Supported by YC Oway will build USD 4 million to build a decentralized “Uber for Freight”

Thousands of semiconductor, which cut the American motorway system every day, live in secret: they are only (*4*)about Half full.

This ineffectiveness is the possibility of many billion dollars. And one that several firms, resembling Uber Freight and Flock Freight, are already chasing wider business models that match truck drivers with firms selling goods.

Oway based in San Francisco is looking for a narrower business model, which is more like Uber freight, especially on the most inefficient long routes. But this is a model that, according to the startup, can scale large enough to influence the country’s economy.

Oway, founded in 2023 and supported by Y Combinator and General Catalyst, recently closed the seed round of $ 4 million in pursuit of this goal. The founding father of Phillip Nadjafov told Techcrunch that investors bought the concept of Owaya, because his company has already developed a way to reduce the costs of shipping the pallets in the US by 50%, using a clever mix of latest and somewhat old technologies.

Of course, there is artificial intelligence in the type of machine learning, which he developed to help in finding and matching the load with the empty space of the trailer and a comfortable destination (or short detour). OWAY also automates many standard shipping and insurance documentation, which applies to freight.

But the height of OWAYA is possible thanks to the so -called “electronic recording devices” (ELD), which are installed on trucks passing through our country.

ELDS became a government authorized about ten years ago, a part of the pushing, so that transport transport is safer and more efficient by eliminating paper diaries. This makes it difficult for forwarders and drivers to bypass federal principles of maximum driving time, theoretically limiting fatigue.

The devices were a source of competition for many drivers anxious about excessive supervision. And there is some evidence that the promised security advantages It may be compensated for an increase in aggressive driving Because drivers cannot easily flow into their hours.

But the devices are, nevertheless, the cornerstone of what Oway does, because ELDS also enabled the exact location of the truck in real time.

Thanks to this information, OWAY can work with broadcasters to discover places near the already planned route. When there is a empty space on the trailer – according to Nadjafov – Oway can assist customers place a load in these trailers for a fraction of a typical cost.

The result is that OWAY claims that it might probably bring the cost of transferring the palette below $ 2,000 between Los Angeles and Dallas from around $ 350 to even $ 140.

“You shouldn’t … buy the whole truck of the 50s to move [something] Throughout the country, to get good prices, “he said.” If you have one box over 100 pounds, you want to move around the country, you should be able to, now with current technology … do it. This is a huge problem in America. “

Nadjafov argued that this disconnection creates higher shipping and consumer prices, but also leads to greater emission and more idle time for drivers. He believes that Oway can solve this and is already cooperating with large firms with hundreds of vehicles in his fleets, although he said that he couldn’t reveal who they are because they asked that the relationship remained private.

The way Nadjafov presents this, the OWAY business model connects one of the best points of the two foremost ways in which freight is sent by trucks in the USA

One model is often called “full truck airport”, which incorporates trucks packed with goods, often in the service of one sender. These parcels often go from point A to point B, offering faster delivery, but at a higher price.

The second model is shipping “less than less than weight”, which often includes many forwarders dividing the place on one truck. This reduces costs, but it lasts longer, because goods often have to bounce between many trucks and warehouses before reaching the destination.

Nadjafov’s promise is that OWAY can reach the speed of full shipping of the truck with costs and dynamism of shipping lower than trucks. What’s more, by sending more goods on direct long -distance routes that the freight is less likely that it will be damaged because it is not unloaded and overloaded when it goes from the truck to the warehouse and returns.

Ooway does all this in a “decentralized” way, describes Nadjafov, which suggests that he does not try to buy space with a value of the entire trailer, and even cooperates with other brokers in the industry on carriers and broadcasters.

“We want Oway to be flexible, so that one day new companies and industries can be based on innovative applications of this infrastructure,” he said.

Nadjafov said that Oway has already received interest on firms in other countries, but his startup is focused on the USA – partly because ovay is only 12 people, and because of how this country is religious.

“Trucking is a billiona dollars industry, and the empty phenomenon of space is a problem worth $ 100 billion,” he said. “I think it will be a very transformational movement for the entire trade and logistics sector in America over the next 10 years, because I think it will be, in principle, a de facto way in which most companies will move.”

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