# How SmartLoads works

> Customers email their loads to SmartLoads, and the loads land on your board. SmartLoads posts them to Truckstop and builds your DAT upload file. You claim, book and cover each load, and SmartLoads fills Aljex for you to check and save.

Source: https://help.smartloads.io/how-smartloads-works · Updated 2026-10-13

SmartLoads is your agency's load board. This is the path a load takes, with the full article for each step.

## 1. Loads come onto your board

Your board is **SmartLoads** in the left menu.

Each customer has an intake email address. When they send loads there, SmartLoads reads the email and puts the loads on your board. You can also upload an Aljex Big 500 file, or add a load yourself with **Create Load**.

See [How loads get on your board](https://help.smartloads.io/how-loads-get-on-your-board).

## 2. Carriers see them on load boards

- **Truckstop:** once your agency connects Truckstop, SmartLoads posts loads through its API, one at a time or with auto-post. See [Post loads to Truckstop](https://help.smartloads.io/post-loads-to-truckstop).
- **DAT:** on the board, click **Export to DAT**, pick the sources and click **Export**. SmartLoads downloads an upload file, and you upload it to DAT yourself. See [Export loads to DAT](https://help.smartloads.io/export-loads-to-dat).

## 3. You claim, book and cover

1. Open a load and click **Claim**, so your team knows you're working it.
2. Click **Book** when you have a carrier.
3. Click **Cover…** and check the **Confirmed Rate**.

A person does each step. SmartLoads' super intelligence (SI) never books or covers a load. Dispatchers claim, book and cover from the dispatch page.

See [Claim, book and cover a load](https://help.smartloads.io/claim-book-and-cover-a-load).

## 4. Paperwork and Aljex

Carrier rate cons and shipper paperwork collect on the board's **Delivery** tab, each next to its load. Check the rate con, then click **Mark covered**. See [Rate cons and the Delivery tab](https://help.smartloads.io/rate-cons-and-the-delivery-tab).

If you use Aljex, click **Copy for Aljex**, and the SmartLoads Chrome extension fills the Aljex shipment form. You check every box and click Save. See [Fill Aljex from SmartLoads](https://help.smartloads.io/fill-aljex-with-the-chrome-extension).

## 5. The board clears overnight

Each night, loads from earlier days that aren't booked or covered come off the board. To keep a customer's loads until they ship, turn on **Keep loads through ship date** on that customer's page. See [When the board clears](https://help.smartloads.io/how-loads-get-on-your-board#when-the-board-clears).

## Outlook

With the [Outlook panel](https://help.smartloads.io/install-the-outlook-panel), you can [quote a rate request](https://help.smartloads.io/quote-from-outlook) with Truckstop market rates beside it, and send carrier rate cons to SmartLoads.

## Frequently asked questions

### Where do I start?

Admins start with [Set up your agency](https://help.smartloads.io/set-up-your-agency). Everyone else can start with [Claim, book and cover a load](https://help.smartloads.io/claim-book-and-cover-a-load).

### Does SmartLoads book loads by itself?

No. A person clicks **Book** and **Cover…** on every load. SI reads rate cons and shipper paperwork, but it never books or covers.

### How do I get back to this help center?

In SmartLoads, click **Help** in the left menu. It opens this help center in a new tab. On the dispatch page, click **Help** at the top, then **Help center**.