# My load board isn't tied into Aljex. Do I retype every load? > Many load boards and posting tools stop at the board and never touch your TMS, so every booked load gets typed into Aljex or PLS3 by hand. The tools that do connect usually need API access that an agent office often can't get. Source: https://smartloads.io/blog/not-tied-into-aljex ยท Updated 2026-10-21 **Example** A tender comes in from Heartland Steel: a flatbed from Kansas City to Omaha, picking up at 7:00 this morning. The load is already on your board, and you've found the truck. Now you open Aljex, click Add Shipment and start typing what's already in front of you: the shipper and its address, the consignee and its address, contacts, hours, Ref numbers, both dates, the equipment, the weight and the rate. You save, then type the carrier in too. Agents told us this one directly: it's not tied into Aljex. Here's why that keeps happening, what the retyping really costs, and how to stop doing it. ![A load entry form filling in with a shipper, consignee and dates](/blog-images/not-tied-into-aljex/smartcover-filling-the-form.webp "Every box you'd type by hand. Illustration. The names and numbers are examples.") ## Why your board and your TMS don't talk **Two systems with two jobs.** The board is where you work a load: post it, take calls, find the truck. The TMS is where the brokerage bills the customer and pays the carrier. Nothing moves between them unless somebody types it. **The paperwork isn't data.** Tenders, BOLs and releases arrive as PDFs, scans and photos attached to email. A person has to read them before anything can be typed. **Tools that stop at the board.** Some tools post your loads and even answer your calls, then leave the TMS to you. That covers the first half of the job and leaves the slowest half untouched. **No API at the agent's desk.** Connecting software straight to a TMS usually takes API access that the brokerage has to set up. An agent office often can't get it, so the connection never happens. ## What retyping really costs **Time on every load.** Two screens of boxes for each booked load, every day, on top of the calls. **Mistakes that travel.** One wrong digit in a Ref number can get a driver turned away at the shipper. A wrong ZIP or date shows up again at billing, when it's harder to fix. **Work that waits.** When entry piles up, it gets done at the end of the day, after the freight has moved and the details are harder to check. ## What any agent can do today 1. **Type a load once.** Put every detail on your board first, then copy from there, never from memory. 2. **Let Aljex fill what it knows.** Pick the customer from Aljex's own list, so Aljex fills the address, contact and Bill To. Here's [how to key loads into Aljex faster](/blog/key-loads-into-aljex-faster). 3. **Check the three things that go wrong most:** Ref numbers, dates and ZIP codes. 4. **Enter as you book.** A load entered while the call is fresh is a load entered right. ## SmartCover: fill Aljex or PLS3 from the shipper's paperwork SmartCover turns the shipper's paperwork into a filled Aljex or PLS3 form, without a TMS API. ![Four steps: shipper paperwork, SmartLoads reads it, the extension fills the form, you check and Save](/blog-images/not-tied-into-aljex/paperwork-to-tms.webp "From the shipper's email to your TMS, in the Aljex or PLS3 you already sign in to.") **It reads the paperwork.** In Outlook, click Read this email in the SmartLoads panel, or forward the email to your SmartLoads cover address. SmartLoads reads the PDF (in the Outlook panel, a photo too) with super intelligence (SI): the shipper, the consignee, the dates, the Ref numbers, the equipment and the weight. Then a rules-based matcher finds the load on your board. A person booked that load: SmartLoads never books or covers one. When the matcher isn't sure, a person picks. On September 26, 2026, the first live forward was matched to the right load 22 seconds after it arrived ([how it works](/blog/cover-card-shipper-paperwork-to-tms-entry)). **It fills the form.** Click Copy for Aljex in SmartLoads or the Outlook panel. Open Aljex's Add Shipment screen, click the SmartLoads extension in Chrome, then Fill from SmartLoads copy. It types the customer, both stops with their addresses, contacts, hours and Ref numbers, the dates, the equipment, the weight and the rate. Filled boxes flash yellow, and it tells you anything it couldn't find. On a per-ton load, you type the rates yourself. ![The form filled and ready for a person to review](/blog-images/not-tied-into-aljex/filled-ready-to-review.webp "Filled and ready to check. The carrier comes next, after you save. Illustration. The names and numbers are examples.") **You check it and click Save.** The extension never clicks Save for you, and SmartLoads never saves anything into Aljex. A person reviews every box and saves. **Then the carrier, in one more click.** After you save, a second click types the MC of the carrier you booked, so Aljex finds it in its own carrier file, and adds the carrier pay. Check it and click Save again. When the Ref numbers match, it sends the Aljex Pro number back to SmartLoads. On PLS3, the extension fills Create Load from the same copy, without the carrier step for now. **No API to ask for.** The extension runs in your own browser, in the Aljex or PLS3 you already sign in to. Nothing in SmartLoads signs in to your TMS. It never fills the driver, truck, trailer or seal. ![A person clicks Save on the filled form](/blog-images/not-tied-into-aljex/saved-by-a-person.webp "You check it and click Save. Illustration. The names and numbers are examples.") What that adds up to: - **Type a load once,** on your board. - **Fill Aljex or PLS3 from the paperwork** in a click, then check it and save. - **No API request,** no IT project, in the TMS you already use. The video at the top shows it in a few seconds, and the [SmartLoads home page](/) has the rest of the tools. Agents also told us they need [a person to decide when a carrier is over max](/blog/carrier-over-max-who-decides). Thinking about running your own desk? Here's [how to become a freight agent](/agent). To watch a load go from the shipper's email to Aljex, [see SmartCover](/smartcover). ## Frequently asked questions ### Does SmartCover need Aljex API access? No. The extension fills the form in your own browser, in the Aljex you already sign in to. Nothing in SmartLoads signs in to Aljex. ### Does SmartLoads save loads into Aljex? No. The extension fills the Aljex form, and a person checks every box and clicks Save. ### Does it work with PLS3? Yes. It fills PLS3's Create Load from the same paperwork. The carrier step after saving works in Aljex only for now. ### What paperwork can it read? The shipper's paperwork: tenders, BOLs and notices of release, attached to the email as a PDF. In the Outlook panel, a photo works too.