In February, Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER) released its fourth-quarter earnings, showcasing its subsidiary, Uber Freight, which experienced momentous 43% growth in gross bookings, rising from $219 million in the fourth quarter last year to $313 million in the fourth quarter this year.
In a prepared statement presented with the earnings report, Uber explained the improvement of bookings was related to the release of the Uber Freight Enterprise offering in September that attracted the growing number of shippers looking for technology to de-risk their supply chains. The company’s technology offering, combined with its API capabilities, gives shippers access to Uber Freight’s marketplace of more than 70,000 carriers that can be matched with their shipments using AI-powered pricing algorithms.
On Tuesday, Uber Freight expanded its procurement capabilities with the launch of Market Access. This feature supports shippers with tools to source capacity in volatile times.
In an interview with FreightWaves, Bill Driegert, co-founder and head of operations for Uber Freight, expressed the importance of shippers knowing their supply chain risks in real time.
“With Market Access, shippers gain risk transparency,” Driegert said. “In a market, not every shipper has the same needs. This tool puts the risk in the shippers’ hands so they can make decisions based on their companies’ specific needs.”
This solution enables shippers to influence the marketplace outcome by applying pricing guardrails and establishing pricing priority for unplanned shipments, constructing a new way for shippers to manage their supply chains.
“Multiple times a year, shippers have to rely on RFQ [request for quotation] proposals in order to build a procurement plan they can depend on,” said Driegert. “This solution removes the need for those processes because shippers will have access to our capacity at all times.”
Market Access empowers shippers with the knowledge base they often rely on freight brokerages to supply through sales representatives. Business owners can confidently scale their business knowing their procurement teams have the information at their fingertips.
“Shippers can educate themselves; the tools are now available,” said Driegert.
This article originally appeared on Freight Waves