Uber Freight Expands Procurement Solutions with Market Access

Market Access shippers can place loads directly on Uber Freight’s marketplace of 70,000+ carriers and use Uber Freight’s AI-powered pricing algorithms

The past year’s volatility tested the freight market in novel ways. Traditionally, businesses rely on 2 methods to procure freight: contract and spot. But as markets have been upended and supply chain needs have rapidly evolved, long-term contracts have become less reliable. Shippers have faced record-low capacity, a surging spot market, and unprecedented demand as they work to stabilize and adapt their businesses. Now shippers increasingly need flexible, real-time procurement channels that can rapidly adapt to meet their changing needs. 

Today we are further expanding our real-time freight procurement offerings by introducing Market Access. This strategic procurement channel enables shippers to reliably source capacity directly on the Uber Freight marketplace with confidence and visibility into costs. 

Uber Freight has continued to introduce innovative solutions to help our shipper partners navigate an evolving market. In the past year, we’ve expanded the Uber Freight API, enabling customers to receive real-time pricing quotes from Uber Freight on a wider range of TMS solutions and leverage our capacity when other routing guide carriers fail.

Now with Market Access, shippers can place loads directly on Uber Freight’s marketplace of 70,000+ carriers and use Uber Freight’s AI-powered pricing algorithms to competitively source capacity. Upon delivery, shippers will pay the carrier cost realized on the Uber Freight marketplace plus a pre-agreed-upon fee, gaining full cost transparency. Shippers who need additional control can log in to Uber Freight Enterprise to apply pricing guardrails or change the pricing priority for particular loads. This lets them influence the marketplace outcome based on current needs and specific lane knowledge.

Several enterprise shippers around the US are already using Market Access to substantially reduce transportation cost and streamline logistics operations. In Q4 2020, a top volume user of Market Access reported high single-digit percentage savings on low-volume lanes compared to alternative procurement channels. Frequently, individual load savings were more than 10%. In another customer case, with the need for manual procurement removed, the automated load execution provided by Market Access led to reported operational savings of around $50 per load. 

Longtime Uber Freight partner LG has added Market Access to its procurement mix—which already includes the dynamic Uber Freight API—to gain even more control over the cost of spot loads on low volume lanes.

“We decided to introduce Market Access at LG both because of the trust we’ve built up with Uber Freight and because there was such a unique need for a procurement offering like this. Market Access allows us to access competitive rates on inconsistent volume, especially important in a tight market. Every time Uber Freight rolls out a new feature or product—facility ratings, Powerloop, dedicated lanes, Market Access, and so on—we’re always eager to introduce it to the team and into our workflows.”

Paul Heffernan, VP of Supply Chain, LG Electronics USA 

Market Access helps shippers like LG source capacity for all their unplanned freight, including volume surges, low volume, and volatile lanes where traditional contract procurement tends to fail. For this type of freight, Market Access enables shippers to source capacity efficiently in real time while maintaining market visibility, control over cost, and high levels of service. 

This new procurement offering can be used alongside any TMS solution, without any complex integrations, letting shippers introduce it into their procurement mix immediately. In addition, Uber Freight will provide intuitive reporting so that shippers can validate their cost savings. 

Market Access rounds out the shipper portfolio of reliable, digital procurement solutions underpinned by Uber Freight’s real-time pricing capabilities and robust carrier network. Altogether, tools like Market Access and Uber Freight’s API integrations that are more efficient and reliable help shippers spend less time planning loads or adjusting to unexpected variables and more time delivering value to their customers.

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