BackTheTruckUp Exclusive: 30 Minute Sit-Down Interview with FreightX
FreightX, a new “near-instant” payment solution for drivers and trucking companies, debuted during the Rapid-Fire Demo sessions on the second day of the Future of Supply Chain.
No more waiting 72 hours on a factoring service to send your funds. No more missing paying a bill on time due to slow banking services, since you can build a digital billing file that generates your terms and FreightX can pay it out for you.
Get you money for a job well done, now
I had the opportunity to sit down with Mark Brousseau, Product Marketing Consultant for Transcard and Paulo Fernandes, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for Mastercard Worldwide.
We had a 30-minute discussion about the platform and how FreightX can be a huge benefit to drivers. For the last few years, freight payments have been led by factoring services such as Thunder Funding, Apex Capital and OTR Capital. Folks, one of the biggest financial technology companies in the world has dropped a big gauntlet.
Hopefully, no more getting short changed by unscrupulous individuals. Any attempt to do try the ‘ol switcheroo in rates while you’re being unloaded won’t fly. FreightX has representatives and automation monitoring the transaction. Having Mastercard’s fraud protection service on call might make some think twice about pulling a fast one.
It’s the same system we use now, but no waiting on the factoring
FreightX pulls from TransFlo, Pegasus and other scanning solutions. They have the rate contract (ratecon), the GPS data to prove detention, and the bills of lading (BOLs). As soon as the signed BOL is entered into the application, FreightX will pay out to the companies and drivers as a neutral third party.
On the flip side, drivers that drag around getting to docks an hour late and have bad attitudes might want to clean up their acts. It’s not just your business credit that FreightX will be looking at. They’re looking at your carrier work performance and reviews. Want a boost to your credit line for new equipment? Making on-time deliveries, submitting paperwork as soon as the ink is dry, and keeping a clean company image are just as important as your Experian business credit rating. Whereas most credit reports are updated every three to six months, FreightX’s work rating will be up to the day.
Drayage drivers rejoice, one less headache for you guys
And FreightX is not just for the OTR crowd, it is building for the port drayage industry (rejoice @NJPier). Anything to help make the madness of the drayage experience faster, I think all would welcome.
FreightX is working on the billing side (and hopefully that darn container scheduling problem) to get payouts to drivers as soon as they drop the container off. I mean literally as soon as the container leaves the frame. FreightX is using the massive Dubai Port as the test case. If they can make it work at one of the world’s largest freight hubs, they can’t get it to LA/Long Beach and the Port of NY/NJ fast enough.
In closing, I’m damn impressed with what Mastercard/FreightX are creating. It’s a simple, no-nonsense interface built on a modern platform. There is no reason in this digital-everything age that instant financial transactions cannot occur. It brings memories of old cash-in-hand transactions, without the need to drop off a check to the company. You can move on to the next shipper knowing you were paid fairly and completely. No haggling over detention pay since your location is verified and time logged!
I’ll check in with the team at FreightX in a couple of months for an update and see how the operation is going.
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