Case study
How a freight brokerage cut spot-quote prep from about 45 minutes to under 5 minutes
At a freight brokerage, each spot quote took about 45 minutes of rate lookups, carrier vetting and load board checks. We built an AI workflow that does that prep automatically. Quotes now go out in under 5 minutes, and each broker went from 8 to 14 loads a day without adding headcount.
- Trigger
- AI step
- Person decides
- Your systems
- TriggerSpot-quote request arrives
- AI stepRate lookups
- AI stepCarrier vetting
- AI stepLoad board checks
- Person decidesBroker reviews and sendspricing judgment stays with the broker
- minutes to prepare a spot quote
- 45tounder 5
- loads per broker per day, no added headcount
- 8to14
At a glance
- Client
- A freight brokerage (anonymized)
- Problem
- Each spot quote took about 45 minutes of manual prep
- What we built
- An AI workflow that gathers rates, vets carriers and checks load boards, then hands the broker a ready-to-send quote
- Results
- Quote prep about 45 minutes → under 5 minutes; loads per broker 8 → 14 a day, no added headcount
- Tools
- Rate sources, carrier vetting and load boards the brokerage already used
The client is anonymized. The figures are the real before-and-after numbers from the project, reported as-is and not rounded up.
What was the problem?
Every spot-quote request started the same way: look up rates, vet possible carriers, check the load boards, then work out a price. At about 45 minutes per quote, brokers spent much of the day preparing quotes instead of covering loads, and slow quotes lose freight.
What did we build?
An AI workflow that does the prep automatically: rate lookups, carrier vetting and load board checks. The broker gets a prepared quote to review and send instead of starting from scratch.
The broker stays in charge of what goes to the shipper. The workflow removes the lookups.
What changed?
| Measure | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Spot-quote prep time | about 45 minutes | under 5 minutes |
| Loads per broker per day | 8 | 14, no added headcount |
- minutes to prepare a spot quote45tounder 5freight brokerage case study: minutes to prepare a spot quote
- loads per broker per day, no added headcount8to14freight brokerage case study: loads per broker per day, no added headcount
What should you know before building something similar?
- Agree up front which checks are mandatory before a quote goes out. The workflow should never skip carrier vetting to save seconds.
- Keep pricing judgment with the broker at first. Automate the data gathering, then decide later whether any lanes can be priced automatically.
- Measure quote turnaround before you start, so you can see the change.
Could this work for you?
If your team does similar work by hand, probably. Request a free workflow audit and you get a one-page plan: the 3 tasks worth automating first, hours saved, and what a build would cost. See also AI automation for freight brokerages and AI workflow automation.