Online shipping and freight automation provider uShip has partnered with Germany-based global logistics company DB Schenker to power an online trucking platform launching later this year in Europe.

The move helps uShip stand out in an increasingly crowded competitive arena, as high-visibility investors have helped launch so-called “uber of trucking” startups in the past year.

In the five-year deal, DB Schenker will use uShip Pro — uShip’s enterprise technology backbone — to automate and optimize the management of 25,000 approved carriers and execution of up to 10,000 loads per day through Europe’s largest over-the-road trucking business.

UShip Pro lets any business with freight (enterprise shippers, brokers, third-party logistics companies (3PLs), e-commerce merchants, retailers, parts distributors, vehicle manufacturers, etc.) create their own private network of vetted carriers that compete to win the shipper’s business.

The private network feature provides carrier reviews, uses shipment-level offer price, along with mobile shipment acceptance and tracking. Pro lets 3PLs and direct shippers access more carriers, real-time tracking, lower freight expenditures and more truck capacity, according to uShip.

“UShip Pro works like a TMS for covering loads, but is far more efficient because it’s automated, transparent and mobile,” explains Matt Chasen, CEO and founder of uShip. “Studies show less than a third of shippers use a TMS today, which means a majority of shippers book freight through horribly inefficient means like phone calls, emails and fax machines.”

The Wall Street Journal notes that “Logistics companies worldwide have been racing to develop technology to make it easier for shippers to book freight transportation.” Some companies, such as XPO Logistics, are spending millions to develop in-house platforms. In Europe, “Deutsche Post AG took a €345 million ($383 million) write-off on a failed effort to create its own global freight forwarding technology platform.” And other companies are making acquisitions in order to gain the needed technology, as in the case of UPS buying Coyote Logistics last year.

Based in Austin, Texas, and Amsterdam, uShip operates globally with localized sites in 19 countries and regions on six continents. Chasen said, "DB Schenker has a clear vision of how technology and innovation can create a more efficient, higher-quality digital freight network.”

Headquartered in Essen, Germany, DB Schenker global operations comprise land, air, ocean freight, contract logistics and supply chain management.

"To keep innovating faster, we partner with companies that use promising digital business models," said Markus Sontheimer, Board Member for IT and Digitalization at DB Schenker.