Cargomatic CEO Kessler resigns amid cuts

The ousting of the co-founder of high profile Southern California-based truckload capacity marketplace Cargomatic, often referred to as the “Uber of trucking,” follows drastic staff reductions in March.    Jonathan Kessler, the chief executive officer of trucking capacity marketplace Cargomatic, is due to step down today, multiple sources confirmed to American Shipper.
   The news marks a major point in the two-year-old company’s development as the poster child for an Uber-type application for freight. Kessler was a co-founder along with current Cargomatic President Brett Parker.
   The online platform was founded in early 2014 but gained notoriety in early 2015 as a technology that could match shippers with spare short-haul and less-than-truckload capacity in Southern California as port congestion in the area gripped the industry. The application soon grew to other markets, including New York and San Francisco.
   Its profile grew in 2015 thanks to a partnership with the Port of Los Angeles to develop a so-called “free flow” program, which allows terminals to create dedicated piles of containers for large customers or certain destinations.
   Despite this growth, last month, Business Insider reported that Cargomatic had let go of more than 50 employees.
   Industry executives have consistently told American Shipper they doubted the idea that the Uber model could be applied to the freight environment.
   The specific reasons behind Kessler’s departure were not immediately clear. According to the company’s website, it had raised more than $10 million in two different rounds of funding. Its investors include Canaan Capital, Morado Venture Partners, Volvo Group Venture Capital, SVAngel, Structure Capital, and Sherpa Capital.
   In March, Cargomatic said it had brought in two new sales executives to separately drive its large and small enterprise customer segments.
   The company derives revenues through a fee collected for any load arranged via its platform.