Uber for freight has been in the news as a way for motor carriers to find freight fast. Motor carriers across North America are curious about how the popular on-demand rides program will work with Uber for truckers seeking on-demand freight services. Some industry veterans wonder about the process and the pricing. Is Uber for trucking industry professionals like a free truck load board? At this point questions abound.
Here are a few common questions about the Uber truck service:
How does Uber Freight work?
Uber Freight is basically a smart-phone mobile app dedicated to finding loads for truckers. It lets motor carriers search for and claim loads posted by shippers. The app is like some free truck load boards with rates: it includes the payment for each load listed. Those payments are determined by the number of miles, the type and weight of the cargo, and the location. Surge pricing can also take effect, just like the surge prices that take place with Uber rides during rush hour, bad weather, and other times that affect supply and demand of available cars and drivers.
Motor carriers can book loads a few weeks in advance or immediately. Unlike the program that blindly matches up a rider to a driver, the Uber Freight program lets motor carriers browse through possible loads and click on the one they want.
Where are most Uber Freight loads located?
Currently the Uber Freight app lists a very limited number of loads available for motor carriers to cover. At this point, many of those loads are located in Texas, where the company started with routes between Houston, Austin, and Dallas and where they have tried out driverless truck deliveries. However, some loads are located across the country. The company’s goal is to begin listing more loads in more locations very soon so it will be more like other free load boards for truckers.
What kind of freight is on the Uber Freight app?
The types of cargo available on the Uber Freight app are limited to whatever freight can be carried in the equipment that Uber requires at this point: 53-foot dry vans and refrigerated trucks. Loads typically can include food products and beverages and merchandise of all sorts.
FreeFreightSearch offers choices
For many years, load boards for truckers have been a reliable way for motor carriers to find freight and develop relationships with shippers and freight brokers. Thousands of motor carriers use the world’s largest free freight-matching load board: FreeFreightSearch.com. With tens of thousands of loads listed at any given time, drivers of a wide variety of equipment can find loads available across the country. To register now, click here.