Dive Brief:
- Oracle and Uber Freight have partnered to bring real-time quotes from the broker to the Oracle Transportation Management Cloud, according to a press release, in the latest of a growing list of brokerage technology startups and transportation management system (TMS) team-ups.
- The Oracle platform also integrates quotes from Loadsmart and other digital brokers that the software giant has yet to announce, a spokesperson told Transport Dive sister publication Supply Chain Dive.
- Uber Freight similarly partnered with MercuryGate and SAP last year and BluJay last month. Convoy also partnered up with BluJay in 2019.
Dive Insight:
Though Uber Freight and the long list of competitive startups — which includes Transfix, Loadsmart, NEXT Trucking, KeepTruckin and Opus9 — tout the convenience of their mobile apps, transportation managers often work on desktop computers and would be slowed by flipping between multiple platforms to check rates.
In this way, Uber Freight's growing portfolio of TMS integrations shows some recognition that brokerage is not a function in which shippers have traditionally demonstrated much loyalty, and new brokers need to meet them where they are without expecting behavioral changes. (Though Uber Freight launched in 2017, it was not available on a desktop computer until 2019.)
Being a digital-native company has advantages in a slowly but steadily digitizing industry. These partnerships, which integrate digital brokerage platforms with TMS software via an API, offer more access to real-time pricing and tendering capability. Oracle and BluJay touted Uber Freight's quick onboarding and integration processes in their partnership announcements.
Uber Freight's partnership with Oracle follows the announcement of a partnership with Ryder's rental arm, Coop, and newly formed business-management platform CloudTrucks. Together, the companies are offering Uber rideshare drivers a way to enter into the spot market.
Uber Freight bookings were up 55% year over year for the first quarter of 2020.
