"I need a truck to the coast" is not a quote, it is the start of the conversation
Whoever asks for freight does not talk like somebody asking for an insurance quote or a remodel estimate — they mean to say the type of load, the origin and destination, whether it is a one-off delivery or part of a recurring contract, and whether they need pickup. Getting nothing but "I need a truck to the coast" is what makes the carrier's sales team spend the morning going back for information that should have come up front. SDRBOT.ai handles the freight request on WhatsApp the moment it arrives, asks the questions a carrier's screening requires, and routes it to the right sales rep with load, lane, volume and recurrence already organized.
Build my SDR free →What slows support down today
The carrier's sales team spends the whole morning answering quote requests that arrive with nothing but "I need a truck to the coast", no load, no origin, no volume, and little time is left for the shippers who already ship every week.
A one-off freight request and a recurring contract proposal come into the same WhatsApp with no distinction, and the rep only realizes on the call that the quote was prepared for the wrong kind of operation.
A shipper starts negotiating a rate, but when somebody asks for the load paperwork out of order — after the price and the transit time were already given — they cool off and stop replying mid-negotiation.
A real conversation in logistics
What it qualifies before handing the lead over
- Type of load and approximate weight or volume, which set the equipment and the rate
- Origin and destination of the lane
- Whether it is one-off freight or part of a recurring contract
- Whether pickup is needed, and where, or whether the load comes to the terminal
what lands in your dashboard
Freight pickup logged
- Load
- Dry, palletized — 8 tons
- Lane
- Midwest → Southeast
- Freight type
- One-off
- Pickup
- Thursday morning, at the shipper's warehouse
Illustrative example. In your account the SDR is trained on the real details of your business.
The wrong rate starts with not knowing what goes in the truck
Quoting freight without knowing the type of load and the lane is a guess that turns into rework: the weight, whether it is dry, refrigerated or hazmat, and the run between origin and destination all change the rate and even whether the carrier covers that stretch at all.
The SDR asks that right at the top, before anything about price, because it is the answer that decides whether the quote continues with the operation or whether the request does not even apply to the lanes the carrier runs.
One-off freight and a recurring contract need different screening
A single shipment and a continuous supply contract do not fit in the same quote — the one-off is decided by the rate on that load, the recurring one depends on monthly volume, predictability and terms negotiated over the medium term.
The SDR asks whether the request is one-off or recurring during the screening, and each one goes to the right kind of handling — without the rep discovering on the call that the proposal was built for the wrong kind of operation.
Asking about pickup early keeps the math from being redone
Knowing whether the shipper needs the carrier to pick the load up, or whether they drop it at the terminal themselves, changes the final rate and the logistics for whoever handles the request — finding that out only after the quote is out forces the math to be redone.
The SDR asks about pickup along with the rest of the screening, and when it is needed, it records the address for the operations team to confirm the window — so that step never becomes a second round of questions.
What your team gains
- Load, lane and recurrence in the same messageType of load, lane, volume and recurrence arrive ready, with no rep going back to ask.
- One-off freight and recurring contracts are never confusedEach request follows the right script, with no quote built for the wrong kind of operation.
- Pickup asked about before closing, not afterWhen the shipper needs pickup, the address is on record from the first conversation.
- The truck is picked by the load, not by the distanceWhoever asks for freight usually gives only the destination, but weight and type of load are what decide the truck.
Frequently asked questions
Does the SDR settle the freight rate on its own?
No. It organizes the load, the lane, the volume and the recurrence, but the final rate is calculated and confirmed by somebody in your operation, factoring in your rate table, tolls and the particulars of the lane. The SDR does not close a quote on its own.
How does it work in harvest season, when the volume of requests jumps?
You adjust business hours and prioritization for the peak stretches, like harvest or the busiest shipping dates. The screening — load, lane, volume and recurrence — stays the same all year; only how many conversations run at once changes.
Does the SDR handle loads that need special paperwork, like hazardous materials?
It records the type of load the shipper reports, including when it is hazardous or needs a special permit, and flags that for the team — but it does not do the regulatory analysis or confirm that the operation is cleared for that kind of load; that is your team's call.
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