Digital freight platform provider Uber Freight has rolled out a pilot version of the new application programming interface (API) for trucking that it first unveiled in 2022 alongside transportation and logistics giant J.B. Hunt Transport Inc.
A third original co-founder, the digital freight matching (DFM) firm Convoy, has since gone under, but that hasn’t stopped progress at the project, which is known as the Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC).
According to Uber Freight, the new API will operate in its transportation management system (TMS) to support enhanced scheduling capabilities and to foster seamless communication across its network of shippers and carriers. Now running as a pilot project, the API is set to be fully released for general availability in the second half of 2024.
The partners first conceived of the API as a way to create a technology standard for shipment appointment scheduling, in order to ease friction among carriers, brokers, and shippers. They soon enrolled more interested parties with the addition of Arrive Logistics, Blue Yonder, Coyote Logistics, e2open, Echo Logistics, One Network Enterprises, and Oracle.
The SSC now moves out of the planning stage into real-world applications, with the goal of easing scheduling inefficiencies that contribute to a significant cost in servicing the load, cause delays in getting appointments set, and increase the lead time required to get a load serviced. As a solution, the scheduling API empowers seamless integration between logistics technology platforms and carrier scheduling systems, eliminating manual processes and enhancing visibility across supply chains, Uber Freight said.
