#UAEinnovators: startup launches an Uber for loadless lorries in the UAE

Co-founder Claudia Pacurar and Sebastian Stefan, chief executive of LoadMe.ae, an online marketplace for shipments and lorries. Sarah Dea / The National

A start-up company aims to help connect freight companies’ empty lorries on the move with customers who can fill them.

The new online platform called LoadMe.ae, which is under testing, uses GPS tracking and smartphone apps to connect load owners with available lorries and arrange pickups in their area. The website aims to help transporters find freight for their return trips so lorries will not wastefully travel empty.

The idea could reduce traffic on the UAE’s roads by 10 per cent and help lower carbon dioxide emissions in the GCC by 8 million tonnes a year, which is equivalent to the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 1.6 million cars, says Sebastian Stefan, the chief executive of LoadMe.ae.

“It’s taking the car-sharing concept to a new level, a level where it brings more benefit to the traffic and the environment,” says Mr Stefan.

“Once the lorry comes back loaded, it will eliminate another vehicle that was supposed to go loaded from Abu Dhabi to Dubai and return back empty to Abu Dhabi.”

The company only matches parties. It does not act as an agent or a transporter, he said.

At the moment there is no fee to use LoadMe, which received US$30,000 in investment from DP World’s Turn 8 incubator programme, but Mr Stefan says it eventually could charge premium clients or large logistics companies in the future.

“It’s free now, but maybe later on we will find a revenue stream such as advertising or a subscription fee,” says Mr Stefan. “The value added by this service for transporters is enormous. I believe we can soon charge about $100 [for a monthly subscription]. But at the moment, I want to keep it free for at least one year,” he says.

The data-sharing concept has already proven successful in other markets through companies such as uship.com in the US and Teleroute and Timocom in Europe, said Mr Stefan.

“In other countries there is this concept. It is helping the logistics industry save millions of dollars every month,” he says. “We launched in UAE, but we are planning to expand very fast. We plan to expand in the GCC and Jordan.”