Friday marked a turn of events for Flock Freight, a provider of shared truckload solutions, as the company decided to reduce its workforce by 54 individuals. The company last reported layoffs in April of 2023.
This strategic move was aimed at recalibrating the company’s trajectory towards profitability. The positions affected were primarily back office roles, focusing on enhancing automation for Flock’s operational efficiencies.
“The people supporting our customers and carriers and those building the IP have not been affected,” Oren Zaslansky, co-founder and CEO of Flock Freight, told FreightWaves. “These moves have put us in a position where our path to profitability can be measured in months not years.”
Flock’s most recent round of funding came in 2021 with its Series D, led by Softbank Investment Advisers with participation from Google Ventures, GLP Capital Partners, Eden Global Partners Susquehanna Private Capital and SignalFire for $215 million and a valuation of $1.3 billion, according to Pitchbook data.
The raise was done to focus on its shipment-pooling algorithms and machine learning technology, which Zaslansky emphasized is showing results in improving the shared truckload experience.
“If a customer is looking to buy a half truckload from LA to Chicago, there are three types of guesses that go into finding that cost. The first, which any good broker makes, is can I get a truck on it. … The second guess, a tier one or two broker or digital freight matcher can find out what is going to be the cost. But what Flock does that no one else does is we make a third guess. We guess that if you want to buy a half truck on that lane, we can price the risk of another customer going to rideshare with you somewhere along that route,” he said.
To price that risk, the company has developed and secured patents for its methods and systems. Zaslansky explained it as Flock’s Pooling Probability Index (PPI).
“Prices will move up and down based on if there’s a low or high risk of finding another shipment on these lanes. This is what will make Flock, Flock and that’s how we talk internally. Solving shared truckload and all the logistics and pricing complexity that goes into it.”
Other FreightTech providers have caught on to what Flock is offering. In September, the company announced a multiyear strategic partnership with e2open (NYSE:ETWO) to offer the software provider’s transportation management system users real-time ratings for shared truckload services.
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