Uber Freight announced two new additions to its leadership team on Thursday, February 14. These new hires are a strategic part of the company’s ambitious growth plan and dedication to making freight matching as seamless as possible.
Uber Freight has set out to capitalize on the power of the Uber marketplace, utilizing stand-out data science and artificial intelligence practices. The company aims to foster a more collaborative ecosystem for shippers and carriers, ultimately enabling more efficient movement of freight.
FreightWaves reported on Uber Freight’s new rating system last month. The system allows drivers and carriers to rate shipping facilities, which the company hopes will help improve the experience of hauling freight for everyone in the supply chain.
“It gives the network of drivers and carriers the ability to provide feedback on facilities they’ve visited,” Xinfeng Le, carrier product lead, explained to FreightWaves. “All the information will be available to drivers before they make a decision.”
There are currently about 30,000 carriers on the Uber Freight network, according to the company. That number is expected to continue to grow.
Uber Freight also plans to more than double its team in 2019.
Bar Ifrach, formerly of Airbnb, has joined Uber Freight as head of marketplace. In this role, Ifrach will be responsible for building and leading the marketplace team across various departments, including operations, technology and strategy.
The marketplace team is tasked with modeling, designing and executing on various tasks to make the logistics marketplace as fluid as possible.
“I am thrilled to join the Uber Freight team and help chart the division’s next phase of growth,” Ifrach said. “With nearly a decade of academic and practical experience in pricing science and two-sided marketplace design, I am eager to join the effort to revolutionize freight through cutting edge pricing and matching techniques.”
Andrew Smith, formerly of the cloud content management company Box, has joined Uber Freight as head of sales. He will be responsible for building and leading a global sales team. Smith will also be accountable for go-to-market strategy, growth and solutions across all verticals.
Smith and his team will help Uber Freight’s customers, which include hundreds of Fortune 500 shippers, chart their next phase of growth.
“It is an exciting time to join the Uber Freight team with the current momentum and opportunity for innovation in the freight logistics space,” Smith said. “Our go-to-market strategy will continue to build on the foundation of customer-centricity to further develop value within the freight ecosystem for our customers.”
Both Ifrach and Smith will report directly to Head of Uber Freight Lior Ron.
“2019 is a year of growth for Uber Freight, with both our business and our leadership team. I am thrilled to welcome Bar Ifrach and Andrew Smith to Uber Freight,” Ron said. “With their extensive experience in marketplace dynamics and sales, respectively, I am confident that our business will continue to expand and provide world-class services to carriers, drivers and shippers.”
Uber Freight has global aspirations, and the team is currently searching for viable international opportunities, according to the company.