Uber is a tremendously successful transportation network company. After starting its business in 2009 with its popular taxi-hailing app, the company has been trying to change its approach by integrating logistics services in how it conducts business. We have seen it go out of its way by launching services such as UberEATS, UberCHOMA and UberEVERYTHING.
The latest addition to these services is Uber Freight, which hopes to be a game change on how people transport goods. Apparently, the trucking industry is a major contributor to the economy of many countries, which is why Uber is diving into this transportation niche. By looking into challenges that face the trucking industry, Uber sees a way of empowering truck drivers and trucking companies to boost their revenue.
Similar to Uber that connects passengers to taxis, Uber Freight aims to link truck drivers to clients who want their loads hauled. Often, the most challenging part of a truck driver’s job is looking for a client as they are forced to make several phone calls. Uber Freight’s objective is eliminating this hassle by a touch of a button.
In principle, Uber Freight follows the same functional path like the ordinary Uber app. Approved truck drivers just need to launch the Freight app, search for a client with a load and book it. Afterward, a confirmation message is sent immediately, which eliminates anxiety issues.
Uber Freight hopes to build on the firm’s $650 million acquisition of Otto, a self-driving trucking company that builds trucking equipment and kits for freight networks.
At the moment, Uber Freight, which will begin trucking services in the U.S. (in Houston, Dallas and Dallas), will concentrate on ordinary trucks (and not the self-driving ones, Otto) with vetted drivers who can carry a variety of loads, some of which may need special requirements like refrigeration.
