Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

newsworthy

Autonomous brokerage dispatches freight to driverless truck

Loadsmart and Starsky Robotics say no humans necessary to price, book, and load a shipment.

The future of trucking will rely on autonomous brokerages dispatching freight to autonomous trucks without human involvement, according to a pair of logistics startups that announced today they had completed a test of that system.

San Francisco-based industrial automation provider Starsky Robotics provided the self-driving truck, while the autonomous freight broker was New York-based Loadsmart, a digital freight brokerage backed by venture funding from the investment arm of shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk and other VC firms.


According to the partners, the announcement marks the first time an autonomous truck company and a digital broker have collaborated to price, book, and load a shipment without any people in the loop. When scaled up to widespread use, that pattern can help solve predicted shortages of truck drivers by automating the traditional freight flow, they said.

While the partners' ambitious plan took a step forward today, they have a long way to go before bringing their bundle of automated brokerage and trucking to a wider audience. The digital freight matching (DFM) sector is crowded with well-funded startups fighting for market share, with additional entries frequently joining the throng. Yesterday, a firm called Flock Freight unveiled its rebranded algorithmic freight carpooling approach, and argued it would have a seat at the table alongside the other app-based tools.

Likewise, providers of autonomous trucks are still in the early stages of that industry, taking test runs to trial the technology while working to clear legal and regulatory hurdles. Most recently, self-driving trucking firm Kodiak Robotics said Tuesday it had opened a testing and freight operations office in Dallas and started making deliveries.

To make their transaction happen, Loadsmart connected its network of customers with Starsky's fleet of regular and self-driving trucks by integrating two application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow computers to automatically share information—Loadsmart's Automated Dispatch API and Starsky's Hutch API.

The news also marked the launch of Starsky's Hutch API, which allows users to autonomously dispatch autonomous loads on a regular basis, Starsky Robotics CEO and Founder Stefan Seltz-Axmacher said in a release. "Today, for the first time ever, the advances that seem obvious for the ride-sharing services are coming to trucking," Seltz-Axmacher said. "It's not uncommon for a traditional trucking company to have 5 full-time employees involved in dispatching each truck for each load. By integrating e-brokers like Loadsmart, we are eliminating all back office human intervention and making the shipment process seamless, while focusing on ensuring the safety of driverless trucks."

In the long term, the partners plan to bring that capability to a wider audience by linking their automated processes to shippers' transportation management system (TMS) software. "Our ability to connect shipper demand with autonomous capacity will turn the industry on its head—knowing when and where a truck is available and where it wants to go will automatically trigger our TMS integration to price and book the best load for that specific truck," Hunter Yaw, vice president of product at Loadsmart, said in a release. "We are moving from a load-to-truck world, to a truck-to-load one. Carriers will benefit from this feature by keeping their trucks full days in advance."

The Latest

More Stories

Warehouse automation project orders fell 3% in 2024

Warehouse automation project orders fell 3% in 2024

Warehouse automation orders declined by 3% in 2024, according to a February report from market research firm Interact Analysis. The company said the decline was due to economic, political, and market-specific challenges, including persistently high interest rates in many regions and the residual effects of an oversupply of warehouses built during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The research also found that increasing competition from Chinese vendors is expected to drive down prices and slow revenue growth over the report’s forecast period to 2030.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

screenshot of kodiak hub software

Swedish supply chain tech firm Kodiak Hub expands to U.S.

The Swedish supply chain software company Kodiak Hub is expanding into the U.S. market, backed by a $6 million venture capital boost for its supplier relationship management (SRM) platform.

The Stockholm-based company says its move could help U.S. companies build resilient, sustainable supply chains amid growing pressure from regulatory changes, emerging tariffs, and increasing demands for supply chain transparency.

Keep ReadingShow less

Logistics gives back: February 2025

Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

  • For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
  • Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
  • Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
  • Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
  • Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Catch a thief, stop a vandal

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have seen slow and steady growth, as the vehicles continue to gain converts among consumers and delivery fleet operators alike. But a consistent frustration for drivers has been pulling up to a charging station only to find that the charger has been intentionally broken or disabled.

To address that threat, the EV charging solution provider ChargePoint has launched two products to combat charger vandalism.

Keep ReadingShow less
ATRI releases annual list of nation’s top truck bottlenecks

ATRI releases annual list of nation’s top truck bottlenecks

New Jersey is home to the most congested freight bottleneck in the country for the seventh straight year, according to research from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), released today.

ATRI’s annual list of the Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks aims to highlight the nation’s most congested highways and help local, state, and federal governments target funding to areas most in need of relief. The data show ways to reduce chokepoints, lower emissions, and drive economic growth, according to the researchers.

Keep ReadingShow less