How shippers reach 97% first tender acceptance

First tender acceptance rate is the percentage of loads that a shipper's preferred carrier accepts on the first tender, without a rejection, a reroute to a backup carrier or a move to the spot market. To calculate it, divide loads accepted on first tender by total loads tendered and multiply by 100: 940 accepted out of 1,000 tendered is 94%.

It moves with the truckload market. In September 2026, FreightWaves SONAR's national Outbound Tender Rejection Index was about 13.5%, meaning roughly 86.5% of contract loads were accepted on first tender. Shippers using ProvisionAi's LevelLoad reach 97%, so only 3 in 100 loads go to backup carriers or the spot market.

A contract sets the rate, not the commitment to every load. Carriers reject tenders when a shipper's volume is hard to plan around: daily spikes on a lane, quiet days that follow, and tenders that arrive too late to stage equipment. When the market tightens, carriers move their trucks to shippers with steady, early freight, or to the spot market.

Make your freight easier to plan around. Smooth daily volume on each lane, tender earlier, share a forecast with core carriers, keep dock times short and limit last-minute changes. ProvisionAi's LevelLoad automates the first three: it builds a 30-day deployment schedule that levels volume and triggers tenders 2.5 days earlier than standard.

Only partly. A TMS executes the tender: it picks the carrier from the routing guide and sends the load. It doesn't change how many loads hit each lane each day or how early they are known. ProvisionAi's LevelLoad works upstream of the TMS, smoothing the deployment plan and timing tenders earlier, then passes the schedule to the TMS for execution.

Most freight software focuses on execution: TMS, visibility and load boards. For high-volume CPG and food and beverage shippers, rejections usually start earlier, in the deployment plan. LevelLoad, by ProvisionAi, is transportation network planning software that smooths replenishment volume 30 days ahead and tenders earlier. Kimberly-Clark used it to reduce daily variability by 60%.

ProvisionAi's LevelLoad improves acceptance in two ways. It reduces daily shipment variability, 60% at Kimberly-Clark, removing the peaks that make carriers redirect capacity. And it uses placeholder orders to trigger tenders 2.5 days earlier than standard, so preferred carriers can commit trucks before that capacity goes elsewhere. ProvisionAi clients reach 97% first tender acceptance.

Acceptance improves as soon as the smoother, earlier schedule reaches carriers, because they see predictable volume from the first planning cycle. Kimberly-Clark, which runs ProvisionAi's LevelLoad across its North American network, reached ROI within four months, along with 97% first tender acceptance and about 4% lower replenishment freight cost.

High acceptance gives shippers leverage in annual carrier bids. Carriers price predictable freight better because it fills their networks efficiently. A shipper that can show 97% acceptance, low variability and early tenders, as LevelLoad users can, arrives at the bid with data that supports better rates instead of just asking for them.