C.H. Robinson, a leading logistics management company, has revolutionized the way it communicates with shippers by implementing automated email transactions using large language models (LLM) powered by artificial intelligence (AI). This cutting-edge technology allows shippers to receive instant price quotes and enjoy the same speed-to-market and cost savings as those who are more digitally connected with the company.
Despite having access to real-time pricing through the company’s digital platform, some shippers still prefer to communicate via email. On a typical business day, C.H. Robinson receives over 11,000 emails from customers and carriers requesting pricing on truckload freight. Mark Albrecht, the vice president for AI at the company, explains that this new generative AI technology can now respond to email requests for price quotes in an average of 2 minutes and 13 seconds, compared to the previous manual process that required human intervention.
The automation of customer quote requests has allowed C.H. Robinson to focus more on helping customers with more complex demands. Currently, the company processes around 2,000 customer quotes per day using this technology and plans to expand its use to automate other types of transactions that shippers and carriers typically conduct via email. The LLM technology can be programmed to identify emails related to load tenders, pickup appointments, and shipment tracking updates.
In terms of spot quotes, C.H. Robinson has already trained the model to differentiate between requests for truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), intermodal, or air freight. This automated system streamlines communication and improves efficiency for both the company and its customers.
With this innovative solution in place, C