Auto transport broker software: load board, TMS and CRM explained

An auto transport brokerage runs on three layers of software: a load board where carriers find the cars you need moved, a shipper TMS that manages each order with the carrier, and a sales CRM where leads turn into booked orders. A new brokerage needs a load board account and a CRM first, because without them there is no carrier for the car and no record of who you quoted.

Leader CRM wrote this page, and Leader CRM is one of the products compared here. Facts and prices for Central Dispatch, Super Dispatch and the other CRMs come from each company's own pages, read on October 28, 2026, and each price links to its source.

The three layers of auto transport broker software

Prices checked October 28, 2026.

The layers overlap at the edges. Central Dispatch includes tracking and dispatch documents, Super Dispatch's posting lives inside its TMS, and every CRM in our comparison posts to Central Dispatch. Still, the customer lives in the CRM, and the carrier side happens on the load board and in the TMS.

What is a load board in auto transport?

A load board is the marketplace where brokers post cars and carriers choose which loads to haul. Central Dispatch sells brokers its "For Shippers" plans, listed on the Central Dispatch plans page:

• Core starts at $139.95 a month plus applicable tax, for 10 to 2,500 vehicle shipments a month. It includes the Listings API, the Dispatch Document API, Price Check, carrier verification and tracking.
• Premium starts at $214.95 a month plus tax. It adds Price Check Plus (an AI price gauge), the Fulfillment and Event APIs, performance support and preferred carrier offers.
• Enterprise is priced by Central Dispatch sales.
• Market Intelligence API is a separate subscription on top of any plan, for pulling Central Dispatch pricing data into your own software.

Outside software, your CRM included, talks to Central Dispatch through its APIs. The Central Dispatch API page says the Listings API creates, updates and deletes listings without leaving your platform, the Dispatch Document API handles dispatch sheets, eBOLs and inspections, and the Fulfillment and Event APIs, on Premium only, edit dispatches and send real-time event notices. The same page names Message Plane CRM, BATS and Cronetic as CRMs with API connections. Central Dispatch's API FAQ adds that reposting a load counts as a new listing against your quota.

Super Dispatch's load board comes with its Shipper TMS. Shipper Pro is priced by delivered VINs, and you can post each VIN up to 1.5 times your tier's limit at no extra cost (Super Dispatch shipper pricing). For the full side by side, read Central Dispatch vs Super Dispatch, and for each Central Dispatch plan in detail, Central Dispatch pricing.

What is a shipper TMS? Super Dispatch Shipper TMS

A shipper TMS (transportation management system) is where a broker manages the order on the carrier side. On Super Dispatch's integration pages, that means creating orders, posting them, sending offers to carriers and following each load's status.

Super Dispatch sells one plan for this, Shipper Pro, to shippers, brokers, dealers, auctions and fleet leasing businesses. According to its pricing page, Shipper Pro starts at $159 a month with 2 seats included and $79 a month for each extra seat. Price follows the number of delivered VINs, with an overage charge for each VIN past your tier. SuperPay carries a fee per transaction, Super API is a paid add-on, onboarding and support are included, and the subscription renews automatically. No free trial is stated; you request a demo.

Super Dispatch's integrations page lists four CRM integrations: Carlink, ProABD, Message.Plane and TheCarGo. Its page for each one, such as the Carlink integration, says the CRM connects to the broker's Shipper TMS account. If you want one of those CRMs to push orders into Super Dispatch, plan on paying for Shipper Pro as well.

What is an auto transport CRM?

The CRM is the sales layer. A lead comes in from a lead vendor or your website, a salesperson quotes it, follows up by text, call and email, books the order, sends the contract for e-signature, charges the deposit and posts the load. The CRM is where you see who you quoted last Tuesday and which customer stopped answering. Read what an auto transport CRM is for the full day, lead to delivery.

Published CRM prices start at $120 a month for up to 5 agents (TruxCRM). At 5 users, the costs we could compute from published formulas run up to $694 to $894 a month (Message Plane's range). Our best auto transport CRM comparison prices 11 CRMs at 2, 5 and 10 users, with every source linked. Leader CRM publishes no price. Free trial and a live demo. Brian gives the price on the demo call.

How a CRM connects to the other two layers differs by vendor. BATS calls itself "the new preferred CRM of Central Dispatch", Message Plane lists two-way sync with Central Dispatch and Super Dispatch, and TheCarGo lists posting on Base and a two-way API on Pro. Ask every vendor to show the connection on the demo, with your own account.

Which software does a new auto transport brokerage need first?

1. A load board account. Without one you have no way to find a carrier. Central Dispatch Core starts at $139.95 a month plus tax, and Super Dispatch Shipper Pro at $159 a month with 2 seats.
2. A sales CRM that posts to that load board. Check that it calls and texts through your phone app, follows up on every quote and sends the contract. A spreadsheet works for your first few quotes, and our guide to moving from spreadsheets to a CRM covers when to switch.
3. A shipper TMS when you start managing orders through Super Dispatch, or want your CRM to push booked orders there.
4. Add-ons last. Central Dispatch Premium, the Market Intelligence API and Super API are worth pricing once you know your volume.

At starting prices, Central Dispatch Core and Super Dispatch Shipper Pro together come to $298.95 a month before tax, VIN overage and add-ons. Add the CRM on top. At 2 users, the CRM formulas on our comparison page come to between $120 and $657 a month.

Who on your desk uses each layer

Salespeople spend the day in the CRM: new leads, quotes, follow-up texts, calls and contracts. Whoever dispatches works the load board and the TMS, posting the car, reading carrier offers, assigning the carrier and following pickup and delivery. In a small brokerage that can be the same person, so a CRM that posts from the order saves a trip to another screen for every booked car.

The owner needs numbers from both sides: leads, quotes and bookings from the CRM, and dispatched and delivered loads from the carrier side. A CRM that brings load status back keeps those numbers together. BATS, for example, says its orders update as carriers mark them picked up or delivered. See the owner dashboard for how Leader CRM shows the team's day.

How to choose software for your brokerage

Pick the load board first, because the CRM has to post to it. Then pick the phone app your desk will call and text from, because the CRM has to connect to that too. Shortlist the CRMs that connect to both, using the tables on the comparison page and the questions in our CRM checklist.

Next step: write down your load board, your phone app and your team size, then ask each CRM on your shortlist to post an order to your load board account during the demo.

To watch Leader CRM do that with your own Central Dispatch account, book a live demo.