Uber Freight Vs. A Billion Dollar Trucking Problem

In what world do Uber and freight trucking go together in the same sentence? This one, Uber Freight. In late 2016, Uber officially announced that it was breaking into the trucking game.

The Uber Freight platform allows drivers to find loads and drop them off. It basically matches carriers with shippers and streamlines a process that was much less flexible in the past.

So, What’s the Billion Dollar Problem?

Often, when truck drivers have to pick up their shipments at warehouses, they have to wait a long time – sometimes hours on end – for their shipments to either unload or loud.  Drivers face unprepared shipments or workers that aren’t ready. Shipment delays and lack of preparation leaves drivers stalled until their next pick up or drop off. 

If things went according to plan, then both large retailers and small businesses have a two-hour window in which they can load and unload their shipments. The maximum allotted time according to industry standards is two hours. After the allotted period expires, the business themselves pays the trucker at an hourly rate.

However, it appears that these guidelines aren’t always followed. Apparently, drivers only received compensation for being detained about three percent of the time.

And that’s where the one billion dollars comes in. Detainment time adds up to over one billion dollars lost for drivers across the board. Uber Freight Looks to stop this.

And How is Uber Freight Solving It?

As mentioned, Uber Freight came into the picture in 2016 and is shaking the industry up. They can work with shippers right through an online marketplace. Oftentimes, this skirts around the fifteen to twenty percent commission taken by freight brokers. This already ramps up assistance to drivers looking to avoid detainment by slow shipping companies.

In January of 2019, Uber Freight announced that truck drivers will now be able to rate the businesses that they are working with. In a two month beta period, there are already 10,000 facility reviews.

Truckers will now be able to rate shippers on how quickly they are able to load and unload their products. They can also rate parking, availability of bathrooms, and overall environment. If driver detention occurs, they can warn other truck drivers, and the company will either have to step up its game, or not get their shipments on time – or at all.

Now, if a company wants a driver to continue delivering their shipments, they have to be transparent about their operation and pay the correct amount of fees and work in a timely manner. Otherwise, they’ll get a bad review.  Poor reviews and more transparency will pressure companies to pay drivers what they are owed, leading to improved conditions for owner-operators. We’re sure you’re ready to take the new app for a spin.

If it’s time for you to buy some new trucking equipment, get your loan from TopMark Funding. We’ll never detain you – in fact, most transactions are completed in 24 hours. Once you get your loan, you can get out there and start making more shipments.