The agents

One agent per job your team does by hand.

Each agent does the prep and processing of a back-office job. Each action has its own setting: it runs on its own, goes for review, or waits for a person’s reply. Start with the job that hurts most. A first agent starts as a scoped pilot on your own documents.

A forklift lifting a wrapped pallet at a dock
Illustrative footage.
Takes inLeaves behind
LTL Quote AgentA rate requestA quote in the thread
Order Entry AgentBills, packing listA lot in your TMS
Tracking AgentCarrier statusUpdates, proof of delivery
Finance AgentA vendor invoicePayable lines
IllustrationEach agent has one job: what it takes in, and what it leaves behind.
LTL

LTL Quote Agent

Quoting
In production at a US trucking agency

Reads the rate request, classes the freight, pulls live carrier rates, and replies in the customer’s thread.

  1. 01Rate requestby email
  2. 02Freight classed
  3. 03Live carrier rates
    Over your price ceilinggoes to a person
  4. 04Quote sentsame thread
IllustrationAn LTL rate request becomes a quote in the same email thread.
Takes inA rate request by email, with any attachment
Leaves behindA reply in the same thread with carrier options, and the quote saved in the TMS
On its ownSends the quote when the price is under your ceiling
Goes to a personA price over your ceiling, a freight class dispute, hazmat or oversize freight
FTL

Truckload Quote Agent

Quoting
In production at a US trucking agency

Builds the truckload request, asks for the truck cost, applies your margin rule, and sends the rate.

  1. 01Truckload requestby email
  2. 02Cost request sent
    Lane outside your rulesgoes to a person
  3. 03Cost comes back
  4. 04Margin rule applied
  5. 05Rate sentsame thread
IllustrationA truckload request becomes a cost request, then a customer rate.
Takes inA truckload or partial request by email
Leaves behindA complete cost request, then the customer rate in the same thread
On its ownBuilds and sends the request, and sends the rate when the cost comes back
Goes to a personA lane or freight your rules do not cover
BK

Booking

Booking
In production at a US trucking agency

When the customer accepts a quote, creates the order, checks it against the request, and sends the bill of lading.

  1. 01Customer says yesto a quote
  2. 02Order createdin the TMS
  3. 03Checkedagainst the request
    Not stated in the requestgoes to a person
  4. 04Bill of lading sentby email
IllustrationAn accepted quote becomes an order and a bill of lading.
Takes inThe customer’s yes on a quote
Leaves behindAn order in the TMS and the bill of lading by email
On its ownBooks a quoted shipment the customer accepted
Goes to a personA change to a booked order, and anything the request does not state
TR

Tracking Agent

Tracking
In production at a US trucking agency and a US import forwarder

Follows each shipment, tells the customer when something real changes, and sends the proof of delivery.

  1. Booked
  2. Picked up
  3. In transit
  4. Delivered
  5. Proof of delivery
  • Customer told of real changes: from picked up to delivered
IllustrationThe agent follows a booked shipment and sends the proof of delivery.
Takes inCarrier status, and a customer’s question about a shipment
Leaves behindA pickup notice, a delivery update, the proof of delivery, or an arrival date change for your team
On its ownSends status and documents for a booked shipment
Goes to a personA late pickup, a cancellation on or after pickup day, a date change in your TMS without your reply
OPS

Ops Agent

Operations support
In production at a US trucking agency

Your staff ask about a load by email and get the status, the details and the document back.

  1. 01Staff questionby email
    A request to change an ordergoes to a person
  2. 02Reads the records
  3. 03Answer sentwith the document
IllustrationYour staff ask about a load and get the answer with the document attached.
Takes inA question from your own staff
Leaves behindThe answer with the bill of lading or proof of delivery attached
On its ownAnswers from the records. It reads; it does not change an order
Goes to a personAny request to change an order
OE

Order Entry Agent

Order entry
In production at a US import forwarder

Reads the bills and the packing list and creates the lot or delivery order in your TMS, charge lines included.

Shipping documentsLot in your TMS
Bill of lading numbersReferences
Shipper and consigneeParties
Containers and piecesCargo lines
ChargesCharge lines
IllustrationThe agent reads the documents and creates the lot, then sends a review email.
Takes inA master bill, house bill, packing list or delivery order
Leaves behindA lot or delivery order in the TMS, and a review email that shows every field
On its ownCreates the record and sends it for review
Goes to a personA party it cannot match, a document that contradicts another
FA

Finance Agent

Finance
In production at a US import forwarder

Matches each line of a vendor invoice to the job’s charges and books the payable. It does not pay.

  1. 01Vendor invoiceor statement
  2. 02Lines matchedto the job’s charges
    A line with no matchgoes to a person
  3. 03Payable bookedapproved vendors
IllustrationMatched invoice lines are booked. The agent does not pay.
Takes inA vendor invoice or statement
Leaves behindPayable lines booked in your system, and a list of lines that do not match
On its ownBooks lines that match, for the vendors you have approved
Goes to a personA line with no matching charge, a duplicate invoice number
AU

Audit Agent

Audit
In production at a US import forwarder

Re-checks finished records against their source documents and reports each difference with its cause.

Finished recordSource document
PartiesAs enteredAs printed
CargoAs enteredAs printed
ChargesAs enteredAs printed
IllustrationThe agent compares each finished record with its documents and reports the differences.
Takes inA finished record and the documents it came from
Leaves behindAn email that groups the differences by shipment, each with one reason
On its ownRuns on a schedule and reports. It does not change a record
Goes to a personEvery difference goes to a person

What a weekly HTS code and duty rate audit checks →

CU

Customs preparation

Customs
Prepares drafts at a US import forwarder

Prepares filing data from the shipping documents and answers duty rate questions with the source.

  1. 01Shipping documents
  2. 02Filing data prepared
  3. 03Draft to your filer
  4. 04A person files
IllustrationThe agent prepares the draft. A licensed person reviews it and files.
Takes inShipping documents, or a duty rate question by email
Leaves behindA draft for your filer, or the published rate with its source
On its ownPrepares and replies. It never files
Goes to a personClassification advice and every filing stay with a licensed person
IN

Inbox triage

Operations support
In pilot at a US trucking agency

Sorts a shared mailbox by what each email is, which shipment it belongs to and who should handle it.

  1. 01Shared mailbox
  2. 02Each email read
  3. 03Matched to a shipment
  4. 04Labelled and routed
IllustrationIn pilot. The agent sorts in the background and sends nothing.
Takes inA shared desk mailbox
Leaves behindEach email labelled and routed
On its ownIn pilot: it sorts in the background and nothing is sent
Goes to a personEverything, until the pilot ends
+

And more, scoped with you

Custom

Tell us the job that eats your team’s week. We scope a pilot on your own documents.

Talk to us
How they run

Each action has its own setting.

Runs on its own

Work inside your rules, such as a quote under your price ceiling.

Sent for review

The agent finishes the record and a person on your team checks it.

Waits for a reply

The agent prepares the change and makes it only when your team says so.

Goes to a person

Anything outside your rules, with the facts already attached.

A customs filing is prepared as a draft. A person on your team reviews and files it.

In production

What the numbers look like in production.

30 min → seconds

Lot creation, per shipment, across 25+ jobs a week.

12 min → 12 sec

LTL quote reply, median, at a US trucking agency.

~2 days a week

Team time back, every week, from removing the keying.

A US import freight forwarder running the Order Entry agent from its own inbox, and a US trucking agency running the quote agents. Read the forwarder’s story or the quote desk numbers.

Questions

What people ask before a demo.

Does TIO replace my TMS?

No. TIO works through an adapter built for your TMS, and your TMS stays the system of record. Adapters are in production for two TMS platforms. For any other system, TIO first checks what it lets an agent read and write.

Can I run an agent autonomously, or does a person review everything?

It depends on the action. Each action an agent can take has its own setting. It runs on its own, it sends the work for review, or it waits for a person’s reply. Work inside your rules, such as a quote under your price ceiling, can run on its own. Anything outside your rules goes to a person, with the facts already attached. A customs filing is prepared as a draft. A person on your team reviews and files it.

Can an agent file with customs on its own?

No. An agent prepares the filing data as a draft. A person on your team reviews and files it. The filer is always a person, never the agent.

Which TMS does TIO work with?

TIO works through an adapter built for each TMS. Adapters are in production for two TMS platforms. For any other system, TIO first checks what it lets an agent read and write, then scopes the job. There is no universal connector: each TMS needs its own adapter before an agent can write to it.

How much time does it actually save?

At a US import forwarder running TIO in production, lot creation dropped from about 30 minutes to seconds across 25+ jobs a week, roughly two days a week back for the team. At a US trucking agency, the median LTL quote reply went from 12 minutes to about 12 seconds.

Where the work happens.

All solutions
OceanFrom the pre-alert and the bills to a finished lot with its charge lines.AirThe same order entry, on air documents and air timelines.Trucking and domesticFrom the quote to the proof of delivery, by email.WarehousingThe delivery order arrives by email. An agent enters it.

See an agent on your own shipments.

Twenty minutes. Bring a real document and watch an agent take it to a finished draft on the call.

Book a demo