What is a broker AI agent?
Keelway product teamUpdated
A broker AI agent is software that helps carry out a defined freight workflow using the context and tools available to it. That might mean organizing carrier replies, drafting a customer update, or—when a product has the required calling and integration tools—handling a check-call. The useful question is what it can actually read and do in your operation.
Lane is Keelway’s AI logistics teammate for brokers, carriers, dispatchers, and 3PLs. Its current workspace provides saved private chat, company-specific instructions, and an inbound connection for TMS load updates. Lane can help organize information and draft the next conversation. It does not place calls, send emails, or change your TMS from that workspace.
What makes an AI agent useful in a brokerage?
Freight work arrives in different forms: a load record, a carrier’s reply, a customer’s appointment requirement, or a dispatcher’s notes. An assistant can help turn that context into something easier to review: a summary, missing-information list, draft email, or call plan.
The software still needs a clear boundary around the task. “Draft a pickup update using these details” is a different request from “send the update.” Reading a received load snapshot is different from checking a live tracking system. A helpful product makes those differences visible.
When evaluating an agent, ask four questions:
- What can it see? Supplied text, received records, or a live system it can query?
- What can it do? Suggest, draft, send, call, or change a record?
- What evidence supports the answer? A source message, a dated snapshot, or an assumption that needs confirmation?
- Who owns the next action? A coordinator, a dispatcher, a customer-service representative, or a configured automation?
What Lane can do today
| Task | Current Lane workspace behavior |
|---|---|
| Continue a freight conversation | Save a private chat and its conversation history. |
| Follow your working preferences | Use your company, team, TMS name, and saved instructions as context. |
| Discuss received load updates | Read snapshots sent through the inbound TMS connection. |
| Prepare a customer email | Produce a draft for a person to review and send. |
| Prepare a check-call | Suggest questions and organize the details you need to confirm. |
| Place a call or send an email | Not available from the workspace. |
| Change a load in your TMS | Not available from the workspace. |
| Enable a native vendor connector | Entering a TMS name does not install an adapter or grant access. |
For each chat reply, Lane receives context from up to 20 recent load snapshots. It is not a live query tool for your entire load book. If an update is old, its ETA may be old too.
The public chat on the Keelway website answers product questions. It does not have access to your private workspace or TMS records. Sign in to Lane for saved work and connected load context.
A dry-van example: turn a received update into a useful draft
This is an illustrative example, not a customer result.
A received snapshot for load DV-2048 shows a dry van moving from Ontario, California, to Atlanta, Georgia. Its ETA is Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. The source last updated the record on Thursday at 4:20 p.m. Eastern. Your customer separately gave you a Friday 9 a.m. appointment.
A useful prompt is:
Draft a customer update under 80 words. Use the source update time and the ETA shown for DV-2048. Separate what we know from what needs confirmation. Do not describe the appointment as confirmed by the carrier.
A draft to review could be:
The latest update we received for DV-2048 was Thursday at 4:20 p.m. Eastern and listed an ETA of Friday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. That is before the 9 a.m. appointment you provided. We still need a fresh carrier check-in before treating that ETA as current.
The benefit is a clearer message and an explicit follow-up. The draft is not evidence that a carrier was contacted, that the appointment was reconfirmed, or that an email was sent.
Give Lane instructions it can use
Useful instructions describe your operating context and preferred output. They do not grant new tools or permissions.
For a brokerage:
We handle 53-foot dry vans. Use Eastern Time unless the load specifies another zone. Keep customer drafts under 80 words. State the source update time when discussing an ETA. Ask for missing information rather than treating it as confirmed.
For a carrier dispatch desk:
Keep broker updates concise. Separate the driver’s reported information from our planned next step. When preparing a call, list the missing pickup or delivery details first.
For a 3PL team:
Use the customer requirements supplied in the conversation. Separate each load’s status from the questions still open. Do not combine different loads into one update without clearly identifying them.
You can save these preferences in Lane’s instructions and refine them as you work. Keep connection keys and passwords out of chat and instructions.
How Lane works alongside a TMS
Your TMS can continue to hold the operational load record. Lane receives selected load updates through an inbound webhook when your TMS or middleware can send the documented HTTP request.
A TMS administrator or integration partner maps the fields and sends the events. Creating a connection in Lane does not start a continuous live feed, and naming a vendor does not create a native integration. The workspace shows whether an update has actually arrived.
See how to connect TMS load updates to Lane for the supported fields and a worked request. For the broader software decision, read TMS, BMS, and inbox AI: which layer handles which job?.
How to evaluate an agent with your own workflow
Start with a small, representative set of examples: a complete carrier quote, an ambiguous reply, a stale ETA, a missing appointment time, and a load with conflicting notes.
For each example, record whether the output preserves the load ID, distinguishes facts from assumptions, identifies missing information, and describes the next action accurately. Include a request the product cannot execute, such as “send this email,” and check that it produces a useful draft without pretending to send it.
Use your review results to decide which tasks belong in the workflow. Do not substitute an unsupported industry-wide accuracy or time-saving claim for checking your own examples.
Common questions
Does Lane replace my TMS?
The current Lane workspace helps with conversations and received load context. It does not replace the TMS’s operational record or write changes back to it.
Can Lane contact a driver or customer?
It can help draft an email or prepare a call. Calls and email sending are not available through the current workspace. Other Keelway offerings have their own setup and availability; discuss a specific automation workflow with the team rather than assuming it is included in Lane.
Does saving my TMS name connect my records?
No. Your administrator must configure the inbound request and send a valid event. The connection guide explains the difference between a prepared connection and received updates.
Does an AI-generated summary make an ETA reliable?
No. Its reliability depends on the underlying information and its freshness. Review the source update time and obtain another update when the decision needs current information.
Put one real task in front of Lane
Open your Lane workspace, add your working preferences, and start with one draft or one set of questions to review. For operational examples, see carrier email triage and check-call workflows.