Freightera, a Vancouver-based digital trucking service founded in 2014 by Jared and Eric Beckwitt, is reshaping the landscape of freight transport in Canada. The platform empowers truck drivers with improved access across an expanded network of obstructions-adjusted routes. Simultaneously, it costs customers more in their inability to find trustworthy transport solutions. Jared is a Canadian long-haul truck driver who monitors several screens from his truck’s cab. That allows him to more quickly and effectively win the work he should be going after.
Ms Levesque’s Freightera also ranks among the largest players in Canada’s high-growth digital trucking market. Second, it provides intense dynamic competition with large incumbents, like Uber Freight. The site’s biggest claim to uniqueness is that it lets carriers post their own rates. It gives them control to set fares according to what they value as needed to be profitable. This flexibility is especially important in an industry where the stakes are high and margins can be thin.
Freightera’s digital trucking marketplace lets anyone instantly search across and book an astounding 20 billion everyday freight routes. You know the fastest route in only a few seconds! This efficiency aims to minimize the number of trucks traveling without cargo, addressing a significant concern in the industry: trucking accounts for more than half of CO2 emissions related to trade transport.
Eric Beckwitt imagines a day when the now nascent technology of automation and artificial intelligence will take over all freight operations on the planet. His vision is an industry that moves people and goods more efficiently and sustainably thanks to the breakthroughs in technologies.
“It’s just so much more energy-efficient and so much more cost-efficient,” – Eric Beckwitt
Freightera’s new platform combines powerful predictive real-time market data with AI-powered smart recommendations to save shippers money and time. This technology greatly improves carriers’ abilities to get smart decisions on their routes and their loads. According to a company spokesperson, “Our platform leverages real-time market data, but it brings AI-driven recommendations to enable carriers to spend more time on the road.”
For all its innovative ways of doing business, Freightera is not immune to the uncompromising criticisms of the labor movement. Canada Teamsters, the Canadian Trade Union, has expressed their opposition, furious over moves to “Uberise” the trucking industry. Yet they caution this rapid digitalization poses several threats to workers and the industry.
Christopher Monette, a representative for truck drivers, emphasizes that the focus should be on improving working conditions and pay rather than simply introducing new technologies.
“Truckers don’t need another app. We need stronger protections and bigger paycheques,” – Christopher Monette
The opposing narratives on the future of trucking expose the conflict between innovation and workers’ rights. Digital platforms simplify the process and reduce the cost. They spark a crucial discussion around protecting jobs and ensuring drivers are paid fairly.
Freightera’s co-founder, Stockburger, says that the predictability of demand for service is one of the biggest benefits to carriers. He notes that the platform has maintained consistent growth even throughout challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent inflationary pressures.
“Carriers really appreciate Freightera’s reliable demand for service, which has grown every year consistently, right through Covid, the inflation afterwards, and the current freight recession,” – Eric Beckwitt
Digital trucking services have significantly increased their adoption both domestically and abroad. Countries such as Kenya and China are seeing their markets begin to shift in the same direction. LORI, Africa’s largest digitized freight platform, has grown its network to 20,000 trucks since launching in 2016.
The development of digital trucking services is a huge step forward in freight management. Transportation providers have the ability to browse available loads, according to their own preferences—lane, equipment type, commodity, schedule, etc. They can either book immediately at published rates or place bids that are a closer match to their requested fleet.
“Flexibility, transparency, and choice are built directly into our platform,” – Uber Freight spokesperson
Drivers such as Jared showcase an incredulous attitude toward automation at all costs. There is a recognition that human oversight has played a historic, indispensable role in safety within transportation.
“Transportation has been around for hundreds of years. It’s not going to end with people worrying about self-driving trucks; that’s not going to happen any time soon,” – Jared
For freight transport, it often means cutting through “noisy, messy documents” laden with red tape. Last-minute fees and lost documentation can suddenly throw a wrench into delivery timetables. Beckwitt urges transparency and efficiency to get past these obstacles.
“Automatically assigning cargo to networks with the lowest capacity and allowing complete transparency, tracking, and even trading while they’re in travel,” – Eric Beckwitt