FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller welcomed Emerge founder Andrew Leto to the FreightWaves headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the two discussed Leto’s rise as a freight-tech innovator and the success of his digital freight marketplace.
Scottsdale, Arizona-based Emerge provides shippers and carriers access to direct capacity via its digital freight marketplace. According to the logistics software provider, it offers a dynamic RFP, spot tool and intelligent route guides.
“It’s not that we’re changing the carriers you’re using, we’re changing how you tender to the carriers you are using,” Leto said.
Leto is excited to see the addition of shippers to Emerge’s platform as it widens its digital freight-market ecosystem, attracting many carriers and brokers, Leto said.
Leto also touted Emerge’s simplicity and innovation. He argued the private freight marketplace and transportation management system (TMS) offer a great alternative for shippers who regularly procure through unreliable systems such as spreadsheets and email.
“My goal with Emerge is to provide a space to get your bid, get your rates back and provide a better routing system,” Leto said. “It sits on top of the transportation management system. We’re not trying to replace a TMS.”
Before building Emerge, Leto in 2003 founded the software-driven third-party logistics company GlobalTranz out of his bedroom with the help of his unemployment check. Revenues exceeded $1 billion by the time he exited the company in 2016. Leto and his brother Michael went on to start 10-4 Systems, a freight-tracking software company they sold in 2018. Leto then laid the groundwork for Emerge.