Taxi app Uber is making its entry into the freight market with the new app Uber Freight. The service is coming to Europe next month, starting in the Netherlands.
With the new app, the US company aims to connect truck drivers and clients. In the Americas, the system has been working for two years, now it needs to prove itself in Europe as well.
The app has the advantage for companies of making it easier to find a carrier. Moreover, the price is already fixed and freight can be monitored via the app. For carriers, the advantage would be mainly in the quick payment and ease of finding new orders.
Efficiency
Uber is gambling with the app not only on independents, but also on other carriers. According to the US company, a fifth of all truck miles are travelled without freight and there is a dire shortage of drivers. Couple that with the calculation that the European transport market is worth over €350 billion and you can understand why Uber is descending here. Uber thinks it can make the market more efficient.
The company says it will comply with all European laws and regulations. Uber Freight operates as a so-called 'freight forwarder'. 'That means we can match shippers who want to ship their goods with carriers that comply with applicable rules,' Uber writes in a press release.
Regional newspaper De Limburger presented the app to a few logistics service providers, who responded positively. 'The app is similar to Uber's taxi app. You see everything at a glance, including a calendar with fares,' Mark Breman, business developer at logistics service provider KLG Europe, told the newspaper. 'They have developed great technology at Uber.' Het Financieele Dagblad notes an important difference: a company can book orders days in advance. The carrier chooses the load itself and is therefore not assigned a ride as with the taxi service.
