The full truckload shipping industry is ripe for disruption — and worth about $726 billion.
Traditionally, the industry has been seeped in old-school practices, dependent on paper, phone and fax for booking and managing shipping loads. New York based startup Transfix, an on-demand trucking provider, is on a mission to change that.
The company was founded back in 2013 to provide an online marketplace that matches shipments with available trucks, using algorithms that pair freight with trucks based on location to reduce the number of “empty miles” driven by truckers. This marketplace brings a new level of transparency, automation and efficiency to full truckload shipping, improving communication between companies and their drivers writ-large. Ultimately, this two-sided marketplace decreases shipping costs while increasing pay for drivers, as the data for all shipments is streamlined onto a single platform.
Today, the company announced it raised a $42 million Series C round, led by New Enterprise Associates with additional investments from Canvas Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and other strategic investors.
“There is a lot of misinformation in the freight industry which creates pressure, impossible — and sometimes dangerous — deadlines, misdeliveries and ultimately the failure to satisfy customers. It’s a problem that’s ecosystem-wide, not just limited to a single part or parcel. That’s why we’re focused on providing a comprehensive solution for the supply chain,” said Transfix CEO and founder Drew McElroy in a statement. “We’re thankful to our partners for enabling us to provide our customers with opportunities to uncover hard and soft cost savings and new revenue opportunities for shippers and carriers alike.”
Transfix is already working with many of the world’s largest retailers, consumer-packaged goods brands and manufacturers to streamline and optimize full-truck-load shipment logistics. Transfix plans on using the funding to grow its technology and enterprise sales teams.
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