Uber getting into trucker

Dear Carriers and O/O

Dont count your eggs before they hatch, if its not us broker taking a share its uber/amazon they mean their own good and not yours and I highly doubt this will pass the legal process and I think DAT and internet truck stop could of come up with this and apparently they didn't so....

 

@Sammybp - If the process is smoother and eliminates a lot of unnecessary shenanigans and outright thuggery prevalent with most brokers then I'm all for paying Uber and/or Amazon their cut and letting the old style middle man wither on the vine. You would be mistaken to assume you can't or want ever be replaced. The same could be said for any of us.

A big problem.out here with the vast majority of brokers I speak with is a total lack of correct information and a complete disconnect on dealing with problems. And these people are connecting 2 other parties that just should not ever happen.

I get this at least 10 times a day when I'm posted and taking calls from your fellow brokers.

Broker - "Yeah I got a load picking up in uh, uh, uh, uh Gadsden, AL today going to Maryland"

Me - "what kind of equipment are you looking for" (why do these guys always assume other people can read their mind....???)

Broker - "reefer"

Me - "what is the product? and what are the details"

Broker - "uh it's a reefer load -10*"

Me - "what is the product? The product? A lot of fresh chicken comes out of there is this chicken?"

Broker - "uh, uh it's frozen food product -10* uh, uh, hold on let me ask (mumbling in the background asking someone is this chicken what is the freight) uh, uh yeah its chicken"

Me - "OK not interested have a nice day"

In other words dilly dally for 2 or 3 minutes over a load i'm not interested in. My truck isn't even posted with Maryland as a destination. Maryland of course is awfully vague. Why do these guys call all the time and don't even know what the freight is they are trying to cover? ...... I could go on and on.. in fact that's probably one of the "smarter" ones.... some of them want to waste more time with nonsense. Can't get to the point... I see no value in someone like that and am reasonably sure when issues arise communication will end up a comedy of errors, lies, or whatever..

 

you can say all you want about bad brokers the rate sucks the information is incorrect etc. but once this new idea gets airborne OMG will they dictate the trucking industry they will give you a run for your money they will monitor every move you do from timing, communication, damages, one bad review on your company and your in deep trouble

 

I've been wondering what, if any buzz is going on in the broker community with stories like this or the Amazon app that's being discussed in another section of the forum. Drivers are freaking out to varying degrees about self driving trucks so I'm curious what the flip side of the coin is. Tech doesn't discriminate about who they take down and one good app/system could decimate the broker community like Uber did to taxis.

 

I sift thru and weed out worthless brokers with little to no info and poor rates. None of those things you speak of - timing, communication, damages - are anything I don't already deal with in the normal course of the service I provide. Do you think as a broker you are indespensible to resolve and work through these issues and no-one else could figure it out? I'll do the same with any app that doesn't suit my needs as I do now with any worthless broker, weed them out.

 

The smart ones are invested and active in this sort of change. The ones who think they're indisposable are in for a rude awakening.

 

just another way to rip us off

 

Spot market price constantly changes, lets say in February, shipper can move a load from Atlanta to Indianapolis for $1.20 thru the Uber app. Great! May comes and shipper sees that his load sitting on Uber app for 5 days and nobody is taking it. Shipper has to figure out whats going, assumes he has has to raise the price, but does not know by how much, $1.5, $2, $3??? He has ask to ask somebody who knows the rates and calls good old CH Robinson. Truck shows up within couple hours and shipper ditches UBER app and goes back to using brokers
.
Another scenario. Uber makes it the same $2 per mile no matter what you do and where you go. Midwest people are gonna be like great, I dont have have to pay $3 per mile for my freight to go to North East, but North East people would be like, WTH, for the last 10 years my freight has been moved for $1.5.

Shipping departments and brokers exist, because there is a need for them. It would be very hard for the app to do the whole load planning, scheduling, etc...
If somebody wants to try an app, try Convoy, you'll get an idea

 

I remember in the mid 90's real estate agents were concerned with MLS and their job security when everybody was signing on AOL. Somehow they're still there and do just as good as back then.