Where these numbers come from
Zavin's benchmark figures are measured in pilot deployments with forwarding teams processing live RFQ, email, and rate traffic — including named pilot customers such as Inter Trans, Cargospan International, Flare Technologies, and Orient Cargo Services. They are operational measurements from real desks, not projections — and they are also not a randomized study. Pilot teams self-select, traffic mixes differ, and market conditions move. We publish the definitions and caveats below so the numbers can be read for what they are: the results modern desks have achieved, and a realistic target range for comparable teams.
Two commitments follow from that. First, every recurrence of these figures on this site means exactly what this page defines — no quiet redefinitions. Second, as pilot cohorts grow, this page is updated before the marketing is.
Up to 85% less RFQ handling time
What it means: Handling time is the human working time spent on an RFQ from opening the inbound email to the quote being ready to send: reading and extracting shipment details, locating applicable rates, applying margin, and drafting the quote document. It excludes time waiting on carrier responses for lanes with no usable rates on file.
How it is measured: Measured on live RFQ traffic in pilot deployments: baseline timings of the manual workflow on the team's own historical process, compared against the same workflow with Zavin preparing the quote for operator review. “Up to” reflects the range across lanes — structured, repeat-lane RFQs reach the top of the range; complex or incomplete requests sit lower because operator review takes longer.
Best quote prepared in under 30 seconds
What it means: Elapsed time from an RFQ email arriving to a margin-aware quote being prepared and ready for operator approval — not the time to send, which depends on the human approval step.
How it is measured: System-measured on standard lanes where rates are on file (contract tariffs or parsed rate database). RFQs requiring carrier tendering or missing shipment details take longer and are excluded from this figure by definition.
~50% of routine email handled end-to-end
What it means: The share of routine inbound email (classification, drafting, routing, and standard responses such as status updates and document requests) completed by the platform without a human writing the reply. Non-routine email — exceptions, negotiations, complaints — is out of scope by design.
How it is measured: Measured as the automation rate over total classified inbound volume in pilot inboxes after the initial tuning period. The rate varies with traffic mix; desks with heavy repeat-customer traffic exceed it, desks with unusual traffic sit below it.
+6pp quote win-rate lift
What it means: Percentage-point improvement in quote win rate (quotes won ÷ quotes issued) on desks using Zavin's response-speed and trade-intelligence features, measured against the same desk's pre-deployment baseline.
How it is measured: Observed in pilot teams comparing pre- and post-deployment periods on comparable traffic. Win rate is influenced by market conditions, pricing decisions, and account mix; we report the lift observed in pilots rather than a guaranteed outcome, and we encourage teams to baseline their own rate before go-live.
Live in under 14 days
What it means: Calendar time from kickoff to the platform operating on live traffic in review-and-send mode: inbox connected, pricing layers loaded, operators approving prepared quotes.
How it is measured: Reflects standard pilot onboarding, which requires no data migration or IT project because Zavin layers over the existing inbox and syncs with the incumbent TMS. Complex multi-branch rollouts or custom integration scopes can take longer.
The one number we cite from observation, not measurement
We often say roughly 80% of forwarding work moves through email. That figure is an operational observation from inside forwarding desks — the share of quotes, bookings, rates, and updates that arrive or leave via the inbox — not an audited industry statistic, and we label it accordingly. It matches what most forwarders recognize about their own operation, which is the test that matters: count tomorrow morning's work that does not start in your inbox.
Run the benchmark on your own desk
The strongest evaluation is your own traffic. Baseline your response time, handling time, and win rate for two weeks, then run Zavin on your live RFQs and compare — or start with the free AI readiness audit to quantify where your desk loses the most time today.