CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — FreightWaves unveiled its fifth annual FreightTech 25 award winners at the third and final day of the F3: Future of Freight Festival.
The 2023 list saw a mix of award mainstays and brand-new names. Nos. 1 through 7 all claimed their fifth straight award — meaning they’ve found their way on the FreightTech 25 each year since 2018, when the series was founded. Meanwhile, 10 others ranked for the first time.
FreightWaves founder and CEO Craig Fuller presented the awards alongside company Senior Meteorologist Kaylee Nix on Thursday morning. As they began, Fuller looked back to when the FreightTech series began.
“You think about when we started this back in 2018, companies like FourKites and project44 were much smaller, and we’ve seen them actually ascend to the top of the rankings the past couple of years,” Fuller said.
In fact, global visibility provider project44 landed the top spot this year and has never ranked lower than No. 2. Last year, the company unseated Amazon Freight for the No. 1 position after coming in second from 2019-21. Amazon Freight, meanwhile, ranked sixth this year.
The companies recognized on the FreightTech 25 are considered to be the most innovative and disruptive in the freight technology space. Each year, they’re selected from the FreightTech 100 by a handpicked group of CEOs, industry leaders and investors actively investing in freight (Click here for list of voters).
The methodology used to determine the FreightTech 25 is a simple points system based on how each voter ranks the industry’s most innovative and/or disruptive companies. A company receives 25 points for each first-place vote, 24 for second and so on through to the 25th company, which receives one point. The rankings are set by listing each company’s point totals from highest to lowest.
The mathematical formula is the same as the one used for the USA Today Sports College Football Coaches Poll, The Associated Press Pro32 rankings and the AP Top 25 rankings for men’s and women’s college basketball.
Watch: 2023 FreightTech 25 announcement
3 things you should know about No. 1 project44
1. Jett McCandless, the founder and CEO of project44, said he was “smiling ear to ear” after hearing the results. McCandless said it was proof of his team’s ability to efficiently use capital to build a connective tissue for the supply chain. “We are only 1% of the way to our goal,” he said.
2. In the first three years of FreightTech 25, the company had finished second to Amazon/Amazon Freight. Project44 first unseated Amazon Freight in the 2022 FreightTech 25, and claimed No. 1 again this year. “There’s a lot of great companies to compete with on that list,” McCandless said. “We’re just going to keep adding value for our customers. I think that’s what the judges respond to.”
3. Project44 has been the No. 1 visibility company for all five years.
2023 FreightTech 25
Here is the list of the 2023 FreightTech 25 companies, ranked according to voter results. (Company descriptions are from Crunchbase, among other sources.)
1. project44
Provider of an advanced supply chain visibility platform for shippers and third-party logistics firms.
2. Platform Science
An enterprise grade IoT fleet management platform for the new era of connected trucks, freight and the digital supply chain.
3. Flexport
A full-service global freight forwarder and logistics platform using modern software to fix the user experience in global trade.
4. Convoy
The nation’s most efficient digital freight network.
5. FourKites
A supply chain visibility platform designed for transportation into yards, warehouses and stores.
6. Amazon Freight
Blends advanced technology with a network of 30,000-plus Amazon trailers and carriers to move full truckload freight.
7. J.B. Hunt
A logistics management services and integrated transportation solutions to major corporations.
8. Emerge
Web-based truckload management system that connects shippers and their partners when executing full truckload transactions.
9. Kodiak Robotics
Developer of autonomous technology for long-haul trucking.
10. MyCarrier TMS
A SaaS transportation management platform that allows SMB companies to manage their freight needs directly with their carriers.
11. Blue Yonder
The leading provider of cloud-based predictive applications for retail.
12. Samsara
Pioneer of the Connected Operations Cloud.
13. Arrive Logistics
A technology-enabled logistics company for truckload freight.
14. Ryder System
A supply chain, dedicated transportation, and commercial fleet management solutions company.
15. Uber Freight
Logistics platform and partner reshaping global logistics for shippers and carriers of all sizes.
16. TriumphPay
A payment processing platform dedicated to the transportation and supply chain industries.
17. Gatik
Technology developer for autonomous light & medium duty trucks for B2B short-haul logistics.
18. Tive
Develops a hardware and software platform designed to track the conditions of shipments.
19. Locus Robotics
A warehouse robotics company that manufactures autonomous mobile robots to support e-commerce.
20. FedEx
Provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services.
21. Lean Solutions
A nearshore service provider that focuses on expanding and enhancing business.
22. Denim
A financial platform that offers intelligent financial products, operations tools, and time-saving automation.
23. Echo Global Logistics
A technology-enabled BPO service provider, serving the transportation and logistics needs of its clients.
24. Truckstop.com
A family of brands that provides end-to-end solutions throughout various links in the supply chain.
25. Flock Freight
Uses algorithmic pooling technology to allow less-than-truckload shippers to share trailer space in one full truckload.
