Qued, Inc., which deploys an AI-enabled smart workflow platform that automates load appointment scheduling with prime slots for brokers, 3PLs and carriers, announced today that Axle Logistics has implemented Qued’s software solution as an integral part of its transportation planning and execution platform.

Knoxville, TN-based Axle, with some $1 billion in annual revenues, is one of the nation’s fastest growing providers of non-asset-based freight brokerage and transportation management services. The company chose Qued after an evaluation which validated the opportunity for Qued’s AI-driven process to significantly improve and streamline its appointment scheduling workflows. This process has typically been a heavily manual activity involving tedious repetitive tasks by its operations team, noted Shawn McLeod, president of Axle Logistics.

“We have a large team that works directly with our customers to accept tenders, plan, build and schedule loads, and then secure appointments for those loads,” a process that often involves multiple texts, emails and phone calls, McLeod explained. “Applying an AI-based software solution to this workflow, especially one where our team can interact with it and help it learn and get better as we go along, has meaningful, measurable benefits for both our customers and how productive and effective our staff can be.”

A transportation planning specialist for Axle Logistics, a $1 billion non-asset-based freight brokerage, utilizes Qued's AI-driven automated appointment scheduling software to find and secure optimum pickup and delivery times for customer shipments.

He noted that Axle today is in the early stages of its ramp up with Qued and is already reducing the scheduling workload of multiple employees. And while in some cases new tech rollouts can be fraught with resistance, that’s not been the case with Qued. McLeod expects the ramp up to accelerate, given Qued’s proactive customer support, and the overall elegant design and ease of use of the tools.

“There has really been no resistance to change,” he adds.” We are adding new business constantly, our team has a lot on their plate, and they are willing to give [Qued] a shot to make their day more efficient, get the work done in a timely manner, and resolve customer issues faster.”

Significantly improved employee productivity, reducing manual work and the errors that often accompany that, freeing up staff time for more value-added or complex tasks, and getting timely, accurate appointments secured faster for the customer – and the trucking service provider – are the key benefits, McLeod noted.

Katherine Toraya, Axle’s customer success manager, is Axle’s lead on the Qued implementation and rollout. She notes that Axle’s larger customers are tendering thousands of loads a month. In terms of Qued’s impact on day-to-day operations, first and foremost, she cites the productivity gains. Toraya estimates that for a batch of 60 load appointments, Qued has compressed the time it takes a coordinator to complete the task from five hours to down to 30 minutes.

That’s enabling Axle to take on more business without adding staff. “As more planners use the app, they learn, get more effective and efficient and can take on more accounts,” she noted. “It’s a far better way than having to enter numbers in a portal and wait on it to return an appointment.” She added as well that removing repetitive, manual tasks also improves job satisfaction for the team, which now has to deal with less tedious work during the day.

Then there is the developmental side. She points to two unique collaborative aspects of the Axle/Qued relationship. First is the ability to “teach” the app and help it expand its intelligence and accuracy. Second is the openness, engagement and support of Qued’s engineering team as she floats new ideas for features or functions that could improve or expand what the app does, further streamlining operations and reducing the overall workload of the team.

“The big one is improved accuracy, we are much more efficient getting the right appointment the first time, confirming it automatically with far less human intervention,” Toraya noted. She also cites the app’s “intelligent” alerts and reminders “that notify us automatically, so we don’t have to constantly go back in and see if and appointment was made,” she explains. The app also will save a screenshot of the confirmed appointment, which customers often want as verification.

Importantly, says Toraya, working with Qued and its team, “is an ongoing process of discovery. We’re constantly thinking of ways we can teach the AI to solve issues we face,” she’s observed. “It’s a collaborative process, when I ask the team ‘hey, can you do this,’ they are a good partner in helping us see what we can do beyond what we are doing now, develop it, and really make it a top-tier fit for Axle and how we can compete better for our customers. That part has been very exciting.”