**Kansas City**: The US trucking industry faces inefficiencies with 35% of trucks unladen. Uber Freight aims to tackle this using AI to optimise routing and reduce empty miles. CEO Lior Ron highlights the platform’s potential to significantly lower costs and enhance service for drivers and logistics firms.
The trucking industry in the United States is facing significant challenges with inefficiencies related to empty trucks on the road. A recent report highlighted that approximately 35% of all trucks on US freeways are unladen at any given time, leading to increased costs and environmental concerns. This effectively translates to truck drivers often returning home with empty trailers after delivering loads, resulting in wasted time and fuel.
In an effort to address these challenges, Uber Freight, a subsidiary of Uber Technologies, is leveraging artificial intelligence to optimise trucking operations. The platform, which launched in 2023, functions similarly to the Uber app for passengers. It connects truckers and trucking firms with various cargo loads, facilitating more efficient routing and reducing the prevalence of unproductive empty miles.
Lior Ron, the CEO of Uber Freight, detailed that the technology aims to significantly decrease empty truck rates, ideally to around 10%. “The ultimate goal is to make every mile of a trip a paid mile and make it worth everybody’s while that these guys are out there making deliveries,” Ron stated in an interview with Business Insider. While the objective has not been fully realised, the current advancements are promising.
The innovative platform employs machine learning to refine an algorithm that delivers upfront guaranteed pricing for trucking and freight. This technological setup has caught the attention of thousands of companies, including over 200 from the Fortune 500, facilitating the movement of more than $20 billion in freight. Ron elaborated that their algorithm evaluates numerous parameters—including weather, traffic conditions, and road closures—allowing for accurate pricing and efficient logistics management.
By utilising machine learning, Uber Freight works to improve vehicle routing, making it possible for trucks to carry loads more consistently and avoid the common scenario of returning empty. “By algorithmically designing the optimal route for the truck driver, the company has been able to reduce empty miles by between 10% and 15%,” Ron explained. This development is beneficial for vendors, trucking companies, drivers, and ultimately consumers, since improved transport efficiency generally leads to lower product prices.
Freddie Jimenez, owner of F&J Logistics Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri, shared his positive experience with the platform, noting the ease of planning his daily routes and securing loads that align with his timetable. “As a driver, the most important thing is staying on the move. I am not wasting hours waiting or worrying about where the next load is coming from,” Jimenez remarked to Business Insider.
The growing implementation of AI in logistics is part of a broader industry trend aimed at gaining competitive advantages. Jose Reyes, a senior director and analyst for Gartner’s supply chain division, pointed out that AI systems can efficiently analyse various factors to propose optimal routes in real-time. “This is a tremendous benefit in not only efficiency but with driver safety, load planning, and dispatching,” Reyes noted.
Moreover, Chris Caplice, executive director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, highlighted how continuous training of AI models can lead to better routing decisions and adaptability in the face of unforeseen challenges, such as variations in vehicle capacities. Such innovations demonstrate the ongoing evolution within the trucking sector.
Uber Freight is also utilising agentic AI, which simulates human interaction to enhance customer support. Ron revealed that this implementation could reduce response times for customer inquiries to approximately 30 seconds, a significant improvement from the previous five minutes. This efficiency is expected to help drivers spend less time navigating customer service for simple requests.
As Uber Freight continues to refine its technology and enhance the shipping experience for truckers and customers alike, the overall impact on the trucking industry in terms of efficiency, cost management, and sustainability remains to be observed.
Source: Noah Wire Services
Subscribe to Industry Updates
