What this is
What is a load tender record?
What is a load tender record?
It is the record of a single load being offered to a carrier: the rate offered, whether the carrier accepted, and if not, why. It sits upstream of rate confirmation and dispatch, and it is the only place a refusal gets written down rather than worked around by phone. Without it, a rate that has stopped clearing the market looks identical to one that hasn't.
What does 'tender acceptance rate' actually measure?
It is the proportion of tenders accepted at the rate first offered, without a rate increase or a fallback to the spot market. A falling rate on a lane signals the tariff has drifted below what the lane costs to run, not that carriers have suddenly become unreliable. Reading it lane by lane, rather than as one blended number, is what makes it useful.
Why is this a singleton rather than one record per carrier?
Singleton here describes the template's setup, not how often it is used — one workspace-level template installed once. Every load still gets its own tender record, and a busy lane can produce dozens of them. Confusing the two is a common reason a tender register is under-provisioned for the actual volume it needs to hold.
Scope
When is a load tender record required?
This is a per-load record of a single tender event, not a carrier file and not a rate negotiation log. Using it to track ongoing carrier performance, or to store the master tariff itself, pushes both into a form that can't hold them.
Use this template when
- A load is being offered to a carrier and needs a rate, an outcome, and — if refused — a reason recorded
- A lane has been refused more than once and the pattern needs to be visible before it repeats a third time
- The workspace is being set up, or the tender register needs an entry added or retired
- You are running the Outbound and Despatch programme and this is the first step in it
- A linked record depends on this one existing: Rate Confirmation and Carrier Scorecard both read from it
Do not use it for
- Dispatch Release Check, which is the final check before a load leaves — documents, temperature, securement, seal and count — not whether the load was ever offered to a carrier.
- Shipping Document Check, which verifies the bill of lading, packing list, certificates and any regulated documentation once a carrier is already assigned.
- Proof of Delivery Exception, which records a delivery that didn't complete cleanly — refused, short, damaged, late — long after the tender is closed.
- Carrier Onboarding and Qualification, which establishes whether a carrier is eligible to be tendered to at all, rather than recording one tender event with a carrier already on the approved list.
- Anything outside KnowLogistics, such as the commercial contract negotiation that sets the tariff this record checks against.
Compliance mapping
Which Contract requirements requirements does this satisfy?
Contract requirements here means the obligations a shipper and carrier have actually agreed to — routing sequence, response windows, written confirmation — rather than anything imposed by regulation. The clauses below are the contractual commitments this record is built to evidence.
| Clause | Requirement | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Primary carrier / routing guide clause | Offer the load to the contracted primary carrier first, in the routing guide's agreed sequence, before falling back to alternates | Tender |
| Rate and tariff clause | The rate offered must sit within the agreed tariff before it is put in front of the carrier | Header |
| Tender format and response-window clause | Offer the tender electronically and capture whether a response arrived inside the agreed window | Tender |
| Acceptance and confirmation-in-writing clause | An acceptance is only binding once it is confirmed in writing, at the rate actually offered | Tender |
| Refusal and remedy clause | A refusal must carry a captured reason and a re-offer to the next carrier before the load is left unplaced | If refused |
| Recurring-refusal escalation clause | A lane refused before this event must trigger a rate review rather than repeat the same failed offer | If refused |
| Outcome and scorecard-feed clause | The accepted rate, any premium over tariff, and the outcome must feed the rate confirmation and the carrier scorecard | Outcome |
| Corrective-action clause | Where the process broke down, raise the action record and link its reference before the tender is closed | Outcome |
What it does not cover
- Terms Confirmed In Writing, which is marked No while the carrier has already been dispatched against a verbal rate — the acceptance is not enforceable if the carrier later disputes it.
- Lane Refused Before, which is answered Yes with no linked Rate Review Triggered — the same lane will be refused again next week for the same reason.
- Rate Within Agreed Tariff, which is marked No with no Premium Over Tariff recorded — the extra cost paid to move the load is now invisible to anyone auditing the tariff.
- Offered To The Primary Carrier First, which is marked No with no routing guide exception noted — the contracted sequence has been skipped and nothing explains why.
- Feeds Carrier Scorecard, which is marked No on an accepted or refused tender — the carrier's actual performance on this lane never reaches the scorecard meant to inform the next tender.
Global
Load Tender Record requirements by country
Contract requirements don't come from a single rulebook, but the tender itself sits inside frameworks that decide what a rate offer, once accepted, actually binds. The three below carry the most weight depending on where the lane runs.
49 CFR § 371.3 (Records of transactions — Brokers of property)
Requires a broker, or a shipper acting in that capacity, to keep a record for each shipment naming the carrier, the agreed compensation and the date tendered.
The Header and Tender sections of this record are effectively that federal record; without them, a spot audit of tender practice finds nothing to review.
RHA Conditions of Carriage 2009 (Road Haulage Association standard terms)
Absent a bespoke contract, UK haulage tenders default to these standard conditions, which govern acceptance, rates and liability.
Terms Confirmed In Writing is the moment these standard terms, or a negotiated variant, actually attach to this specific load.
CMR Convention 1956 (Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road)
Once an international road tender is accepted, CMR's liability regime governs the movement, not the tender record itself.
The accepted rate and terms recorded here become the commercial backdrop against which a later CMR liability claim gets measured.
How to complete it
How to complete a load tender record, step by step
Every field on this form can be filled in correctly and the tender can still be indefensible later, because the form doesn't decide these four calls for you.
Whether a text message to the carrier's ops line satisfies Offered Electronically, or whether it must go through the TMS or EDI channel that also timestamps the response window, needs deciding once, in writing — otherwise every planner interprets it differently under time pressure.
Is Lane Refused Before true on the second refusal in a rolling ninety days, or only if the same carrier refused the same lane at the same rate? The definition decides whether Rate Review Triggered fires early enough to matter.
A carrier confirming at a rate one unit off the offer is technically a negotiation, not an acceptance. Decide whether that still ticks Yes on Accepted At The Rate Offered, or forces a Rate Increased To Cover entry instead.
An expired tender has no carrier signature to chase, so the second signature becomes the planner's own escalation trail. Decide whether an expired tender needs the same two-signature closure as an accepted one, or a lighter path that still gets reviewed.
What auditors find
Most common load tender record findings
These are the gaps that show up when a tender register is reviewed after the fact, not while a load is actually moving.
| Finding | Clause | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Tenders are accepted by phone, with Terms Confirmed In Writing answered Yes from memory afterward | Acceptance and confirmation-in-writing clause | Require a confirmation timestamp or document reference before the field can be marked Yes |
| Rate Within Agreed Tariff is marked No with no Premium Over Tariff figure entered | Rate and tariff clause | Make Premium Over Tariff mandatory whenever Rate Within Agreed Tariff is No |
| A lane is refused twice in the same month with Lane Refused Before answered No both times | Recurring-refusal escalation clause | Pull the answer from carrier and lane history automatically rather than leaving it to memory |
| Feeds Carrier Scorecard is left as Yes on every tender regardless of outcome | Outcome and scorecard-feed clause | Tie the field to the actual scorecard sync status, not a default assumption |
| The routing guide is skipped for a known-good spot carrier because they always say yes | Primary carrier / routing guide clause | Require a reason code whenever Offered To The Primary Carrier First is No |
| Action Required stays No after a tender expires without response | Corrective-action clause | Force Action Required to Yes whenever Tender Outcome is 'Expired without response' |
Case in point
Case in point: the lane that kept getting refused
A regional carrier turned down the same Tuesday lane three weeks running. Each tender was logged, each refusal reason was captured as 'capacity', and each time the load moved anyway — on the spot market, at a rate nobody reviewed against tariff.
It was only when Premium Over Tariff was totted up across the three tenders that the pattern became a number: the lane had been costing forty percent over tariff for a month, and the fix wasn't a better carrier — it was a rate that reflected what the lane actually cost to run.
The template
The template, field by field
The form exactly as it installs. Every field, option, score and conditional rule is editable, and the links to other templates come with it.
4 sections
- Reference
- LOG-007
- Archetype
- Record
- Record ID
- TEND-2026-000
- Scoring
- Tender acceptance rate
- Direction
- High is good
- Singleton
- Yes
- Basis
- Contract requirements
- Links
- Feeds Rate Confirmation and Carrier Scorecard
- Tags
- Outbound, Tender, Carrier
- Sections
- 4
- Fields
- 44
- Follow up fields
- 3
- Repeating sections
- 0
- Links out
- 4
Header
18 fieldsTender ID*
Auto sequence. Format TEND-2026-000.
The record's own ID. Other templates point at this value.
Status*
Drives who this goes to next.
- Planned2 pts
- In progress2 pts
- Complete3 pts
- Deferred0 pts
- Open0 pts
- Closed3 pts
- Overdue0 pts
Date and Time*
Completed By*
Site*
Site ID*
Format SITE-000.
Links to FDN-001 Site ID
Carrier*
Vendor ID*
Format VEN-0000.
Links to FDN-005 Vendor ID
Load Reference*
Origin*
Destination*
Collection Required*
Delivery Required*
Equipment Required
- No3 pts
- Yes1 pt
Rate Offered*
Rate Basis
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Rate Within Agreed Tariff*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Refusals Are The Signal
A carrier turning down a lane twice in a week is telling you the rate is wrong before the market does. That signal never survives a phone call.
Tender
6 fieldsOffered To The Primary Carrier First*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Routing Guide Followed*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Offered Electronically*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Response Received Within The Window*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Accepted At The Rate Offered*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Terms Confirmed In Writing*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
If refused
6 fieldsReason For Refusal Recorded*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Offered To The Next Carrier*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Rate Increased To Cover*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Spot Market Used*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Lane Refused Before*
- Yes0 pts
- No2 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Rate Review Triggered*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Outcome
14 fieldsTender Outcome*
Accepted, refused, or expired without response.
Carriers Approached
Final Rate Paid
Premium Over Tariff
Rate Confirmation ID
Links to LOG-035 Confirmation ID
Feeds Carrier Scorecard*
- Yes2 pts
- No0 pts
- N/Aexcluded from denominator
Action Required*
Raise the action record, then enter its reference here.
- No2 pts
- Yes0 pts
Priority
- High0 pts
- Medium1 pt
- Low3 pts
CAPA ID
Format CAPA-2026-00000.
Links to FDN-014 CAPA ID
Action Owner
Transport Planner*
Signature*
Logistics Manager*
Second Signature*
LOG-007 · record IDs look like TEND-2026-000 · Feeds Rate Confirmation and Carrier Scorecard
Open in KnowellaRun it with agents
From a document you fill in to a programme that runs itself
The form captures the tender. What decides whether the pattern gets seen is whether refusals across many tenders ever get read together.
Holds the tender register against every lane and carrier, and rolls refusals across tenders into one acceptance-rate view instead of leaving each refusal isolated on its own record.
Tracks the carrier relationship the tender depends on — approval status, routing position, and whether the agreed tariff this tender checks against is still current.
Keeps the contractual obligations behind Contract requirements — routing sequence, response windows, confirmation in writing — visible against the record meant to evidence them.
Coordinates the crew, rolls refusals and premiums across lanes into one view, and holds every write for your approval before it touches a record.
This template lives in KnowLogistics — supply chain execution. Inbound, outbound, inventory, yard, claims, supplier lifecycle and customs.
Glossary
Load Tender Record definitions and key terms
- Tender
- The formal offer of a specific load, at a specific rate, to a specific carrier — distinct from a rate quote, which is indicative rather than an offer capable of acceptance.
- Tariff
- The agreed rate card for a lane or carrier relationship, set outside this record and checked against here every time a load is tendered.
- Routing guide
- The pre-agreed sequence in which carriers are offered a lane — primary carrier first, then named alternates — so tendering doesn't default to whoever answers the phone.
- Spot market
- Ad hoc carrier capacity bought outside the routing guide and tariff, usually at a premium, used when the contracted sequence has been exhausted.
- Rate confirmation
- The downstream document that formalises an accepted tender into a bookable move; this record is what should trigger it, not replace it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about load tender record
What is the load tender record template based on?+
It is built against contract requirements rather than a regulatory standard — specifically the routing, response-window and confirmation obligations a shipper and carrier have agreed between themselves.
What happens if a tender is neither accepted nor refused?+
Tender Outcome has a third state, expired without response, for exactly this — a lane offered and never answered is a different failure from one actively refused, and it should be scored and reviewed differently.
Does a refusal count against the carrier's scorecard?+
Only if Feeds Carrier Scorecard is marked Yes on that record. Leaving it as No on a genuine refusal is how a carrier's real refusal rate stays invisible to the next tendering decision.
How many load tender records should we have?+
One per load tendered, not one per carrier or per lane. The template itself is a singleton, installed once per workspace, but that describes the setup, not the volume of records it produces.
Which programme does the load tender record belong to?+
Outbound and Despatch, as the first step, with a secondary role in Customer and Carrier Onboarding wherever a new carrier's routing position is being tested.
Can the scoring or the routing guide sequence be changed?+
Yes — every field, option and conditional rule is editable, including which carrier sits first in the routing guide. Most teams install it as supplied, run it for a full tender cycle, then adjust the sequence based on what the acceptance rate shows.
Keep going
Related templates and programmes
Industries this is written for
Programmes this belongs to
Used together in Outbound and Despatch
Load Securement Check
Confirms the load is secured correctly for its type, weight and journey
Weight and Axle Check
Records gross weight and axle loading against legal limits
Dispatch Release Check
The final check before a load leaves, covering documents, temperature, securement, seal and count
Shipping Document Check
Verifies the bill of lading, packing list, certificates and any regulated documentation before the vehicle moves
Proof of Delivery Exception
Records a delivery that did not complete cleanly: refused, short, damaged, late or signed with a notation
Load Plan and Build Record
Sets out how a vehicle will be loaded before loading starts, covering weight distribution, stop sequence and segregation
More in Outbound
Dispatch Release Check
The final check before a load leaves, covering documents, temperature, securement, seal and count
Shipping Document Check
Verifies the bill of lading, packing list, certificates and any regulated documentation before the vehicle moves
Proof of Delivery Exception
Records a delivery that did not complete cleanly: refused, short, damaged, late or signed with a notation
Load Plan and Build Record
Sets out how a vehicle will be loaded before loading starts, covering weight distribution, stop sequence and segregation
Customer Delivery Confirmation
Confirms what the customer actually received against what was despatched
Written and reviewed by
Siddarth Singh
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Knowella
Certified Safety Professional and industrial and systems engineer with more than a decade inside food supply chain, freight and manufacturing operations. This page was written against the current text of the standards it cites, not against secondary summaries of them.
- Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Board of Certified Safety Professionals
- MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- MS and BS, The Ohio State University, Industrial and Systems Engineering
- Six Sigma Black Belt
Sources and last review. Reviewed 16 August 2026 against:
- Contract requirements — routing guide and tender response terms
- 49 CFR § 371.3 — Records of transactions (Brokers of property)
- RHA Conditions of Carriage 2009 — Road Haulage Association standard terms
- CMR Convention 1956 — Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Goods by Road
This page is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your jurisdiction’s regulator.