Uber Freight Brokerage Has Arrived!
It has arrived! There is a new way to book trucking loads. Uber, the hugely successful creator of the do it yourself taxi service, is now making its way into Trucking. This tool could be a huge benefit to many of the owner operators out there who don’t want to have to pay a broker just to find a load. As long as you have a smartphone you are in.
Customers Can Book Their Own Loads
According to Uber the new service allows its customers to book loads weeks in advance or same day. Also, one of the biggest aggravations when it comes to shipping is having to negotiate the fare with the shippers on each load. This can cause the same type of loads to differ wildly from one shipper to the next. Uber says that their services will offer predetermined pricing. You pick the type of load and where it needs to go. There is a predetermined price for the load you have picked. Once the load is delivered the payment begins processing and the driver will be paid within seven days.
The pricing parameters include distance the load needs to travel, the type of cargo being hauled, and the location the load is being picked up from/delivered to. One of the main benefits of the new service that will differ from Uber's current format for private passenger vehicles is that truckers will be able to book loads by swiping through and picking one instead of being automatically matched. This gives a great amount of freedom to the truck drivers. You will basically be able to open your smartphone while you sit at a truck stop and book a load somewhere near where you are with the touch of a button.
Uber Freight Makes It Simple
Uber Freight is not something that is vastly different, in function, from several service types like this already. However, I believe the form and simplicity of Uber Freight will without a doubt make it more attractive to owner operators. The simplicity of the product along with the Uber name could be an incredibly successful concept. Time will tell if the truckers like the service and it if accomplishes all of its goals. If the owner operators of America are easily able to book loads on a reliable platform this could very well revolutionize the industry.
The flip side to this possible success is the effect it will have on some of the larger trucking brokers. Many of the behemoth trucking brokers of today rely on the fact that they have exclusivity to book loads that owner operators otherwise would not have access to. This creates the demand for their product. Since their product is in high demand they are able to sell their services for a hefty profit. The truckers are the ones that end up paying for that profit. This has put a strain on the trucking industry as of late because the cost of insurance, fuel, and DOT registration fees have all went up over the last decade. Many of the new truckers trying to enter the market for the first time as well as some of the veterans are finding it extremely difficult to pay their expenses and still turn a profit. I believe that anything that can put some money back in the hands of the owner operators is good for the trucking industry as a whole.
There will no doubt be some retractors that argue that the new system will cause a dramatic decrease in load costs.
They believe this will in turn have the opposite effect as the one intended. They are afraid more truckers will be left out in the cold. I personally think that the price of the loads will simply regulate themselves. Shippers know that if a driver cannot make a profit on the load they are not going to ship the load. Shippers need to move products. I believe the market will be just fine if not better under this new program.
This is of course my opinion. Time will tell if Uber Freight is as good for the trucking industry as I hope it is. The heart and soul of the American trucking industry lies with the owner operators that move freight from coast to coast. Anything that can allow them to do their job more efficiently and turn a larger profit is bound to have a positive effect on the industry as a whole.