Dallas software startup joins "Uber for trucking" crowd

Logistics software startup Haulme LLC has released a digital freight matching (DFM) solution that provides an alternative to traditional load boards, brokers, and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) by allowing shippers to find truckers more efficiently, the company said Wednesday.

Dallas-based Haulme says its online transportation marketplace allows small and medium business (SMB) shippers to directly use the capacity of highly qualified, insured owner operators and small fleets. The company focuses on full truckload (TL), partial truckload (PTL), and heavy less-than-truckload (LTL) freight capacity for dry van, flatbed, auto haul, refrigerated, and tanker loads.

The company joins a crowd of recent entries to the freight-matching marketplace that offer variations on the so-called "Uber for trucking" model. These "sharing economy" apps all use technology to cut out the middleman by directly connecting companies that have a need with someone who can perform a service.

Examples include XYpper Technologies Inc., Transfix, 10-4 Systems Inc., and Cargomatic Inc. Even Uber Technologies Inc. itself threw its hat into the ring when it launched its UberFreight site last month.

Truck drivers use Haulme by opening an iOS or Android app on their smartphones to report capacity, routes, and travel dates. The system then automatically matches that capacity with shippers that have entered their freight requirements through Haulme's web pOréal.

The company says its DFM product is different from other "Uber for trucking" options because of its pricing capabilities. Haulme uses a proprietary pricing algorithm to give both parties market-competitive rates, and offers a "name your freight rate" option that allows shippers to request a rate which truckers can accept or decline.

"The transportation and logistics market is rapidly embracing technology to create efficiencies, and that includes reducing and even eliminating manual processes in truck transportation," Haulme President Andrew Kelley said in a release. "Our state-of-the-art software is designed to transform the way the industry operates and make life vastly easier for busy logistics professionals."

Approximately 400 truck drivers have downloaded the app to date, and Haulme plans to expand that number by focusing on small to medium shippers and highly qualified, insured truck owner operators and small fleets, a segment it says it underrepresented within the transportation and logistics industry. On the shipper side, Haulme is pushing a focus on the manufacturing, retail, and chemical industries.