AI Reality in Logistics
AI in Freight Forwarding: Hype vs. Reality
Last year, I attended a logistics technology conference in Singapore. Every booth had "AI" in its banner. Every presentation mentioned "machine learning." Every brochure promised "intelligent automation."
During a coffee break, I sat next to a freight forwarding operations director from Indonesia. He looked exhausted.
"You know what I've learned today?" he said. "Everyone has AI. Nobody can explain what it actually does."
He wasn't wrong. And that conversation stuck with me—because the gap between AI hype and AI reality is costing our industry time, money, and trust.
So let me try to bridge that gap. Here's what AI can actually do for freight forwarders today, what it can't do, and how to tell the difference.
The Hype: "AI Will Transform Everything"
You've heard the claims:
"AI will predict demand with 99% accuracy"
"AI will optimize your entire supply chain automatically"
"AI will replace your operations team"
"AI will negotiate rates with carriers for you"
These claims share a common problem: they're either misleading, premature, or outright false.
Demand prediction at 99% accuracy? In an industry affected by weather, geopolitics, port congestion, and customer whims? Not happening.
Automatic supply chain optimization? Freight involves too many human decisions, relationships, and exceptions for full automation.
Replacing operations teams? Good luck explaining to a frustrated customer why an algorithm decided to reroute their cargo.
The hype sells conference tickets. It doesn't ship containers.
The Reality: What AI Actually Does Well
Here's the truth that doesn't make it into marketing brochures: AI is excellent at specific, well-defined tasks that involve pattern recognition and data processing. It's not a magic wand.
In freight forwarding, AI genuinely excels at:
1. Reading and understanding unstructured communication
Rate request emails come in all formats—formal, informal, detailed, vague, in different languages. AI can parse these, extract the relevant information, and structure it consistently. This used to require experienced humans who knew how to interpret "pls quote ASAP india to UK 2 boxes." Now AI can do it in seconds.
2. Matching requests to rates at scale
Once the request is understood, AI can search through thousands of rate entries, identify the right combination of charges, and assemble a complete quote. A human doing this manually might check 3-4 options. AI can evaluate all available options instantly.
3. Applying consistent business rules
Margin calculations, customer-specific pricing, validity periods, terms and conditions—AI applies these consistently every time. No forgetting, no variation based on who's working that day, no errors from copy-paste fatigue.
4. Processing documents
Bills of lading, commercial invoices, packing lists—AI can extract data from these documents with high accuracy. It doesn't eliminate the need for verification, but it dramatically reduces manual data entry.
5. Working 24/7 without fatigue
This isn't glamorous, but it matters. AI doesn't need sleep, doesn't take breaks, and performs the same at 3 AM as it does at 3 PM. For global forwarders dealing with multiple time zones, this alone is transformative.
What AI Can't Do (Yet)
Let me be equally clear about the limitations:
AI can't build relationships. Your customer calls upset because their shipment is delayed. They don't want an algorithm—they want a human who understands, empathizes, and solves the problem.
AI can't handle true exceptions. Hazardous cargo that needs special routing? A customer with a unique compliance requirement? A shipment that needs creative problem-solving? These need human expertise.
AI can't negotiate. Getting better rates from carriers involves relationships, leverage, timing, and reading the room. No AI can replace a skilled procurement manager who knows when to push and when to wait.
AI can't guarantee accuracy. AI makes mistakes. Less often than tired humans doing repetitive work, but it still makes them. You need human oversight, especially for high-value or complex shipments.
The companies that get AI right understand this balance: automate the routine, elevate the human.
How to Spot AI Hype
After that conference in Singapore, I developed a simple test for evaluating AI claims in freight tech. Ask these questions:
"Can you show me exactly what it does, step by step?" Real AI can be demonstrated. If the answer is vague hand-waving about "intelligent algorithms," be skeptical.
"What happens when it's wrong?" Any honest AI provider will tell you about error handling, human escalation, and oversight. If they claim it's never wrong, walk away.
"What specific task does it automate?" Good AI solves specific problems well. If the answer is "everything" or "end-to-end optimization," you're hearing marketing, not engineering.
"How long until we see results?" AI that works should show value in weeks, not years. If implementation takes 18 months, you're buying a project, not a product.
What We Believe at VoltusFreight
I'll be direct about our philosophy: we build AI that does specific things well, not AI that promises everything.
Our AI Email Agents read rate requests and generate quotes. That's it. They don't predict market trends. They don't optimize your carrier mix. They don't replace your team.
They do one thing—turn rate requests into quotes—faster and more consistently than manual processing.
Is that transformative? For the operations teams who used to spend 4 hours a day on quoting, yes. For the sales teams who can now respond to customers in minutes, absolutely. For the businesses that win more deals because they're faster, definitely.
But it's not magic. It's technology that works.
The Question That Matters
That operations director from Indonesia had the right instinct. Skepticism is healthy.
When someone pitches you AI, don't ask "Is this AI?" Ask: "What specific problem does this solve, and can you prove it?"
The companies that give you clear answers to that question are the ones worth your time.
Everything else is just hype.
