Uber has announced that its lesser-known service, Uber Freight, will be arriving in Europe in the coming weeks; the launch comes two years after it entered the U.S. market. If you’ve not heard of Uber Freight before, the service connects trucking companies of all sizes with loads to haul. The company initially launched the service hoping to “revitalise” the trucking industry and now sees opportunity in Europe which has a trucking market worth $400 billion, behind only the U.S. and China.
With regards to the European expansion, the service will arrive in the Netherlands sometime in the next few weeks, and then expand deeper into the continent in the near future. Once the service is open in the Netherlands, carriers and drivers will be able to book and move cargo.
The firm believes that its entrance into the market will see an increase in efficiency by lowering the number of wasted miles and fuel. In the announcement, Lior Ron, Head of Uber Freight, said:
“[T]he European trucking market is experiencing a severe shortage of drivers, and of the time drivers are on the road, 21 percent of total kilometers travelled are empty. Inefficiency of this scale results in shippers struggling to find available drivers to move their goods. Additionally, small- to medium-sized carriers in the EU make up more than 85% of the total carrier pool, and just like in other international freight markets, they experience the most difficulty connecting with larger shippers. When you combine these shortcomings in the market, the price of goods goes up.”
Of course, with the expansion into Europe, Uber Freight needs more employees. Lior topped off the announcement with 20 job listings for positions in the company that are all based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. If you’re interested in finding out more about those roles head over to the firm"s careers page.