The FourKites Knowledge Center

Conversational analytics in supply chain is the ability to query supply chain data using natural language (typed or spoken) and receive instant, data-grounded answers with visualizations, eliminating the need for pre-built dashboards, analyst support, or SQL expertise.

Federated data architecture in supply chain AI is a system design in which each customer's operational data is stored in isolated tenants while a shared intelligence layer aggregates anonymized patterns across all tenants, enabling network-level insights without exposing individual customer data.

Freight audit is the process of verifying carrier invoices against contracted rates, shipment records, and accessorial charges to identify billing errors, overcharges, and discrepancies before payment.

Detention is the fee charged when a truck or trailer is held at a facility beyond the contractual free time window (typically 2 hours for trucks). Demurrage is the analogous fee for ocean containers held at a port or terminal beyond free time (typically 3-5 days). Together, they represent one of the largest avoidable costs in supply chain operations.

Port congestion occurs when the volume of containers, vessels, and trucks at a port exceeds the port's processing capacity, resulting in vessel queuing at anchorage, extended container dwell, chassis shortages, and cascading delays across all shipments routed through the affected port.

An Agent Operating Procedure (AOP) is an executable playbook that defines exactly how an AI agent handles a specific supply chain situation: which data to gather, which intelligence to consult, which action to take, which channels to use, and when to escalate.

Multi-modal transportation is the movement of freight using two or more modes of transport (truck, rail, ocean, air) within a single shipment journey, managed under a coordinated plan to optimize cost, speed, and reliability.

Carrier onboarding is the process of registering a new carrier in a shipper's transportation management ecosystem, including credential verification, insurance validation, compliance checks, tracking integration setup, and communication protocol configuration.

Supply chain sanctions screening is the continuous verification that carriers, suppliers, freight forwarders, and other trading partners in a company's supply chain are not associated with sanctioned entities, restricted parties, or forced-labor violations as defined by OFAC, EU, UN, and other regulatory bodies.

An AI agent escalation policy defines the specific conditions under which an autonomous agent must stop acting independently and transfer control to a human operator, including confidence thresholds, financial exposure limits, regulatory triggers, and retry limits.

Drayage is the short-distance transport of containerized freight between a port or rail terminal and a nearby warehouse, distribution center, or transload facility, serving as the critical first or last mile connection for intermodal and ocean shipments.

AI workflow automation is the use of artificial intelligence to execute multi-step business processes autonomously, replacing manual task sequences with agent-driven workflows that gather data, reason on intelligence, take action, and record outcomes without human intervention for routine operations.

Digital labor measurement is the quantification of work performed by AI agents in terms equivalent to human labor: hours of manual work replaced, FTE capacity created, tasks completed autonomously, and cost per outcome delivered.

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) in supply chain is the architectural pattern of combining a large language model with a retrieval system that pulls relevant operational data (shipment status, carrier performance, facility metrics, order details) from enterprise systems before generating a response.

Predictive analytics in supply chain uses historical patterns, real-time signals, and machine learning to forecast future events: shipment arrival times, stockout risk, facility congestion, carrier behavior, and disruption impact before they occur.