Convoy introduces new drop & hook marketplace

Seattle-based digital freight broker Convoy rolled out a new offering today, entitled Convoy Go, which it describes as a drop & hook marketplace that enables any United States-based carrier or owner-operator to begin hauling pre-loaded trailers and be able to operate at the same level as large asset-based carriers.

Ways in which Convoy Go enables a carrier or owner-operator to operate at the same level as larger asset-based carriers, according to Convoy, is in terms of fleet utilization, service levels, and access to shipments.

Providing an overview of how Convoy Go works, the company said it creates a “grab and go” system in which carriers bring their power unit, pick up a pre-loaded trailer, and get on the road. This is done through its Universal Trailer Pool, which is Convoy’s national pool of company-managed trailers that can be used by any Convoy network driver and do not include rental fees.  

In an interview, Tito Hubert, head of product, Convoy Go, explained that Convoy is in regular contact with shippers and carriers across the U.S. and it became clear to the company that shippers wanted access to a broader and more flexible base of carriers than they’ve had to-date to service drop shipments. 

“At the same time, we heard from carriers that they wanted greater access to drop & hook shipments from premium shippers, so developing what would ultimately become Convoy Go made sense,” he said. “We pioneered the category back in 2017 and have made a series of refinements before launching Convoy Go nationwide.  We’ve always recognized that there’s a tremendous amount of waste associated with trucking, driven directly by wait time in facilities and inflexible appointment scheduling.  We developed Convoy Go in such a way to address all of this by enabling any carrier to service drop and hook shipments.”

When asked what the biggest benefits of Convoy Go are for shippers, Hubert said it leads to more flexibility in scheduling shipment loading, as shippers no longer need to wait for the carrier to arrive to begin.  Another benefit is that shippers can utilize their valuable loading space on their schedule. 

“Shippers can also rely on Convoy’s industry-leading levels of service on every drop shipment, including real-time estimated time of arrival and GPS tracking,” he said. “Convoy Go also expands shippers’ drop network to all available carriers instead of a few asset-based options. Convoy provides the trailers, shippers pre-load them before the shipment, and carriers provide the power unit. Finally, Convoy’s Universal Trailer Pool and our large carrier network allows shippers to address surges in demand, even for spot shipments.”

As for the competitive advantages of this offering from a Convoy perspective, Hubert noted that Convoy Go is unique in its nationwide scale and in the fact that there’s no rental fee for the carrier. 

“Also, the complexity and associated risks of trailer management have been a blocker to other companies successfully scaling trailer pools,” he said. “Convoy uses technology to develop algorithms to scale trailer routing and manage this complexity. Our willingness to innovate in the market and lead with technology allows us to compete with asset-carrier trailer pools while expanding the availability to shippers of all sizes.”