Every second counts in the freight industry, especially during a pandemic, said Bill Driegert, Uber Freight co-founder and head of operations.
Driegert said when freight volumes were spiking in late March because consumers were hoarding supermarket staples, Uber Freight was able to help a shipper set up an application programming interface (API).
“As the market was surging, we had one enterprise shipper who reached out to get an API set up; we were able to get the shipper set up in four hours, and within two hours, they had moved their first load,” Driegert said.
Driegert said going forward the shipper was now able to get prices, move loads in seconds, and “be confident that they’re getting a real-time capacity and a real-time price and a guarantee.”
Driegert’s comments are part of a presentation titled “Responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic With Real-Time Logistics Technology” during FreightWaves LIVE @HOME on Thursday.
The Uber Freight app, which connects trucking companies with loads to haul, was launched in 2017. Uber Freight is a logistics platform powered by Uber (NYSE: UBER).
Driegert said Uber Freight’s core mission is to “simplify the movement of goods to help communities thrive.”
“When we think about the Uberization of freight, we think first about reliability, second is flexibility and third is transparency,” Driegert said.
For the freight industry, Driegert said the coronavirus pandemic unfolded in four phases:
- The initial surge
- Demand drop
- Stabilization
- Recovery
“The initial surge, we saw several weeks of volume ramp-ups. As people went to the stores, they stocked up, they bought more toilet paper and bought a lot of the consumables. But then once they were stocked up and their pantry was full, we saw the demand drop off quite precipitously,” Driegert said. “Now we’re starting to see it stabilize.”
Driegert said the last phase, recovery, is on the way, but no one is quite sure what it will look like.
“We expect things to still remain low year-over-year, the second quarter [of 2020] will actually probably be the toughest hit for certain sectors and commodities,” Driegert said. “The unknown here is how quickly supply will leave the market and how rates will be affected in the balance of supply.”
Driegert said it’s very hard to predict which sectors will recover more quickly than others.
“Home consumables may continue to see that surge,” Driegert said. “From a supply chain perspective, we can expect that a lot of the fundamental shifts that occur will be very slow. It’s not something that’s going to happen in two to three months.”
dale lenz
It seems very hypocritical that Uber Freight is claiming transparency, yet does not clearly state their margin on each load
Seriously!
Pulled an Uber load once, got a great rate. Same load one week later, rate dropped 300.00. Didn’t pull the load of course. I have a customer who tried them once. End results were less than favorable.
Just another CH, TQL. Silly Uner, thinking they could come in and get done for cheaper than the cheapest. It amazes me that these 3PL’s come in and bid the freight so cheap. It’s as if they have decided they will determine what a good rate to the truck is when they dont own not one single piece
Charlie
Loved this talk. Driegert is super insightful, as always.
Steven J
Only ignorant carriers pull Uber loads. I was set up with them and never saw a single load posted above my costs. Then they changed their TOS and lowered their detention and other accessories, so I told them to delete us as we do not agree with their new TOS.
Why these drivers pull freight at losing rates boggles my mind. And then they complain they’re losing money. I believe if they required people to demonstrate their knowledge of their own costs per mile, as well as business acumen and a written business plan before authority is granted, we wouldn’t have 80% of new carriers shutting down within the first two years of operation. Many who can’t even speak english pay someone else to get the authority for them, and are then taken advantage of by the industry. All these new carriers who fail in the first two years, during their time in operation drive down the rates for the entire industry by running for just fuel and truck payments. I’ve had carriers tell me their total cost per mile was less than 32 cpm! Those carriers have no idea how to run a business yet were granted authority. They are the ones running all this Uber freight.
There’s plenty of free information available from the SBA, OOIDA, and SCORE. You can learn the proper way to figure out your true total cost per mile. Do your homework before you get into business, READ and UNDERSTAND the ENTIRE contract. GET EDUCATED, and don’t sign something you don’t understand!
Fred
Isn’t Uber the company that is pushing for driverless transportation? So with every piece of freight hauled under Uber is another step towards eliminating drivers completely. Seems like a simple equation….. haul for Uber and advance their agenda to NO drivers.
Joe
Did anyone ask Mr. Driegert about the award P&G gave them, that Uber accepted and then didn’t honor and walked away from the business this year? Also, “cofounder” – he didn’t start Uber Freight, what a joke.
John
“The Uberization of freight involves reliability, flexibility and transparency, Uber Freight officials said.” Yeah, Uber has been great for the Industry…if you consider driving rates down to drive out the small businesses a good thing. Cancer
Chris Rice
Uber Freight is responsible for driving down freight rates, period.