AI is helping us clear up the noise so our team can focus on the important work. The kind of work that takes judgment, problem-solving, and real attention to detail. A couple of years ago, we spent more than 100 hours a week on back-office and accounting tasks. Now it’s closer to 10. AI handles the repetitive steps, and our team steps in where experience and context matter most. Those hours didn’t disappear, they shifted toward serving customers, supporting carriers, and strengthening the relationships that make this business run.

It’s kind of like we’re finally getting to all those things we always wanted to do but never had time for.

That’s the good side of AI. It takes the monotonous tasks out of the day so our brokers can focus on the relationships and the work that truly matter.

But there’s a line we won’t cross.

At this time, AI will not interact with Able’s customers. It will not influence the load strategy in any way, such as deciding the proper plan or scope of work, or trailer configuration that a customer’s load needs. That requires human consideration, great listening skills, judgment, nuance, and empathy. Technology hasn’t caught up to that, and honestly, it shouldn’t. That is our job!

Some big players have been chasing full automation for years. They’ve got freight tech companies and big brokerages trying to merge and automate everything. But if you move too fast, you start breaking the thing that matters most: service.

We’ve already seen it. A lot of shippers who plugged into real-time API pricing bots are now unplugging them. The bots could get the rate right, but they didn’t actually know where the truck was. And that’s the difference between a “paper” quote and a real solution. The difference between a provider and a partner.

You can’t serve a customer if you don’t have a truck in the right place at the right time. So now, those same shippers are telling their transportation providers, “Unplug it.” The industry is realizing that some things moved too fast, and it hurt service quality.

We’re not anti-technology, we are actually onboarding 3 new products now. We’re just careful. We’re testing tools, watching what works, and making sure the bugs are worked out before we roll them into our processes because we understand the potential impact to the service we provide.

Finding this balance is crucial in deciding who succeeds in the next decade. AI will absolutely determine who wins and who loses in freight. But we believe the winners will be the ones who use it to empower people, not replace them.

Because this is still a people business, it always has been, it always will be.

When something goes wrong (and it always does in this industry), customers don’t want a chatbot. They want a real person who knows the load, the route, the driver, and what’s at stake.

That’s not something AI can do.

Able’s using AI to get the noise out of the way, not the people. It’s helping us work smarter, communicate faster, and show up stronger. But it’ll never replace the conversations, relationships, and trust that move freight forward.

Smarter systems. Sharper focus. Same human touch.

That’s how we’re building the next chapter of freight.