What Reddit says about LTL software

Search "LTL software reddit" and you're really asking three questions at once: which TMS handles LTL properly, how a smaller broker gets LTL carrier rates at all, and whether the quoting platforms underneath it all can be trusted. The threads below — from r/FreightBrokers, r/LTL_FREIGHT, and r/logistics — cover all three. Each is linked to the original with a faithful summary; quotes are verbatim from the threads.

"Freight broker TMS for sub $20 million rev" — the shopping map

Freight broker TMS for sub $20 million rev brokerage recommendations — r/FreightBrokers, January 2025. The single best thread for the mid-size broker shortlist: the OP had demoed Turvo, Tai, Alvys, Zuum, Ascend, PCS, AJAX, and DAT and asked for a verdict. The comments are a raw TMS shopping map — Revenova, Rose Rocket (both recommended and warned against), Tailwind, BrokerPro, Transport Pro, Axon, and Aljex all surface — plus the most concrete price anchor in any thread we reviewed.

"We did exactly what you are doing and ended up with TAI and couldn't regret it more"

— r/FreightBrokers thread

"I can't figure out how they're having financial troubles - for a 10-man brokerage they were charging us $10k a month."

— r/FreightBrokers thread

"We use Axon and it's the best. I've used roserocket and Tailwinds before. I can recommend Tailwinds but stay the heck away from roserocket or roseshit as we like to call it."

— r/FreightBrokers thread

"Is anyone using TAI TMS?" — the LTL reputation, untested

Is anyone using TAI TMS? Pros & Cons pls. — r/FreightBrokers, October 2024. A due-diligence ask about Tai TMS, which had been described to the OP as the LTL tool of choice. The archive shows no substantive public replies — which is itself the data point: Tai's LTL-first reputation circulates, but public first-hand reviews are scarce, and the one detailed verdict in the January 2025 thread above was negative. Reputation and evidence are two different things.

"We have been advised it is the LTL tool of choice. If you are using it, please share details. Thanks! I am performing due diligence for my client"

— thread OP on r/FreightBrokers

"LTL Portal Access" — the entry barrier

LTL Portal Access — r/FreightBrokers, September 2023. The canonical "how does a truckload broker bolt on LTL quoting" question: a small 95%-truckload brokerage getting more LTL opportunities asked how to get access to a rating portal like Banyan to pull rates from the major LTL carriers. It documents the entry barrier plainly — small brokers can't just get carrier LTL rates; they need platform access or a larger brokerage's tariffs.

"Any tips on how to get access to an LTL portal such as Banyan to pull rates from all the major LTL carriers as a broker? I run a small brokerage that does 95% TL, but starting to get more and more LTL opportunities."

— thread OP on r/FreightBrokers

"LTL Portal" — build vs. buy

LTL Portal — r/FreightBrokers, January 2024. A brokerage wanted to build its own LTL portal "something like Priority1" and had been pitched by Banyan Technology; the OP asked whether Banyan is the best or if other providers exist. It captures the build-vs-buy moment for LTL rating infrastructure: Priority1's portal is the reference product smaller brokerages want to clone, and Banyan is the named white-label vendor.

"LTL Quoting Software for Online Store" — the carrier-lock complaint

LTL Quoting Software for Online Store — r/logistics, January 2024. The shipper-side version of the LTL rating pain: a construction-attachment shipper hated their quoting software because it was clunky and locked them to three LTL carriers despite having pricing in place with several more. The requirement it states — rate against all the carriers you have pricing with, not the vendor's short list — is the spec every LTL quoting tool should be measured against.

"We are currently using PaceJet as our software but I absolutely hate it. It's clunky and they force you to only use 3 LTL carriers, when I have pricing in place with several of them."

— r/logistics thread

"Any TMS recommendations for a 3PL?" — LTL-native or bust

Any TMS recommendations for a 3PL? — r/LTL_FREIGHT, October 2023. A 3PL asked for a TMS designed to handle LTL and integrate directly with LTL carriers, having been unimpressed by MercuryGate and 3PL Systems. It's the clearest evidence in these threads that LTL-native design plus direct carrier integrations — not general-purpose TMS features — is the filter real buyers apply.

"Does anybody have recommendations for a TMS for 3PLs? I have experience with MercuryGate and 3PL systems but not impressed with either one. Looking for something that is designed to handle LTL and integrate with those carriers."

— thread OP on r/LTL_FREIGHT

More threads worth skimming

• project44 smacks MyCarrier, arbitration likely next step (March 2025) — industry drama between two names behind a lot of LTL quoting and visibility plumbing; a reminder that platform risk sits under LTL software workflows.

Where Reddit is skeptical — and our honest answer

"The LTL tool of choice has no public reviews." The Tai threads capture something uncomfortable about this category: reputations circulate faster than evidence. We won't claim Keelway is "the LTL tool of choice" — we'd rather describe exactly what our LTL quoting does (extract carrier quotes from email, normalize them to all-in numbers, flag accessorial gaps and class mismatches) and let a demo on your own freight be the review.

"Software locks you to its carriers." The PaceJet complaint is the right one to make. Keelway's LTL quoting works from the carrier replies that land in your inbox — whatever carriers you have relationships or tariffs with — rather than restricting you to a vendor's integration short list. Where we don't have an integration, we say so instead of pretending.

"Pricing is opaque until the demo." A $10k/month bill for a 10-person shop is the kind of number that only surfaces on Reddit because vendors gate it. Keelway publishes flat pricing on the pricing page. We'd rather lose the deals where the number is wrong for you than win them through a quote-request funnel.

"The platforms underneath can blow up." The project44/MyCarrier fight is a fair warning about dependency risk. Our honest answer: Keelway's core LTL workflow — reading and normalizing quotes from your own inbox — doesn't depend on a third-party rating platform staying friendly. Where we integrate with external systems, those dependencies are named, not hidden.

Keelway's take

The LTL software threads are really about access and trust: smaller brokers fighting for rate access the big platforms take for granted, and buyers burned enough to distrust both reputations and demos. The durable spec that emerges — rate against all your carriers, LTL-native design, transparent cost — is one we agree with and build against. See how Keelway's LTL rate quoting turns a heavy LTL inbox into one comparable all-in number per carrier, and read the NMFC freight class guide for the classification layer underneath it all.

Threads last reviewed July 2026 — refreshed quarterly.