Dive Brief:

• Roadrunner rolled out new software aiming to “nearly eradicate missed pickups entirely,” the LTL carrier said in an Oct. 2 press release.
• The carrier reported nearly 30% of missed pickups in the early 2020s and has reduced the ratio to under 0.5% with investments and operational improvements. The new software is slated to further cut missed pickup frequency, per the release.
• Roadrunner’s software has been deployed across all of its brick-and-mortar terminals, which leverages artificial intelligence-optimized route planning using the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) algorithm, David Rumpf, VP of technology, said in the release.

Dive Insight:

Roadrunner joins a growing list of carriers who are leveraging AI to solve industry-wide issues.

Earlier this year, XPO deployed AI-driven linehaul models to optimize freight flow across its network. Landstar System, in a May earnings call, said it had plans to tackle cargo theft and increased severity of trucking accidents through the use of AI. More recently, Werner stressed that technology and AI play a hefty role in tackling cargo theft-related incidents.

For Roadrunner, its recent AI advancement is focused on delivery and pickups.

“Our customers should now expect real-time heads-up notifications and precise timing of pending pick-ups — functionality previously only known from rideshare platforms,” President and COO Tomasz Jamroz said.

Some of the features in the Pick-up & Delivery software include:

• Real-time driver visibility where customers can see when shipments are picked up and delivered, including live views of driver location in pilot markets.
• Automated notifications such as text and email alerts that keep shippers informed without manually following-up.
• Shipment tracking provided on Roadrunner’s website with visibility across the entire delivery cycle.
• A pilot on self-service appointment scheduling where customers can schedule deliveries directly.

“Today, we’re building on our leadership in direct metro-to-metro smart long haul and launching a new era where AI-powered technology turns uncertainty into clarity and unpredictability into certainty,” Nathalie de Champlain, Roadrunner chief transformation officer, said in the release.