Freight Agent

Books, tracks, and plans freight while keeping ERP records and emissions data current.

Overview

Freight Agent books shipments with carriers, monitors live status, and writes updated delivery dates back to the ERP as shipments progress.

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Freight Agent connects to the ERP, carrier or TMS APIs, a supplier portal or EDI feed, and an emissions factor reference source to coordinate freight operations across those systems. When shipments are ready to book, it submits booking requests to carrier APIs or website, retrieves tracking numbers, polls for status updates throughout transit, and writes revised delivery dates back into the ERP as each milestone is confirmed. For each completed shipment, it pulls weight, distance, transport mode, and carrier data, applies the appropriate emissions coefficient from a reference source such as the GLEC Framework or DEFRA factors, and stores the computed Scope 3 footprint against the shipment record. Shipments where input data is missing or incomplete are flagged for review rather than silently skipped.

KPI it moves

  • +30–50 pts

    Shipment automation rate

    A third to half of shipments get booked, tracked, and updated in the ERP without anyone lifting a finger.

What it does

  • Books shipments with carriers

    Submits booking requests to carrier or TMS APIs, retrieves tracking numbers, and writes confirmed shipment records back to the ERP.

  • Monitors shipment status through transit

    Polls carrier APIs for milestone updates and overwrites ERP delivery dates as each status change is confirmed.

  • Calculates per-shipment carbon footprint

    Pulls weight, distance, mode, and carrier for each completed shipment, applies the matching emissions factor from GLEC, DEFRA, or EcoTransIT data, and stores the result against the shipment record for Scope 3 reporting.

  • Flags shipments with missing input data

    Identifies any shipment where weight, distance, mode, or carrier data is absent and marks the record for review before its emissions result is used in reporting.

How it works

  1. Trigger 1

    Open PO line reaches booking-ready status

    The ERP surfaces one or more PO lines in a booking-ready state, which the agent reads as the signal to submit carrier booking requests.

  2. Trigger 2

    Scheduled poll returns delivered status

    A timed query to the carrier or TMS API returns a delivered milestone for a tracked shipment, triggering the emissions calculation for that shipment.

  3. Step 1

    Submits carrier booking request and writes tracking number to ERP

    Reads origin, destination, weight, and required delivery date from the PO line in the ERP. Submits a booking request to the carrier or TMS API (e.g., FedEx, Maersk, Oracle Transportation Management, or MercuryGate), retrieves the tracking number from the carrier response, and writes the confirmed shipment record, including carrier name and tracking reference, back to the corresponding PO line in the ERP.

  4. Step 2

    Polls carrier milestones and overwrites ERP delivery dates

    At scheduled intervals, queries the carrier or TMS API for status updates on each open tracked shipment. Maps each confirmed milestone to the shipment record in the ERP and overwrites the expected delivery date as each update is confirmed. Continues polling until the shipment reaches a terminal status.

  5. Step 3

    Computes per-shipment carbon footprint and stores result

    Once the delivered milestone is confirmed, reads weight, distance, transport mode, and carrier from the shipment record. Looks up the matching emissions coefficient from the configured reference source (GLEC Framework, DEFRA emission factors, or EcoTransIT) and applies it to the weight and distance figures to produce the per-shipment Scope 3 carbon footprint. Stores the result against the shipment record in the ERP. Any shipment where weight, distance, mode, or carrier data is absent is flagged for review rather than assigned a calculated figure.

  6. Resolution

    Shipment record closed with footprint stored

    The ERP shipment record holds the confirmed delivery date and the computed Scope 3 carbon footprint for the completed shipment. Both fields are available for Scope 3 reporting and customer emissions requests without a further manual data pull.

Why it matters

  • ERP delivery dates stay current automatically

    so that planning, procurement, and customer service teams work from accurate shipment data rather than chasing carrier portals manually, reducing the risk of missed commitments caused by stale records.

  • Scope 3 emissions captured at the shipment level

    so that ESG reporting draws from structured, per-shipment records instead of estimates assembled at period end, and customer emissions requests can be answered without a manual data pull.

What it needs

Read/write access to the ERP
Connects to the ERP (e.g. Infor LN/M3/CloudSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365, IFS Cloud, or SAP S/4HANA) to read open POs and PO lines for container planning, write back updated delivery dates as carrier status changes, and store computed emissions results against each shipment record. Without this connection, the agent has no view of order data and cannot keep records current.
Carrier / TMS APIs or portal
Connects to carrier or TMS APIs (e.g. FedEx, Maersk, DHL, or a TMS such as Oracle Transportation Management or MercuryGate) to submit booking requests, retrieve tracking numbers, and poll live status updates throughout transit. Without carrier API access, the agent cannot initiate bookings or monitor shipment progress.
Emissions factor reference data
Reads per-mode and per-carrier carbon emissions coefficients from a reference source (e.g. GLEC Framework data, DEFRA emission factors, or EcoTransIT) to compute per-shipment Scope 3 footprints. Without this data, emissions calculations cannot run and affected shipments are flagged as incomplete.
Freight Agent — Riff