3 Things I Learned at Uber Freight's Carrier Summit

"Uber Freight's managed transportation business creates real value helping us connect with shippers" said Harman Cheema, CEO of Cheema Freightlines.

Hundreds of representatives, ranging from small to large enterprise carriers, attended the event to learn more about Uber Freight's technology, its future in autonomous operations, and ways to utilize the company's growing managed transportation offering.

In addition to educating its network of carriers on industry challenges and strategies to address them, Uber Freight showcased its transportation solutions and announced Uber Freight Exchange, the integration of technology operations between its signature freight marketplace and the acquired managed transportation unit, Transplace.

"Uber Freight's carrier management team works closely with us to understand our network and our strengths" said Lars Ward, vice president of sales and strategic partnerships at Cheema. "Their investment in creating a leading managed transportation platform is something we appreciate, and this summit was a great showcase for what is to come from the partnership."

Here are three things I learned from attending the event and speaking with company stakeholders.

Uber Freight is in its managed transportation era

The company entered the FreightTech arena in 2017 as a digital freight marketplace for shippers and carriers to post and book loads. Over the years, it raised funds, acquired legacy managed transportation provider Transplace, and leveraged the industry knowledge and operations that came with the purchase to improve Uber Freight's existing solutions. 

Today, in Uber Freight's eyes, that well-executed strategy has earned the company a significant place at the managed transportation provider table.

"[Uber Freight Exchange] allows shippers and carriers to be more precise about what they want out of our network" Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron told the audience. "It allows us to offer you more detailed information on opportunities and bundled loads available to you. … This offering is now its own independent technology. This allows us now to access hundreds of millions of dollars of freight spend with thousands of available lanes to extend beyond our current reach of $18 billion of freight under management."

Carriers discussing solutions with Uber Freight representatives. (Photo - Uber Freight)

Ron added that Uber Freight invested over $120 million in the past year to bring together both Uber Freight and Transplace technology teams to grow its offerings under one platform.

"We've invested a lot in the ability to think about our network collectively so we can offer more continuous load opportunities and more savings opportunities for our shipper community" he said.

Uber Freight is standing on the shoulders of data science giants

Parent company Uber revolutionized transportation by leveraging advanced data science and big data analytics to enhance decision-making and the user experience for mobility and food delivery.

With over 8 million users across 450 cities in 66 countries, Uber employs technologies to process vast amounts of real-time data for key features such as dynamic surge pricing, precise fare estimation, and efficient matching algorithms that are powered by machine learning and predictive analytics. Surge pricing algorithms dynamically adjust fares based on real-time demand and supply metrics, while predictive models use GPS and traffic data to accurately estimate journey times and costs.

Now, Uber Freight is harnessing its family expertise for billions of dollars of freight, representing 22,000 types of goods collectively hauled over 306 million miles. 

"We are very excited to be able to tap into the success Uber is having with [mobility]. … Because we stand on the shoulders of giants, we can tap into the amazing infrastructure and technology services" said Ron.

While Uber Freight and competitors alike are dealing with poor market conditions, Ron explained that Uber Freight gets to lean on its parent for financial support too.

"We can also stand of the shoulders of giants in terms of our financial strength. Uber is near an inflection point in terms of profitability and free cash generation. … We can invest and that is what we hope will come across today. Having the breadth and scale of Uber platforms allows us to invest while the others play defense."

According to Ron, these investments will be seen in Uber Freight Exchange's procurement and scheduling modules, new financial platforms and payment processes, and new AI tools for enterprise shippers.

Fighting fraud takes big networks and grassroots connections

Besides using Uber's data science capabilities to improve transportation and logistics operations, Uber Freight has the payment data of $67.8 billion Eats bookings and $68.9 billion in ridesharing bookings to fight freight fraud.

"It's fantastic to tap into one of the largest B2B global payment networks. … This secret ingredient has helped us bring fraud instances down 80% over the past four months" Ron told the audience.

That said, Uber Freight's compliance team closely collaborates with the FBI and other branches of law enforcement to set best practices for fraud prevention and develop relationships with carriers to implement strategies industrywide.

Panel on fighting fraud with Uber Freight's senior investigator Bill McDermott, supervisory special agent to FBI-Fort Worth Chris Maffei, and Uber Freight's director of compliance Chris McLoughlin. (Photo: Uber Freight)

Uber Freight's director of compliance, Chris McLoughlin, advised carriers at the summit on how to operate compliance teams and to build relationships with local governments in regions where they run loads.

"The last thing you want to do is call the [local FBI office] for the first time the day you have something stolen" McLoughlin said. "That connection needs to be establish ahead of time with the people you know in your area. We have found a lot of benefit from starting those conversations in one location and then building out the jurisdiction from there."

McLoughlin, who regularly works with law enforcement to combat cargo crime, spoke on the rise in crime and how it will take the leveraging of all of Uber's unique resources to keep up with its growth.

"In the past, these were crimes of opportunity; they were a side job. We've seen these switch quickly from these moments of opportunity to large rings, professional jobs, and this is their business, stealing cargo" he said.

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