German digital air freight platform Cargo One has released updates featuring AI automation and smart workflows.

The enhancements streamline the entire quoting process for forwarders, from initial customer emails to quotes won and booked. Forwarders using the capabilities report improved efficiency and faster quote turnaround times, leading to increased conversion rates.

The freight forwarding industry has long struggled with fragmented workflows that force teams to chase rates across different tools and manually copy data. These inefficiencies slow down quoting processes and prevent teams from focusing on higher-value activities such as building customer relationships and handling complex shipments or large tenders. As supply chains grow more complex and customer expectations rise, the need for workflow automation has become critical.

Cargo One’s latest release addresses these problems with three innovations: AI-powered automation to accelerate quoting; enhanced rate management system with all rate types needed for complete door-to-door pricing in one place; and integrated workflows that enable freight forwarders to work on opportunities and quotations from one central queue.

Freight forwarders receive hundreds of quote requests daily, with teams spending hours manually processing requests and logging data. Cargo One uses AI to extract shipment details from incoming emails and collect relevant rates from its AI-native database, bringing forwarders to an initial quote quickly and with ease.

Alongside the platform’s live and static rates, forwarders can now manually request rates from airline sales teams directly on the platform, while leveraging their own gateway rates. Such rate coverage enables forwarders to compare all rate options, while ensuring full control over rate access by teams.

Freight forwarders using Cargo One can prioritise opportunities and quotes in a central queue, access every rate needed, and sync quotes directly to their TMS. This results in an end-to-end workflow that allows forwarders to quote faster and with no need to switch between tools.

“Cargo One focuses its AI where we can unlock significant, everyday value for our customers,” said Moritz Claussen, co-CEO of Cargo One. “Our latest step in combining AI automation, comprehensive rate coverage and unified workflows unlocks a new level of efficiency that wasn’t achievable before.”

Hylton Gray from Röhlig Logistics (www.rohlig.com) added: “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. We are excited about the possibilities this creates for our teams to focus on customer-facing and strategic activities, while the platform can handle more routine work.”

For airlines, Cargo One provides a cost-effective and efficient digital distribution channel, driving bookings and elevating customer experiences, while reducing distribution costs. For freight forwarders, it empowers them to manage buy rates seamlessly, derive dynamic sell rates, and quote shippers near instantly. Forwarders also gain round-the-clock access to live and static rates from over 75 airlines and GSSAs globally, enabling accurate comparisons, bookings and shipment tracking.

Cargo One (www.cargo.one) pro equips forwarders with tools to optimise every step of their shipment workflows, while for enterprise it offers API technology, delivering real-time rates, schedules, availability and prices through a unified platform. Used by more than 25,000 freight forwarders and available in 134 countries, it is backed by investors such as Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Creandum and Lufthansa Cargo.