The Freight Marketplace with Dave Maddox

Dave Maddox and Joe Lynch discuss the freight marketplace. Dave is the VP of Enterprise Sales for Emerge, one of the fastest-growing startups in the U.S. and is transforming the $800 billion transportation and logistics industry with its digital freight marketplace platform.

About Dave Maddox

Dave Maddox has over 39 years of industry experience, Maddox specializes in Supply Chain & Transportation Sales, with operations management in distribution, supply chain cost improvement and transportation. Currently at Emerge as Vice President, Enterprise Sales. Maddox is responsible for engaging with shippers offering tools that empower meaningful logistics relationships through its award-winning Freight Procurement Platform. The Emerge platform helps streamline the disjointed and cloudy procurement landscape, bringing shippers and carriers together in one space to create and build mutually beneficial relationships. Other past employers that Maddox has worked for are nVision Global, Transplace, National Freight, Inc., Hogan Transports, Heartland Express, Ruan Transport Corporation, Lowe’s, Exel Logistics, Mervyn’s and Foley’s.

About Emerge

Transforming the $800 billion freight industry, Emerge empowers meaningful logistics relationships through its award-winning Freight Procurement Platform. Built by freight professionals for freight professionals, Emerge is reinventing the procurement process by offering solutions that enable shippers and carriers to make more empowered, strategic decisions. In addition to the platform, shippers can connect to the Emerge Marketplace which opens access to 35,000 asset based carriers in order to create meaningful freight connections. The world’s largest shippers and capacity providers use the Emerge Freight Procurement Platform daily, showing immediate ROI for procurement and saving valuable time in the process. Founded in 2017, and located in Scottsdale, Arizona, Emerge is one of the fastest-growing technology startups in the U.S.

Key Takeaways: The Freight Marketplace

Dave Maddox is the VP of Enterprise Sales at Emerge, a flexible, efficiency-driven RFP platform for freight.
In the podcast interview, Joe and Dave discuss the freight marketplace, which is the Emerge platform which was built for freight professionals by freight professionals. The Emerge freight platform connects shippers and carriers with an RFP platform built especially for freight.
Shipper problems:
- Shippers are experiencing unprecedented challenges including supply chain disruptions, driver shortages, truck capacity problems, high gas prices, price volatility, and port delays.
- They are also short-handed as the tight labor market makes hiring very difficult.
- Many shippers are also struggling to manage their newly remote workforces.
- When it comes to managing freight RFPs, shippers lack technology so they use the “mass emailing spreadsheet” process which is cumbersome, inefficient, and ineffective.
- Because the freight RFP process is so difficult, most shippers
Carrier problems:
- Carriers often don’t have access to the lanes and shippers that they want.
- Carriers also don’t like the freight RFP process because they have difficulty predicting freight rates.
- Carriers want access to shippers of choice without a broker adding a big margin.
The Emerge Marketplace enables carriers to bid directly on shipper contract and spot lanes and win business with shippers that they typically wouldn’t have access to.
The Emerge Marketplace offers shippers a free RFP platform built to manage their spot and contract needs.
Shippers choose from thousands of vetted carriers or invite their current carriers and brokers, allowing them to source the best partner for their freight.
Emerge has created a technology platform that has streamlined the freight RFP process and delivered the following benefits:
Freed of the time consuming, clunky process, shippers and carriers can spend more time discussing the freight characteristics and getting to know each other.
With the process streamlined, shippers are moving to quarterly RFPs, which enables the carriers to deliver more competitive bids – and live with them (no more paper rates).
In addition to their incumbent carriers, shippers have access to thousands of vetted carriers within the Emerge system.
Emerge enables shippers to grow their partner network by connecting to thousands of verified carriers and brokers to ensure their loads are always covered.
Carriers gain access and bid directly on exclusive contract and spot lanes that they would not otherwise have access to. Emerge’s network connects carriers with shippers of all sizes, providing more opportunities for carriers to work in their preferred lanes.