Uber Freight issues Facility Insights Report

A new report issued today by Uber Freight, a subsidiary of the ubiquitous, ride-sharing service Uber, whose proprietary app matches trucking companies with loads to haul, takes a deep drive into Uber Freight’s Facility Ratings feature.

When Facility Ratings was launched by Uber Freight in January, the company said that when Uber introduced ratings as part of its rideshare platform, it had a transformative effect on transportation. And with the introduction of Facility Ratings for the Uber Freight app, it brings the same advantages but within a freight context, explaining that it “empowers carriers and their drivers with the ability to share honest feedback about the facilities they visit,” and “also gives shippers the insights they need to make positive change and improve driver experiences.”

What’s more, it added at the time that truck drivers spending a lot of time at facilities to drop off and pick up freight and often spending the night after a full day of driving, facility-related factors such as detention time, bathroom access, and parking availability serve as barometers that will drive their choice to incentivize or discourage drivers from taking loads from a facility.

In a blog posting issued today, Uber Freight explained that since Facility Ratings launched in January, it has subsequently accumulated more than 250,000 unique 1-5 star ratings, in addition to written reviews. And effective today, it announced it is also now available to all shippers through the Uber Freight platform, giving shippers access to “driver experience data they need to measure each facility’s performance and identify specific areas for improvement to build more efficient supply chains.”

Uber Freight’s Facility Insights Report is based on data culled since the beginning of 2019, with the company saying it illustrates facility trends and provides specific insight into how carriers and drivers engage with facilities at national and regional levels.

“The key takeaway is straightforward: the best way for shippers to encourage drivers to come back, again and again, is to improve efficiency and reduce wait time within their facilities,” read the blog post. “This report comes at a critical time in the trucking industry when earning the trust and preference of carriers has the power to impact profitability. Shippers today understand that in order to future-proof their businesses, they have to collaborate with drivers, take their feedback seriously, and earn their trust through action.”     

Kate Kaufman, Director of Account Operations for Uber Freight provided LM with myriad takeaways and analysis from the Facility Insights Report.

LM: Have Uber Freight's Facility Ratings met expectations since it was first rolled out in January?

Kaufman: The response to our facility ratings rollout has been phenomenal. We had high expectations going in, and they have been easily exceeded. Uber Freight app-users have submitted over 250,000 ratings and reviews, and this report is pulled from over 145,000 of those.

LM: What have been the biggest takeaways/benefits of it, for both the carrier and shipper sides? Of the various findings in the report, which ones stand out the most i.e. are the most telling, in your opinion?

Kaufman: Our goal with facility ratings overall is to illuminate key areas of improvement for the industry by empowering drivers and carriers to share feedback, and by giving shippers the data they need to operate efficiently.

The biggest takeaway from the report is that a driver’s most valuable commodity is their time. More so than anything else, drivers value facility speed and efficiency so they can get back on the road faster. “Fast loading” was cited in  37.1% of all reviews—more than 2x as many mentions as the second-most-cited indicator, “friendly service”—and for positive ratings, 89% of total reviews explicitly stated that fast loading/unloading was key to a good facility experience.

Ultimately, drivers’ time is precious and they want to get into the facility, get loaded or unloaded, and get on their way as quickly as possible.

For shippers, aggregating this feedback in a concise, easy-to-access format allows them to correlate the driver experience to their network and make impactful changes and improvements to operations. The end goal for all parties is an efficient, cost-effective supply chain.

LM: Have Uber Freight's Facility Ratings met expectations since it was first rolled out in January?

Kaufman: The response to our facility ratings rollout has been phenomenal. We had high expectations going in, and they have been easily exceeded. Uber Freight app-users have submitted over 250,000 ratings and reviews, and this report is pulled from over 145,000 of those.

LM: What have been the biggest takeaways/benefits of it, for both the carrier and shipper sides? Of the various findings in the report, which ones stand out the most i.e. are the most telling, in your opinion?

Kaufman: Our goal with facility ratings overall is to illuminate key areas of improvement for the industry by empowering drivers and carriers to share feedback, and by giving shippers the data they need to operate efficiently.

The biggest takeaway from the report is that a driver’s most valuable commodity is their time. More so than anything else, drivers value facility speed and efficiency so they can get back on the road faster. “Fast loading” was cited in  37.1% of all reviews—more than 2x as many mentions as the second-most-cited indicator, “friendly service”—and for positive ratings, 89% of total reviews explicitly stated that fast loading/unloading was key to a good facility experience.

Ultimately, drivers’ time is precious and they want to get into the facility, get loaded or unloaded, and get on their way as quickly as possible.

For shippers, aggregating this feedback in a concise, easy-to-access format allows them to correlate the driver experience to their network and make impactful changes and improvements to operations. The end goal for all parties is an efficient, cost-effective supply chain.

LM: What possible features may be added to Uber Freight's Facility Ratings in the future?

Kaufman: The dashboard, which has rolled out widely to all shippers, is a huge value-add for our shipper partners and has helped us deliver on the promise of transparency. At the moment, shippers can view ratings, read reviews and organize data about the performance of each facility. This actionable data is important in helping them make improvements across their supply chain. We’re excited to continue developing the dashboard and enabling more sophisticated insights.