Durban, KwaZulu-Natal – 29 March 2022 – Empty Trips, Africa’s first fully digital end-to-end logistics marketplace, is poised to change the rules of the game as the logistics industry seeks a more efficient, transparent and sustainable way of operating.
Empty Trips was designed to address one of the biggest inefficiencies in the traditional logistics space – trucks returning empty from deliveries – by making those trips available to customers (shippers) directly via a smart freight-matching platform. Besides helping turn wasted road miles into income for hauliers, the platform gives shippers access to the best deals from a large fleet of reputable transporters who bid for cargo on an open exchange.
This is good news for the logistics industry and business in general, which are still recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown and the social unrest in July 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, and are currently facing record-breaking energy price increases amidst the unfolding Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Andrew Crafford, Empty Trips managing executive, says, “For a country like South Africa, where roads are relied upon to transport goods, higher logistics costs ultimately translate into higher prices of goods for the end customer. The Empty Trips platform will bring efficiencies and greater transparency to the sector, make shipping more cost-effective, increase the availability of reliable haulier options for shippers, and increase supply chain visibility.”
Supply chain visibility is increasingly important for logistics managers, driven by a greater incidence of disruption, changing customer requirements and the need for better operational efficiency. One of the key benefits of Empty Trips is that it allows shippers to monitor deliveries in real time and to manage their contract seamlessly and transparently. The platform provides instant proof of delivery and invoices and payments are consolidated automatically, enabling administration to be concluded timeously and efficiently.
According to Crafford, the Empty Trips platform makes a fleet of over 3600 trucks available to shippers.
Based on their available transport space and route at a given time, the platform’s algorithms match available capacity to loads to be moved. Carriers can then bid securely and anonymously, with payment secured through the platform.
“Empty Trips is an innovative partnership between carriers and shippers that has the potential to change the logistics industry for the better, establishing greater transparency and more effective delivery while creating a more sustainable future – for business and the environment,” Crafford concludes.
