What does AI do for a freight broker?

It reads the inbox, sorts tenders, rate requests, capacity emails, confirmations and paperwork, drafts the replies, matches documents to loads and reports what went unanswered. The broker still prices, books and covers.

Does it work with my TMS?

It reads the emails your TMS sends and receives, and can write the ready-to-invoice list back where there is an export or a connection. We confirm which during discovery.

Can it answer "where is my load?" to shippers?

Yes, in a draft from the carrier's last update or by phone through the voice agent. Automatic status replies to shippers are a switch you turn on later.

Will it quote shippers on its own?

Not until you switch that on for a kind of request, with a floor you set. Margin stays with the broker.

Does it vet carriers?

No. It marks whether a carrier is on your approved list; your onboarding process stays as it is.

Is it for 3PLs and customs brokers too?

Yes. Same engine, different documents: warehouse receipts and order confirmations for a 3PL, commercial invoices and certificates for a customs broker.

How does it deal with "Re: Re: Re:" subject lines?

It reads the content, not the subject. A tender buried in a reply chain becomes a card like any other.

Can three offices share it?

Yes. Cards are assigned by the rule you give it, by shipper, lane or office, and the report shows each office's own numbers.

What about carrier invoices?

Matched to the load and the rate confirmation; a mismatch is flagged for accounts payable before anyone pays it.

Is shipper data safe?

It stays in your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Our access is scoped to the one mailbox you name and your IT can revoke it in one click.

How long does setup take?

Five business days from the day access is granted, for the first mailbox.

Discovery is free. The build is quoted after it, then a monthly care plan. We do not publish a rate card.

Freight brokers and logistics

The 7 a.m. inbox, sorted before you sit down.

AI for freight brokers, built by Apna Automation, reads the inbox a brokerage or 3PL runs on: rate requests from shippers, load tenders, carrier confirmations, capacity emails from carriers, check calls and the paperwork that follows every load. Each becomes a card with one owner and a drafted reply, the duplicates merge, and the morning report shows what went unanswered. Customs brokers and transportation companies get the same engine in their own vocabulary. Live in five business days from the day access is granted.

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What does a broker's inbox look like at 7 a.m.?

A hundred and fifty emails, in no order. Twenty tenders from shippers with pickup today. Thirty "do you have a truck" rate requests. Forty capacity emails from carriers offering trucks in lanes you may or may not need. Rate confirmations coming back signed, or not. PODs from last week's loads. Check-call replies. Three brokers' offices read the same inbox, so two of them open the same tender, and the one that mattered sits unopened until nine because its subject line said "Re: Re:". The shipper who got no reply by eight booked someone else.

What gets sorted, and where does it go?

What gets sorted, and where does it go?
Email	What the system does	Who sees it
Shipper rate request	A card with lane, dates, equipment, commodity and the shipper's deadline; a drafted reply from your lane history; one owner	The broker who owns that shipper
Load tender	A card with the stops and times; matched to the shipper's rate agreement; a drafted acceptance	The broker, before the shipper's cut-off
Carrier capacity email	Matched to open loads by lane, date and equipment; listed on the load's card	The broker covering that load
Rate confirmation returned	Checked against what was sent; filed to the load; a missing signature flagged	Nobody, unless something is wrong
Check-call reply or "where is my load?"	Position and ETA drafted from the carrier's update	The broker, or the shipper if you allow automatic updates
POD and paperwork	Matched to the load; the load moves to ready-to-invoice	Accounting
Carrier invoice	Matched to the load and the rate con; mismatches flagged	Accounts payable

How does it answer a shipper's rate request?

With a draft, from your own history: the last rate you gave that shipper on that lane, the carrier cost you saw on it, and your usual terms. The margin decision stays with the broker; the draft shows the numbers and the broker sets the rate and sends. A new lane gets a blank. Nothing goes to a shipper on its own until you switch that on for a kind of request, with a floor you set.

What about carrier capacity emails?

They are matched to your open loads by lane, date and equipment, and listed on the load's card with the carrier's name and what they asked for. What the system does not do is vet the carrier: your onboarding and carrier-packet process stays exactly as it is, and a carrier not in your approved list is marked that way on the card.

Customs brokers and 3PLs

A customs brokerage's inbox is the same problem with different documents: commercial invoices, packing lists and certificates that have to be matched to a shipment before the border, and clients who email "has it cleared?" A 3PL adds warehouse receipts and order confirmations. The engine is the same: match the document to the file, chase what is missing, draft the status reply, report what went unanswered.

What does an unanswered tender cost?

Count it. If 20 tenders a day arrive and two are missed because the subject line hid them, and your average margin on a covered load is $250, that is $500 a day of margin that was already in the inbox, or about $125,000 a year over 250 working days. Your numbers will differ; discovery counts a week of yours.

What it will not do

It will not book a carrier, set a margin, vet a carrier's authority or insurance, or negotiate with anyone. It will not send a rate to a shipper or a rate confirmation to a carrier until a person has switched that on for that kind of email. It reads the emails your TMS and load boards send you; it does not log into them.

Questions about AI for freight brokers

What does AI do for a freight broker?: It reads the inbox, sorts tenders, rate requests, capacity emails, confirmations and paperwork, drafts the replies, matches documents to loads and reports what went unanswered. The broker still prices, books and covers.
Does it work with my TMS?: It reads the emails your TMS sends and receives, and can write the ready-to-invoice list back where there is an export or a connection. We confirm which during discovery.
Can it answer "where is my load?" to shippers?: Yes, in a draft from the carrier's last update or by phone through the voice agent. Automatic status replies to shippers are a switch you turn on later.
Will it quote shippers on its own?: Not until you switch that on for a kind of request, with a floor you set. Margin stays with the broker.
Does it vet carriers?: No. It marks whether a carrier is on your approved list; your onboarding process stays as it is.
Is it for 3PLs and customs brokers too?: Yes. Same engine, different documents: warehouse receipts and order confirmations for a 3PL, commercial invoices and certificates for a customs broker.
How does it deal with "Re: Re: Re:" subject lines?: It reads the content, not the subject. A tender buried in a reply chain becomes a card like any other.
Can three offices share it?: Yes. Cards are assigned by the rule you give it, by shipper, lane or office, and the report shows each office's own numbers.
What about carrier invoices?: Matched to the load and the rate confirmation; a mismatch is flagged for accounts payable before anyone pays it.
Is shipper data safe?: It stays in your own Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. Our access is scoped to the one mailbox you name and your IT can revoke it in one click.
How long does setup take?: Five business days from the day access is granted, for the first mailbox.
What does it cost?: Discovery is free. The build is quoted after it, then a monthly care plan. We do not publish a rate card.

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Last reviewed: October 2026. Service details verified against our current offer.