Email parser for freight brokers
An email parser for freight brokers reads load tenders, rate confirmations and carrier quote requests that arrive by email, including PDF attachments, and returns the load number, pickup and delivery stops, equipment type, weight and rate as typed JSON. ParsedMail delivers it by webhook or API to your TMS, spreadsheet or dispatch board, so nobody retypes a load.
Parse an email above, then compare plans and pricing or read the API docs.
Email received
Fields described as
load number, customer, pickup city and state, pickup date, delivery city and state, delivery date, equipment type, weight in pounds, commodity, rate
JSON delivered to your webhook
{ "load_number": "88214", 0.99 "customer": "Northline Shippers", 0.90 "pickup_city_state": "Columbus, OH", 0.97 "pickup_date": "2026-11-10", 0.94 "delivery_city_state": "Nashville, TN", 0.97 "delivery_date": "2026-11-11", 0.93 "equipment_type": "53 ft dry van", 0.96 "weight_lbs": 38400, 0.98 "commodity": "Palletized auto parts", 0.90 "rate": { "amount": 1850, "currency": "USD" } 0.98 }
Why load emails are hard to automate
Freight moves on email. Each shipper has its own tender layout, one writes the stops in a table, another in a sentence, a third attaches a PDF rate confirmation from its own system. Carriers reply with quotes in free text. Load boards and portals add notification emails of their own. A fixed template or regex breaks the moment a shipper changes its format, and a dispatcher ends up typing the load into the TMS.
ParsedMail reads the message the way a person would. A language model fills the fields you described, so a new shipper does not need a new template.
Fields a broker or carrier usually extracts
| Email type | Fields | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Load tender | load number, stops, dates, equipment, weight, rate | New load in the TMS |
| Rate confirmation (PDF) | carrier, rate, accessorials, pickup and delivery windows | Match against the booked load |
| Carrier quote reply | carrier, MC number, quoted rate, truck availability | Quote sheet for the load |
| Proof of delivery email | load number, delivery time, signer, notes | Status update and invoicing trigger |
Stops can be a table of rows, so a multi stop load comes back as an array your automation loops over.
PDFs and scanned documents
Rate confirmations and bills of lading usually travel as attachments. ParsedMail reads PDFs with a text layer on every plan and scanned PDFs and images on paid plans, and merges the attachment with the email body. Up to 8 files per email are read. See invoice email parsing for how attachment pages count toward a plan.
Getting the load into your TMS
ParsedMail posts a signed JSON event to your webhook within seconds of the email arriving. Most TMS products expose an API or an import route, so a small service, or a Zapier, Make or n8n workflow, can verify the signature and create the load. Teams without an API can write to a board or spreadsheet that dispatchers already use. Use data.needs_review to hold uncertain tenders for a person instead of booking a wrong rate.
What it costs against dispatcher time
Starter is $49 a month or $24 billed yearly for 1,000 emails and 300 attachment pages. Growth is $149 a month or $74 yearly for 5,000 emails and the review queue. At four minutes to read and key a tender, 500 tenders a month is over 30 hours of data entry. See pricing for every limit, and the email parser comparison if you are weighing other tools.
Frequently asked questions
Can the parser read PDF rate confirmations?
Does it work with my TMS?
What about loads with several stops?
What if a shipper changes its email layout?
How many tenders can I process each month?
Related
See your own email as JSON
Paste one into the demo, describe the fields and look at the result. No account needed.