Field notes: chasing carrier rates with an agent

Six carriers, one deadline, zero phone calls. A log of what the agent did.

A customer needed a rate on an awkward lane by end of day. The usual answer is a round of calls and emails, then a wait, then chasing the carriers who went quiet. These are notes on letting an agent run that loop instead.

What it did

It sent the same clear request to six carriers at once, each in the format that carrier expects. It tracked who had replied and who hadn't. It followed up with the slow ones on a schedule, politely and on time, without anyone deciding to. And it gathered the responses into one place as they came back, ready to compare.

The agent didn't negotiate. It made sure the humans never waited on a reply that hadn't been chased.

The person still chose the carrier and made the call on price. What the agent removed was the dead time: the hours lost to chasing, formatting, and remembering who still owed an answer. The deadline was met with room to spare, and nobody picked up the phone to nag.