Fura Aims to Revolutionize Ground Logistics at a Time It Is Most Needed

Over the past few years, supply chain issues have caused problems across the US. Among the chief causes of these issues has been manpower. Primarily, lack of efficiency and absence of a common toolset in the companies that have to work together,  and ground logistics problems have led to numerous hiccups. Fura aims to change that by revolutionizing ground logistics with an eclectic team of innovators.

Fura Looks to Overcome the Challenges of the Industry

Trucking serves as the primary method of moving goods in the US and is part of a trillion-dollar industry. Trucks are responsible for moving 72.5% of America’s freight by weight, and the trucking industry alone earned $875.5 billion in revenue in 2021. However, the industry is facing numerous challenges.

• Shipping costs have increased by around 60% since 2017.
• There are not enough truckers, and many are over the age of 45 and aging out of the workforce.
• There is inefficient communication between shippers, brokers, carriers, and trucks.
• Unnecessary fuel consumption has a devastating environmental impact.

“There are 3 types of problems we solve. First of all,  too much manual work between companies – too many handoffs. Also, there is lack of transparency, of real-time visibility, and lack of data available to manage the business”, says Jeffrey Dangelo, CRO of Fura. 

“Most of ‘tech frontend’ solutions for logistics don’t really solve these problems, because they try to impose their vision, whereas in logistics it is not that simple,” he added. “You have to dive deep and be an expert in this industry.”

Fura Takes Freight Brokerage Digital

Freight brokers connect shippers with carriers, a process traditionally carried out through a phone call, email, or fax. However, the process that once took hours or days to organize is streamlined when it is taken digital. Digital freight brokerage services identify nearby carriers that meet the requirements of a shipper and make the connection directly.

• Since 97% of carriers have fewer than 20 trucks, shippers often have to use multiple carriers, which can be arduous when done the traditional way.
• Without efficient carrier selection, shippers end up having to pay for deadhead miles, which is when drivers travel without cargo. This accounts for 25-40% of total miles every year in the US.

“The average shipment in the US requires more than 3 or 4 parties to participate – none of them are using the same tools other than email.  The average late truck requires an average of 23 emails and phone calls. 67% of shippers have no logistics software – they use email, phone and excel,” explains Dangelo. 

The switch to algorithms and apps removes the need for a middleman and results in lower prices and increased efficiency. However, there is still a lot of room for adoption, which is expected to take off in upcoming years.

Fura Accelerates Industry Digitization

Fura is playing its role in the industry by speeding up the adoption of digital freight brokerage. It accomplishes this by buying traditional brokers and digitizing them, spreading its tech stack and driving productivity for the brokers and trucking industry. One such acquisition occurred in April of 2021 with Chaos Logistics.

Fura Offers a Service-Focused Platform

Fura’s platform is what pulls everything together. It offers shippers to take direct control instead of relying on middlemen, providing a network of 20,000 carriers. Fura focuses on digitizing the experience for all parties and enables full collaboration, sharing, and visibility – think “Google Docs + TMS” on steroids.  For shippers and their networks, this technology is free as long as they are working with Fur. 

“Our platform starts with data, ’wiring up the business’ so that we understand the customers’ business better than they do,” says Dangelo. “And we share that with the customers.”

What Fura’s Platform Means for the Industry

Supply chain issues have plagued everyday life for most people in the US for years, and without major changes within the industry, things will not get better.

Fura is changing the entire ecosystem of logistics by buying logistics companies, automating manual work internally, converting their customers and their networks into the digital ecosystem, and then focusing on the full-outsourcing model for mid-sized companies by solving real logistics issues beyond getting a truck.