Overview
To receive carrier bids on a shipment, you need to actively post it to the load board and/or send bid requests to carriers. Shipments in Quoting status do not automatically notify carriers — you must take one of the actions below.
Two Ways to Get Bids
1. Add to Load Board
Adding a shipment to the load board makes it visible to all carriers who have load board access to your spot board.
Open the shipment from your Shipments Dashboard.
In the actions tab, click Add to Loadboard.
The shipment is now visible to carriers on your spot board.
Important: This does not send an email notification to carriers. Carriers must be actively checking the board to see the load.
2. Send to Carriers → Request Bids
This option actively emails specific carriers to invite them to bid.
Open the shipment from your Shipments Dashboard.
In the actions tab, select Request Bids.
Select carriers by Tag (carrier group) or manually enter carrier email addresses.
Optionally add Special Instructions (e.g., equipment requirements, loading instructions, tracking requirements).
Click Send.
Carriers receive an email notification and can respond with bids directly in Shipwell.
Viewing Bids
Once you have added the shipment to the load board and/or sent bid requests, incoming bids appear at the Bids tab. You can:
Click a carrier name to message them directly
Click Select on a bid to assign that carrier to the shipment
Troubleshooting: Not Getting Bids?
If you are not receiving bids, check the following:
Load board not enabled — The shipment must have the load board turned on. If load_board_enabled is false and no auction is open, carriers cannot see or bid on the load.
No bid request sent — Adding to the load board does not email carriers. Use Send to Carriers → Request Bids to actively notify them.
Pickup date passed — Carriers may not bid on loads with past pickup dates. Reschedule if needed.
Carrier list — Make sure you have carriers with load board access set up in your account.