Uber Freight launches Lane Explorer

Uber Freight, the freight brokerage arm of ridesharing firm Uber Technologies Inc., launched a real-time freight-quoting tool that allows shippers to lock in rates up to two weeks in advance, the company said today.

Powered by machine learning, Uber Freight's Lane Explorer is a predictive pricing tool that lets shippers view real-time market rates on their freight lanes so they can build loads that lock-in those rates, according to the company.

Uber Freight says the tool is like "Google Flights" for the freight industry, allowing users to search and compare availability and pricing from different carriers.

"Until now, the best way to get an accurate quote on a shipment was to call or email a truck and negotiate a load price," said Stefan Sohlstrom, product manager at Uber Freight. "Most shippers don't have time to do that, so they rely on their knowledge of past rates to know whether they're getting a good price for their freight. Lane Explorer is like calling up thousands of trucks for every day and every lane simultaneously, and seeing the best rate for each lane."

Uber Freight shipper Narragansett Beer has seen immediate improvements in efficiency and operations since implementing Lane Explorer, according to Narragansett's Vice President of Sales, Bill Heslam.

"One of the most important things about the Uber Freight platform is the transparency," Heslam said in a statement announcing the new tool. "It's great to be able to look at a two-week window and decide whether or not it makes sense to ship it on a Monday, Wednesday, or the following Monday. That visibility is something I haven't seen anybody else do."

Lane Explorer is available to any Uber Freight shipper, the company said.