AI + Blockchain in Logistics

Loadsmart is advancing its technology platform to automate how companies move shipments across the country by leveraging artificial intelligence. To move a full trailer of commodity across the country, instead of contacting traditional freight brokers via email or phone calls to arrange for trucking services, companies like Safeway can rely on an automated platform that provides the service with a one-click experience. Integrations may allow this one-click experience from customer’s own internal system.

Loadsmart is building an AI-powered system that automatically prices every shipment based on multiple sources of information (real time supply and demand of trucks and loads, weather, seasonality, warehouse hours, etc), so clients have on-demand access to trucking service with real time pricing. Loadsmart’s system then identifies the right transportation company – among a couple hundred thousands – to fulfill that service. In the future, with the adoption of autonomous trucks, every step of the chain will be connected, intelligent and automated.

Loadsmart is now looking into blockchain technology and how that fits the Loadsmart’s automated shipment cycle. Blockchain technology could bring more transparency to the over-the-road logistics ownership chain (producer – truck – warehouse), and introduce smart contracts to the freight brokerage industry. The first will allow anyone that is part of a product supply chain to trace a specific product source, when it exchanged hands and who was part of that exchange. The second leverages the reliability of blockchain technology to conduct automated payments between the parties, eliminating time-consuming document checks and manual information exchange.

We believe that most of the operational tasks of current freight brokers can be automated via AI engineering (pricing, carrier sourcing, truck geolocation), and the ones that rely on middlemen transaction balances and checks (ie payment to carriers contingent on a physical proof of delivery) could potentially be solved by blockchain.

Felipe Capella is co-founder and Chief Product Officer.