Western Railroad Discussion > Google, UberFreight may innovate the truckload freight business

The Wall Street Journal has an article today on Google and UberFreight expanding their involvement in the truckload freight business. Although each has had a presence in the business since 2017, JB Hunt's decision to migrate its 360 platform to Google's cloud may signal a new level of engagement. Google's use of machine learning seems made for shipper originations on repetitive orders.  The freight matching service (matching drivers looking for hauls with shippers looking for drivers) has been extremely fragmented, and dominated by very small companies or owner operators using little technology.  Shippers increasingly want more visibility into availability of drivers etc several days to two weeks ahead, and want real time info on where their load is.  And when it will be delivered.

"The trucking and logistics company will work with Google to develop machine-learning models to make better matches between shippers and carriers using its J.B. Hunt 360 platform, aiming to help shippers see supply and demand needs days into the future and carriers to estimate future fuel and other transportation costs."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-b-hunt-enlists-google-to-match-carriers-with-shippers-11613609003?mod=hp_minor_pos6

This optimization stuff has been tried with airline crew and planes for 30 years now.    It certainly works better than nothing, or just guessing, but it has its limits.  Ther are only so many drivers, and rigs and loads.  There only so much matching and juggling u can do.
  There are also lots of parameters that u have to build into your program...like weather delays and accidents, and who are you optimizing for....Google?  Uber?  the drivers? the shippers?    The all have different and often conflicting priorities.

Ever have Google maps optimize you route with an illegal turn, or ask u to cross 4 lanes in 100 feet in traffic,  or put you oin some residential side street with a stop sign every block,  just to save 12 seconds..or my favorite...asking u to use a highway entrance or exit that is closed.
If this system is as good as Google maps, Its certainly better than nothing, but I wouldnt get too excited.

As part of its agreement with Google, J.B. Hunt will migrate its 360 platform to Google Cloud, Google’s cloud-computing company, from Microsoft Corp.’s Azure cloud platform so it can, among other things, more easily access Google’s artificial intelligence expertise.

Wrestling cloud hosting from Microsoft was probably a "big win" Google wanted by offering "AI expertise" to J.B. Hunt.

Don't know if Uber and Google are still enemies now that Anthony Levandowski has been sentenced to jail - the self-driving car "engineer" who tricked Google and went to Uber. If they still are enemies, then Google's motivation to crush UberFreight with the help of J.B. Hunt might make sense.

Don't know how much more the 360 platform can improve with "machine learning." Cloud data will still need to be babysit by human experts.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Wall Street Journal has an article today on
> Google and UberFreight expanding their involvement
> in the truckload freight business. Although each
> has had a presence in the business since 2017, JB
> Hunt's decision to migrate its 360 platform to
> Google's cloud may signal a new level of
> engagement. Google's use of machine learning seems
> made for shipper originations on repetitive
> orders.  The freight matching service (matching
> drivers looking for hauls with shippers looking
> for drivers) has been extremely fragmented, and
> dominated by very small companies or owner
> operators using little technology.  Shippers
> increasingly want more visibility into
> availability of drivers etc several days to two
> weeks ahead, and want real time info on where
> their load is.  And when it will be delivered.
>
> "The trucking and logistics company will work with
> Google to develop machine-learning models to make
> better matches between shippers and carriers using
> its J.B. Hunt 360 platform, aiming to help
> shippers see supply and demand needs days into the
> future and carriers to estimate future fuel and
> other transportation costs."
>
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-b-hunt-enlists-goog
> le-to-match-carriers-with-shippers-11613609003?mod
> =hp_minor_pos6

Have tried Uber.  Freight sat for days waiting to be picked up.  Repeated missed pickups.  Not a fan.

NYSWSD70M Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have tried Uber.  Freight sat for days waiting to
> be picked up.  Repeated missed pickups.  Not a
> fan.

There's a link within the WSJ article linked above, discussing Uber selling a portion of UberFreight division to private investors (led by Greenbriar Equity Group). That happened 4 months ago in October of 2020.

Your experience points to UberFreight as hype more than service, so if you read between the lines, it makes sense for them to give up stake to raise cash, to fund its more important core business (ride sharing). While my opinion posted above seems totally unrelated, it IS interesting "self-driving" rival Google decided to jump in with J.B. Hunt.