“Uber” and freight transport

As expected, some companies have already emerged that call themselves the “Uber” of cargo transport. A simple internet search identifies 5 to 10 companies with this purpose without much effort.

As marketing, they promise up to 30% in freight reduction. Therefore, migrating to this service is a strong temptation. It is worth remembering that freight is usually responsible for 60% of a company's logistics costs.

For transporters and transport contractors, this new world can indeed present good opportunities. Users' increased demand for service levels has made applications more robust, increasingly mirroring everyday reality and allowing contractors the possibility of indicating the vehicle and driver profile they wish to have. By the way, badly evaluated drivers or vehicles tend not to consolidate in this new business model.

One challenge is to give up the fixed contract, which guarantees fleet availability and an agreed level of service, in order to migrate to 100% spot contracts. In times of more heated economy, this may not work, given that, in general, these applications use the market law (supply and demand) and, therefore, the greater the demand, the more expensive the service.

On the other hand, in times of great idleness in cargo transport, such as the current economic climate, these applications can indeed represent a good opportunity.

Migration requires caution and a more detailed study, in which the operational characteristics involved are analyzed. For dedicated operations, the “Uber” model generally does not apply. For companies more concerned with the fleet, a little more attention should also be paid, given that, normally, the self-employed are the largest providers of cargo and, consequently, the fleet tends to be older.

In any case, the technology exists, it is available and it is up to each company to assess whether or not it is worth entering this new modality.