What the agent handles
- Answers shipment status questions
- Takes freight quote details
- Books pickups and deliveries
- Routes carrier and dock calls
- Emails tracking updates
Transport and logistics
AI receptionist for logistics
Answers shipment status and pickup requests, takes freight quote details, and routes carrier, customer and warehouse calls without a bottleneck at reception.
CallerOur shipment was supposed to be here this morning and the customer's waiting on it.
CallerI need a quote to move four pallets from Toronto to Halifax next week.
CallerI'm a driver at your dock door and nobody's answering at receiving.
Where calls go
DispatchCustomer serviceWarehouseCarrier relationsBilling
Warm transfer: When a customer calls about a missed delivery or damaged freight, the agent warm-transfers to the customer service rep on that account.
What it books
Pickups, deliveries and dock appointments
Why logistics companies miss calls, and what an AI receptionist changes
A 3PL or freight forwarding office takes its heaviest calls between 7 and 10 in the morning, when yesterday's exceptions surface and today's pickups are being confirmed. The customer service rep is on one line chasing a carrier about a late trailer, receiving is out on the dock floor with a scanner in hand, and a driver sitting at door 6 can't get anyone to pick up. A shipper with four pallets to quote waits through six rings, hangs up and sends the lane to another broker.
A RealVoice AI receptionist answers your logistics phone line on the first ring and handles several calls at once. It books pickups, deliveries and dock appointments into your schedule, taking the BOL or PO number, pallet count, weight, dimensions, liftgate needs and the receiving hours at the consignee. For quotes it collects origin and destination postal codes, commodity or freight class, LTL or full truckload, and the ship date, so your pricing team can reply without a second call.
As part of setup, the team connects it to your TMS and carrier tracking, so a shipper asking where a load is hears the latest scan and status read straight from your system, and can have the tracking update emailed or texted. A customer with a late or damaged load is warm-transferred to the rep on that account with the PRO number read out first, carriers are sent to carrier relations, and invoice disputes go to billing as a written message.
Example call, start to finish
- CallerHi, it's Dana at Maple Leaf Fixtures in Mississauga. Our shipment to the Moncton store was due this morning and the store manager keeps calling me.
- AI receptionistI'll get this to the right person. Do you have the PRO number or your PO number handy?
- CallerThe PRO is 8834-217. And while I've got you, I need a pickup next Tuesday, six pallets going to our Halifax store.
- AI receptionistI can book that now. It's from your Mississauga dock? What's the total weight, and does Halifax need a liftgate?
- CallerAbout forty-two hundred kilos. Halifax has a dock, so no liftgate.
- AI receptionistBooked for Tuesday between 8 and noon at your Mississauga dock, six pallets to Halifax. For the Moncton load, tracking shows PRO 8834-217 arrived at the Moncton terminal at 6:10 this morning but isn't out for delivery yet. Since it's past due, I'm putting you through to Aisha on your account now.
- AI receptionist(privately, to Aisha) Dana from Maple Leaf Fixtures, PRO 8834-217, due in Moncton this morning. Tracking has it at the Moncton terminal since 6:10, not out for delivery. Connecting.
After the call: Aisha picks up already holding the PRO number and the problem. The Tuesday pickup is in the RealVoice schedule with the pallet count, weight and dock details, Dana has a confirmation text, dispatch gets a text and email about the new pickup, and the summary and recording are saved in the portal.
How it fits your day
- The morning exceptions hour
- When late trailers and short shipments surface first thing, every caller is answered and the account rep on each file hears the PRO number before the call connects.
- Dock door traffic
- Drivers calling from the yard about a missed appointment or a door assignment reach receiving or the warehouse lead, instead of idling in the lot while the office line rings out.
- Quote requests
- Lanes, pallet counts, freight class and ship dates are collected in one call and sent to pricing as a tidy request, so no quote stalls on a missing dimension.
- Peak season and month-end
- During the fall retail push and the end-of-month shipping crunch, the extra call volume is absorbed without putting a temp on the phones.
Your software
Today it books pickups, deliveries and dock appointments into the RealVoice schedule in the portal, keeps every call, message and summary there, and texts shippers and carriers a confirmation, and once linked to your tracking system it reads shipment status to callers and sends the tracking number. If your operation runs Rose Rocket, McLeod, Descartes or project44, the team can set up a connection to it; custom integrations are quoted separately.
What a missed call costs
Shippers hand freight to whoever answers first. Say a regular LTL shipper sends you three shipments a week at about $200 in margin each. Miss that shipper's quote call twice in a busy week and they try another broker, and roughly 150 shipments a year, around $30,000 in margin, move with them. Plug your own margins and call counts into the missed-call calculator on the homepage.
Questions logistics companies ask
Can it tell a customer where their shipment is?
Yes. The team connects it to your tracking system during setup, so it looks up the PRO, PO or BOL number and gives the last scan, the current status and the delivery appointment on file, then texts or emails the tracking details. It reads what the system shows and doesn't invent a new delivery time; a load that's late, short or damaged goes to the rep on that account as a warm transfer or an urgent callback note.
Can an AI answer my logistics phone line after hours?
Yes. Overnight and weekend calls from drivers, carriers and shippers are answered, pickups are booked for the next business day, and anything you mark as urgent, such as a driver turned away at a closed receiver, goes to whoever is on call.
What does it collect for a freight quote?
Origin and destination postal codes, pallet or skid count, weight and dimensions, commodity or freight class, LTL or full truckload, the ship date, and extras like liftgate, inside delivery or an appointment at the receiver. It doesn't price the lane; your pricing team gets the request and replies.
How does it handle drivers calling from the dock?
It asks for the carrier name, trailer number and appointment or PO number and puts the driver through to receiving or the warehouse lead. If nobody picks up, the warehouse gets a text right away saying which carrier is waiting at which door.
Will shippers know they're talking to an AI?
If someone asks, it says so plainly. Most callers care more that the call was picked up and their PRO number was written down correctly the first time.
Can it take calls from Quebec customers in French?
Yes. English and French are both covered, along with many other languages, and it checks with the caller before it switches.
Hear it as your own logistics company's front desk
Request a free demo call and the agent will phone you, set up as a business like yours.