Trucker Path Raises Another $30 Million for Digital Parking and Payments

Founded less than four years ago in San Jose, California, Trucker Path recently raised US$30 million in debt financing after raising more than US$21 million in seed and Series A funding. The company appears to be in discussion for Series B funding with investors. One of its investors is the Chinese social networking and Internet finance firm, Renren, which may be an early indicator of future Chinese expansion.

Trucker Path began as a crowd-sourced navigation app to provide peer-to-peer insights on increasingly challenging parking (fueled by the ELD Mandate), hotels, fuel pricing, and weigh stations, and gained about 15% penetration of U.S. Class 8 trucks, with approximately 20% growth per month. The company reached a milestone in February with more than 1.5 million in app installs, an industry first on Google Play. It is the highest-rated industry app in the industry. Two years ago, the company released its Truckloads Marketplace, with a focus on brokering cargo exchanges for multiple trucking companies and brokers. 

One key feature of the app is InstaPay; freight factoring made for small fleets and owner operators to enable payment in one day to authorized truckers. The primary market is the U.S., with additional locations in Canada. More than two million loads are listed monthly, with at least 80,000 eligible carriers and more than 250,000 owner-operators utilizing the app.

Long-haul-focused companies in this quickly developing space include Transfix, which operates like a single broker for food and beverage, manufacturing and retail shipping, cargo, and additionally pursues options for specific customers. It has a network of more than 17,000 carriers, with geolocation data on each shipment and real-time alerts for supply chain optimization.

CargoX, a Brazilian startup, received funding from Goldman Sachs, as well from an Uber co-founder and a former DHL Express CEO, and received an additional US$10 million Series B funding last year.  It operates a network with more than 150,000 vehicles. It is expected to scale out to other countries and should continue to add value, even in the autonomous trucking world, along with those that survive and thrive in this market.  

France’s Convargo launched last year and raised about US$1.7 million to connect truckers and shippers. It is supported by industry veterans including DHL Global Freight and Teleroute. The company expects that about 25% of trucks in Europe are nearly empty in route, with the majority of carriers operating under a half a dozen trucks.

It is anticipated that these apps will replace the “middlemen,” reduce inefficiencies and costs, and drive additive revenue. They may also become substitute dispatchers for owner-operators.

As these competing marketplaces evolve, along with the trucking industry, no one is standing still. Trucker Path is developing an insurance deliverable to allow those companies to scale across a fragmented industry. It also wants to fully automate the transaction, so that a trucker’s status and related data can generate optimized loading and pricing.

Although little data is public, Uber Freight could be a major contender. Per The Economist, Uber’s CEO stated that it could earn “20[%] of [its] future profits from trucking,” and additional public statements have included their desire to create a marketplace for autonomous trucks.

The commercial long-haul industry is certain to evolve. A combination of startups flush with cash and technology titans like Uber are poised to influence and disrupt. Options include strategic partnerships and acquisitions, and the industry will grow and eventually consolidate. Challenges will include legacy systems and privacy/security concerns. Yet, with such a significant opportunity, there remains tremendous growth for both startups and technology leaders with compelling value propositions.