Digital Freight Marketplaces: The Uberization of Trucking Explained

July 7, 2025

Digital freight marketplaces promise to simplify shipping, but automation cannot replace experienced freight brokers. Learn why the largest marketplace failed and why human expertise still matters.

Digital Freight Brokers Are Just Automated Freight Brokers

Digital freight marketplaces sound impressive. But let’s call it what it is. They are automated freight brokers with flashy apps. These platforms promise to replace humans with technology. Investors bought the hype. In 2022, over 18 billion dollars flowed into digital freight marketplaces worldwide. The goal was to simplify shipping with automation.

The Reality Behind the Hype

Trucking is not that simple. Freight moves across states, not neighborhoods. The average haul is 500 miles in the United States. Drivers face strict regulations and unpredictable road conditions. Booking freight takes human experience. Selling and dispatching takes time. Numbers of variables come into play that require a large degree of discretion. At a time in which carrier vetting is of paramount importance, AI and automated platforms are far from a complete solution. Simply put, automated freight brokers cannot replace that hands-on work.

If It Works, Why Did the Biggest Fail?

Convoy was the largest digital freight marketplace. It raised over 1 billion dollars from investors like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates. It operated with more than 50,000 carriers. But by late 2023, Convoy shut down. The company blamed market conditions. In truth, technology could not replace human oversight. Freight is too nuanced for full automation.

Automated Freight Brokers Sound Good but Fall Short

Take Uber Freight for example. While Uber Freight has achieved some positive operational milestones, it has not consistently generated a profit and has experienced periods of significant losses. The company has seen improvements in areas like EBITDA and revenue growth, but overall, Uber Freight has not yet reached sustained profitability. Freight has variables technology cannot solve. Drivers miss details. Weather delays happen. Equipment breaks down. Automated freight brokers miss those real-world problems. You get what you pay for. Lower costs come with higher risks. Many shippers learned this lesson when loads were delayed or lost.

The Bottom Line

Digital freight marketplaces promised a marketplace akin to rideshare, but freight is not rideshare. Automation has limits. Human expertise still drives the supply chain forward.