Freight Marketplace

A freight marketplace is an online platform that connects shippers who need to move freight with carriers or brokers who have available capacity. The most common use case is spot freight – loads that need to be covered quickly because they fall outside the shipper's contracted lanes, exceed normal volume, or were rejected by the primary carrier. The shipper posts load details (origin, destination, commodity, pickup date, equipment type), and carriers respond with rates and availability.

Marketplaces vary in how they match supply and demand. Some operate as open exchanges where any qualified carrier can bid. Others use algorithms to match loads with carriers based on lane history, equipment availability, pricing patterns, and performance ratings. The most sophisticated platforms offer instant quoting – the shipper gets a price and booking confirmation in seconds rather than waiting for bids. Major freight marketplaces include platforms operated by large brokerages as well as independent digital matching services.

For shippers, the marketplace is a tool for covering overflow and exception freight – not typically a replacement for a contracted carrier network. The rates are generally higher than contract pricing but available on shorter notice. The strategic question is how seamlessly the marketplace integrates with the shipper's existing workflow. If spot rates from marketplaces appear alongside contract rates and LTL tariffs in a single view – so the shipper can compare all options and make the best decision per load – the marketplace becomes a useful backstop rather than a separate, disconnected process.