Building a small business is difficult if you don’t have access to the same powerful tools that larger competitors do. Uber Freight, with its growing suite of tools, has been trying to empower small fleets and owner-operators to allow them to compete on an even playing field.
This morning, Uber Freight announced a partnership with SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) that will integrate Uber Freight into the into SAP Logistics Business Network, letting supply chain participants from both companies access transportation rates from Uber’s digitally activated carrier network and gain real-time quotes and guaranteed freight capacity, greatly simplifying load management and execution.
“Finding and booking freight can be the most expensive and often the most complex piece of the supply chain,” said Hala Zeine, president, SAP Digital Supply Chain. “This combined solution will remove roadblocks and offers a simpler, more automated approach that streamlines operations, delivers tangible cost savings and ultimately creates a better customer experience. Adding Uber Freight to our SAP Logistics Business Network will help our customers optimize their logistics and put their customers at the heart of their digital supply chain.”
On a blog post this morning, Uber Freight noted the growing importance of e-commerce and the need to match the speed at which the modern supply chain moves.
“To thrive in this increasingly fast and open market, shippers need to look ahead, speed up and deliver real value to their customers. The key to future-proofing? Optimizing the central artery of any business that moves tangible goods: freight,” the blog reads.
The SAP Logistics Business Network is built on the SAP Cloud Platform and the SAP HANA® business data platform. It expands transportation management to enable shippers, freight forwarders, carriers and other logistics partners to easily onboard, collaborate, exchange logistics information and share insights.
Shippers will have access to a broader carrier base, the companies said, with improved transparency into real-time pricing of shipments.
“For the world’s biggest shippers, an efficient, digitalized supply chain is critical,” said Bill Driegert, senior director, Uber Freight. “Uber Freight is partnering with SAP to bring shippers and carriers together at the level where freight decisions are being made. This innovative tech-forward approach to freight means shippers can spend less time sourcing quotes and capacity and more time getting goods to market.”
Last year, Uber Freight launched its Uber Freight platform for shippers as a starting point to help shippers without regular loads gain access to the available capacity that smaller fleets and owner-operators offer. It also gave those carriers access to shipper freight that can sometimes be more difficult to obtain.
“Shippers work in a multitude of ways and helping them access better solutions through their own tools is critical to support varied and complex shipping operations at every level of the market,” the Uber blog reads. “Our partnership through the Logistics Business Network delivers another access point for enterprise shippers to leverage two of Uber Freight’s crucial benefits: [real-time data and capacity].”
The companies note that working together through this integration will increase visibility and transparency for all players in the supply chain.
“These efforts will support easier and faster decision-making based on real-time pricing for shippers and carriers, empowering organizations to maximize daily work time and make more informed decisions about their operations,” they said in a release.
Making these connections through the SAP platform may also minimize unloaded miles, reduce costs and carbon footprint for carriers.
“Shippers can gain access to capacity by unlocking a larger ecosystem of drivers, and carriers and drivers gain the ability to see and choose loads that fit their business and schedule. This improves utilization, reduces time to plan and minimizes costs at all levels of shipping operations,” the release said.
Shippers or carriers can evaluate the benefits of the SAP Logistics Business Network digitally at SAP Store, using credit card or invoice, and build out their infrastructure in a test environment. Shippers can also purchase a premium membership from SAP Store and send invitations to their carriers to join their logistics network for free.