AI in Carrier Sales

In this week’s episode of The FreightCaviar Podcast, we sat down with Paul Singer, Co-Founder and CEO of FleetWorks, a phone AI platform that automates routine calls and emails. He shares his motivations for entering the tech industry, highlights the critical role of human connection in freight, and discusses how FleetWorks will revolutionize the industry.

Early Life and Inspiration

Paul, the son of immigrants from the Soviet Union, grew up in a New York suburb where his parents nurtured a deep sense of opportunity in him from a young age. They emphasized that in the U.S., you aren't limited to traditional paths like becoming a doctor or a lawyer—you have the freedom to pursue any dream and the ability to build whatever future you desire.

“I got into Yale and studied economy.  When I wasn't doing econ, I was spending most of my time studying Chinese language and mechanical engineering. I really wanted to build something. I had no idea what it was, but I loved the idea of making something for a customer and then having that product change that person's life.” 

Entry into the Tech Industry

After graduating, Nick knew he needed to be where most tech innovation was happening: California. After school, he landed a job in management consulting at L.E.K. Consulting. Around this time, Uber Freight was beginning to explore autonomous trucks while also entering the freight brokerage space. Paul was asked by his colleagues to research the company and determine if it would follow a similar trajectory to Uber’s rise. This research led him to write a white paper, sparking his interest in the industry. Having realized how much he loved the industry, in 2018 he applied for a job opening for a Strategy & Planning Associate at Uber. What he truly enjoyed were his conversations with owner-operators.

“Almost everyone is just incredibly hardworking, incredibly honest, and a lot of them are immigrants too. So, I was really inspired by the work that these guys were doing.”

This inspired him to go a step further, and in December of 2022, after almost five years of working at Uber, Paul decided to leave and start FleetWorks with his business partner. When asked about the company, AI, and whether it will take over the industry, this is what he had to say:

“There's never going to be a world where you have AI just taking over everything. Humans are really good at relationship building, at solving complex challenges, and piecing together really disparate pieces of ambiguous information. AI is going to get better, but what we want to do with FleetWorks is basically create super carrier sales reps. People who, instead of doing –let's say a good rep today does 20 or 30 loads per day– we envision a world where a rep is doing 100 to 200 loads per day with our product.”

Transforming the Industry with AI

Paul also explained how FleetWorks will transform the industry by using AI to help cover tough-to-fill loads. 

“Reps are spending a huge amount of time developing carriers to be able to handle their really tough-to-cover freight. That's the other part of their day – they'll spend their morning covering their easy freight, and in the afternoon, there are these super tough loads that they just cannot get covered. That's where we're headed to. So, our AI is already taking these calls, pre-negotiating, covering these loads, and the impact has been massive for our customers. Almost overnight, they see a 30% increase in loads per day, per head. And that happens within a couple weeks.”

The Future Vision for FleetWorks

“We really view it as – how can we do email, SMS, WhatsApp? How can we move towards our pricing index? Ultimately, how do our customers start to benefit from each other's bookings and data in a way that feels really fair to everyone and really transparent? And how do we do this in a way that really respects carriers, the work that they do, and the time that they're putting in to haul this freight, but also reach out to our customers and book that freight. That's our goal”.

Paul's journey from economics to consulting, and eventually to co-founding FleetWorks, showcases the power of curiosity and the importance of embracing new challenges. His story is a testament to the idea that no matter where you begin, with passion, resilience, and a forward-thinking vision, you can carve out a path to make a meaningful impact.

Listen to the entire interview on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or watch it on our YouTube Channel.