Another "Uber for freight"?

Hello!

I am in the process of launching what the industry now calls "another Uber for freight".

With 2 years of research, hard work and spending hard earned cash (lots of it), We are very close to completing the technical work and having a ready to launch product by the end of the year. But, ... so what we have an app. Now comes the hard work of actually getting people to use it.

The concept is very close to "Convoy" with some minor differences.

I have found myself spending numerous hours every night researching why similar companies have failed. A good example is a company called Keychain logistics. That managed to raise $2,520,000 in seed funding and completely collapsed.

I ask you, the "potential users". What do you expect a system to deliver? All these new companies are trying to become the next CH Robinson, or Landstar. Just another broker with 70% focus on sales (to shippers) and 30% on keeping the technology working.

There are over 15,000 registered brokers in the US. They vary in size, but the majority is small businesses with personal relations to the shippers that use them.
I have been trying to find a formula where we assist those brokers, not steal their jobs.

What are they doing wrong? What would you need in order to use this system?

 

Thank you! , I think we will need it!

 

Absolutely this seems to be the preferred way.
I have though found many discussions online, many on this forum, suggesting that bidding, winning a bid, driving and getting paid without a single phone call is what they prefer and want.

there are people still calling a taxi company, they dont want to use an app. its just what they are used to do.

 

First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time to write this reply.

As you indicated, my thoughts are lost between the two concepts. And it is the main reason for asking for feedback here.

Profit is the main motivator behind any business, but at the same time a person gets prouder of his work when it makes a difference, no matter how small.

I do not believe Convoy to be an impersonal "broker". They do have account managers who deal with shippers directly, and maintain contact. The approach on the transporter side is more of an impersonal one. But it might not be wrong in this case?

Yourself as a broker, know that most orders come from the customers Computer system (SAP EDI) or similar and are processed without communication. it is when a challenge takes place, let it be a delay or something that needs a human to solve it, that a broker (or an account manager) picks up the phone and gets to business.

Again, I am here in an attempt to listen to others input and thoughts and to learn more about people from within the business.

Thank you!

 

Thank you for your input.

Bidding is actually the very foundation of our concept. We are trying to transform what can be described as an "offline" business flow to a "Live online" flow.

Like everything else, it does comes with advantages and disadvantages. It works great when things go smooth, you get all the info in one page, the shipper is always aware of the current status, ETA and location of the freight.
When things don't go as planned, human intervention takes place.
As this is a 24h business, I agree with you that the system needs to be monitored by humans and later on by AIs to minimize scalping.