Nearly everything in the U.S. is on a truck at some point in its transit. Most companies that make those items don't own their own trucks. Of the roughly 3 mil

Nearly everything in the U.S. is on a truck at some point in its transit. Most companies that make those items don't own their own trucks. Of the roughly 3 million trucks on the road, 10% are owner operators (a person who owns his or her own truck and drives it). Those owner operators mostly drive around the country like chickens with their heads cut off trying to source loads to transport. The owner operators will work with freight brokers (middle men) who either scour load boards or have relationships with companies that need things shipped. Some of the owner operators have a significant other at home who does the sourcing of loads for them. Deadheading, driving to or from somewhere without a paid load, kills these drivers. These drivers make on average $50+k per year. The pre-Uber taxi scene looked a lot like this national truck load scene does today. I imagine that's why Uber sees opportunity here. In the taxi scenario you have the supply (taxis) and demand (passengers). In the freight scene they'd have to link up the supply (owner operators) and demand (any company that has truck loads of freight to ship). Disclaimer: this is a simplification of logistics, ignores 'less than load' freight, multi-modal, and fleet operations. Source: I founded and ran a freight logistics startup in the 2000's. Developed a web app to try and do what I said Uber could above. It was designed poorly from an empathy standpoint of both parties and most importantly it was pre-iPhone/apps. We were a successful brokerage/consultancy but failed as a startup.