Uber Freight 2020 year in review: shipper products

Throughout the uncertainty of 2020, Uber Freight’s mission has remained our constant: we simplify the movement of goods to help communities thrive. It became clear early in the pandemic that our technology could play a crucial role in helping our customers adjust as we face this challenge together.

We saw the resilience of small businesses as they adapted their operations during an ever-changing environment. Technology solutions have historically underserved small businesses, but the team and technology behind Uber Freight has consistently evolved to support the growth of these customers—and 2020 was no exception. 

Last year we launched numerous features that better enable our customers to focus on their business rather than worrying about their supply chain. These releases include:

• Price alerts. Automatic email notifications increase pricing visibility for the lanes that matter most to our customers. 
• Flatbed 7-day pricing. Customers can book a flatbed load seamlessly with the real-time pricing they use for dry vans and reefers. 
• Live ETAs. Real-time updates, available 24/7, offer tracking links that our customers can share with their own customers. 
• Shipment ratings. Shippers can rate every delivered shipment, which helps our team continually improve service. 
• Billing page. A one-stop shop for all invoices, outstanding balances, and payment information minimizes administrative friction. 
• Referral program. Current customers are rewarded up to $500 for every new customer they refer to Uber Freight.

Expansion of enterprise offerings 

The uncertainty of 2020 also highlighted the need for innovation at an enterprise scale. COVID-19 upended norms and changed procurement standards, increasing the importance of APIs in building resilient supply chains. Throughout the year, we continued to evolve our pricing API by expanding into new modes and added several direct API integration partners, including Oracle, BluJay, Blue Yonder, and Cloud Logistics, to help eliminate countless hours of manual labor for our shippers and replace time-intensive processes, among other API benefits. 

The unpredictability brought on by the pandemic also affected our annual Deliver conference, which went virtual in September. There, we introduced 2 enterprise software solutions that put Uber’s technical power directly into the hands of large shippers: 

• Uber Freight Enterprise enables large-scale shippers to gain end-to-end control of their freight and source capacity through our vast marketplace with powerful controls to adjust coverage priority and pricing. 
• Uber Freight Link lets shippers leverage the power of our technology and its benefits across their entire carrier network, without relying on manual processes or one-to-one EDI connections with carrier TMSs. One-tap tendering, superior real-time visibility, proactive exception management, and digitized documentation are now within their reach. 

As we look to 2021, Uber Freight will continue to support our customers with the goal of reshaping and advancing logistics. We’ll keep leveraging our deep technology expertise and operational excellence to deliver reliability, flexibility, and transparency for the shippers and carriers we’re proud to support.