Abstract: A carrier load optimization for shippers whereby a set of preferred carriers is placed under contract or committed to certain standard rate for any route or point to point delivery lane, and a supplemental or open set of carriers are authorized for deliveries in a particular lane, based on ad-hoc spot pricing and spot price negotiation. Carrier tender offers are submitted in two processing stages; first simultaneously under a standard or contract rate, and secondly if no shipper responses are accepted or a time deadline is reached, then subsequent tenders are released and updated in accordance with the dynamic spot pricing optimization logic of the preferred solution. Machine learning is employed to maintain and understand rate history and current delivery trends including carrier performance.