This article is based on the keynote presented by Maneesh Jyoti at RelayCon 2026.
Amazon Relay is making it easier for carriers to capture more opportunity with less friction. That means building smarter tools that help carriers find loads and designing systems that reward carrier performance with more opportunity.
What’s new and what’s coming soon?
- Relay Assistant, an AI-powered chat tool, will save carriers time by redirecting common load disruptions, and assisting with load availability.
- Relay Scorecard’s new performance visibility and AI-powered insights allow carriers to know where they stand across hauling and safety metrics (with enough time to fix them).
- Amazon is enhancing Deals & Discounts for the industry’s three biggest operating costs.
Relay Assistant features to decide where to grow next
Relay Assistant (RA) started as an AI-powered chat tool that allows you to negotiate rates and pickup times on certain spot loads. Here’s how it’s evolving.
- Simple process questions: RA can resolve over-the-road issues on the spot—things like trailer availability, site closures, and basic trip information. When drivers choose common questions or load disruptions, RA comes back in seconds with an answer, including the ability to reroute and release drivers. No more fishing through FAQs or calling support for quick details.
- Easier ways to find and book loads: By end of this year, carriers will be able to ask RA to repeat Post A Truck orders, a feature that automatically books loads that match your search criteria. That removes the clicking, copying, and pasting to relist. You just ask. We’re building even more RA features to give you opportunity to scale, like load availability, schedule changes, and route patterns so you’ll be able to chat to connect to available freight.
By using Relay Assistant, your time goes back to work that requires your judgment: developing drivers and managing your business.
Faster live support with fewer transfers
When Relay Assistant can’t resolve an issue, it connects you to a human operator with your conversation’s full context. By combining this feature with more support agent staff and a deep dive into how long it takes to resolve common issues, we’re now resolving performance disputes 20% faster.
We’ll also start using generative AI to audit every single interaction you have with our support center agents to know what’s working well, what’s not, and what needs to change.
New performance standard transparency & time to correct course
Your Relay performance score/grade is what determines how many loads you can access. Right now, the carriers with the highest grades get the most access to loads, but the bar to reach and maintain those grades doesn’t reflect the reality of running a fleet.
So, we’re making three changes to help carriers maintain access to opportunity:
- Quick visibility into your full operational health: In the past, Relay’s Scorecard only focused on hauling performance (driver- and trip-level data). This year, we’re combining safety, compliance, and actions on the same page, giving you a holistic look at your operation at a glance. And soon, if something needs attention, the Scorecard will tell you.
- AI-powered insights: Right now, if your performance score drops, you export your company’s trip data from Relay and compare weeks to identify trending issues. The Scorecard will now generate focus areas for improvement across each sub-metric. You’ll know what to prioritize in order to keep booking loads on Relay.
Even more rewards for top-tier performance
We need our best carriers to keep growing with Relay. Here’s what we did to help your bottom line.
Fuel
- Relay carriers in our Comdata fuel card program are already saving an average of 10% at the pump across all providers. We removed the enrollment barriers. No application fee, no monthly card fee, nothing between you and savings on every fill-up.
- We’ve also added discounts with regional providers: RaceTrac, Sapp Brothers, Ambest, Kwik Trip, Circle K, and others. So wherever you’re fueling up, there should be a discount waiting for you.
- You’ll now be able to get up to $0.66 per gallon at to Petro, with $0.40 at Love’s.
Truck maintenance
- If you’re hauling our freight, we want you to save just as much as Amazon does. We’re getting the average carrier savings up to 15%.
- This year, we’re adding Red Classic to our vendors (Coca-Cola’s fleet maintenance unit). That means you’ll have more options for maintenance discounts, wherever you operate. They’re offering 15% off on labor cost, 15% on preventive maintenance, and some discounts on parts.
Equipment
- You already have a 40% off on rentals from Ryder. This year, we added a 3-year leasing option with a 10% discount for carriers who want to grow without the full capital outlay of buying.
- We added a $10,000 discount on used trucks through Ryder, for those ready to add to their fleet permanently. So, if you want to participate in seasonal demand or need a replacement, this should help.
Per-mile safety bonuses
Safety is Amazon’s top priority. So, we’re updating our safety rewards program to offer free dash cams to eligible carriers, and the ability to earn between $0.02 and $0.05 extra per collision-free mile (up to $14,000 per year).
Sign up with Amazon Relay
Amazon Relay is more than a load board. We’re constantly building smarter tools, fairer standards, and better rewards to improve the carrier experience. Start your Relay application on desktop or our app on iOS or Android to join Amazon’s freight network. But first, check out Relay’s carrier requirements to make sure hauling for Amazon is the right fit for your business.
Disclaimer: Amazon does not tender loads through any third-party load boards. Any Amazon loads posted on third-party load boards will only be tendered directly to approved and onboarded carriers via the Relay web portal or Relay mobile app. If you are interested in hauling loads for Amazon, sign up and book directly on relay.amazon.com. For more about our efforts against fraud and cargo theft, see our trustworthy transportation page.
