New Convoy platform opens freight data to wide use

Online truck brokerage Convoy has launched an online software product that gives shippers direct access to the company's industry data and models, and could help users avoid overpaying on freight due to a lack of data, the company says.

Known as Shipper 2.0, the platform allows users to see Convoy's Market Outlook—showing current and future trends by region—and the company's Lane Network, which gives shippers real-time data about changes in their most important lanes, the firm said in a Nov. 29 release.

The Seattle-based company said any shipper can use the platform—whether or nor they are a current Convoy customer—thus exposing the data and analysis that Convoy uses daily to identify the right truck for the job.

Shipper 2.0 expands on Convoy's original Shipper Platform, the firm's product that provides shippers with tools to book their shipments, including instant quote, live track and trace, guaranteed capacity, and one-click shipment booking.

The product launch comes just three months after Convoy landed a whopping $185 million in financing from Google Inc.'s venture capital arm and other investors, and declared it would use the ample funding to accelerate product innovation and meet growing demand from shippers and carriers.