Project number: MF-2.1e

Funding source: Volvo Research and Educational Foundations

Performance period: 1/1/2015 to 10/1/2018

Project description

Load-matching technology for truckers and shippers helps an inefficient and often fragmented local trucking market by eliminating non-revenue-generating trips. The basic idea of the technology is to provide a real-time, GPS-based connection between shippers and carriers, somewhat similar to how Uber and Lyft connect drivers and passengers. There is reason to believe that the market for this kind of service will only grow; however, expansion will depend upon a combination of economic and political factors. The roll-out of load-matching services in Los Angeles will provide useful lessons for their adoption in other locations.

Our research investigates the role that data-driven analytics can play in improving goods-movement efficiency through load-matching technology. We have secured access to one company's data for analyzing factors that influence the supply of load-matched carriers in short-haul trucking operations. At the time of acquiring the data, this company was using loadmatching technology to connect over 400 businesses with more than 700 owner-operators in New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area.