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For brokersLane alerts that text carriers the loads they asked for
Carriers who call about a lane will often want the next load on it. Here's how SmartLoads lane alerts work by text and email, from opt-in and matching to caps, quiet hours and STOP handling, with honest early numbers.
A lane alert tells a carrier when a load appears on a lane they asked about. With SmartLoads, carriers opt in themselves, by text when they chat about a load or by email when they save lanes on the SmartBoard load board. A new load matching their origin, and optionally their destination and equipment, triggers a short text with a link to view and book, or a daily email. Alerts are capped at two texts per carrier per day, sent only between 7 AM and 9 PM Central, never repeated for the same load, and stopped by replying STOP. It's early: 20 carriers have 26 text alerts across 17 origins, and 72 alert texts had gone out as of September 25, 2026.
A carrier who calls about a load from Jewett, TX is telling you something useful: they're likely to be near Jewett again. The load they called about may already be covered, but the next one on that lane is a warm lead. A lane alert is a standing "tell me next time", and the carrier asks for it themselves.
Two ways in, both opt-in
Carriers sign up in one of two places:
- By text, from carrier chat. When a carrier chats about a posted load, SmartLoads asks: "Want alerts when we have loads leaving [city]?" A tap on yes saves an alert for that origin, tied to their phone number. Every yes and no is logged.
- By email, on the SmartBoard. Carriers who sign in to SmartLoads' public load board with an emailed code can save up to five lanes. Each lane has an origin state, and optionally an origin city, a destination and equipment. Asking about a load can also save that load's lane.
Nobody is added by a broker or scraped from a list. The carrier asks.
How a load matches
When a new load lands on the board:
- Text alerts match on origin. A city alert fires for a load leaving that city. A state-only alert fires for any load leaving that state.
- Email alerts match the origin state exactly, the city if one was set, the destination if one was set, and equipment when the lane names it (a "flatbed" lane matches loads with flatbed in the equipment).
Only live freight counts. Text alerts consider active, open loads added in the last 24 hours. Email alerts consider today's open board and also skip loads held for rate review and customers who aren't shown on the public board. Booked and covered loads never trigger either.
What the carrier gets
A text is short and has one link:
SmartLoads: New load Jewett, TX > Weimar, TX, ships 9/29, Flatbed.
Details & book: https://chat.smartloads.io/i/… Reply STOP to opt outThe link opens that load in carrier chat, where the carrier can ask questions and request it.
An email arrives at most once a day, on weekdays. It lists up to 20 new loads on the carrier's lanes, each with an "I want this load" button that sends the request to the brokers without the carrier signing in.
The guardrails
A text a carrier didn't want does more harm than no text at all, so the limits are strict:
| Rule | Setting |
|---|---|
| Texts per carrier | 2 per rolling 24 hours at most |
| Quiet hours | Texts only between 7 AM and 9 PM Central |
| Same load twice | Never; each alert sends a given load once |
| Freshness | Only loads added in the last 24 hours |
| Per run | At most 50 texts every five minutes |
| Emails | One per carrier per day, weekdays 7 AM to 5 PM Central |
Opting out: replying STOP (or STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END or QUIT) turns off every text alert for that number. If the carrier's phone carrier reports that the number has blocked messages, SmartLoads treats that as an opt-out too. Email alerts can be turned off lane by lane.
When a carrier replies
Replies are where alerts turn into business:
- If the carrier is on the agency's outreach list for the day, their reply becomes a conversation and a lead on the brokers' dashboard.
- Otherwise they get one reply with the load link, so they can view it and chat.
- An "I want this load" click in an email creates a lead straight away.
Brokers see those leads next to the leads from their super intelligence (SI) phone calls, and a person books.
Early numbers
This is new, and the numbers are small. Here they are anyway:
| Measure | As of September 25, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Carriers with text alerts | 20 |
| Text alert subscriptions | 26, across 17 origins |
| Alert texts sent (since July 29) | 72 |
| Texts that failed to deliver | 12 |
| Opt-outs | 0 |
| Email alerts sent (since September 15) | 8 |
| Loads requested straight from an email | 1 |
Zero opt-outs from 72 texts suggests the caps and quiet hours are about right. The bigger opportunity is volume. Today alerts are offered in carrier chat and on the SmartBoard. The SI phone agents, which answered 14,232 carrier calls in five months (more on that), are the obvious next place to offer them.
Frequently asked questions
Do carriers have to download an app?
No. Text alerts link to a web page, and email alerts have a button. Nothing to install.
Can a carrier choose destinations and equipment?
On the SmartBoard, yes: each saved lane can include a destination and equipment. Text alerts from carrier chat currently match on origin city or state.
How do we stop alerts from annoying carriers?
The caps do most of it: two texts a day at most, only between 7 AM and 9 PM Central, never the same load twice, and STOP turns everything off.
Do lane alerts book loads?
No. They bring the carrier back to a load. A broker books it.