App builder

Run freight in a logistics management app
from first quote to signed POD.

Tell Netiva’s AI how your desk moves freight and it builds a web app for loads, customers, carriers, rates and shipping paperwork. Watch it take shape in a live preview, then export the code.

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Starter prompt

Build a logistics management web app for a small freight brokerage that also runs 3PL accounts. Track loads by load number, customer, carrier, lane and its equipment, pickup date and status: Quoted, Awarded, Covered, In transit, Delivered, Invoiced, Paid or Canceled. Keep customers with payment terms and a credit limit, and carriers with USDOT and MC numbers, equipment, insurance expiry and payee. Each load stores the carrier rate and any customer rate, with the margin. Staff sign in to a board grouped by status and attach the BOL, rate confirmation and POD to each load, noting each document’s number and when we paid a carrier invoice.

Build it in Netiva Paste the prompt into a new workspace and adjust it to your business.
Overview

Who this logistics management app is for

Small freight brokers and 3PLs often run the desk from a shared spreadsheet, an inbox of rate confirmations and a folder of scanned PODs. When a shipper asks where a load stands or billing asks why it hasn’t been invoiced, someone checks all three. A logistics management app — some teams just call it a logistics app — keeps shipments, customers, carriers, rates and paperwork in one place. Each load moves across a status board from quote to paid, shows what you earned on it and gets flagged when it’s delivered but still missing its signed POD.

Key features

What your logistics management app can do

  • A status board for every load

    Each shipment sits in a column for its current stage, so the desk sees at a glance which freight still needs a truck, what’s on the road and what’s waiting on paperwork.

    • Columns from Quoted and Awarded through Delivered, Invoiced and Paid
    • Awarded loads with no carrier yet, sorted by pickup date
    • Saved views for each rep’s customers or today’s pickups
    • A load page with its load number, lane, carrier, rates and files

  • Rates and margin per load

    Record the all-in amount the customer pays and the all-in amount the carrier is paid. The app works out the spread on every load and adds it up by customer and lane; on your own freight it totals carrier spend instead.

    • Margin in dollars and as a percent of the customer rate
    • Loads under your minimum margin highlighted on the board
    • Monthly totals by customer and by lane
    • Fuel surcharge and approved accessorials folded into both rates

  • Carrier records and insurance dates

    Each carrier’s USDOT and MC numbers, equipment, dispatch contact, certificate of insurance and payee live on one record, with an email reminder before a policy runs out.

    • Scheduled emails listing policies that expire soon
    • Payee set to the carrier or its factoring company
    • Every load a carrier has hauled for you, on its record
    • Optional lookups from a carrier-data API with your own key

  • Bills of lading, rate cons and PODs

    Attach the bill of lading, the signed rate confirmation and the proof of delivery to the load they belong to, along with any overage, shortage or damage the receiver wrote on the POD. Carrier invoices go there too.

    • Documents listed by type and number on each load page
    • Delivered loads with no POD collected on one list
    • Receiver exceptions kept with the POD record
    • Staff sign in, and each upload notes who added it
Data model

The collections behind it

Netiva keeps your records in built-in collections. Here’s a starting structure — the agent adapts it to your prompt, and you can change it any time.

Shipments

One record per load, filed under your own load number; Paid means the customer paid you — carrier payments sit on their invoices.

  • Load number (required) Your own reference — the one on the rate confirmation and the invoice Text
  • Customer Empty when you’re moving your own freight Relation to Customers
  • Carrier Empty until the load is covered Relation to Carriers
  • Status (required) Quoted, Awarded, Covered, In transit, Delivered, Invoiced, Paid or Canceled Text
  • Lane (required) Joliet, IL to Laredo, TX, reefer — picked from lanes already on file Text
  • Pickup date (required) Date
  • Customer rate All-in with fuel and accessorials; leave empty on your own outbound freight Number
  • Carrier rate All-in amount on the signed rate confirmation Number

Customers

The shippers you move freight for, including the accounts you run as their 3PL.

  • Company name (required) Text
  • Billing email (required) Text
  • Payment terms (required) Net 15, Net 30, Net 45… Text
  • Credit limit Open balance you’re willing to carry — a reference the desk checks, not a running total Number
  • Invoice requirements Such as a signed POD and lumper receipts with every invoice Paragraph
  • Sales rep Used for each rep’s saved view Text

Carriers

The trucking companies you tender loads to, with what you need before booking them.

  • Legal name (required) Text
  • USDOT number (required) Text
  • MC number Operating authority docket number, where the carrier has one Text
  • Dispatch email (required) Text
  • Equipment (required) Dry van, reefer, flatbed, step deck… — matched against the equipment the lane names Text
  • Insurance expires Earliest expiry on the certificate — blank until the packet is back Date
  • Certificate of insurance Attach before you tender the first load File
  • Pay to (required) The carrier, or its factoring company if you hold a notice of assignment Text

Documents

Every piece of paperwork, filed against the load it belongs to.

  • Shipment (required) Relation to Shipments
  • Type (required) BOL, rate confirmation, POD, lumper receipt or carrier invoice Text
  • Document number BOL or freight bill number — the reference 49 CFR 371.3 asks you to keep Text
  • File (required) File
  • Document date The date on the document — when the receiver signed the POD, when the carrier billed you Date
  • Paid on Carrier invoices only: the date you paid it, blank until then so unpaid ones show up Date
  • Exceptions Overage, shortage or damage noted by the receiver Paragraph
  • Added by (required) Filled in from the signed-in staff member Text

Required field. Types are Netiva collection field types.

Screens

Pages and screens to start with

A typical first version. Ask the agent for more, or annotate the preview to change any of them.

  • Status board

    Open loads in columns by status, each card showing its load number, pickup date, lane, customer, carrier and margin, filtered by rep if you like.

    Signed-in users

  • Needs coverage

    Awarded loads without a carrier, soonest pickup first, next to carriers that run the equipment the lane names and have hauled it before, with any missing certificate flagged.

    Signed-in users

  • Load detail

    The full record for one load, under your own load number: customer, carrier, lane, both rates and the margin, plus every document filed against it.

    Signed-in users

  • Carrier profile

    USDOT and MC numbers, equipment, the insurance expiry date and certificate, the payee and a history of loads hauled.

    Signed-in users

  • Missing paperwork

    Delivered loads with no POD — aged off the pickup date, since the POD carries the delivery date — and covered loads with no signed rate confirmation.

    Signed-in users

  • Margin report

    Revenue, carrier cost and margin by month of pickup, customer and lane, with load counts — carrier cost and counts alone where there is no customer rate.

    Signed-in users
How it works

From prompt to a live logistics management app

  1. Describe your freight

    Tell Netiva whether you broker loads, manage 3PL accounts or ship your own product, what equipment you book and which statuses a load goes through. The agent drafts collections for shipments, customers, carriers and documents.

  2. Add customers and carriers

    Enter the shippers and carriers you work with now in the collection grid, or have the collection assistant draft records and clean up names and emails across many rows at once.

  3. Try the board in the preview

    Move a test load through every status in the live preview. Annotate anything that’s off — a missing column, a margin threshold, another document type — and the agent changes it.

  4. Publish for the desk

    Publish in one click, have reps and billing sign in and switch on the insurance reminders. Every change is checkpointed, so a status rule that doesn’t work out can be rolled back.

Why Netiva

Netiva vs a traditional build

Building a logistics management app with Netiva compared with a traditional build
Criterion With Netiva Traditional build
Load status A board every rep can open, grouped by status and filtered to their own customers A shared spreadsheet and reply-all emails asking whether a load is covered
Billing paperwork PODs filed on the load, with delivered loads that still lack one listed for follow-up Scanned PODs saved to folders and matched to invoices by hand
Getting started Describe what you need in chat and watch it take shape in a live preview Hire developers, or stitch together templates, plugins and a hosting plan
Content and data Built-in collections with nine field types, bound straight to your pages Set up and connect a separate database or CMS
Making changes Ask the agent; every change is checkpointed and reversible File a ticket, wait for a sprint, redeploy
Hosting and domain Global hosting and automatic SSL; connect a custom domain from the Starter plan Buy hosting, then install and renew SSL certificates yourself
Code ownership Clean production code you own and can export Locked into a template, plugin or agency setup
Examples

Ways teams use it

  • A three-person brokerage

    Two reps cover truckload freight while the owner handles billing. The coverage screen shows what still needs a truck, and the owner moves a load to Invoiced only after its POD is filed.

  • A regional 3PL with a handful of shipper accounts

    Each account’s payment terms and invoice requirements sit on the customer record, so the coordinator knows which invoices need lumper receipts attached before they go out.

  • A manufacturer that books its own trucks

    There is no customer to bill, so loads go in with the customer rate left empty. The shipping manager keeps carriers with current insurance on file, logs outbound freight by lane and reads the report as carrier spend by lane and month.

Good to know

Before you build

  • Carrier vetting is still your call

    The app keeps USDOT and MC numbers and insurance dates, but it doesn’t check authority or coverage for you. Confirm them in FMCSA’s records before booking, or connect a carrier-data API with your own key — the federal registry publishes one that needs a developer web key.

  • Keep brokerage records long enough

    Under 49 CFR 371.3, US property brokers keep each transaction on file for three years. The record includes the consignor, the originating carrier and its registration number, the BOL or freight bill number, the compensation received and who paid it, and when the carrier was paid.

  • Your accounting system stays

    The app tracks invoiced and paid status, not your books. Invoices, carrier payments and factoring remittances still run through your accounting software; linking the two needs a REST API from that provider.

  • Start with open loads

    Netiva doesn’t import your spreadsheet or old TMS history. Enter active customers, carriers and loads still in progress in the grid or draft them with the collection assistant, and keep closed history where it is.

FAQ

Questions about building a logistics management app

Can one logistics app handle LTL as well as truckload?

Yes. Nothing in the shipments collection assumes a mode, so you can ask the agent to add what LTL needs — freight class, handling units, weight and the carrier’s PRO number — and show those fields only on LTL loads. Truckload and LTL then share one board. Rating LTL freight against carrier tariffs is a separate job that needs a rating provider’s API.

How does the app work out the margin on a load?

Each load stores the all-in customer rate and the all-in carrier rate, both including fuel surcharge and any accessorials you’ve approved. The app subtracts the carrier rate from the customer rate for the margin in dollars and divides that by the customer rate for the percentage. On freight you move for yourself, leave the customer rate empty and the report totals carrier cost and load counts instead.

Can the app check a carrier’s authority and insurance?

Not on its own. It keeps the USDOT and MC numbers, the insurance expiry date and the certificate, and it can email you before a policy lapses. Netiva apps can call REST APIs with keys stored securely, so you can connect a carrier-data provider for live registration details. FMCSA’s records remain the place to confirm authority before you tender a load.

Where do bills of lading and PODs go?

Each document is its own record linked to a load, with a type such as BOL, rate confirmation, POD or lumper receipt, the file, the number printed on it, the date and any exceptions the receiver wrote down. A carrier invoice also gets a paid date, which stays empty until you pay, so unpaid invoices are easy to pull. The load page lists them together, and the missing paperwork screen shows delivered loads with no POD.

Is this a replacement for a full TMS?

For a small desk it can cover the core of one — loads, customers, carriers, rates and paperwork — shaped around how you already work. It doesn’t come with what larger TMS platforms bundle, such as load board posting, live truck tracking or carrier payments, each of which needs a provider with a REST API you connect with your own key. EDI tenders usually run through an EDI service provider, so check whether yours offers a REST API.

Can the logistics management app run on my company’s domain?

You can build and preview the app on the free plan. Publishing it on your own domain needs the Starter plan or higher: add the DNS records Netiva lists at your registrar, and SSL and hosting are handled for you. Compare current plans on Netiva’s pricing page before you move the desk over.

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Drafted with AI assistance from Netiva’s product pages and reviewed by the Netiva team. Example data models, screens and prompts are illustrative starting points, not customer projects.

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