FreightWise is a leading logistics software technology and services company specializing in helping and empowering thousands of customers to optimize their logistics supply chains for efficiency, visibility, better customer experience, and cost savings. Pulse 2.0 interviewed FreightWise CEO Chris Cochran to learn more about the company.
Chris Cochran’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Cochran said:
“I’m a zealous entrepreneur with the good fortune of connecting with many other smart people in the logistics industry. As a result, we’ve had great success building products that solve industry problems. I spent five years at Oracle and was involved heavily in Oracle Transportation Management, which was an acquisition of a company named g-Log. I’ve built, run, and exited a parcel audit and analytics application company, TracBack, which was sold to a large 3PL in 2013. In 2015, I founded FreightWise.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Cochran shared:
“After years of working in and around the industry, we knew we could use technology to help shippers save money, especially small-to-medium-sized shippers, where low-to-medium volumes, irregular shipping schedules, and a lack of technology drove up their costs.”
“Easy-to-use, cloud-based software would allow shippers to streamline processes and automate tasks, including time-consuming back-office functions like freight auditing and payment services. We could also combine carrier volumes and relationships to reduce freight costs.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Cochran cited:
“The acquisition of Kuebix, for sure. The platform had one of North America’s largest connected shipping communities in its heyday—well over 20,000 shippers.”
“When we entered discussions with Trimble, they weren’t initially interested in selling but just sunsetting the product. We realized there was a massive opportunity. Kuebix was still a very relevant, viable platform with a strong customer base among smaller shippers and some enterprise players.”
“Since Kuebix was a pure TMS with no services behind it, we could complement it with our managed services and back-end offerings. With all the shippers on the platform, we would also have more leverage for competitive carrier pricing and terms. That goal came to fruition with our most recent milestone—welcoming Estes as the first carrier in our Preferred Carrier Program. Now, all users of our TMS systems can see Estes’s price offerings.”
Favorite Memory
What is one of your favorite memories of working for the company? Cochran reflected:
“The Sunrise Meeting, as we like to call it. This was the first time we met with the Kuebix team at their offices in Boston. The goal was to get to know each other and explain why we wanted to buy Kuebix and how we would build the business together. We walked away so excited about the prospects of combining companies. We knew we would stop the “sunset” of Kuebix and create a beautiful sunrise on this fantastic platform.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Cochran noted:
“The most significant evolution is the breadth of solutions available to shippers that can scale with their business needs. We just launched onKUE, a sign-up-online version of Kuebix with a monthly subscription fee starting at $69. This removes any “TMS cost barriers” for small-to-medium-sized shippers that don’t have massive volumes for a robust TMS but spend too much time dealing with day-to-day tactical shipping challenges. These shippers can benefit significantly by using standard TMS functionalities and capabilities. As shippers using onKUE need more support, they can scale across onKUE tiers, adding features like integrated order-to-ship-to-pay processes (settlement), appointment scheduling, and automated communication tools and portals. Or they can engage with our managed services team to optimize commodity profiles, modes, the carrier selection process, and more.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Cochran assessed:
“The North American piece of the TAM for transportation management systems (TMS) is estimated to be between $4B – $4.5B. This projection includes shippers, carriers, 3PLs/4PLs, and freight forwarders. At FreightWise, we’re focused on SMB, mid-market, and lower enterprise shippers with annual revenues between $50M and $2B, whose main modes are TL, LTL, and parcel. Based on this focused approach, we believe Freightwise’s current addressable market to be between $2 billion to $2.5 billion.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Cochran affirmed:
“Since our founding, we’ve stayed hyper-focused on developing solutions for shippers that provide the best customer experience and the most efficient path to cost-appropriate implementations.”
“We’ve also brought to market the ability to integrate and offer our Cost Management Services to our Kuebix clients. This brings all the value and benefits of FreightWise to Kuebix users. Combining technology and services is a true differentiator for us. Most SMBs do not have the buying power, expertise, or relationships with carriers we have. We bridge a considerable gap and provide an extension to our clients’ logistics departments in many ways.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Cochran concluded:
“Our immediate goal is to expand our Preferred Carrier Program, making competitive rates from outstanding carriers available to all users of our TMS platforms. By mid-2025, we hope to have three national LTL carriers and two regional carriers solidified.”
