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Tender acceptance
Tender acceptance is the broker's yes to a load tender, which turns the offer into freight the desk has to cover and move.
Last updated 11 October 2026.
Acceptance is a commitment. The shipper can plan on you. Your team now has a pickup to make, a carrier to find, and a rate to live with. On EDI, acceptance is a response code. On email, it is a reply that says you have it. Either way the clock starts.
A yes that never becomes a load is how freight gets accepted and then forgotten. The dangerous yes is the automatic one on a tender that does not match the award. A short rate, a destination that changed, or a date that slipped should not get the same answer as a clean contractual tender. Match first, then accept, then build.
Decline is a real outcome. If you cannot cover it inside the rate, or the tender contradicts the contract, say no while the shipper still has time to find another broker. Silence past the response window is the worst of both. You did not accept, and you did not free them.
FreightScout checks the tender and builds the ones that match a path you already approved. A tender outside what you committed is not accepted for you. It waits. How FreightScout handles tender acceptance.
Questions people actually ask
What counts as accepting a tender?
A response the shipper can rely on: an EDI accept, or an email that says you have it. Then the load has to exist. A yes that never becomes a load is freight you forgot.
Should a mismatched tender be accepted automatically?
No. A short rate, a changed destination, or a date that slipped waits for a person. FreightScout does not accept that one on its own.