# AI for transport — tracking requests, claims, consignment notes > What an agent takes on at a haulier or freight forwarder: tracking requests, claims, transport documents. What it never commits to: a delivery time on behalf of operations. **Version HTML :** https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-transport **Langue :** en-GB --- AI by industry # AI for transport At a haulier, three calls in four ask the same question : where is my consignment. The information is in the TMS, in the subcontractor’s tracking, in an email from the driver. It can only be read by someone who opens three screens, while the phone keeps ringing. [Request the survey](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/contact) - **5 tasks** documented below - **1 limit** no delivery time committed by the agent - **2 to 6 weeks** before the first system is open - **The TMS stays** the agent reads alongside, replaces nothing The cost ## What this industry pays when nothing moves. Ranges, not promises. They come from tasks we meet in this industry and orders of magnitude we measure in the survey — yours may fall outside, in either direction. **Changing nothing** - ‘Where is my delivery’ calls : **60 to 75 % of calls received** - Time per tracking request : **4 to 10 minutes** - Claims documented within 48 h : **1 in 3 to 1 in 2** - Consignment notes unreconciled at month end : **5 to 15 %** - First answer to a new customer : **4 h to 1 day** - Operations time absorbed by requests : **2 to 3 h per day per person** **The customer relations system, opened** - ‘Where is my delivery’ calls : **15 to 30 % of calls received** - Time per tracking request : **under a minute, written answer** - Claims documented within 48 h : **4 in 5 or more** - Consignment notes unreconciled at month end : **under 2 %** - First answer to a new customer : **2 to 10 minutes** - Operations time given back : **1 h 30 to 2 h 30 per day per person** Five tasks ## What we remove, and what we leave. Each task is described with what the agent takes on and what stays with a person. If the second column is empty, we have not understood the industry. 01 ### Answer a tracking request **What the agent does** It recognises the reference in the email or form, reads the status in the TMS and the subcontractor’s tracking, and answers in writing with the time of the last known event. **What stays with a person** Anything that is a promise. ‘Delivered tomorrow before noon’ is never written by the agent : it gives the status, operations give the commitment. 02 ### Prepare a claim **What the agent does** It gathers what already exists : consignment note, delivery reservations, photos, exchanges. It produces a chronological file and flags what is missing. **What stays with a person** The company’s position, the compensation, the answer to the customer. The file is ready in an hour instead of two days; the decision stays human. 03 ### Reconcile transport documents **What the agent does** Every consignment note, delivery note and subcontractor invoice is read and set against the order. Discrepancies go into a list, not a drawer. **What stays with a person** Dealing with the discrepancies. It finds them all; it settles none. 04 ### Acknowledge and qualify a transport request **What the agent does** A quotation request arrives at 7 pm. It acknowledges, extracts origin, destination, volume, constraints, and prepares the template for the morning’s freight planner. **What stays with a person** The price and the yes. The rate depends on the day’s load, available subcontracting and the customer : the planner decides. 05 ### Keep customer instructions up to date **What the agent does** Receiving hours, docks, contacts, delivery requirements : they live in emails. It extracts them and keeps one sourced sheet per site. **What stays with a person** Validating a new instruction before it applies. A wrong dock costs an empty return. What we do not do ## No delivery time is committed by an agent. In this industry, a delivery time is a commercial promise that depends on things the agent cannot see : the day’s load, a sick driver, a subcontractor who has not replied. The agent says what is ; operations say what will be. The diagram below shows where the line runs. **The method, in one sentence** Ten systems, one survey, one system opened at a time — the one with the shortest payback. [Read the full method](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/#methode), or go back to the [AI agency](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/) page. The tools ## What we open it with, and why here. The choice of tool comes last, and it is reversible. But in this industry, three constraints keep coming back and steer the choice before we even start. **The TMS, as it is** We do not replace it and we do not modify it. The agent reads its exports or its interface and writes into the fields it already accepts. If it has no interface, we work from what it knows how to export. **A circuit visible in n8n or Make** Operations must be able to see what the agent does, stop it on a crisis day, and correct a rule without calling us. A workflow tool can be read ; code cannot. **A written answer, never a spoken one** The agent answers in writing, with the time of the event it cites. A verifiable trace beats a reassuring voice when the claim comes in. The objections ## What we hear in this industry, before we start. ### Our subcontractors send tracking by email, each in their own way. Does that work ? That is the general case. The agent reads unstructured emails and extracts the event, the time, the reference. What it cannot read, it marks instead of guessing — and you quickly see which subcontractor needs a format. ### Will the customer accept an automatic answer ? They accept an accurate, fast answer. It is signed by the department, cites the time of the last event, and offers a human in one line if that is not enough. What they do not accept is waiting on the phone. ### And on the day everything goes wrong — snow, a strike, the TMS down ? The agent switches off in one click, and it is better to switch it off : on a crisis day, the status in the TMS no longer reflects reality. That is part of the circuit from the start, not an option. ### We already have a tracking portal. Why do customers still call ? Because it needs a login, a password and an exact reference. The agent answers ‘my Tuesday order for Salford’. That is the distance the portal does not cover. Where this industry concentrates ## The areas where we are called most for this. [**Manchester**AI agency in Manchester](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-agency-manchester)[**London**AI agency in London](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-agency-london)[**Leeds**AI agency in Leeds](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-agency-leeds) [**All locations**see the full map](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/locations) Related industries The same tasks, in neighbouring industries : [AI for logistics](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-logistics), [AI for manufacturing](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-manufacturing), [AI for e-commerce](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-ecommerce). First call — fifteen minutes ## We will tell you which system to open first. Describe the task that costs you the most. We will tell you what is feasible, how long it takes and what it costs. If the answer is no, you will leave with the two reasons why. [Request the survey](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/contact) [Write to the agency](https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/contact) --- ## Autres langues - fr-FR : https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/ia-transport.md - en-GB : https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/en/ai-transport.md - de-DE : https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/de/ki-transport.md - es-ES : https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/es/ia-transporte.md - it-IT : https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/it/ai-trasporti.md - pt-PT : https://agence-intelligence-artificielle.eu/pt/ia-transportes.md