United StatesLogistics and transport2024 – ongoingC.H. Robinson
Generative AI for email-based freight orders, quotes and appointments
C.H. Robinson automated over 10,000 routine freight emails a day; an order now takes 90 seconds instead of up to four hours
Problem
Many shippers still send price requests, load tenders and appointment requests to the freight broker by email in free-form text. Staff had to read each message and key the details in by hand, which averaged seven minutes per load, and an emailed tender could wait up to four hours.
Approach
Starting in May 2024 with emailed truckload price requests, the company built generative AI that reads the emails, extracts the details and completes the task in its systems. It extended the approach to less-than-truckload quotes, load tenders turned into shipment orders, and pickup and delivery appointments, and began piloting AI that contacts carriers when automated tracking updates fail.
Results
Takeaway
The company automated a narrow, high-volume task: reading unstructured emails from customers who did not use its platform. Its own figures cover speed and volume; it disclosed no error rates or cost effects.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Logistics and transport
- Business function
- Logistics and supply chainCustomer service
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Generative AIAI agents
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
C.H. Robinson said its generative AI handled 2,600 price quotes, 5,500 shipment orders and 3,000 appointments a day, more than 10,000 transactions in total. An emailed tender that could take a person up to four hours to handle, with seven minutes of data entry per load, now took 90 seconds. The company was piloting AI contact with carriers during transit.
Container News reported C.H. Robinson's example of processing 20 loads in one email in 90 seconds. The work began with emailed price requests in May 2024.
Full details are in the original sources.
