Sun Prairie, WI
Prairie Jewelers
A focused email, social, and landing-page campaign that turned a local reputation into visible community momentum.
Read the full storyFreight Brokerage & Transportation Management
Hune Freight TMS: A Custom Operations Platform for a Growing Brokerage
We built the public freight site and the operational system behind it, giving Hune one purpose-built platform to move a shipment from quote to carrier payment.
Midwest-Based, Nationwide CoverageCustom Next.js DevelopmentTransportation Management SystemFirebase & Firestore ArchitectureRole-Based WorkflowsPublic Website & SEOVisit Hune Freight
13
Load Lifecycle States
4
User Roles
Next.js
Core Platform
Firestore
Data Layer
The Challenge
A Freight Brokerage Needs More Than a Good-Looking Website
Hune Freight needed a public presence that could earn confidence with shippers, carriers, and prospective partners. It had to explain the brokerage clearly, make quote and carrier intake easy, and show the operational discipline behind the brand.
But the bigger job was behind the public site. Moving freight creates a chain of handoffs: a quote is requested, a carrier is vetted, a load is assigned, a rate confirmation is signed, documents are collected, an invoice is issued, and the carrier is paid. Managing that chain through disconnected tools and inboxes makes it easy to lose context, miss a dependency, or leave a customer waiting for an update.
A marketing site alone would not solve that. Hune needed a public front door and an internal operating layer with shared rules about who can do what, what happens next, and what proof belongs with each load.
Our Approach
Build the Public Face and the Operating System as One Product
The architecture starts with a Next.js App Router application, then separates the experience by role without splitting the business into separate products. Shippers, carriers, brokers, drivers, and administrators see the work that belongs to them while the broker keeps visibility across the full lifecycle.
Firebase Authentication and role-based access control establish who is allowed into each workflow. Firestore holds the operational records, and Firebase Admin verifies sensitive server-side actions. That distinction matters: a user interface can guide a workflow, but it should not be able to bypass the rules that protect a load, a payment, or a carrier record.
A Credible Public Freight Site
We built the public experience around the questions a shipper or carrier needs answered quickly: what Hune moves, where it operates, how to request a quote, and what it takes to work together. Dedicated shipper, carrier, service, route, location, guide, compliance, and contact pages give the brokerage a professional place to send real prospects.
Quote Intake That Starts a Real Workflow
A public quote request is validated on the server, protected with a honeypot, recorded in the system, and routed to the broker with customer acknowledgement. From there, the broker can respond, track the decision, and create a load when the quote is accepted instead of re-entering the same details across tools.
Carrier Onboarding With Actual Gates
Carrier approval is not the end of setup. The platform requires the security, company profile, payout details, and signature evidence needed for the carrier to be load-ready. Until those pieces are complete, the system blocks load interest, assignment, driver invitations, and quick-pay requests.
A State Machine for the Load Lifecycle
We encoded the broker workflow into shared transition rules: draft, available, offered or assigned, rate confirmation, accepted, dispatched, in transit, delivered, proof of delivery, invoiced, paid, and carrier paid. Each transition checks the actor, the current state, and required information, so a critical step cannot be skipped because someone found the wrong button.
Documents, Notifications, and Payment Controls
Rate confirmations, bills of lading, proof of delivery, and invoices are tied to the relevant load. Document downloads resolve through server-side identifiers rather than exposing trusted storage links. Email notifications use Resend, while carrier payout setup and quick-pay flows are designed around Stripe Connect and shipment payment status.
A System Built to Be Tested, Not Just Demoed
The codebase includes focused route, workflow, authorization, pricing, email, and end-to-end lifecycle tests. Shared types, transition helpers, onboarding rules, and Firestore/Storage policies keep the important business rules from drifting across pages and APIs as the system grows.
SEO Focus
Search Architecture for the Brokerage, Not Just a Homepage
The public site gives each audience and service a clear page with a clear purpose. That makes the brokerage easier for a prospect to evaluate and gives search engines a structured understanding of Hune Freight's services, markets, carrier program, and freight resources.
Search Themes Built Into the Page
Shipper & Carrier Paths
Separate paths speak to the two sides of the brokerage, with quote and application actions matched to the visitor's role.
Service & Lane Coverage
Freight service, route, and location pages make Hune's capabilities and market focus easy to find without crowding the core conversion pages.
Trust & Compliance Content
Authority numbers, carrier requirements, W-9, broker-carrier agreement, terms, privacy policy, and practical guides reinforce the details serious freight partners look for.
The Results
A Freight Operation Built to Run Through One System
Hune now has a platform that covers the full brokerage path: authenticated roles, load creation, carrier applications and approval, carrier readiness checks, assignment, rate-confirmation generation and signing, driver assignment, document upload and verification, invoicing, notifications, and carrier-payment workflows.
Instead of treating a load as a trail of inbox messages and spreadsheets, the team can manage the work in a system built around the actual sequence of freight operations. The next action, required documentation, responsible role, and payment status stay attached to the load instead of living in someone's memory.
The result is a stronger operation on both sides of the business. Prospects see a professional brokerage with clear ways to engage. The team has custom software built around how it sells, dispatches, documents, and closes freight.
What This Means for Your Business
Key Takeaways
When your website is tied directly to operations, the right move is not a template. It is custom software that turns a messy process into a visible, accountable workflow.
Role-based access is not an enterprise garnish. When people handle loads, documents, and payments, the system must enforce who can change what.
A good state machine makes operations easier to train, easier to audit, and harder to accidentally break as a team grows.
The strongest custom builds pair a conversion-ready public site with the internal tools needed to deliver on the promise the site makes.
Ready to turn your site into your best lead source?
Tell us what you need. We'll show you what's possible, what it costs, and what to do first, straight answers, free consultation.
A 30-minute strategy call, clear pricing and timeline, and honest advice.
