Keelway
For brokers on Descartes Aljex

AI for Aljex. Triaged along the keel.

Aljex runs your brokerage. Keelway runs on top of it — reading every carrier reply to an Aljex-posted load, extracting the rate, scoring trust against FMCSA, and writing the accepted carrier and rate back into Aljex when you pick.

Request accessSee the product
~40
carrier replies per posted load
Keelway customer data, 2026
<2 wk
deploy alongside Aljex
Keelway deployment playbook
0
carrier records re-keyed
Aljex ↔ Keelway write-back

Why Aljex brokerages need an AI overlay

Aljex, under the Descartes umbrella, is a widely deployed TMS for mid-market freight brokerages. It ships strong carrier management, dispatch, and EDI modules, with deep integration into the Descartes visibility + compliance suite.

What Aljex does not solve — and does not try to — is the inbound carrier email stream. When dispatch posts a load to the boards, 30–50 carriers respond to the broker's inbox within two hours. That inbound triage is still a manual job in most brokerages on Aljex. Keelway is the overlay that closes the gap.

What Keelway adds to Aljex

Read

Every carrier reply, triaged in seconds

When Aljex posts a load, Keelway reads replies as they land in Gmail. Within 60 seconds of a carrier responding, the reply is extracted, scored, and ranked.
Score

FMCSA trust score on every reply

Operating authority, insurance, safety rating, out-of-service history, and crash counts from FMCSA QCMobile on every inbound carrier. Score is visible alongside the rate on the ranked list.
Rank

Top five along the keel

Trust × rate × responsiveness × fit with the Aljex load record. Five rows, keyboard-native. Every other reply is still in Gmail if you need it.
Write back

Accepted carrier flows into Aljex

Accept a quote and the carrier, MC/DOT, agreed rate, and contact are pushed back into the Aljex load record so dispatch runs without anyone re-keying a thing.

How this works alongside Descartes visibility tools

If your brokerage layers Aljex with Descartes MacroPoint (shipment visibility) or Descartes GLN (carrier compliance), Keelway is orthogonal — we operate on the email-triage layer, not the in-transit visibility or compliance layers. Every inbound carrier Keelway scores can also be checked against whatever additional compliance rules Descartes is already enforcing.

What a week on Aljex + Keelway looks like

A mid-sized brokerage on Aljex typically posts 250–600 loads a week. Each pulls 30–50 replies. Without Keelway, 20–30 minutes per load goes to reading threads and cross-checking authority. With Keelway:

  • Every reply is already triaged by the time anyone opens the thread.
  • Red-flag carriers get caught on the ranked list before booking — double-broker domains, MCs without operating authority, insurance mismatches.
  • Dispatch never has to clean up a carrier record; the one Keelway wrote back to Aljex is correct by construction.

Deployment alongside Aljex (under 2 weeks)

  1. Day 1–2. Gmail OAuth + Aljex API credentials exchanged. Keelway starts reading replies to loads posted today.
  2. Day 3–5. Ranking weights calibrated from your last 30 days of accepted quotes.
  3. Day 6–8. Aljex write-back live. First accepted carriers flow back into the Aljex load record automatically.
  4. Day 9–12. Flagged suspected double-broker emails get labeled; Keelway's fraud detector learns the shape of your book.
  5. Day 13+. Steady state.

For the full capability breakdown independent of TMS, see Carrier Email Automation. If your shop runs on Tai or McLeod instead, we have dedicated pages for each: Tai TMS · McLeod TMS.

Frequently asked questions

What is Aljex?+
Aljex is a cloud-based TMS for freight brokerages, owned and operated under the Descartes Systems Group portfolio. It ships modules for order entry, dispatch, carrier management, accounting, EDI, and real-time load-board posting, and is commonly adopted by mid-market 3PLs and freight brokerages across North America.
How does Keelway integrate with Aljex?+
Keelway connects to Aljex via its carrier and load APIs and to your broker inbox via Gmail OAuth. When Aljex posts a load and carrier replies start landing in Gmail, Keelway extracts rates, runs FMCSA trust scoring, and surfaces the ranked top five. Once you accept a quote, the carrier, MC/DOT, and agreed rate write back into the Aljex load record.
Does Keelway replace Aljex's carrier management module?+
No. Keelway is an overlay, not a replacement. You keep using Aljex for order entry, dispatch, settlements, and carrier records. Keelway only adds the AI triage layer on top of the inbound carrier email stream — the part of the workflow Aljex does not try to solve.
We're on Descartes MacroPoint / Descartes Aljex Enterprise — will Keelway work?+
Yes. Keelway integrates above the Aljex API layer, so deployment-edition differences are handled at the mapping stage. If your brokerage also runs Descartes MacroPoint for visibility, Keelway does not conflict with it; they address different layers of the workflow.
Can Keelway catch double-brokering before we book?+
Yes. Every inbound carrier reply is checked for email-domain match against the carrier's FMCSA-registered contact, MC/DOT authority state, and insurance ownership. Dispatchers quoting a load from a different MC than the carrier they claim to represent are flagged on the ranked list.
What does Keelway cost on top of Aljex / Descartes?+
Per-broker seat, billed monthly, no per-email charges. Firm numbers on the first demo call. Aljex customers usually add Keelway at a single-digit percentage of their existing Descartes spend.
Aljex + Keelway

Cover more loads without adding headcount.

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Related

Carrier Email Automation →

The flagship capability — what Keelway does for every carrier reply, independent of TMS.

Keelway for McLeod TMS →

Same overlay pattern for McLeod LoadMaster — AI triage, rate benchmarking, trust scoring.