With major changes to U.S. less-than-truckload (LTL) freight classifications coming into effect July 19, global logistics company C.H. Robinson has introduced a new artificial intelligence agent to automate the process of identifying correct freight classes and codes.
The proprietary tool is designed to help shippers adjust to updates in the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) system, which determines how LTL carriers plan space and pricing for freight. C.H. Robinson moves more LTL freight than any other third-party logistics provider in North America.
“We have a fleet of over 30 AI agents performing tasks that had defied automation for decades,” said Arun Rajan, chief strategy and innovation officer. “Now we’re building AI agents that help our AI agents.”
LTL shipments often arrive via email without complete or accurate classifications — a problem the company expects to worsen under the new system.
“Many LTL shippers are unaware or uncertain of the classification for their freight,” said Greg West, vice-president for LTL. “So when they email us a tender, the freight class and code might be missing or incorrect. This is bound to increase with the massive overhaul of the national LTL freight classification system. So we built an AI agent that determines the correct class and code for a shipment and assists another of our AI agents in turning that tender into an accurate order in our system.”
The agent is already processing 2,000 orders daily, helping avoid delays caused by misclassification and improving speed-to-market for shippers. According to Rajan, the AI has reduced manual workload by more than 300 hours a day.
“For shipments the AI agent is reasoning through for the first time, it can choose a freight classification in about 10 seconds. After getting more training on that type of freight from our LTL experts, it takes only three seconds,” he said. “Unlike a person, the AI agent can also handle hundreds of LTL shipments at once and determine the freight classification for all of them simultaneously.”
Automation for LTL orders has grown from 50 per cent to over 75 per cent, particularly benefiting small-to-medium businesses using email to tender shipments.
“Where this new AI agent is particularly useful is assisting with orders for our small-to-medium business customers, who are heavy users of both LTL shipping and email,” West said.
C.H. Robinson has also partnered with dimensioner vendors to offer customers discounts on technology that captures accurate freight dimensions — critical to applying NMFC classifications correctly.
“C.H. Robinson’s track record of LTL innovation sets the standard for our industry,” said Michael Castagnetto, president of North American Surface Transportation. “We were first to adopt the new electronic bill of lading. We’re using AI-powered tech to help customers predict and save on their accessorial charges. Now with generative AI, the agents we’ve built are giving our customers an advantage by responding to LTL quote requests and processing LTL orders in numbers that are growing every day.”
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