A Blind Carrier Confirmation is used in freight brokerage and logistics when a broker or 3PL wants to hide the true shipper and/or consignee details from the carrier hauling the load. It’s similar in concept to a Blind Bill of Lading, but specifically applies to the rate confirmation document sent to the carrier.
Did you know that you can send and capture signatures electronically on Blind Carrier Confirmations by using Ascend EZSign?
Visit the Ascend EZSign Help Guide (below) for more info.
Use Cases for a Blind Carrier Confirmation
Broker Protection
Prevents carriers from bypassing the broker to work directly with the shipper or consignee on future loads. **Note the full address and shipper/receiver contact information has been removed in the image above**
Especially important with carriers known to solicit direct freight.
Double Brokering Prevention
Helps prevent unauthorized rebrokering by limiting who the carrier knows is involved in the shipment.
Useful when working with new or unverified carriers.
Confidential Supply Chain
Used when the shipper or consignee requires anonymity for competitive or branding reasons.
Keeps high-profile brands or vendors from being disclosed.
Margin Protection
Avoids revealing the scale or type of customer relationship to the carrier, which could imply the size of the broker’s margin.
Common when dealing with sensitive or high-value clients.
Brand Control
Broker may replace the shipper’s name with their own (or a neutral party) to maintain the image that they "own" the freight.
How to Generate a Blind Carrier Confirmation
Generating a Blind Carrier Confirmation is quick and automatic—just follow these two simple steps:
Assign a Carrier to the Load
Navigate to the Carrier Info tab within your load.
Select and assign a carrier to the load.
Add a Line Item in the Financials Tab
Go to the Financials tab of the same load.
Under the Expenses section, add at least one line item (e.g., linehaul or accessorial) and assign it to the same carrier
✅ That’s it!
Once both steps are completed, AscendTMS will automatically generate the Blind Carrier Confirmation based on your settings.
Note: Any system generated documents are automatically created throughout the process of building loads. If you need a quick walkthrough on the load building process, please visit our How to Build a Load Help Guide below.
Note that if you add another line item assigned to a different carrier, the system will generate a second Carrier Confirmation and so on.
How to Download, View or Send (Email) a Blind Carrier Confirmation
From the Load Management screen, right-click on the load you want to access the Blind Carrier Confirmation from (this action will display a Shortcut Menu), and click on the View or Send Load Docs
You will be taken to the following screen where you will see the Blind Carrier Confirmation.
Simply click on the Blind Carrier Confirmation. You will see the following options available to you:
Preview/Process Doc
Download Doc
Request E-Signature
Email Doc
Preview/Process Doc - allows you to preview the document and (optional) attach the document to additional entities within your AscendTMS
Download Doc - downloads the document to your computer (or any other device you're accessing AscendTMS from)
Request E-Signature - allows you to send and capture signatures electronically on Blind Carrier Confirmations by using Ascend EZSign
Email Doc - allows you to email the BOL to any contacts/parties needed
How to Customize Your Blind Carrier Confirmation Documents
Note: Any changes made to the Terms and Conditions on your standard Carrier Confirmations will automatically apply to your Blind Carrier Confirmations as well. Both documents share the same settings.
Begin by locating the Settings tab within your AscendTMS main menu
From within Settings, locate the Report & Documents Section and click on Edit the Default Settings for Carrier Confirmation Documents
The following screen will appear, giving you the ability to customize the Terms and Conditions, along with the ability to customize the Footer on ALL of the Carrier Confirmation documents
