Dive Brief:

• Schneider and Truckstop.com have teamed up to launch "Book it Now," a brokerage program that coordinates instant load booking, according to a press release emailed to Supply Chain Dive.
• Schneider posts, assigns and tenders shippers' loads to a group of approved carriers, and carriers book the loads and get rate confirmation through Truckstop.com's app.
• The launch of "Book it Now" follows a pilot of the solution. Truckstop.com notes companies that want the functionality must send an email or apply online.

Dive Insight:

The continued acceleration and advancement of digital freight matching startups has prompted a technological revolution in the freight brokerage world. While each company in the space competes with one another, many are heading toward a similar goal: increasing transparency in a historically opaque industry.

Transparency and ease of booking was the impetus behind Uber Freight's model, Director Bill Driegert told Supply Chain Dive last month. "We were the first provider of any scale where all the prices were transparent," he said. "I thought that was critical from day one ... it's that trust factor."

Schneider and Truckstop.com also tout visibility as a key advantage of their "Book it Now" solution, calling it a "seamless, transparent load booking experience."

The companies also throw some subtle shade in the press release toward digital freight brokerage apps, pointing to challenges in scaling up and making a profit, and painting established brokers' existing network and volume as a "real advantage."

One of the benefits Truckstop.com lists of the new feature is a "a single source for finding and booking freight across more than 400,000 daily loads." Schneider is the the 13th largest freight brokerage firm, according to Transport Topics. According to Morgan Stanley, Uber Freight has built up a network of 50,000 carriers and more than 500,000 trucks.

Truckstop.com also alludes to the issue of trust, which some shippers, carriers and brokers claim is lacking among startups. "'Book it Now' functionality gives carriers the freedom to instantly accept loads from their trusted brokers," the press release states.

Driegert has countered this argument, that digital freight matching lacks trust, by noting transparency breeds trust. He expressed confidence the shipper-carrier mindset of relationship building would change over time.