Keying loads into Aljex faster with copy fields and a fill extension

Ask a broker desk what eats the day and order entry comes up fast. At SmartLoads' first agency customer, building the load in the TMS is the most time-consuming job on the desk. The customer's paperwork arrives as one or two PDFs. Someone reads them, switches to Aljex and types the stops, the reference numbers, the dates, the weight, the rate and the special instructions. Then, once a carrier is booked, they come back and type the carrier too.

If your brokerage has Aljex API access, a direct integration is the cleanest route. Many agency desks don't, and nothing below needs anything from Aljex beyond a browser.

Where the time goes

Most of the minutes go to looking:

• Finding the right document. One load can come with a shipper document and a separate release, and the reference numbers are split across them.
• Reading layouts that change by customer. Each shipper prints its own form.
• Following the agency's reference rules. Which number goes in Customer Ref, which in Pick Up Ref, and in what format.
• Doing it twice. Aljex wants a new shipment saved before a carrier can go on it. So the carrier, MC and carrier pay are a second trip to the same load.

Speeding this up means removing the reading and the second trip, as well as the typing.

Step 1: Read the paperwork once

The paperwork should be read one time, by software, and attached to the right load. SmartLoads takes it two ways:

• Forward the email with its PDFs to the agency's cover address.
• Open the email in Outlook and click "Read this email" in the SmartLoads panel (how the panel works).

A super intelligence (SI) model reads the PDFs into fields. Then a rules-based matcher, which doesn't use SI, finds the booked load by lane, pickup date, customer rate and weight. The result is saved as a Cover Card on that load (how the Cover Card matches). When the matcher isn't sure, it lists the likely loads and a person picks.

Step 2: Lay the fields out in Aljex's order

A broker keying a load shouldn't hunt for fields. The "Ready for Aljex" sheet lists them in the order the Add Shipment screen asks for them:

1. Shipper (Pick Up): name, address, contact, phone, hours, Ready date and Ref #.
2. Consignee: the same, with the Must Deliver date.
3. Load: equipment, footage, pieces, weight and description.
4. Carrier: MC, name, DOT and contact, from the booking in SmartLoads.
5. Rates: the customer rate and the carrier pay.
6. Ref #'s, Customer, Bill To and Special Instructions.

Reference numbers follow the agency's own rules. At one agency, for example, Customer Ref # is the shipper number, Consignee Ref # is the PO number (or the shipper number when there's no PO), and Pick Up Ref # is the pickup number joined to the shipper number. The customer rate is marked internal, with a note never to send it to a carrier or driver.

The sheet appears on the load's Cover information, on the Delivery tab and in the Outlook panel. Each box has its own copy button for keying by hand, and one "Copy for Aljex" button copies the whole load in a format the extension reads. Until the paperwork is attached to a booked load, Copy for Aljex copies the paperwork alone. The carrier and carrier pay are added once it's attached. On a load's Cover information, a "possible" match keeps Copy for Aljex off until someone confirms it's the right load.

Step 3: Let the extension fill the form

The SmartLoads Aljex Shipment Fill extension for Chrome fills the Add Shipment form from that copy. It works in two passes, matching Aljex's own rule about saving first.

First click, on a new shipment. It fills:

• The customer name, typed so Aljex's own customer list pops up. The extension picks the customer only when a line matches the name exactly. Aljex then fills the address, contact and Bill To from its own records. When Aljex shows only similar names, or the same name twice for two offices, the extension leaves the choice to you and names them.
• Pick Up and Consignee: name, address, city, state, ZIP, contact, phone, hours, Ref # and dates.
• Equipment, footage, pieces, weight and description.
• The customer rate type and line haul.
• Special instructions.

The boxes it filled flash yellow, and its message lists anything it couldn't find, so you know exactly what to type by hand. You check every box and click Aljex's Save.

Second click, on the saved shipment. It first checks that the shipment is the same load: reference numbers, stop cities and dates. If they don't match, it changes nothing and says why. Then it types the carrier's MC first, so Aljex looks the carrier up in its own carrier file, and adds the carrier details and carrier pay. If Aljex clears the MC, the carrier probably isn't set up in Aljex yet, and the extension stops there and says so.

On per-ton loads, it leaves both rates out for a person to enter. It never fills the driver, cell, truck, trailer, seal or SCAC.

What it never does

The rules are strict on purpose:

• It never saves. It doesn't click Save, and it never answers Aljex's OK or Cancel boxes. You do.
• It reads the clipboard only when you click Fill. Copying something else never triggers it.
• The fill sends nothing anywhere. Filling from a SmartLoads copy runs no SI. Only after you save the shipment does the second click send its Pro # back to SmartLoads.
• It runs only on Aljex pages.

SmartLoads never posts loads into Aljex. It fills the form, and a person clicks Save. It doesn't book or cover anything either: a person does that in SmartLoads before the carrier ever reaches Aljex.

Getting the extension

Agencies download it from SmartLoads under Connectors, on the Aljex card, and install it in Chrome with Developer mode and "Load unpacked", the standard way to add an extension from a folder. A Chrome Web Store version is in review. There's nothing to configure in Aljex.

Checklist: faster Aljex order entry

• Does the paperwork get read once and attached to the right load?
• Are the fields shown in Aljex's order, with your agency's reference rules applied?
• Is the customer rate kept away from anything a carrier sees?
• Can a broker fill the order in one click and the carrier in a second?
• Does a person still check every box and click Save?

For desks whose TMS can't export loads at all, see getting loads onto a board without an export. To see the whole workflow on your own paperwork, book a demo.

Frequently asked questions

Does SmartLoads post loads into Aljex?

No. The extension fills Aljex's Add Shipment form in your browser, and a person checks it and clicks Aljex's Save. SmartLoads never saves, submits or posts anything into Aljex.

Do we need Aljex API access?

No. The copy fields and the extension work in the browser on the normal Aljex screens. Nothing needs to be turned on in Aljex.

What happens with per-ton loads?

The extension fills everything except the rates and leaves the customer rate and carrier pay for a person to enter, because per-ton pricing doesn't fit a flat line haul.

What if the carrier isn't in Aljex yet?

When you type the MC, Aljex looks the carrier up in its carrier file. If Aljex clears the MC, the extension stops and tells you the carrier may need to be set up first, following your brokerage's carrier setup process.