Uber For Trucking?

Technology is constantly changing and adapting to new trends across industries.   

The trucking industry in particular is welcoming an on demand technology service, similar to Uber that will help shippers connect directly to independent truck drivers. Uber, of course, is a popular rideshare service that competes with taxicabs by helping riders connect with available independent drivers. Their mobile app streamlines the process and introduces the user to a wide pool of potential drivers.

Cargomatic, a technology company in Southern California, is proposing an Uber-esque style of trucking.

With similar technology to Uber, Cargomatic automatically syncs shippers with independent truckers who have extra capacity. Traditionally, shippers that used independent drivers did so only within the small pool of people they already knew. To be considered for jobs, drivers had to develop and maintain professional relationships with specific shippers, a time-consuming process and one not guaranteed to result in regular work.

Although this system is in its infancy, the telematics technology can be streamlined by not only giving shippers access to a much larger pool of potential (and vetted) drivers, but also by identifying which drivers are currently nearby and available to work. The service could give shippers the benefits of a dedicated fleet but the flexibility of working with independent truckers.

This is a new feature for trucking and can serve as a future iteration of telematics software. It has the potential to reduce inefficiencies by coordinating shippers and cargo, and simultaneously providing visibility to this movement.

If all of this sounds familiar, there’s a reason.

Cargomatic proposes to use some of the same technology already used by Teletrac. Not surprisingly, the two systems offer some of the same benefits, especially in terms of routing efficiency—with Teletrac, dispatchers can easily see where vehicles are at all times, allowing them to assign routes to the drivers who are already in the right area. If a driver unexpectedly has extra capacity or otherwise has a change of delivery, he or she can easily message dispatch and get additional assignments.

Teletrac offers a group of fleet-management tools that provide deep insight into a vehicle’s needs including: maintenance, government regulation compliance, safety analytics, and complete vehicle diagnostics. This suite of features allows carriers, big and small, grow with their fleet, solve complex problems, and better equip their business for the future.