for that board, which is why the board may show a broader equipment category than the exact type on your shipment.

How do I take a load down from the boards?

In the Tai TMS, you set the load's posting to be removed, and on the next run of the automated posting process the system pulls the advertisement down on each board where it was posted, so it is no longer shown to carriers. Because the TMS tracks an identifier for each advertisement, the removal targets the exact advertisement it created.

How soon after I post does the load appear on the boards?

In the Tai TMS, load posting runs on a regular automated cadence, roughly every few minutes, rather than instantly, so there can be a short delay. A load set to post goes out on the next run of the posting process, and scheduled reposts happen on their own schedule. Trucker Tools loads are sent when the shipment's status changes instead.

I changed my shipment after posting it. When will the board show the change?

In the Tai TMS, some boards receive shipment edits shortly after you save them. For the rest, the change reaches the board the next time the load is reposted or resubmitted, so carriers may briefly see the earlier details.