With summer (or winter down under) now in full swing, we wanted to share some of the latest key developments from the cargo.one world. After months of collaboration with our airline and forwarder partners, we're excited to share what we've been building—and more importantly, why we built it the way we did.
When we first started cargo.one, our goal was straightforward: make airfreight booking easy. But as we worked with our customers, we realized that quoting is the make-or-break moment, where you win or lose the business. So we evolved toward building an all-in-one airfreight platform centered around quoting and winning shipments.
We've built a platform where freight forwarders can access every rate they need to quote any shipment, all in one place and integrated with the rest of their processes and systems. The days of juggling different tools, manual data entry, and fragmented workflows are over.
But this being 2025, let's address the elephant in the room. What about AI? The potential is genuinely exciting. AI that removes the grunt work, taking you from email request to quote and to shipment won in no time. Systems that speak to each other, freeing your team from constant copying and pasting and allowing them to focus on building relationships and winning business.
But here's what we learned: AI is only as useful as the data it works with. You can have the smartest algorithms in the world, but if your rate data is incomplete or scattered across different systems, your AI will just automate mediocrity.
AI is only as good as the rates it sits upon
Our position is simple: before AI can truly help freight forwarders, you need comprehensive, structured rate data. That's what we've been building for years.
Since launching in 2018, we've been systematically completing what we call the rate management puzzle—piece by piece. First live rates, then static rates, then local charges, trucking rates. Each addition tackled a specific part of the puzzle, building toward comprehensive coverage.
This foundation is what makes automation valuable. When AI understands every rate option available, it can help you make better decisions. When your data is structured and complete, automation becomes powerful instead of pointless.
Completing the rate management puzzle
With that foundation in place, we're adding the final pieces to complete the puzzle.
Forwarders can now request ad hoc rates from airline teams directly from cargo.one, comparing them just like live or static rates without hunting for contacts or drafting emails. You can also add your own consol and gateway rates to the platform, giving your team complete visibility into every pricing option while controlling who sees which rate.
As Andy Schaefer, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Airfreight at Toll, puts it: "Every customer has unique shipping needs that demand tailored solutions. cargo.one's comprehensive airline network, state-of-the-art data quality and simple interface enable our teams to quickly find the right option for every customer—exactly the kind of technological advancement that drives our competitive edge."
Meanwhile, we've expanded our airline network to 75+ partners—the largest in the market—including recent additions like China Airlines, LOT, SAS, Caribbean Airlines, and Cathay Pacific.
A connected ecosystem that works together
With comprehensive rate data in place, we can add AI that actually makes a difference. This summer, we're introducing AI-powered inbox automation: intelligence that leverages our rate foundation to streamline your workflows, automatically extracting shipment details from email requests, collecting rates, and getting your team to a quote quickly and with ease.
As Hylton Grey, CEO Air Freight, Sea Freight, Contract Logistics & Sales, at Röhlig Logistics, explains: "The future of freight forwarding lies in intelligent automation that enhances human capabilities rather than replacing them. cargo.one's approach of building AI on top of its robust rate data represents exactly the kind of foundation our industry needs."
Our TMS integration completes the picture. Quote requests become opportunities, opportunities become quotes, quotes sync to your TMS—eliminating manual handoffs. This isn't just email processing or system integration. It's your inbox, cargo.one, and your TMS working as one connected ecosystem, freeing your team from manual admin work.
One queue, one search
All of this comes together in our redesigned interface. Everything gets organized by quotation, whether from AI automation or manual entry. Your team can prioritize opportunities and quotes from one central queue, pick up where colleagues left off, and never miss a shipment.
The interface update extends to rate procurement as well. Instead of running multiple searches or re-entering the same shipment details repeatedly, everything is accessible in one single workspace, with just one search.
Leading forwarders are adopting fast
By adding AI automation and streamlined workflows on top of comprehensive rate coverage, we're helping freight forwarders like Röhlig, Logwin, Toll, and xpd.global win more business. cargo.one handles the data processing, so that your team analyzes options, builds relationships and handles shipments.
Curious to see how these capabilities can help your organization? Our team will be happy to help.
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