Thousands of semi -dumplings cutting the US highway system every day host a secret: It’s only for half full.
This ineffectiveness represents an opportunity for many billions of dollars. And one that some companies such as Uber Freight and Flock Freight are already hunting as part of wider business models that match truck drivers with companies selling goods.
San Francisco -based OWay start is looking for a narrower business model that looks more like Uber for QUESTIONS, especially on the most ineffective long -term routes. But it is a model that starts believes that it can escalate enough to influence the country’s economy.
Oway, founded in 2023 and supported by Y-Combinator and General Catalyst, recently closed a $ 4 million seed round to pursue this goal. Founder Phillip Nadjafov said TechCrunch Investors bought the idea of Oway because his company has already developed a way to reduce the cost of sending a 50%palette to the US, using a smart mix of new and somewhat old technologies.
There is artificial intelligence, of course, in the form of mechanical learning developed by Oway to help find and match the load with empty tugboats and a convenient destination (or a brief detour). Oway also automates many of the standardized shipping and insurance documentation that accompanies the load.
However, the Oway’s Ride-Share load step is made possible by what is known as “ELDS” installed on the trucks that cross our country.
ELDS became a government order about a decade ago, part of a push to make the truck safer and more efficient, eliminating paper calendars. This makes it more difficult for loaders and drivers to inflate federal rules for the maximum driving time, theoretically reducing fatigue.
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The devices have been a source of controversy for many drivers who are worried about excessive surveillance. And there are some indications that the promising benefits for security can be offset by increasing aggressive driving Since drivers cannot inflate their hours so easily.
But the devices are the cornerstone of what Oway is doing, because the ELDS has also made it possible to keep the tabs in the exact position of a truck in real time.
With this information, Oway can work with the loaders to locate the destinations near an already scheduled route. When there is empty space in the trailer – which is often present, according to Nadjafov – Oway can help customers to load on these trailers in a fraction of standard costs.
The result is that Oway claims that it can bring the cost of moving a sub-2,000 pound palette between Los Angeles and Dallas from about $ 220 down to as low as $ 60.
“You should not have to buy a whole 50-foot truck to move [something] Across the country to get good pricing, “he said.” If you have a single box over 100 pounds you want to move across the country, you should be able to be able to do this now with current technology, be able to do this. And this is a huge problem we have in America. ”
This was disconnected, Nadjafov argued, creates higher shipping rates and consumer prices, but also leads to more emissions and more inactivity for trucks. He believes that Oway can solve this and is already working with large companies with thousands of vehicles in their fleets, though he said he could not reveal who they are because they asked for relationships to remain private for now.
The way Nadjafov puts it, Oway’s business model combines some of the best aspects of the two main ways carried trucks from trucks to the US
A model is known as “Full Truckload”, which includes truck -filled trucks, often in the service of a sender. These missions usually go from point A to point B, offering faster delivery but at a higher price.
The other model is what is known as a “less than the truck” mission, which usually includes multiple loaders who share space in a single truck. This reduces costs, but it lasts longer, as goods often have to bounce between multiple trucks and warehouses before reaching their destination.
Nadjafov’s promise is that Oway can achieve the speed of full truck shipping at the cost and dynamism less than the load. In addition, by sending more goods to direct long -distance routes, that the load is less likely to be destroyed, since it is not unloaded and recharged as it goes from a truck to a warehouse back again.
Oway does all this in what Nadjafov describes as “decentralized”, which means he does not try to redeem the entire trailers and works with other brokers in the industry over carriers and loaders.
“We want Oway to be flexible so that one day new businesses and industries can be built in the new applications of this infrastructure,” he said.
Nadjafov said Oway has already received interest from companies in other countries, but that its start is focusing on the US for now – in part because Oway is only 12 people, but also because of the way it depends on the country.
“The truck is a trillion industry and the empty phenomenon itself is a problem of $ 100 billion,” he said. “It will be, I think, a very transformative movement for the whole trade and sector of America in America in the next 10 years, because I think this will be basically the de facto way that most businesses are going to move things around.”
