How fleets are using AI to make smarter decisions, not fewer people.
In a recent FreightWaves webinar, PCS Software’s Chief Product Officer, Danielle Villegas, and VP of Community and Engagement, Jason Douglass sat down to clear the air on one of trucking’s biggest misconceptions: AI isn’t here to take jobs—it’s here to make the hard ones easier.
From dispatch to back-office operations, the discussion focused on how AI helps fleets do more with less, while keeping the human touch that keeps freight moving.
1. From Fear to Understanding
When AI first hit the headlines, most carriers met it with skepticism. Jason joked, “We all thought about Terminator before we thought about time savings.”
As fleets started seeing real impact—fewer manual steps, faster dispatch times—the tone changed. Danielle explained, “It’s not about replacing people. It’s about giving them better tools so they can focus on what matters: judgment calls, relationships, and keeping freight moving.”
2. Keeping People in Control
Cortex AI—the intelligence inside PCS TMS—was built with transparency in mind. Danielle emphasized, “Every decision it makes, it shows the why. Dispatchers stay in control.”
When PCS piloted Dispatch powered by Cortex AI, accuracy hit 97% in predicting which driver would be assigned. But dispatchers always made the final call, AI just made the process faster and smarter.
3. Hours Saved, Drivers Retained
Jason shared how dispatchers can spend half a day finding a single load. Cortex automates that work—freeing them up to handle exceptions and build relationships.
“If a driver’s home for his kid’s birthday, the system knows it,” Jason said. “That’s how we keep drivers and dispatchers happy and cut churn.”
4. Smarter Backhauls, Fewer Empty Miles
The new Backhaul Booster feature identifies profitable return loads automatically. It can even send AI-powered voice calls to confirm load details, turning empty miles into money in the bank.
5. Capturing Hard-Earned Knowledge
As experienced dispatchers retire, fleets risk losing years of know-how. AI helps capture and share that institutional knowledge across the team.
“It’s like having your best dispatcher cloned into the system,” Jason said. “The new guy can make decisions like someone who’s been here 20 years.”
6. The ROI That Shows Up on the Bottom Line
Fleets using AI-powered dispatch and routing are already seeing real ROI, weekly fuel savings and on-time performance near 97% thanks to fewer manual mistakes.
“Your ROI isn’t just in dollars,” Jason added. “It’s in dispatchers who finally get to eat lunch again.”
7. The Human Future of AI in Trucking
Danielle closed with a reminder that the goal isn’t automation for its own sake, it’s human enablement.
“AI won’t replace people,” she said. “It’ll protect what makes this industry work, the relationships and experience behind every load.”
Learn more about Dispatch Manager powered by Cortex AI with a personalized demo.
