Broker automation

Sorry to bump an old thread, but was having a conversation at work today about automation in our space and I remembered this thread.

TallJoe mentioned earlier in the thread, Uber and Convoy are typically thought of the most automated brokerages in the space. Convoy went out of business last year, and Uber continues to bleed an incredible amount of money every quarter; Uber lost $13 million in Q3 2023, and $14 million in Q4 2023.

I'm not saying this completely invalidates the idea that automation has value in our space, but I think gives a good indication at the dangers of over reliance on automation in the trucking industry.

 

Some brokers do it better than others. CHRW's way of automated app booking (navispehere) was an absolute mess that I just wrote off entirely as any sort of source. JB Hunt was another one in that vein. Coyote on the other hand had the best platform hands down. Really this is a megabroker dream tool and to be honest all it does is allows the lowest common denominators even easier access to run down rates. Where do you think people who can't speak english book their freight? Most of the business out here, especially business that's any good and requires competence at all levels, is smaller scale than that - still requires actual people who can talk with each other work out issues in a sensible and timely manner.