Just three years after its founding in Seattle by two former Amazon executives, the leading digital freight brokerage Convoy reached a unicorn valuation and took the #4 spot in the Freight.Tech 25.
While technology startups have jumped into trucking with the latest and greatest solutions, the old guard, if you will, has not been sitting idly by. This week at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas, C.H. Robinson is showing drivers its Navisphere apps and how they can help drivers and small fleets find freight success.
Opus9 launched its digital platform, automating every step of the truckload and LTL shipping process, Tuesday. The new platform is intended to “digitize an old industry and bring it forward,” according to Vice President of Product Management Jeff Hiller.
This year shippers will abandon low-tech brokers en masse as digital freight solutions reach their tipping point.
“Uberization” has become a huge buzzword in the 3PL industry, but the business models of the digital brokers using apps is unlikely to have an impact on the way the industry operates. The technology of smart contracts, however, is a game-changer.
The on-demand trucking service trend has hit France, as Convargo is now seeking to become that country’s “Uber of trucking,” TechCrunch reports. The company, which pitched itself as “a marketplace for shippers and carriers,” has raised $19 million in a Series A round of funding.
A lot of facts and figures get thrown out by startups in the trucking space. Its important to understand whether these facts are credible or not.
With the freight marketplace widening exponentially every year, the growing communication divide in the community is also significantly felt. Fr8Hub, a digital freight marketplace startup is looking to improve peer-to-peer interaction by creating transparency and injecting efficiency in freight hauling.
With the freight industry being one of the largest contributors to the U.S. economy, it is imperative that it makes way for technology infusion. San Diego-based startup LoadExpress is looking to disrupt the way logistics is handled in the industry right now.
Much has been written about the death of freight brokerages and 3PLs. This is wrong. The 3PL industry is about to change- but it won’t meet its death. It will get bigger and more important as the next generation of digitization takes place.
Uber shuts down its car leasing business as it prepares for an IPO next year. Uber Freight, the company’s brokerage business continues to expand and focuses on driver quality of life.
Digital freight brokers are using “Daily-deal” tactics to get revenue growth. They sold themselves as a platform to change the inefficient trucking industry, but have found it difficult to find quality sources of high-volume freight. These platforms have resorted to aggressive pricing tactics using investor capital. What will find is that as soon as they change prices, shipper loyalty will evaporate.
The new Uber CEO has his work cut out for him. Few know what his take on Uber Freight is and whether the aggressive expansion will continue. Regardless, the digital freight era is upon-us and should they leave the market, others will take its place.
Uber selects Expedia CEO as its next CEO to replace founder Travis Kalanick
With consumers buying more online and more based on promotions, it has become less about brand loyalty and more about the benefits earned from digital purchases. All that is left is for shipping companies to provide app-assisted delivery.
Trucking venture funding continues to pick up steam. One fund, backed by the largest grouping of Fortune 1000 companies in the world and a top engineering school, makes an investment in two trucking startups for its initial set of investments.
Plenty of load boards and brokers exist for trucking companies looking for freight. There are nearly 600 found on a basic web listing – and likely many, many more. But there are few, if any, like Sleek Fleet.
