Since its public launch in May, Uber Freight announced today that it will expand its freight-matching services into a number of new metros and corridors across the country. Uber Freight also noted the app has been updated to provide a more personalized experience for the trucker drivers who use it.
Eric Berdinis, product lead for Uber Freight, told Fleet Owner that since running a trial of the app since the end of 2016 and then the public launch in May, the business has grown about 10 times, and the company found that drivers wanted a more personalized experience as well as additional launch markets outside of Texas.
“Most of our loads in the app were Texas up until this point,” Berdinis explained. “We’ve been taking loads around the country as well to kind of feed out where our drivers like to drive, where their home base is, what routes they prefer.”
Based on that information, Uber Freight has expanded to California, Arizona, Chicago in the Midwest region, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina.
“It made perfect sense because if you look at where all the carriers are in the country those areas make up about a quarter or a little more of those driver home bases, as well as where freight moves,” Berdinis noted. “So it’s kind of a natural extension from our density that we’re building in Texas to build in those areas with a goal that every time a driver opens up the app, there are lots of options for them to choose from.”
Since launching in Texas, Berdinis has found that drivers who sign up for Uber Freight come back more and more every month. He added that more and more drivers are now booking their loads only on Uber Freight to run their business.
As part of the expansion, Berdinis stressed that it was also important to develop the apps to start becoming more responsive to what drivers want to see. The ultimate goal, he said, is to move to a future where a driver can open the app and the “perfect load for them is sitting right there on the front screen.”
“Today it is much more of an experience where the driver has to search for the loads they want,” he explained. “We want to learn from that driver’s history, where they like to run, when they’re going to be empty, where their home base is, and show them the loads that make the most sense for them.”
"We’re also announcing load recommendations, where if there is a load that matches those preferences, we’ll send out a notification to the driver as soon as that load is available so the app in that way works like the driver’s broker friend they used to have, so if there’s something that fits their preferences it will let them know,” he added.
In addition, the app will include new features that allow drivers to see categories or packs of loads that fit their preferences. In essence, local drivers, short-haul drivers, and long-haul drivers will be able to see specific packs that are tailored to those kinds of hauls.
Going forward, Berdinis told Fleet Owner, that Uber Freight will continue to expand where it makes sense to its user base.
