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Create a spot load

A spot load is a single transport request — one pickup, one delivery, one cargo, one date. You create it when a shipper asks you to organise a specific transport. On Truckscanner you open it from the "New load" side panel, save it as a draft, and when it's ready you send it to dispatching (Leo calls the carriers in your network) or assign it manually to a carrier you have already agreed with.

Forwarder

Before you start

To create a spot load you need:

  • A forwarder account with ADMIN or OPERATOR role on your company.
  • The pickup address (city + street; city-only is fine when you don't yet have the exact street number).
  • The delivery address.
  • The pickup date (a 2-3 day range is fine too).
  • The cargo description: type (palletised, bulk, intermodal, exceptional), weight, and for pallets also dimensions and quantity.
  • The offered price as a guideline for automatic dispatching (Leo uses it to propose the load to carriers; you can also save the draft without a price and add it later).

If the draft is just a template and some data is still missing, that's fine: the load stays in Draft status until you click "Dispatch" or "Assign carrier", so you can edit it as many times as you want.

Step by step

1. Open the "New load" panel

From the side menu, Operations & Transport → Loads, you land on your loads list. The yellow "+ New load" button at the top right opens the creation panel.

The panel slides in from the right and covers roughly two-thirds of the window. The status tab bar ("All", "Draft", "Dispatching", "Assigned", "Completed", "Late", "Deleted") with live counters gives you an immediate overview of what's on the platform.

2. Confirm the Spot + Ship goods toggles

The panel has two toggles at the top that drive the form structure. The defaults are right for a spot goods load:

  • Load type: Spot (alternative: "Recurring" for weekly or monthly recurring lanes — dedicated guide coming).
  • Load mode: Ship goods (alternative: "Book vehicle" when you only want to lock a vehicle without specifying the cargo — dedicated guide coming).

Leave both on default and move on.

3. Fill in the stops, the goods and the price

Now you fill in the three main sections — Stops, Goods, Budget — plus the pickup date. The right sidebar updates live as you go: it draws the route on the map, computes distance + duration + CO₂, and sums the weight/volume/LDM of the cargo.

Stops — Pickup 1

  1. In the "Address *" field of the Pickup 1 card type the address (e.g. Via Milano 10, Milano). Truckscanner shows Google Places suggestions: click the right one and the address becomes Via Milano, 10 San Donato Milanese, Milano, Italy with valid GPS coordinates.
  2. Click "Select" under "Dates*" and pick the pickup window on the calendar. For a single day, click the same day twice. For a 2-3 day window, click the start date and then the end date.
  3. "Times" is optional: if you leave it empty the carrier treats it as "times to be agreed" (they'll see this in the assignment notes).

Stops — Delivery 1

  1. Same pattern: "Address *" with autocomplete (e.g. Via Roma 1, Roma).
  2. Delivery date is optional: if you leave it empty the carrier agrees it with the consignee on arrival.

Goods — Palletised goods (default)

  1. Leave the cargo type selector on Palletised goods. For bulk, intermodal or exceptional cargo click the dropdown and pick the type: the form adapts (for BULK_LIQUID volume replaces dimensions, for INTERMODAL the container dimensions appear, etc).
  2. Length (m)*, Depth (m)*, Height (m)* of the single pallet (e.g. 1.20, 0.80, 1.50 for a standard europallet).
  3. Weight per pallet (kg)* (e.g. 800).
  4. Number of pallets*: start from 1 and use the − and + buttons next to it, or type directly in the field (e.g. 10).
  5. Content*: a free-text description of the cargo for the carrier (e.g. Wooden furniture pallets, packed).

If needed, check "Dangerous goods (ADR)", "Perishable goods (ATP)", "Food (HACCP)" or "Waste (authorisation)": Leo will verify the carrier's certifications before proposing the load.

Offered price and payment (right sidebar)

  1. Offered price*: the figure in euros you propose to the carrier (e.g. 1200). Leo uses this as the base for automatic dispatching — it proposes the load to carriers at this price.
  2. Payment terms (optional): pick the standard term from the dropdown (e.g. NET 30, NET 60). If you don't pick anything, your company's default term is applied.

At this point the sidebar shows the map with the Milan → Rome route, the Load summary (e.g. 8,000 kg, 9.6 LDM, 11.52 m³ for 10 pallets 1.20×0.80×1.50 at 800 kg), and the price in the Offered price and payment box.

4. Click "SAVE DRAFT"

The "SAVE DRAFT" button at the bottom left of the panel saves everything and closes the window. Truckscanner creates the load with the code LD-XXXXXXXX (8 random characters) in Draft status.

If you want to publish it straight to dispatching without going through draft state, the footer has two alternatives:

  • "DISPATCH" (yellow, on the right): publishes the load immediately and starts Leo — it calls the carriers in your network in sequence and proposes the load. Cf. Dispatching with Leo guide (coming soon).
  • "ASSIGN CARRIER" (blue, in the middle): opens the dialog to manually pick a carrier you have already agreed with, and sends the order directly without calling the others. Cf. Manually assign a carrier guide (coming soon).

For this guide we stop at Draft.

The new draft row appears in the list (clicking it reopens the panel in edit mode). The "Draft" tab counter in the status bar increases by 1.

What happens next

As soon as you click "SAVE DRAFT":

  • Truckscanner creates the load record scoped to your company (company_id = your company). Unique code LD-XXXXXXXX.
  • It creates the two load stops (pickup and delivery) with the geocoded addresses you picked.
  • It creates the goods item with dimensions, weight, number of pallets and content.
  • It stores the calculated route on the map (distance, duration, estimated CO₂ HBEFA 4.2) — you see it later in the detail drawer.
  • The load status is Draft until you click "Dispatch" or "Assign carrier".

At this stage nothing leaves the platform yet: no email to the shipper, no Leo call to carriers, no notification to the network. The draft is yours and your colleagues' (operators and admins of your company also see it in the list). Notifications and AI automations only start when you leave the Draft state:

  • Dispatch → the backend queues the load, Leo (the dispatcher voice agent) calls the network carriers in sequence and proposes the load at the offered price. Cf. dispatching guide.
  • Assign carrier → the backend creates a Transport Order for the chosen carrier, and the carrier receives the order invitation. Cf. manual assignment guide.

Common issues

Impact on other roles

What the other side sees

Carrier

As long as the load is in Draft status, no carrier sees anything. The draft is not visible on the network or to specific private carriers — it's only yours and your colleagues'.

Carriers come in only when you leave the draft state:

  • Dispatch (Leo) → Leo calls the carriers selected by its AI ranking and proposes the load at the offered price. Each carrier receives the voice call and can accept, reject or make a counter-offer. Cf. Start dispatching with Leo (coming soon).
  • Assign carrier (manual) → Truckscanner creates a Transport Order directly for the carrier you chose, and that carrier receives the order notification. Cf. Manually assign a carrier (coming soon).

What the other side sees

Shipper

The shipper for whom you're organising this transport doesn't see the load in Draft status, doesn't receive automatic emails, and doesn't know you're preparing it. Their visibility on the shipment starts after the carrier accepts the order and starts the journey — at that point they see the pickup status, real-time GPS position, and final delivery with signed POD.

See also