C.H. Robinson prices ocean and air shipments with AI agents
What the company did
C.H. Robinson uses AI agents to determine and deliver ocean and air freight quotes. For ocean pricing, the agents interpret shipment requests, collect changing terminal fees from websites and email notices, and consider ports, inland routing and consolidation options. This brings information gathering and routing decisions into the pricing process before the customer receives a quote.
How it went
In its October 26, 2026 report, C.H. Robinson said the agents had delivered more than 80,000 quotes for more than 3,600 customers. It reported turnaround of two to three minutes, compared with a day for air quotes and two to three days for ocean quotes previously. Those are combined deployment claims, without a counting period, per-mode volume breakdown or published accuracy and win-rate results. AI & Freight has not independently verified them.
Worth knowing
- Quoting began with U.S. and Canadian LCL customers in 2025 and now covers full-container ocean freight and air cargo in additional regions. China remained a pilot; further Q4 regional launches were still plans, rather than completed rollouts.
- This is a proprietary freight-forwarding service using company data and human oversight. The release does not explain the per-quote approval process; its separate customs time savings do not measure quoting performance.
- Practical takeaway: Check the exact port and terminal, the effective date and coverage of both origin and destination charges, and which inland legs are included. Resolve unspecified routing assumptions before treating a fast quote as the service the customer requested.
Sources & provenance
C.H. Robinson · Published 2026-10-26 · Reviewed 2026-10-27
“AI has determined and delivered over 80,000 price quotes for over 3,600 customers.”
Supporting evidence and review
Human review required
- Before sending a comparable quote, check port and terminal identity, the date and coverage of origin and destination fees, and the inland legs included.
- Resolve assumptions about the requested service with the customer; speed does not establish quote accuracy or confirmed carrier capacity.
Evidence & limitations
- Company-reported results; AI & Freight has not independently tested quote accuracy, turnaround or commercial outcomes.
- The more-than-80,000 quotes and more-than-3,600 customers are combined ocean/air totals; a counting period and per-mode breakdown are not supplied.
- The reported turnaround comparison does not specify a timed sample, error rate, human-review frequency or quote-to-booking conversion rate.
- China quoting remained a pilot; additional regional launches were planned for Q4 2026. These plans are not counted as completed deployments.
- Separate ocean-booking automation and customs processing results in the release are not quote results.