A Staged Approach to Voice AI: How to Adopt CoDriver Voice at Your Own Pace

The most common concern we hear from freight brokerages evaluating voice AI isn't whether the technology works. It's how much change they're signing up for.

The answer: as much or as little as you're ready for.

CoDriver Voice is designed for staged adoption. You choose what CoDriver does—from basic qualification to full negotiation. You choose when it engages—on every call or only as backup. Each configuration delivers measurable value on its own, and you control when to expand.

Why Staged Adoption Works

Instead of betting everything on full deployment, you prove value incrementally. Start with the capabilities that feel lowest-risk, measure results, and expand when the data supports it.

This is how our highest-performing customers approached CoDriver Voice. One brokerage improved from sub-5% to over 40% coverage rate with quotes or digital bookings. Another generated over $300,000 in incremental margin—improvement on their existing gross margins—within months of activation. These weren't overnight transformations—they were teams that started where they were comfortable and expanded deliberately.

The Three Stages: What CoDriver Does

Stage 1: Qualify Only

CoDriver answers inbound carrier calls, verifies the carrier's MC number, confirms authority status, and hands off qualified carriers to your reps.

Why it matters: Your team only receives calls from vetted carriers. No more spending the first two minutes of every call on compliance checks. In typical deployments, CoDriver filters 15-40% of inbound volume as unqualified—meaning reps focus on carriers who can actually move your freight.

CoDriver also remembers carriers who called within the last seven days, shortening vetting for repeat callers while maintaining compliance standards.

Best for: Teams new to voice AI who want proof before expanding. High call-volume operations where reps are drowning in screening work.

Stage 2: Qualify + Load Details Triage

After qualifying the carrier, CoDriver shares load details—pickup/delivery locations, equipment requirements, timing—so carriers understand what they're quoting on before connecting to your team.

Why it matters: Reps don't start from scratch. The carrier already knows the requirements and has confirmed interest. You can use the whisper feature for a brief private summary before connecting, or direct transfer when speed matters more.

Best for: Teams comfortable with Stage 1 who want reps to receive context-rich handoffs. Operations handling complex loads where carrier understanding of requirements affects conversion.

Stage 3: Qualify + Load Details Triage + Negotiation

CoDriver negotiates rates directly with carriers during the call, using proven strategies to move quotes closer to your book-now rate before transferring.

Why it matters: When reps receive a call, CoDriver has already engaged on price. Reps see exactly what CoDriver offered and continue where the AI left off. CoDriver applies the same tactics your best brokers use—highlighting proximity to target rates, creating urgency, referencing competitive offers, making precise counter-offers.

The additive effect: CoDriver negotiates first, moving the carrier off their opening position. Then your rep takes over and negotiates further. The results are additive—CoDriver's rate reduction plus whatever your broker achieves on top. Instead of either/or, you get both.

As Brad Feltes at Trident put it: "Human plus AI equals the best margin."

The AI handles volume and opening positioning; the human handles the relationship and final close.

Best for: Teams that have seen success with earlier stages and want to maximize margin recovery. Brokerages with calibrated book-now rates who want consistent execution.

Deployment Modes: When CoDriver Engages

Beyond choosing what CoDriver does, you also choose when it engages. Two deployment modes give you control over the human-AI balance:

Primary Mode

CoDriver handles all inbound carrier calls. Every call is qualified (and triaged or negotiated, depending on your stage) before transferring to reps.

Best for: Teams ready to let AI manage the front door and maximize rep efficiency across all inbound volume.

Overflow Mode

Calls route to your reps first. When all reps are on the line, calls flow to CoDriver instead of going to voicemail. CoDriver handles qualification (and any additional stages you've enabled), then transfers to the next available rep.

Why Overflow works for human-first teams: Some brokerages want their reps as the first point of contact—but can't afford missed calls. Overflow mode gives you both. Your team handles the relationships; CoDriver catches what would otherwise be lost opportunities.

ARL Network uses this human-first approach specifically to prevent missed calls during peak volume. Their reps stay primary; CoDriver acts as the safety net with full AI capabilities on overflow calls.

The combination: Overflow isn't a separate stage—it's a mode you can apply to any stage. Run Overflow + Stage 1 if you just want backup qualification. Run Overflow + Stage 3 if you want AI negotiating on overflow calls too. You control both dimensions.

Choosing Your Configuration

You're not locked in. Every stage and mode delivers standalone value—the question is how much workload you're ready to shift.

What Comes Next

Request a demo to see how CoDriver Voice fits your operation, or talk to your Parade representative about which configuration makes sense for your team.

The brokerages seeing the biggest results didn't get there overnight. They started with qualification, proved the value, and expanded deliberately. That path is available to every team willing to take the first step.