August 31, 2026 / By admin / Logistic • Transport / 0 Comments
The newest, most sophisticated AI in logistics is useless if the company using it doesn’t have an experienced team behind it. Artificial intelligence is the topic of the moment: predictive ETAs, automated tracking, smarter routing, faster quoting. AI can process more data, faster, than any person could alone. But it doesn’t call a driver stuck in traffic, it doesn’t make the judgment call when a load is delayed at the dock, and it certainly doesn’t pick up the phone when a shipper needs an answer right now. That still takes a team who knows the business, knows the lanes, and knows how to solve a problem proactively before it escalates.
Westgate’s founder, the late Tom Fiorini, used to put it simply: “Everyone says shippers want more visibility. What they really want is the freight off their dock on time and no issues during transit.” That was true when he said it about tracking technology, and it’s just as true today about AI. Shippers don’t want an algorithm, they want their freight where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. Tom built Westgate on that idea 43 years ago, and his intention was never to be the biggest logistics broker, but to be the best for the customers and carriers we work with. That standard is still at the center of every decision Westgate makes, whether the tool is a phone, a TMS, or artificial intelligence.
“AI is a great tool, but it is just that… a tool,” says President Mark Fiorini. “It doesn’t replace the judgment of a broker who’s been doing this for years, and it definitely doesn’t replace answering the phone. When you call Westgate, you get a real person, not a bot, not a queue, not a hold-and-transfer maze. That’s non-negotiable for us, and it always will be.”
Shippers are dealing with time-sensitive, short-notice freight every day, and working with a broker who has real visibility into that freight matters. AI can flag a delay in seconds. But someone still has to act on it, reroute a driver, call the receiving dock, line up a backup carrier. If the broker on the other end doesn’t have the experience to manage what the technology identifies, the technology is just noise. Since the shipper doesn’t have time to sort through that noise themselves, it’s the broker’s ability to pair smart tools with real judgment, and a live person, that actually gets the freight there.
Ultimately, it’s the values behind the company using technology… honesty, integrity, and a genuine commitment to the customer that turn a tool into something you can actually trust. That’s been true for Westgate for 43 years, and it hasn’t changed with a new generation of technology.
Reach out to us to experience our boutique approach to logistics — an extensive network of resources, trained brokerage experts, smart use of technology, and a real person who answers the phone every single time you call.