BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS
MOTOR FREIGHT
THERE MAY BE NO PRIVATE TRUCK FLEET
in the U.S. with as much heft as PepsiCo’s. Each
day, about 19,000 Pepsi trucks hit the road carrying such well-known brands as Pepsi, Doritos,
Quaker Oats, and Gatorade. But as with other private fleets, what Pepsi lacks, after its drivers deliver
their loads, is a steady flow of return-haul traffic
for those trucks.
That’s where a company called 10-4 Systems
Inc. comes in. Through its IT network, Boulder,
Colo.-based 10-4 searches for, identifies, and
notifies Pepsi of regional backhaul opportunities
matching its drivers’ locations. Pepsi’s labor costs
are already sunk as its drivers are paid for round-trips anyway, so the revenue from the return hauls
is gravy. Pepsi functions like a motor carrier, making its network available to fellow shippers. “Pepsi
wants to deal with other shippers because they are
like-minded people,” said Travis Rhyan, 10-4’s
co-founder and president.
10-4 is not a traditional broker. It does not
hold operating authority from the Department
of Transportation, even though Rhyan said 10-4
could generate substantial business if the company had a license (he noted that 10-4 doesn’t want
the responsibility that accompanies it). Rather,
10-4 considers itself a source of capacity on behalf of fleets of six to 25 trucks, the backbone of the
country’s fleet. The Pepsi arrangement may not seem like a traditional brokerage arrangement.
However, 10-4’s technology matches trucks with shipper loads that Pepsi might otherwise be
unaware of, a service that could be provided by a traditional broker.
About 1,000 miles to the west in Venice Beach, Calif., a company called Cargomatic plies its trade
in a somewhat different way. Though a self-styled “technology” concern, it also holds a brokerage
license, believing the authority serves as an asset in attracting business. Like Rhyan, Brett Parker,
transportationreport
Leveraging Uber-like technology,
newbies like 10-4 Systems,
Cargomatic, and BoxSmart seek to
blaze a new—and inclusive—trail in
the truck brokerage field.
Brokerage
uber alles!
