AI rate shopping
Stop Calling 5 Brokers for Every Rate
Every shipment starts with the same question: who has the best rate? Today that means phone calls, emails, hold music, and spreadsheets. An AI rate shopping agent calls the Warp API, gets instant rates across every mode, applies your business rules, and delivers the best option in seconds. Not hours.
20,000+ carriers · All inclusive pricing · Instant API rates · LTL, FTL, box truck, cargo van
The rate shopping problem
Your transportation team handles 20 shipments a day. For each one, they need to compare rates across multiple brokers and modes. That means 3 to 5 rate calls per shipment. Phone calls, emails, online portals. Wait for callbacks. Copy numbers into a spreadsheet. Compare. Decide. Repeat.
Do the math: 20 shipments per day times 4 rate calls each equals 80 to 100 separate rate requests. At an average of 8 minutes per call (including hold time, voicemails, and portal logins), your team spends 10 to 13 hours every day just gathering rates. That is more than a full time employee doing nothing but collecting prices.
It gets worse. Rates expire while you are still comparing. The LTL quote from this morning may be gone by the time you finish getting the truckload option this afternoon. There is no data trail for analysis. No way to know if you consistently chose the cheapest option or if the team took shortcuts when things got busy. And they do get busy. When volume spikes, corners get cut. The first acceptable rate gets booked, not the best one.
What an AI rate shopping agent does
An AI rate shopping agent replaces the manual process entirely. Here is the workflow:
Step 1
Receive the shipment request.
Your TMS, ERP, or order management system sends the shipment details to the agent: origin, destination, dimensions, weight, pickup date, and any special requirements.
Step 2
Get instant rates across all modes.
The agent calls the Warp API and gets back rates for LTL, full truckload, 26 ft box truck, and cargo van. One call. All modes. Instant response.
Step 3
Apply your business rules and decide.
Cheapest option within your transit SLA. Preferred mode for this customer. Maximum budget for this lane. The agent evaluates every option against your rules and presents the recommendation or books automatically.
The agent never takes shortcuts. It compares every mode for every shipment, every time. It does not get tired at 3pm and just rebook the same carrier as last time. It does not forget to check the box truck option because the phone was ringing. It evaluates every possibility and picks the best one based on your criteria.
Ready to stop burning hours on rate calls?
The math
Time savings. 100 manual rate calls per day at 8 minutes each equals 13.3 hours of labor. An AI agent does the same work in seconds. That is not an exaggeration. The Warp API returns rates in under 2 seconds. Your agent can process 100 shipments in the time it takes your team to make one phone call.
Cost savings. When your team is under pressure, they take shortcuts. They call the broker they know instead of shopping every option. They book the first rate that seems reasonable instead of comparing all four modes. An AI agent compares every mode every time. Consistently finding the cheapest option within SLA adds up. For a company shipping 400 loads per month at an average of $1,200 per shipment, even a 5% improvement from consistent rate optimization saves $288,000 per year.
Accuracy. Manual rate shopping introduces errors. Transposed numbers. Forgotten surcharges. Quotes applied to the wrong shipment. An AI agent pulls structured data directly from the API. No retyping. No copy paste errors. No mismatched quotes.
Data trail. Every rate comparison is logged. Every decision is documented. After 30 days you can analyze which modes won on which lanes, what your average cost per mile is by mode, and where you have opportunities to consolidate or shift volume.
How it works on Warp
Rate shopping on Warp is fundamentally different from rate shopping with traditional brokers. Here is why.
One call, all modes
LTL, FTL, box truck, cargo van.
A single API call to POST /freights/quote returns rates for every available mode. No separate calls to separate brokers. No waiting for callbacks from different providers.
All inclusive pricing
The quoted rate is the final rate.
No fuel surcharges. No accessorial fees. No terminal handling charges that appear on the invoice three weeks later. The rate the agent sees at quoting time is the rate on the invoice. Nothing to reconcile.
Instant response
Rates in under 2 seconds.
The API returns rates immediately. No callbacks. No "we will get back to you." Your agent can quote 100 shipments before your team finishes their morning coffee.
The agent can also run 24/7. Shipments that come in at 10pm get quoted and booked before your team arrives the next morning. Weekend orders do not wait until Monday. The carrier network is always available: 20,000+ carriers including 9,000+ box trucks and cargo vans, operating through 50+ cross dock facilities nationwide.
What you need to start
Getting started with AI rate shopping on Warp takes three things:
1. Warp account
Sign up and get your API key.
Create a Warp account and generate an API key from your dashboard. No sales call required for self serve accounts. Enterprise accounts can create separate keys per integration with independent rate limits.
2. Business rules
Define how the agent should decide.
Cheapest within 3 day transit? Preferred mode for high value freight? Maximum spend per shipment? Define the rules once and the agent follows them every time.
3. Connect the agent
Build it or have your team connect it.
AI coding tools like Claude Code can build a working rate shopping agent in an afternoon using the Warp API. Your engineering team can connect it in days. Or Warp can recommend integration partners who specialize in freight automation.
Most teams are live within a week. The Warp API is standard REST with JSON payloads. If your systems can make HTTP requests, they can shop rates on Warp.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need engineers on staff to set up an AI rate shopping agent?
Not necessarily. AI coding tools like Claude Code can build a working rate shopping agent in an afternoon using the Warp API. If you have an engineering team, they can connect in days. If not, Warp can recommend integration partners who specialize in freight automation.
How accurate are the rates from the Warp API?
Warp uses all inclusive pricing. The quoted rate is the final rate. No fuel surcharges, no accessorial fees, no terminal handling charges added after the fact. The rate you see when you book is the rate on the invoice.
Can I set spending limits so the agent does not overspend?
Yes. You define the business rules. Maximum spend per shipment, preferred modes, required transit windows, approved carrier lists. The agent operates within your parameters and escalates to your team when a shipment falls outside the rules.
How fast will I see results after setting up AI rate shopping?
Immediately. The first time your agent runs, it compares rates across every mode for every shipment. Most operations teams see time savings on day one because the manual rate call process is eliminated entirely.
What freight modes does the Warp API cover for rate shopping?
One API call returns rates across LTL, full truckload, 26 ft box truck, and cargo van. The agent sees every option for every shipment automatically. No need to call separate brokers for different modes.
Your team should be managing freight strategy. Not making rate calls.
An AI rate shopping agent on Warp compares every mode for every shipment in seconds. All inclusive pricing means the quoted rate is the final rate. No callbacks, no hold music, no surprises on the invoice.
20,000+ carriers · 9,000+ box trucks and cargo vans · 50+ cross dock facilities