Carrier Rate Shopping Agent
Automatically compares real-time carrier rates across contracted and spot markets to select the lowest-cost, SLA-compliant option for each shipment.
Freight rate selection is often left to default carrier assignments or manual comparison across a handful of contracted carriers, missing cheaper spot-market or regional carrier options that could save meaningfully on cost per shipment
Rate sheets and fuel surcharges change frequently, and manually keeping them current is impractical at scale, so shippers frequently overpay without realizing it
Service-level tradeoffs (transit time, reliability history) are rarely weighed systematically against cost, leading to either overspending on premium service or risking late deliveries to save a few dollars
This agent evaluates every shipment in real time against live contracted rates, spot quotes, and carrier performance history to select the optimal carrier automatically, applying business rules for exceptions like time-critical or high-value freight
The agent is triggered for each shipment as it becomes ready to tender, pulling origin, destination, weight, dimensions, and required service level from the OMS/TMS. It queries contracted carrier rate tables and live spot-market APIs simultaneously, normalizes quotes for accessorials and fuel surcharges, and scores options against a cost-versus-service model informed by historical on-time performance data. An LLM layer reviews shipment notes for special handling requirements (fragile, hazmat, white-glove) that might restrict eligible carriers, and applies configured business rules (e.g., always use contracted carrier for volume commitments) before finalizing the selection and tendering the load automatically or routing for approval above a cost threshold.
Gather Shipment and Rate Data
- Pull shipment details from OMS/TMS
- Query contracted carrier rate tables
- Request live spot-market quotes via API
- Check for special handling requirements
Score and Rank Carrier Options
- Normalize quotes for fuel surcharge and accessorials
- Weight cost against historical on-time performance
- Apply volume commitment and contract compliance rules
- Filter out carriers ineligible for special handling needs
Select and Tender the Load
- Auto-select top-ranked carrier within policy thresholds
- Route high-value or exception shipments for approval
- Tender load via EDI or carrier API
- Confirm pickup and generate shipping documents
Track Savings and Report Performance
- Log selected rate versus average market benchmark
- Calculate realized savings per shipment and period
- Track carrier performance against SLA commitments
- Publish freight spend and savings dashboard weekly