National classifications for less-than-truckload freight are changing on July 19. To prepare for the change, C.H. Robinson announced it created an AI agent to automate freight classification.
“Many LTL shippers are unaware or uncertain of the classification for their freight,” said Greg West, VP 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.”
Because LTL shipping involves freight sharing a truck, the National Motor Freight Classification system provides thousands of classes and codes that help LTL carriers know how much space and weight to plan for each individual shipment—depending on whether it’s bulky auto parts or a pallet of retail goods like socks. LTL carriers charge based on the NMFC classifications, and those will change starting July 19.
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C.H. Robinson said that its new AI agent helps shippers avoid the delays that can come with misclassified freight being held by the carrier for inspection, reinvoicing, and potentially higher charges.
“Before generative AI, half of our LTL orders were automated by way of customers using our global shipper platform or direct connectivity between our tech and their tech. We have the freight classifications for those shippers baked into our system,” West said. “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. Now that this agent is helping with shipping requests that come in by email, over 75% of all our LTL orders are automated.”
In the AI agent’s first few months, it has determined the freight class and code for about 2,000 orders a day.
“Manually looking up or confirming the freight class and code for every emailed LTL tender can easily take a person 10 minutes or more per shipment,” Rajan said. “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. 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. So far, that’s saving over 300 hours a day. Our customers’ freight gets on the road faster, and our people can devote more time to helping customers manage disruptions and operate their supply chains more strategically.”
The day the new freight classification system goes into effect, the AI agent will be able to apply the new classes and codes. C.H. Robinson advises customers who tender LTL freight by email or any other method should prepare by making sure they know the accurate weight and dimensions for their freight. Both are essential for applying the correct NMFC classification.
