Today’s Pickup: Canadian startup to offer its load board for free

The load board launched with a base price of C$98 (a Canadian dollar equals US$0.75), challenging the dominance of TransCore’s Loadlink, owned by DAT’s parent company, Roper Technologies (NYSE: ROP).

But the adoption has been slow, with only a handful of loads posted per day, which he blamed on a weak spot market. 

“It hasn’t accelerated as quickly as we thought it would,” Slack-Watkins said.

Did you know? 

Perishable airfreight imports are expected to grow by 5 to 7 percent this year in the United Arab Emirates, according to DHL.

Quotable:

“The criminal charges filed against Anthony relate exclusively to LiDAR and do not in any way involve Pronto’s ground-breaking technology.”

– Pronto.AI on the criminal charges against founder CEO Anthony Levandowski, accused of stealing documents from his former employer, Google. 

In other news:

Target refuses to raise prices because of China tariffs

A Target executive told suppliers that it won’t accept price increases because of U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. (Oregon Public Broadcasting)

Armed group targets truckers south of U.S.-Mexico border

A startling video shows a group of armed men robbing truckers and other drivers in Reynosa, Mexico, near the U.S. border. (Vaaju)

Lufthansa reaches an antitrust settlement with Deutsche Bahn 

German airline Lufthansa reached an undisclosed settlement with the rail giant Deutsche Bahn over antitrust allegations related to air cargo. (Air Cargo News)

Trade war hits U.S. housing market 

President Trump’s trade war has spilled over into housing as homebuilders reduce construction in manufacturing areas. (Bloomberg)

U.S. Air Force taps blockchain startup for supply chain project

SIMBA Chain will work with the U.S. Air Force on a project that will use blockchain technology for battlefield logistics. (Newswire)

Final thoughts

The Canadian Load Board’s competitor, Transcore’s LoadLink, hosted just over 340,000 loads in July. As the standard-bearer for the Canadian market for nearly 30 years, LoadLink’s dominance may prove difficult to challenge. But The Canadian Load Board’s aggressive pricing strategy just made things more interesting. 

Hammer down everyone!