VTNA Offers Free Load Board to Customers
Mack Already Teamed Up With Class8 on Load Finder
Key Takeaways:
- Volvo Trucks North America has launched Load Finder, a free load board service developed with Canadian technology company Class8, joining subsidiary Mack Trucks in offering the digital freight-matching tool.
- The service allows carriers to connect all their trucks through existing electronic logging devices for precise load matching, with Class8 generating revenue by charging brokers when drivers accept shipments.
- VTNA and Mack are currently the only legacy Class 8 truck manufacturers offering an in-house load board option, positioning it as a value-added benefit for reducing empty miles.
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Volvo Trucks North America is joining fellow Volvo Group subsidiary Mack Trucks in offering customers a free load board.
Mack began offering customers the service in partnership with Canadian freight technology company Class8 in May.
Carriers do not limit themselves to just one original equipment manufacturer, so VTNA and Mack planned accordingly.
Any carrier that has a Load Finder account can connect all its trucks via its electronic logging device, VTNA Product Marketing Manager Madeline Sullivan told Transport Topics.
“We have a strategy to offer more digital services, and this is just a natural progression of that,” Sullivan said.
Any carrier that has a Load Finder account can connect all its trucks via its electronic logging device, Sullivan said. (Volvo Trucks North America)
Over the past 18 months, VTNA has partnered with Greenlane Infrastructure on a digital application that helps drivers of electric trucks locate charging infrastructure.
VTNA began offering remote software updates for customers’ vehicles via Volvo Connect in March, including its revamped VNR regional-haul tractor and overhauled flagship VNL semi. Mack did the same a few weeks earlier.
The redesign of VNL launched with a package including E-Call, a self-activating crash notification system; a fully integrated ELD; Volvo Connect; the My Truck app; and two years of Volvo Uptime Care.
Both existing and new VTNA and Mack customers can access the load board, said Class8 CEO Chris Atkinson.
Load Finder is accessible on both desktop and mobile devices through Volvo Connect. Fleets can connect their existing ELD and transportation management system (TMS) for more precise load matching, according to VTNA.
Load Finder took about two years to develop. (Volvo Trucks North America)
The truck maker is pitching the service as a value-added product with particular benefits for new carriers or smaller fleets.
Existing load boards charge a subscription fee.
shows empty miles account for around 16% of all non-tank truck operations.
“Deadheading represents lost time, lost money and unnecessary environmental impact for our customers and for the industry,” said Peter Voorhoeve, VTNA president.
“With Load Finder, we are offering a simple, free service that helps fleets improve utilization, lower costs and reduce emissions. It is another example of how Volvo Trucks is helping our customers improve total cost of ownership through innovative solutions,” the company’s top executive added.
Class8’s technology offers direct connections to brokers that are authentic, available and from reputable parties, Atkinson said in an interview Sept. 22. The 40 different sources include brokers and aggregations of broker loads, he said. Load Finder does not pull the same data as other load boards, Sullivan said.
The system charges the broker when the driver accepts the shipments, which is where Class8 makes its money, Atkinson said.
“Thousands of trucks have been added to the system,” he told TT.
Both existing and new VTNA and Mack customers can access the load board, Atkinson said. (Class8)
The product took about two years to develop, according to Sullivan. The partnership emerged out of Volvo Group Connected Solutions’ Innovation Lab.
Toronto-based Class8 — previously known as FleetOps — until now has focused on load matching, but has more ambitious plans for empowering truckers, Atkinson said.
Class8 wants to offer artificial intelligence-powered voice agents for drivers that negotiate a price that is to their benefit and negates any “FOMO” or fear of missing out, he said. “Negotiating what you deserve is critical,” he said.
Volvo Group units VTNA and Mack are the only legacy Class 8 truck makers to currently offer an in-house load board option to customers.
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