Uber Freight expands business to shippers

About a year after its launch, Uber Freight has built a new platform for shippers to move truckloads of goods around the country.

“This week we launched the Uber Freight platform for shippers so that way shippers can press a button and get a truck,” Uber Senior Product Manager Eric Berdinis told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Thursday. “It’s just like the Uber app, but instead of connecting riders and drivers, we connect shippers with motor carriers.”

Berdinis said the platform was built for small- and medium-sized shippers to provide them with some of the benefits that the larger shippers have.

“There are over a million shippers in the U.S. and roughly half a million trucking companies,” he said. “And Uber Freight lets shippers tell us ‘hey, we need to move a truckload from A to B’ and then the load shows up in our app so that drivers can find the next job.”

Uber Freight started in Texas last year and has expanded its business nationwide. They move 53-foot truckloads of a variety of goods ranging from water to fertilizers and insulation.

“We’ve been doubling our business every quarter,” said Berdinis. “And Uber is also doubling its investment in Uber Freight going into 2019.”