Convoy Lets Small Fleets, Owner-Operators Bid on Dedicated Freight

Convoy has added dedicated freight to its digital freight network, increasing opportunities for recurring work that was previously inaccessible to small fleets and owner-operators.

This nationwide offering lets motor carriers bid on dedicated freight contracts that can last up to six months, within the Convoy mobile app, reducing time spent securing individual loads. 

According to Convoy, the 90% of carriers in the U.S. who have 10 or fewer trucks can spend up to 10 hours each week searching for individual loads to keep their trucks full. Dedicated loads offer guaranteed revenue with consistent work, hauling the same shipment along the same route.

“Historically, dedicated freight has been reserved for large or medium-size carriers because of the perception that more assets equates to better contract fulfillment, leaving the long-tail of small carriers out of this dependable freight,” says the Convoy announcement.

In the Convoy app, carriers now can search for, and bid on, dedicated freight contracts that include up to 40 live and drop loads per week. Once a carrier wins a dedicated freight contract, Convoy’s automated system sends loads directly in the app.

“This is the first time we've had access to dedicated freight. As a small operation, we’ve never been able to access anything like this from the traditional brokers we’ve worked with,” said Kenia Vazquez from KRV Transport, a San Antonio, Texas-based carrier who has been working with Convoy since 2018, cited in the Convoy announcement.

Convoy was founded in 2015 with the goal of using technology to provide an Uber-like service for booking on-demand freight shipments. In late 2019, it announced it had achieved 100% automated brokering of loads to carriers, including matching and pricing, on lanes in top freight markets.