Uber trucking?

Mailer

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
This would be a game changer. And, more benefits to O/O. Your thought?


http://www.forbes.com/sites/sarwantsingh/2015/08/03/uber-taxi-truck/

The Disruption Uber Has Brought To The Taxi Business Is Coming To Trucking
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In the U.S., over 70 percent of all freight movement is hauled by trucks of various types and sizes. Needless to say, any improvements in freight efficiencies will have a cascading positive impact on all corners of the world’s largest and most dynamic economy. The last time the U.S. transportation and logistics industry experienced revolutionary changes was in the 1990s, when IT induced remarkable efficiency gains. We are now at the cusp of a similar revolutionary transition in the trucking industry with Uber for truck-type apps entering the market, but this time the competition will be high and the solutions a lot more fragmented.

Picture this: a bearings maker in San Francisco needs to urgently ship 20 boxes of bearings to an elevator manufacturer in Seattle. An “Uber”-type app for freight transportation can now connect the shipper to a truck that is scheduled to leave the shipper’s area for Seattle. The driver is happy, as she/he can now get more payload to carry (which otherwise could not have been located on an on-the-fly, ad-hoc basis), gain revenues, and reduce empty miles. The shipper is happy because he/she can ship freight on an ad-hoc, on-demand basis. The app provider is happy as it has created a new business opportunity in the market helping efficiently connect demand to supply, and finally other motorists and the environment are both happy as we reduced empty miles (hence congestion) and also emissions. Moreover, shippers are billed immediately and carriers are paid immediately, and the transaction is executed in a swift and seamless manner with the app provider benefiting from each transaction. Each year, on average, 20 billion empty miles are incurred by trucks, which cost the economy billions of dollars in fuel, congestion, environmental damage, and lost man hours.



Frost & Sullivan

A recent study by Frost & Sullivan forecasts that by 2025, $26.4 billion of all truck freight movement revenues will be enabled by mobile freight brokering. Smartphone/mobile device-based freight brokers are attempting to rise above traditional brokerage firms by offering higher asset utilization and expedited revenue allocation to carriers; peer-reviewed and rated carriers; and an expedited on-demand, ad-hoc demand response service to shippers. Start-ups such as Cargomatic and Transfix from California and New York, respectively, are targeting a host of market sectors such as long-haul, regional, and local trucking, and carrier types such as for-hire and private fleets. The growth potential of this industry is promising, and that has attracted an array of investors, ranging from truck makers (e.g., Volvo) to logistics behemoths (e.g., UPS).


The North American trucking industry is facing an acute driver shortage, which by some estimates stands at a deficit of 400,000 drivers. An even more disturbing trend is the record-low levels of young drivers (21-25 year olds) in the overall driver population mix. These challenges can deal a serious blow to our economic growth if not addressed immediately. Smartphone-based freight brokering, among many other innovations, can help reduce the severity of this shortage; when coupled with autonomous driving, truck connectivity and infotainment, and cabin comfort and convenience-focused enhancements brought by truck makers, it can also attract younger drivers.

Thanks to several innovative technologies that are being developed today, soon a truck will be driven autonomously for extended periods of time, offering a safe driving environment on highways and enabling the driver to use his/her smartphone/mobile device to get connected to the world outside and vice versa. This will also help the driver locate nearby freight and carry it to its destination if the truck is also headed there. These productivity gains and freight efficiency gains will benefit both the driver and the fleet he/she represents. This will also reduce empty miles, congestion, and emission footprint of commercial vehicles. At the heart of this change will be mobile devices like smartphones that will enable people to connect freight to trucks, with spare freight-carrying capacity on an on-demand, ad-hoc, networked manner. There will be concerns, just like there are concerns surrounding Uber in terms of track record of the fleet, driver, equipment that represents carrier capabilities, and type/nature of freight, etc., that will present initial hurdles and psychological inertia, but with extensive vetting, reviewing and checking mechanisms, companies offering mobile freight brokering services can present trucks that can deliver the highest uptime, fleets that present the highest trust and confidence ratings, drivers that drive safely and reliably, and a service that is fast, effective, safe, and efficient.

However, the one thing that will be different this time will be that competition will come from several quarters. A Light Commercial vehicle manufacturer in India told me last month how they were developing a similar solution for their light trucks in India, as they wanted to increase the earnings capability of their independent trucks drivers to take more jobs on the fly. Similarly, I have seen and heard of solutions from entrepreneurs, in addition to leasing, telematics services providers and even telecom operators. It will be fun as I don’t see one “Uber” being the market leader in the trucking industry.


This article was written with contribution from Wallace Lau, Sr. Industry Analyst, for Frost & Sullivan’s Automotive & Transportation research practice.
 
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wvcourier

Expert Expediter
Too good to be true, Trucking and Expedite carriers will fight and cry, just like taxi companies. Dinasour mentality, some still rather invest in Qualcoms and other outdated technology , even knowing all drivers these days have smart phones, app etc.
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
Qaulcomms are far from outdated, they do so much more than sending load info or finding a gps liacation.
 
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blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
That is a great idea because it cuts out the middle man. The brokers pocket huge profit margins on these types of loads while brokering them to carriers for dirt cheap rates. Cut the middle man out and have a system like Uber were the driver does business directly with the shipper and then Uber pays the driver after the load had been delivered. It would also cut out the carriers who do not pay their drivers. This kind of business arrangement will effectively kill two birds with one stone! Then the multi-carrier model will end and drivers can get their own MC numbers, liability and cargo insurance, and work for themselves! Keep your eyes open. This might very well be the future of expedite!
 
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Jim Tropf II

Active Expediter
Carrier Management
It might be the future of UShip, but it won't be the future of expedite. Some small shops and individuals might adopt the technology, but I can't see it getting through legal at any of the large manufacturers that drive our industry.
 

davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
Shipping is much different than transporting a couple of passengers. Shipping apps are already out there, but there is a lot more complexity at times even in a single transit.
 

rollincoal

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I just don't see how an Uber type app adds any value. Considering liability, as some of you allude to, it just seems like the geek tech heads who look at our multi billion dollar industry only see it in simple black and white terms.

This is just a new kind of middle man attempting to do what current middle men already are doing. It's as if these people think the trucking industry is some technologically backwards industry when the truth is most of your growing companies out here are on the cutting edge. I mean sylectus software already does what they envision. We utilize it at our company.

I run mostly off what I book on my own from random brokers but our payroll and everything is off sylectus. I use the sylectus app to send in all arrival times, load, and empty calls. Sometimes within minutes of sending that empty call from my smartphone a carrier in the network will see my truck as empty/available near their load and call on us. This sounds exactly like what these trendy geeks envision for Uber trucking, reinventing the wheel, or making a better one? Well more power to them if they can. I'm not mad at then if they want to try. If it works i'll embrace it.

Point here is yeah Uber is trendy and all but there are people in this industry light years ahead of them. They have a lot of catching up to do.
 
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blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
You can bet there will be people in this industry that will team up with a tech wizard to develop these apps.

Right now there are too many fingers in the pie. Something needs to be done to simplify this operation.

Exactly Bob. There are way too many fingers in the pie right now. Penske gets a call from Dana for an expedite load, then they send emails out to their network of approved carriers, a carrier/broker bids on that load, wins it, then posts the load on Sylectus. Your carrier bids on the load and wins it, now you get the load on your truck. The load went through Penske Logistics, then the broker who won the load from Penske, then your carrier, now to your truck. That is three middle men when all that needed to happen is Dana gives the load to your company and then you get it. If your carrier would have got the load for what Penske got it for, or even for what the second broker in the food chain got it for, your rate would be 20 percent higher, and the profit margin your carrier makes on the load would be 10/20 percent higher. Brokers are over-complicating a very simple business model. That is my take on the matter!
 
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OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Exactly Bob. There are way too many fingers in the pie right now. Penske gets a call from Dana for an expedite load, then they send emails out to their network of approved carriers, a carrier/broker bids on that load, wins it, then posts the load on Sylectus. Your carrier bids on the load and wins it, now you get the load on your truck. The load went through Penske Logistics, then the broker who won the load from Penske, then your carrier, now to your truck. That is three middle men when all that needed to happen is Dana gives the load to your company and then you get it. If your carrier would have got the load for what Penske got it for, or even for what the second broker in the food chain got it for, your rate would be 20 percent higher, and the profit margin your carrier makes on the load would be 10/20 percent higher. Brokers are over-complicating a very simple business model. That is my take on the matter!
especially when a lot of carriers dance on the double brokering line of legallity.....they acquire a load and then calling it a partnership and then reselling the load again
 

blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Everyone does that sort of stuff. You know I can get my broker authority again and just book loads from three sources and rebroker them out on Sylectus and make at least 500 dollars of profit a day off 1 or two loads, maybe even more. I have toyed around with the idea before, but then I would just be another leech on the backs of the small carriers and drivers!
 

Unclebob

Expert Expediter
Owner/Operator
If Dana could post the load to one app that ALL registered and licensed carriers could bid on it would cut out the middle man.
 

wvcourier

Expert Expediter
Qaulcomms are far from outdated, they do so much more than sending load info or finding a gps liacation.
^^^this is Classic example of Dinasour mentality, not wanting to let go of his comfort zone, and will probably die paying his carrier 30+dollars a week for QC fees, because thats all he knows...
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
^^^this is Classic example of Dinasour mentality, not wanting to let go of his comfort zone, and will probably die paying his carrier 30+dollars a week for QC fees, because thats all he knows...

I have no idea what the insult was for but oh well that is all some people have.
What it actually amounts to is some people not understanding everything a QC can do compared to a phone ap. Now for a van yes a phone ap could be pretty equel but on bigger trucks there is still a wide gap.
 

Moot

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
A smartphone can do everything a Qualcomm can do and then some.

A smart phone can't double as a wheel chock!
.
Wheelchock2_zps121d76ac.jpg
 

xiggi

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
I'll have to compare them again but I was thinking about things such as, locating a truck when a driver abandons it, reading a trucks ecm, etc. Of course if you purchase additional items you can do those with a smartphone but not by simply downloading an app.
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
I'll have to compare them again but I was thinking about things such as, locating a truck when a driver abandons it, reading a trucks ecm, etc. Of course if you purchase additional items you can do those with a smartphone but not by simply downloading an app.
Even if you get additional items and apps for the smartphone, you will have some difficulty in integrating everything (workflow, forms, fault monitoring, analytics management, HoS, VIR, performance monitoring critical event reporting, and GPS tracking among others) with an efficient dispatch system, not to mention integrating third-party dispatch systems and other back office systems.

If all you want to do, and if all you think the QC is used for, is satellite tracking, then I can understand how someone would think the Qualcomms is outdated technology (despite the irony that the the iPhone and almost every other high end smartphone contains CPUs and other chips made by some outfit called Qualcomm). Same if you only need to manage a relatively small number of trucks and kludge integration is acceptable. Otherwise, you need the right tools for the job.
 

blizzard2014

Veteran Expediter
Driver
Cops still use Qualcomm right? Where I am currently dispatching, we do use the Sylectus mobile app, but it only works about half of the time. My trucks are supposed to track automatically overnight, but they don't. I have to call my drivers often and have them reload the app because tracking updates have stopped. With the Qualcomm, this would not be an issue. Also, the drivers can turn off their mobile app if they don't want to be tracked/found. This gives the driver too much control over the load. With the Qualcomm, it is much harder to disconnect and disappear off the radar. I like to have transparency with all of my trucks, so do my customers. With satellite tracking carriers can't lie about having trucks closer to the pick up location than they actually are, and drivers can't lie about being late because you can see if they stopped and took a nap on a deliver direct load. I would prefer the Qualcomm over any mobile application, unless it is Macropoint. The Macropoint system is a very reliable system and it is hard to get around it.
 
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