Open-deck transportation marketplace EXO Freight closed its Chattanooga, Tennessee, office Tuesday, laying off 19 employees, including a few from its spot brokerage team in Royal Oak, Michigan, who were mainly operations-focused, co-founder and CEO Kurtis Tryber told FreightWaves.
Tryber said it was an intentional move by the company to pivot from covering unprofitable spot market freight through its brokerage to utilizing its specialized marketplace and fintech solutions for managed...
Royal Oak, Michigan-based EXO Freight announced Thursday it raised $15 million in a series A fundraising round led by Left Lane Capital with participation from Detroit Venture Partners to continue building onto its digital freight marketplace tailored to the open deck trucking market.
The company has raised a total of $16.5 million since 2021 with previous investors including 1984 Ventures, 12BF Global Investments, Lancaster Investments and Y Combinator.
Related: Startup EXO Freight tackles lack...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/exo-freight-raises-15m-to-meet-growing-open-deck-demand
On this week’s episode of Check Call, host Mary O’Connell and Kurtis Tryber, CEO and co-founder of EXO Freight, discuss all things flatbed: what types of materials run on flatbed, how to find flatbed loads, the evolution of flatbed shippers out of the dark ages and embracing technology.
Also on the podcast is a quick rundown of shipping nightmares at sea. Most recently the car carrier Felicity Ace caught on fire, taking down about 4,000 luxury cars from the Volkswagen family for a total loss of...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-with-kurtis-tryber-rise-of-the-flatbed
Hot Takes
Image: Jim Allen/FreightWaves“Hey, can you handle these flatbed shipments for us?” A sentence usually followed by “Jaws” music in the background. In almost every organization, there is usually the “one guy” who handles all the flatbed moves.
Flatbed is weird, involves a bunch of requirements and has a very small network of drivers. In a previous life, I was “that guy” who handled the flatbed moves. We love a lowboy, with overweight, overdimensional permits, and everything in between....
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-flatbed-is-alive
On Tuesday, Freight marketplace EXO Freight announced it has recently closed on an undisclosed amount of seed round funding led by 1984 Ventures with participation from I2BF Global Ventures and Lancaster Investments. EXO Freight wants to continue executing its goal to defragment the transportation market, particularly for shippers moving goods on open-deck trailers.
With experience working at brokerage capacity management platform Parade, co-founders and twin brothers Kurtis and Kris Tryber...