Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/833076
PULSE June 2017 | Overdrive | 5 nature of our economic system and private enter- prise, many owner-opera- tors and small carriers will have to go bankrupt first." Carlisle urged hours flexibility sooner than later. "Allow them to make the decision when they are fatigued and need a break — remove the penalty of lost work time if they take a break," he wrote. "Reward guys who choose to take a break for whatever they need." Uber's entry into load-matching as a technol- ogy-enabled broker isn't quite as sexy as news about autonomous trucks, but it's gotten its share of business world interest. Like self-driv- ing trucks, there's a sense of it being the Next Big Thing in trucking. And not in 10 years, or one year, but tomorrow. Yes, Uber Freight's impact on trucking will be virtually immediate, but no, it won't be nearly as significant as autonomous trucks. And yes, autonomous trucks eventually will have a huge impact on trucking, but no, it will take years, possibly decades, to reach that point. Some of those reporting on Uber Freight's announcement, enamored by Uber's ride-matching achievements, offered little of the context we know well: that load-matching has been evolving for decades. A CNBC report of the Uber Freight announcement, for exam- ple, said absolutely nothing about Uber-like brokerage and freight-marketplace competitors who already use apps and a degree of automa- tion that appears to differ little from what Uber Freight is offering. So will Uber Freight be noticeably better than load-matchers already offering instant freight to any independent able to tap a smart- phone app? The company says the biggest difference will be quick payment, "within a couple days" or "within 7 days of completing delivery," depending on which Uber statement you look at. Uber's also promising some decent acces- sorials, such as detention at $75 per hour after two hours and $300 per day layover pay. Another crucial aspect of dealing with brokers is negotiating. It's missing with Uber Freight, though Senior Product Manager Eric Berdinis told my colleague Todd Dills it might eventually be incorporated. It's hard to imag- ine that the vast majority of Uber rates are so high that owner-operators would not want to bargain before accepting the loads, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Berdinis says Uber's deep expertise with pricing fluctuations in the ride-share market will translate well into pricing freight. Perhaps that experience will indeed give the company an edge that also benefits its owner-operator users, who could use some good news. After all, they've had their share of knocks: tighten- ing credit during the recession, skyrocketing prices for new trucks, and an expanding regu- latory machine that's toughest on small operators. New competition that results in load-matching progress won't directly solve those problems, but for a change it could be a development that helps the small guys instead of the big fleets. More sophisticated matching, combined with the availability of real-time lane data, gives nimble owner-opera- tors a better chance to custom- ize their business as far as net income and efficient route planning. The technologies are there, and expanding, for those willing to learn to use them. Uber antes up mheine@randallreilly.com By Max Heine Editorial director Will the parent company's experience in ride-sharing give Uber Freight a true edge in load-matching? More hours voices, via OverdriveOnline.com: Clinton Seals: I feel that if they just give us a 16-hour window and let us have our 11-hour drive time, and give us a four-hour on-duty, for example, and let us decide when we want to take our breaks and quit forcing that silly half-hour rule down our throats, maybe we might have this hours of service problem resolved. Walter Prychodko: A two-hour sleeper berth at any time in a 16-hour window [to] extend the 14 to 16 … James Guilbault: Good luck getting these lawmakers to lis- ten to the people who actually live this job. Phil Casey: The one way to stop all this: Pay the driver and the truck by the hour during the 14-hour window. Caught in traffic due to an accident. The forklift driver has a two-hour meeting before he unloads you. Doesn't matter the reason — pay by the hour for every minute of the 14-hour clock. … I know it is wishful thinking, but if I am an owner and I have to pay you while my forklift driver is in a meeting, I will have the lift driver unload the truck.