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In the first article of this series, we explored how supply chain stability depends on a unified operating model with clear accountability. However, accountability alone cannot keep freight moving if your network lacks capacity when conditions change suddenly.
Global supply chain pressures have eased recently. In fact, the Global Supply Chain Volatility Index fell from 1.37 in June to 0.78 in July. Still, shortages and disruptions continue to loom. For shippers, the ongoing challenge is clear: maintain service levels and manage costs during market instability. During major disruptions, Uber Freight often sees primary tender acceptance fall to 80%. This erodes routing guide compliance and forces businesses into the spot market, where they historically pay an average 9.3% premium. In these moments, controlling costs and protecting network performance relies less on how many carriers you have and more on matching freight with the right carrier and mode.
Today, securing reliable capacity is a strategic capability built on network scale, modal flexibility, and coordinated execution. By orchestrating transportation across vast, complex networks, we have seen firsthand how these capabilities let businesses adapt as capacity needs shift—without compromising on cost or service.
More carriers ≠ more capacity
When severe weather, port strikes, or sudden demand surges hit, many businesses simply add backup providers or expand their carrier base. But a longer list of carriers does not guarantee dependable capacity.
Relying on automated tenders that cycle through 15 different respondents—or blasting emails to brokers who may not check their inboxes—exposes the flaws in uncoordinated strategies. These reactive, volume-heavy approaches trap logistics teams in manual exception management. Waiting for responses wastes valuable time, narrows your options, drives up costs, and puts service at risk.
Standalone carrier networks might offer strong coverage in specific lanes, regions, or modes. However, they struggle to adapt when demand shifts outside their core footprint. Furthermore, when providers operate in isolation and only see their piece of the freight, shifting volume across carriers, modes, or corridors becomes far more difficult.
This leads to fragmented execution where teams spend their time manually solving individual exceptions. Consequently, costs increase, service levels decline, and logistics personnel spend more time managing vendors than focusing on strategic initiatives that keep the network healthy.
Network scale creates optionality
By connecting freight across a broad carrier marketplace and multiple modes, logistics teams can unlock capacity far beyond the limits of a single routing guide or provider network.
A mode-agnostic approach is essential because the best solution is not always adding another truck at a higher rate. When you can access truckload, LTL, intermodal, and other modes through a single operating model, you can evaluate choices based on service needs, geography, availability and total cost.
Sorting LTL freight using static cutoff points pushes shipments into traditional hub-and-spoke networks. This increases the risk of damage, creates longer lead times, and adds handling costs. This rigid method overlooks major opportunities—especially when another shipper has an empty fleet running that exact lane looking for a backhaul. By dynamically matching partial loads with available empty trucks rather than adhering to strict LTL thresholds, shippers can bypass legacy networks to secure faster, safer, and cheaper direct transit.
The true value of network scale goes well beyond having extra options. By aggregating freight across a multi-shipper network, Uber Freight uncovers opportunities for consolidation, modal conversion, and rate benchmarking that standalone programs often miss. This wider view shows where capacity is tightening, where alternatives exist, and how freight can be repositioned before disruptions happen—giving teams the optionality needed to keep freight moving.
For instance, a paper producer struggling with tight carrier availability and seasonal constraints required greater flexibility to adapt to demand shifts. By tapping into Uber Freight’s West Coast network across LTL, truckload, and intermodal, the company secured reliable, cost-efficient capacity while preserving service levels. That adaptability ensures their logistics network can handle changing business demands, even during sudden volume spikes and production surges.
From isolated decisions to network-wide execution
Network scale creates options, but those options are only valuable if your business can act on them quickly with the broader network in mind.
During disruptions, freight must be matched, booked and managed against service requirements, cost limits, facility constraints, and customer commitments. These decisions should happen seamlessly, without requiring internal teams to contact every vendor or manage every exception individually. Any delay limits your available options, inflates costs, and puts service at risk.
At the same time, fast decision-making does not mean automatically choosing the lowest rate or the next available carrier. Every choice must balance service needs with total network impact. Uber Freight pairs marketplace reach with advanced technology and logistics expertise to connect insights directly to execution. As a result, teams can act quickly in the interest of the whole network rather than making isolated choices during crises.
When COVID-19 strained retail supply chains, Uber Freight’s managed transportation team helped a major department store chain protect service levels and control costs by centralizing and optimizing its inbound logistics. By adopting Uber Freight’s TMS and collaborating with dedicated experts, the retailer gained a flexible operating model and hands-on support. This allowed them to navigate market instability, seasonal surges, and sourcing changes while maintaining a 90% OTIF performance rate.
An operating model for long-term resilience
Many shippers rely on static plans, trading real agility for a false sense of control. Managing rigid silos might feel safe—until disruptions strike, targets are missed, and blame gets shifted to "external factors." As freight markets become increasingly unpredictable, building resilience requires replacing fixed methods with fluid orchestration. By adopting intelligent systems that match capacity and optimize networks in real-time, leaders can respond faster to market shifts and drive lasting efficiency.
Uber Freight’s connected ecosystem combines people, process, and technology to keep supply chains agile while safeguarding cost and service. This model has helped businesses maintain routing guide compliance as high as 97% during rate spikes, compared to the broader market average of around 80%. For complex networks, this blend of reach and execution has driven a 96% on-time delivery rate during peak seasonal surges.
Learn how Uber Freight gives businesses the structural stability, intelligence, and accountability needed to navigate market volatility without compromising on cost or service.
