123Loadboard, Direct Freight Merge Networks to Close Freight Capacity Gaps

123Loadboard and Direct Freight are combining their freight marketplaces into a single network operating under the banner One Freight Network, allowing brokers to post freight across both platforms from one workflow and giving carriers access to a combined pool of loads. Both platforms will continue to operate under their existing brands, but will increasingly function as one connected system. Carmelo Messina, Vice President of Sales at 123Loadboard, said the combination is additive rather than a replacement for existing carrier relationships, TMS platforms and load boards. Messina framed the strategy around the "capacity gap" — freight that remains uncovered after a broker exhausts its primary options. The company is also developing Capacity Radar, a matching concept that would use implicit carrier signals, such as prior lane searches and preferred lanes, to surface capacity earlier. Messina said the network's value rests on matching, capacity intelligence and trust signals amid rising industry fraud concerns, adding that "a bigger network isn't automatically a better network."