NEXT Trucking Partners with Sequoia and Secures $21M to Make a U-turn on Truck Driver Shortage with First Trucker-centric Online Marketplace

Latest round defeats freight industry limitations with the creation of a massive virtual fleet of the highest quality independent carriers


LYNWOOD, Calif., Jan. 30, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEXT Trucking, the first trucker-centric online marketplace that connects carriers with shippers, today announced $21M series B round of financing led by Sequoia Capital. The company’s technology cancels out one of the most distressing issues for 90 percent of carriers by directly connecting them with shippers based on routes, pricing, driver behavior and other intelligent matching algorithms. Sequoia partner Omar Hamoui will join the NEXT Trucking Board of Directors.  

According to a new report published by the American Truckers Associations, the shortage of truckers may reach 50,000 by the end of 2017 and could add up to more than 174,000 by 2026. There is a myriad of reasons truckers have turned sour on their vocation, including low pay, an uncertain financial future, forced dispatching, and unsatisfactory lifestyle.

“Instead of letting the rapid decline of qualified carriers continue to potentially destabilize our supply chain, and economy in general, we need to overhaul the way the industry works and empower the truckers,” said Lidia Yan, CEO of NEXT Trucking with a family business in logistics. “We couldn’t watch this happen from the side of the road, so NEXT Trucking developed the first online marketplace that mitigates the negatives by building a strong, transparent community.”

NEXT Trucking is unique in the market because it is trucker-centric and aimed at helping the owner-operators and small and mid-size fleets. Truckers dictate what they want and post their availability on the marketplace before connecting with shippers, as opposed to shippers providing load information to brokers who call several truckers to find the cheapest option. In just two years of business, NEXT Trucking has gained its stellar rating with large, blue chip shippers such as Pioneer, Hisense, Jinko Solar, Jakks Pacific and steamship lines, including Mistui OSK Lines, by focusing on the California home-based carriers and lanes to other states.

"Logistics is at the very core of our economy, yet it faces some real challenges. NEXT Trucking has created a marketplace powered by sophisticated technology that resolves many of the critical imbalances that exist between the shipper's needs and driver's availability,” said Omar Hamoui, partner at Sequoia. “The team has tripled revenue year over year, and earned extremely high satisfaction and retention numbers on both sides of their marketplace.”

NEXT Trucking’s free marketplace app removes the hassle, cost and forced dispatching small truck companies face when dealing with brokers, and offers 48-hour quick pay and fuel advance options. Available loads are automatically matched to the vetted carriers based on preferences and predictive load offering technology. While remaining independent and in control, drivers now are part of a community that can compete with industry giants.  

For shippers, NEXT Trucking provides access to a massive virtual fleet of the highest quality independent carriers and total visibility of all shipments via the Shipment Dashboard, which includes timelines, route information and cost summaries, locations and status of shipments. Additional benefits include the ability to maximize cash flow with paperless billing and move goods at a more competitive price.

Fleet managers also have access to NEXT Trucking’s unique management platform to book and dispatch loads and share capacity within the network. All small and medium-sized trucking companies benefit from NEXT Trucking’s large-scale capacity and can be assured their loads will always be covered.

To learn more about NEXT Trucking, visit www.nexttrucking.com.

About NEXT Trucking

NEXT Trucking's unique trucking marketplace empowers truckers and connects shippers to experienced drivers seamlessly by aligning all parties on routes, pricing, driver behavior and other intelligent matching algorithms.  The easy-to-use mobile app and web solution fundamentally changes how the shipping industry does business by replacing an antiquated process with a system that provides transparency, efficiency and stability across the trucking community.  

Press Contact:
Carolyn Adams
dot4 Public Relations
Email: carolyn@dot4pr.com