Freight matchmakers merge to plug the 10% that breaks the chain
123Loadboard and Direct Freight combine under One Freight Network to catch the loads.
Two major freight marketplaces, 123Loadboard and Direct Freight, are merging to create a unified network aimed at addressing persistent gaps in trucking capacity. The combined platform will allow brokers to access a broader pool of freight opportunities while helping carriers find better-matched loads. Both services will continue operating under their existing brands but will function as a single system behind the scenes.
Carmelo Messina, Vice President of Sales at 123Loadboard, highlights the industry’s core challenge: the loads that remain uncovered despite brokers’ existing tools. He describes this as the “capacity gap”, emphasizing that even a small number of unfulfilled shipments can overshadow successful deliveries. “Customers don’t remember the freight you moved,” Messina notes. “They remember the load that didn’t.”
To illustrate the issue, Messina references the “90% idea”, an internal concept at 123Loadboard. “No broker would tell a customer, ‘We covered 90% of your freight, don’t worry about the rest,’” he explains. The company’s approach is built on redundancy, ensuring brokers have alternatives when primary options fail. Its guiding principle, don’t live and die on one load board, reflects this strategy.
The merger’s primary advantage is not just expanding the number of listings but improving how brokers and carriers connect. By integrating 123Loadboard and Direct Freight, the network aims to surface available capacity earlier, reducing last-minute scrambles for trucks. “Brokers shouldn’t have to wait until they’re desperate to start searching” Messina says. The goal is to provide confidence, both in accepting new freight and in fulfilling it.
Messina stresses that the combined network is designed to complement, not replace, existing tools. “Brokers already have carrier relationships, TMS platforms, and load boards that work for them,” he says. “We’re not asking them to abandon those. We’re offering an additional layer to catch what falls through the cracks.” The focus remains on the freight that isn’t being covered, ensuring no load is left behind.
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