Almost four months after acquiring the technology and IP of shuttered digital truck brokerage Convoy, Flexport has launched the Convoy Platform.
The slimmed down technology platform aims to offer small carriers access to freight, while offering shippers and brokers real-time competitive rates, shipment visibility and on-time performance, Flexport officials said.
“Today’s launch of the Convoy platform furthers Flexport’s product vision to build a true one-stop-shop to ship any product, in any quantity, between any two places in the world,” Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen said in a news release. “As a neutral, end-to-end supply chain platform, we’re able to bring together every party in global logistics with one common mission: Make global commerce so easy there’s more of it.”
Flexport is a digital global supply chain solutions provider based in San Francisco. The company acquired Convoy’s technology and IP in November, after the latter shut down on Oct. 19.
Convoy and Flexport have had a partnership since at least 2021. Flexport customers, through its Convoy integration, were able to gain broader access to domestic truck transportation and gain a more thorough view of their shipping costs.
In 2022, Convoy had over 1,000 employees and a valuation of $3.8 billion. Former Convoy CEO and co-founder Dan Lewis attributed the company’s fall to a freight recession over the past year coupled with tighter capital markets.
As part of the acquisition, a small number of Convoy employees joined Flexport, which did not take on Convoy as a company or its liabilities. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
For shippers, the launch of the Convoy Platform offers Flexport customers more full truckload carrier options. There are more than 400,000 truck drivers and 80,000 carriers in the Convoy network.
Flexport plans to expand Convoy’s offerings for brokers in the second quarter of this year. Brokers will soon have access to capacity backed by fraud detection technology and ongoing automated predictive performance scoring and quality control.
“It’s long been Flexport’s belief that no single company can provide a solution to every problem in global logistics, and we are committed to using technology to create a more collaborative, transparent and reliable freight ecosystem for all,” Bill Driegert, Flexport’s executive vice president and head of trucking, said in a statement.
The Convoy Platform will enable carriers to find and book loads from vetted brokers and shippers, as well as provide 24/7 access to the load board in the Convoy app. Carriers can also request hassle-free detention and lumper fees, track their fleet, and manage their load paperwork in the app.
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