Greenbrier – a private equity company – focused on logistics and transportation, is buying a stake in Uber Freight. Uber gets $500 Million, which values the Freight business at $3.3 Billion, and it also gets Greenbrier’s expertise. But Uber Freight is losing money – $50 Million on $211 Million in revenue for Q2, and it has a big challenge: become dominant in an area with lots of competitors like Convoy and Transfix as well as the more traditional freight brokers.
Brokers provide a valuable role in matching buyers and sellers. The “Uberization” of transportation (going digital) can only push more waste out of the supply chain. Recall that even top truckers like JB Hunt are currently running 19% deadhead (aka 19% waste).