Uber Freight Adds Ratings Feature For Truckers

Uber Freight is taking another page out of the Uber app book with the introduction of a ratings feature designed to allow truckers to rate cargo facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday (Jan. 31).

For carriers using Uber Freight to book loads, the ratings feature can allow truckers to choose which loads they want to carry based on previous ratings. Past truckers can rate cargo facilities based on how long they had to wait at different sites, and how those facilities fare in offering amenities like overnight parking and bathrooms, reports said.

“Drivers and carriers will be able to provide feedback on facilities to help other drivers,” explained Uber Freight Carrier Product Lead Xinfeng Le in a statement.

Uber Freight added the ratings feature earlier this week. So far, more than 10,000 facilities in the U.S. have been rated during the two months the feature was in pilot testing.

“It provides a platform where shippers and carriers can speak to each other in a really constructive way,” said Uber Freight Director of Account Operations Kate Kaufman in an interview with the publication. She added that the rating feature is similar to that of the passenger ridesharing aspect of Uber’s business, allowing truckers to rate cargo facilities on a scale of 1 to 5. Truckers can provide optional written feedback.

The Wall Street Journal noted that manufacturers and retailers have been pressed to enhance their cargo facility offerings to attract truckers as capacity shrinks. Cargo volumes rose last year, which, reports said, gave truckers more leverage to choose which loads they decide to transfer.

This trend has also fueled the rise of the digital freight broker industry, which automates load matching and uses technology to set rates or identify supply chain delays.

Uber Freight rolled out its shipping platform last year to allow shippers to manage operations, tenders loads and track shipments from a personal computer.

In an interview with PYMNTS last year, Loadsmart Founder and CEO Ricardo Salgado discussed the challenge to managing freight and logistics as trucking capacity declines and the industry continues to rely on legacy technologies.