Cicada for logistics companies.
It checks every shipment in the carriers' portals, flags the deliveries running late, works in the drivers' and suppliers' WhatsApp groups you already run, and keeps every delivery note in one place.
Sign up and your agent comes set up for this. Free for 3 days, then from $29 a month.
What does Cicada do for logistics companies?
For a logistics or distribution company, Cicada is an AI workforce for the coordination around every shipment. An operations agent checks each consignment in your shipping tools and the carriers' portals, using its own browser signed in from your vault where a portal has no app, keeps the status in one sheet and flags anything that stopped moving. In the drivers' and suppliers' WhatsApp groups it answers when someone names it, keeps every photo and delivery note people post, and reminds people about times they promised. Delay notices to customers are drafted from the real status and go out after your yes.
What your logistics company does.
Tracks every shipment
Checks each consignment in ShipStation, Shippo or the carrier's portal and keeps the status and ETA in one sheet. Portals with no app are read through its own browser.
Flags late deliveries
Spots shipments that stopped moving, missed a cut-off or failed a delivery, and tells you before the customer asks.
Works in the WhatsApp groups
Add its number to the drivers' and suppliers' groups. It answers when named and keeps every photo, delivery note and document people post.
Follows up on promised times
When someone in a group promises a time, it notices, reminds them in the group once it passes, then tells you if there's still nothing.
Keeps customers informed
Drafts the delay notice or the delivery confirmation for each customer from the real status, sent from your inbox after your yes.
Reports the day
Late deliveries, open issues and on-time rate by carrier, from the sheet and the portals, in your chat every morning.
Who uses it at a logistics company.
Every shipment in one message
What's late, what's stuck and what's waiting on you, before the first customer email.
The groups kept straight
Drivers' updates, photos and delivery notes kept and findable, with the promised times followed up.
Portals checked for you
Each carrier's portal read on schedule, with the changes since yesterday in one sheet.
Inbound you can plan around
Which deliveries are arriving today and which have slipped, with the supplier chased.
Answers before the question
The real status of every order, and a notice drafted for each customer affected by a delay.
A coordinator you text
Shipments, drivers and suppliers handled from your phone, with no new software to learn.
Set up in three steps.
Say what the job is
Describe the role in a sentence when you sign up, or tell the agent in the chat. It writes its own brief, which you can read and change any time.
Connect the apps it needs
One click for most apps. Each one can be Full, Ask first or Read-only, for every agent in the workspace.
Link your phone, or don't
Scan a code and it's in your iMessage or WhatsApp. Or keep it in the app, Slack and email. Hand it the first job in the same message.
Nothing goes out without your yes.
Nothing goes out without your yes
Anything that can't be undone, and any message to another person, waits for your OK. Approve with a 👍 in the chat, or set a role to full autonomy once you trust it.
Read-only is a real lock
Make any app read-only and the agent can look but never change a thing. It applies to every agent in the workspace, from their next run.
Every step on the record
Each run shows what it read, what it did and what it sent, step by step, in the Activity tab. Corrections you make stick.
What it won't do.
Won't pretend
If it couldn't confirm something, it leaves it out and says so. A number without a source doesn't go in a message.
Won't go around you
It never messages anyone on your behalf unless you asked, never spends money, and never makes a judgement call about money on its own.
Won't read what isn't shared
Teammates' agents work only through the apps the workspace shares. Your inbox and your personal apps stay under your own login.
Three ways to coordinate deliveries
| Task | Doing it by hand | A transport system and tracking pages | Cicada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shipment status | Logging in to each carrier portal | A tracking page per carrier | Every consignment checked and kept in one sheet |
| Late deliveries | Found when the customer complains | An alert if the carrier sends one | Spotted when a shipment stops moving, before anyone asks |
| Drivers and suppliers | Scrolling the WhatsApp groups | A separate driver app | In the groups you already run, every photo and note kept |
| Promised times | Remembered, or not | Not covered | Noticed in the group, reminded when they pass, then raised with you |
| Customer updates | Written one by one | The carrier's standard emails | Drafted per customer from the real status, sent after your yes |
| Where it happens | Your phone and a dozen tabs | The software's own screen | Your WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack or email |
Things to ask your logistics company.
- 01
"which of today's deliveries are running late, and have the customers been told?"
You get: The late ones with the reason from each portal, and a notice drafted for every customer not yet told.
- 02
"check every open shipment in the carrier portals and update the sheet"
You get: Each consignment's status and ETA from its portal, written into the sheet, with what changed since yesterday.
- 03
"who in the drivers' group still owes me a delivery note from yesterday?"
You get: The stops with no signed note or photo posted in the group, with the driver for each.
- 04
"Every weekday at 7, text me the deliveries at risk today."
You get: A morning message with the shipments running late or stuck, and what each is waiting on.
- 05
"draft a delay notice to the customers on the Kestrel trailer"
You get: A short email to each with the new ETA from the portal, in your inbox for your yes.
Frequently asked questions.
Can it check carrier portals that have no app?
Yes. It uses its own browser, signed in with logins you keep in a private vault, and you can watch it work or take over. Where a shipping tool has an app, like ShipStation or Shippo, it connects in one click.
Does it work in our drivers' WhatsApp groups?
Yes. Add Cicada's WhatsApp number to the group. It answers when someone names it, keeps every photo and document posted, and keeps each group's conversation apart from the others.
Will it message customers or drivers on its own?
Messages to customers are drafted and wait for your OK in the chat. In a group it speaks when someone names it, and it can remind people there about times they promised.
Can it read delivery notes and photos?
Yes. Photos, PDFs, scans and spreadsheets. It works from what's in them and puts the details in the sheet or the report.
Where do I talk to it?
WhatsApp, iMessage, Slack, email or the web app. Message it from the yard or the cab; it answers in the same thread.
Can my team use it too?
Yes. Everyone in your workspace gets their own agent. Shared tools like the shipment sheet are connected once; each person's inbox stays under their own login.
Will it remember our carriers and customers?
It keeps a memory of your carriers, customers, drivers and rules, like cut-off times and who to tell about a delay, that you can read and edit in the app. Corrections stick.
What does it cost?
Starter is free for 3 days, then $29 a month for 300 credits and 3 agents for one person; Growth is $99 a month for up to 10 people and Business $249 with no limit on people. A quick reply is about 5 credits and a typical run under 20, unused credits roll over on Growth and Business, and packs start at $25 for 200.
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