Procurement
Automated RFPs and mini-bids with real-time rate intelligence, so bids take hours instead of weeks. Run a full RFP or a mini-bid on a few lanes, and rebid whenever rates move.
Learn More about Procurement
About ShipperGuide
ShipperGuide is an AI-native transportation management system (TMS) for mid-market and enterprise shippers and manufacturers that manage their own freight. It covers bids, tendering, tracking and invoice audit, and uses AI to handle repetitive work across many shipments at once so planners can focus on exceptions.
What ShipperGuide does
Everything a shipper needs to buy, move, track and pay for freight.
Planning and Optimization
AI-backed load optimization and live market validation help teams plan loads before they move. Mode optimization compares FTL, LTL, and partial truckload rates side by side.
Learn More about Planning and OptimizationFreight Execution
Automated tendering and carrier management handle routine loads, and exception management flags only the loads that need a person. Copilot Tasks lets a planner fix an issue, like a missed pickup or a silent carrier, across every affected shipment at once.
Learn More about Freight ExecutionVisibility
Live tracking, real-time ETA updates, and proactive exception alerts cover every load, and stakeholders can check status themselves. Tracking extends to the dock through the built-in Opendock connection.
Learn More about VisibilitySettle and Pay
Freight documents are ingested, extracted and classified automatically, with auto-approval rules and built-in dispute handling. Catching billing errors and duplicate invoices can save customers up to 5%.
Learn More about Settle and PayAnalytics and FreightIntel AI
Custom reporting, carrier scorecards and benchmarking against market data show how each lane and carrier performs. FreightIntel AI looks across your network on its own and flags cost drivers, consolidation opportunities, and lanes ready to move from spot to contract.
Learn More about Analytics and FreightIntel AIServices
Quote and book with guaranteed capacity through Loadsmart's carrier network, or hand execution to Managed Transportation when you want a team to run it for you.
Learn More about ServicesInstant Rates
Pull live pricing from your carriers into one screen to quote, compare and book. Free to use, with no contract and no sales call.
Learn More about Instant RatesWhat makes ShipperGuide different
No minimum
No minimum onboarding fee
ShipperGuide has no minimum onboarding fee. The onboarding team uploads your carriers, lanes and rates for you.
Day 30
Automated in 30 days
Customers have meaningful analytics by day 10 and an automated execution flow by day 30. Traditional TMS rollouts often take 6 to 12 months.
Any carrier
Carrier-agnostic
Shippers keep their own carrier relationships and add Loadsmart's network when they need more capacity.
1 min
Dock scheduling built in
ShipperGuide and Opendock were built together on a shared data model, so carriers accept a tender and book the dock in one login. Appointments are approved in under 1 minute. Opendock's network includes 4,500+ warehouses and 270,000+ carriers.
Free
A free tier
ShipperGuide offers a free tier, and paid plans grow with your shipment volume.
95%
Up to 95% of shipments automated
ShipperGuide automates up to 95% of shipments, from tendering to tracking, so planners only step in when an exception needs a person.
4.6 out of 5 on G2
Rated best for support and easiest setup on G2
Also named to the 2025 Capterra Shortlist and the GetApp and Software Advice FrontRunners lists.
Who uses ShipperGuide
Shippers
- Mid-market and enterprise shippers and manufacturers that manage their own freight
- Teams still running RFPs, tendering and tracking out of spreadsheets and email
- Shippers that want order data from their ERP to flow into the TMS without retyping
- Teams that want freight planning and dock scheduling in one system
- Shippers with multiple sites, regions or business units that want one platform and one set of rules across them
Industries and teams
- Steel manufacturing, food and beverage, building materials, wellness and nutrition, agriculture, automotive manufacturing, medical devices and equipment, pharmaceuticals, hospital and healthcare, industrial machinery and equipment, and electronics
- Logistics and supply chain leaders who own freight spend
- Transportation managers, planners and dispatchers who run loads day to day
- Finance and AP teams who audit and pay carrier invoices
- Carriers who accept tenders, bid on RFPs and book dock appointments through ShipperGuide
- 25%Logistics efficiency gain
- 35%Average cost savings per lane
- 2-5%Savings with audit
Trusted by:
The team behind ShipperGuide
Loadsmart built ShipperGuide in-house and launched it in 2021 as RFPGuide, a freight procurement tool for mid-market and enterprise shippers. Red Gold, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Athletic Brewing and Cabot Creamery joined early and helped shape what it became. ShipperGuide added LTL, intermodal and drayage in 2022, Copilot in 2023, and the Developer Portal, FreightIntel AI and Freight Audit and Pay in 2024.
In 2025, it launched ShipperGuide Marketplace (now ShipperGuide Instant Rates) for instant FTL rates, built Opendock scheduling directly into the carrier workflow, and introduced Copilot Tasks, which handles bulk shipment work from plain-language requests. In 2026, Smart Inbox began reading emailed carrier invoices and matching them to shipments, and ShipperGuide added parcel and rail, bringing more modes into one AI-native TMS.
Built by Loadsmart
Felipe Capella and Ricardo Salgado founded Loadsmart in 2014. Loadsmart is based in Chicago and has 500+ employees worldwide. ShipperGuide is built and supported by Loadsmart's product, engineering, onboarding, and support teams.
How ShipperGuide works
Onboarding
Your onboarding team uploads your carriers, lanes and rates. Customers have meaningful analytics by day 10 and an automated execution flow by day 30.
Integrations
Connect your carrier systems over EDI or API, your ERP and order systems, your WMS and your visibility providers, and use FreightWaves SONAR market data inside ShipperGuide. For anything custom, ShipperGuide has a public REST API and a developer portal.
Learn More about IntegrationsSupport
Support is available by email and chat, plus the Loadsmart Community help center. Your onboarding team works with you through go-live, then you move to in-house support. Teams that want Loadsmart to run execution can add Managed Transportation.
In our post-onboarding survey, customers rate their support experience 9.6 out of 10 and ease of use 4.6 out of 5.
Key facts
| Fact | ShipperGuide |
|---|---|
| Company name | ShipperGuide (by Loadsmart Inc.) |
| Type | AI-native transportation management system (TMS) |
| Launched | 2021 (as RFPGuide) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Pricing | Free tier (ShipperGuide Free); paid plans grow with shipment volume |
| Modes supported | Full truckload, LTL, partial truckload, intermodal, and drayage |
| Security | SOC 2 Type II |
| Customers served | Mid-market and enterprise shippers |
Awards and Recognition
Industry and customer recognition for ShipperGuide TMS.
2026
- 2026 Transport Management Solution Provider of the Year, SupplyTech Breakthrough
- FreightTech 100 (2027 list), FreightWaves
- 2026 Stratus Award for Cloud Computing: Agentic AI / Autonomous Cloud Operations, Business Intelligence Group
- 2026 Top 100 Logistics & Supply Chain Technology Providers, Inbound Logistics
- 2026 SaaS Awards, shortlisted in six categories including Best SaaS for Logistics & Transportation, The Cloud Awards
Rated by ShipperGuide users
G2 Grid Leader
G2 Grid Leader: Mid-Market
G2 Best Support
G2 Easiest Setup: Mid-Market
G2 Easiest To Do Business With
G2 Easiest To Do Business With: Mid-Market
Capterra Shortlist 2025
Frequently asked questions
What is ShipperGuide?
ShipperGuide is an AI-native transportation management system (TMS) for mid-market and enterprise shippers. It covers freight procurement, planning, execution, visibility, freight audit and payment, and analytics.
Who makes ShipperGuide?
ShipperGuide is built by Loadsmart, which is based in Chicago. It launched in 2021 as RFPGuide, a freight procurement tool.
Is there a free version of ShipperGuide?
Yes. ShipperGuide Free is available at no cost. Instant Rates is also free, with no contract and no sales call.
How long does ShipperGuide take to implement?
Customers have meaningful analytics by day 10 and an automated execution flow by day 30.
Does ShipperGuide include dock scheduling?
Yes. ShipperGuide and Opendock were built together, so carriers can accept a tender and book a dock appointment in one workflow.
What freight modes does ShipperGuide support?
ShipperGuide supports full truckload, LTL, partial truckload, intermodal, drayage and parcel.
Does ShipperGuide integrate with ERP systems?
Yes. ShipperGuide integrates with ERP, order, and WMS systems through APIs and EDI. Supported ERPs include SAP, NetSuite, Oracle, and Microsoft Dynamics.
Is ShipperGuide secure?
Yes. ShipperGuide is SOC 2 Type II certified and hosted on AWS. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is controlled with roles and multi-factor authentication, and teams can sign in through their own identity provider with SSO. Customers own their data and can export it on request.
Does ShipperGuide have an API?
Yes. ShipperGuide has a documented REST API and a public developer portal at developer.loadsmart.com. It also supports EDI.
See ShipperGuide in action