XPO Logistics heralds new record for Drive XPO app downloads

Greenwich, Conn.-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider XPO Logistics said today that it reached a new high-water mark with its digital freight marketplace, XPO Connect, noting that the Drive XPO app, which is used by carriers and truck drivers to access XPO Connect, has now been downloaded more than 300,000 times.

XPO said this represents a 50% increase in downloads over the last three months of 2020.

Drive XPO, which is used by commercial truck drivers to search for loads, interfaces with XPO Connect, which was introduced by the company in April 2018. XPO said in June 2019 that the registered number of United States carriers using Drive XPO for XPO Connect reached 18,000 in April 2019, 12 months after its initial launch, and it rose to 22,000 carriers in May 2019. XPO cited attributed the acceleration in traction to high user satisfaction with the XPO digital experience and the quality of ongoing enhancements. And it added that user ratings have made Drive XPO a top-ranked app in its category at the iOS and Android stores, where it can be downloaded at no charge.

Company officials said that the growth XPO Connect has experienced highlights how it is one of the most rapidly adopted digital transportation platforms, adding that on an annual basis, from 2019 to 2020, cumulative downloads triples, with the number of carriers on the platform up 47%.

“XPO Connect’s strong upward trajectory reflects the industry shift we envisioned when investing hundreds of millions of dollars in our transportation technology,” Drew Wilkerson, XPO’s president of North American transportation, said in a statement. “Now we have a premier platform with new capabilities underway. The value of our technology will compound in response to fast-growing demand from our customers and carriers.”

In October 2018, XPO announced changes to the XPO Connect and the Drive XPO mobile app, saying that the offerings were expanded to add counteroffers to the online experience, with the new functionality able to generate digital counteroffers to carrier bids that are not accepted and based on real-time market conditions. And when a carrier agrees to a counteroffer, XPO said the freight is immediately visible in a truck driver’s assigned loads.

Shippers can use XPO Connect to purchase transportation more efficiently and also can see fluctuations in capacity, compare spot rates from carriers, assign loads and track their freight, an XPO spokesman explained. And he added that carriers are using the same XPO Connect technology to locate loads by geography, bid on freight and reduce empty miles, coupled with an electronic proof of delivery feature.

“Our approach to the shipper-carrier relationship is a good example of our technology strategy at XPO,” XPO said. “We use pioneering architecture behind the scenes, with easy user interfaces that encourage adoption. This gives us wide-ranging opportunities to develop supply chain efficiencies and deploy them at scale.”

Various Drive XPO app enhancements, that have previously been highlighted by XPO include:

• search-specific alerts that trigger when a driver searches a load board for more than 30 seconds, flagging future loads that match the same parameters;
• push notifications that prompt a driver to confirm a pickup four hours in advance, initiating dispatch and tracking once confirmed;
• user preferences that can be set for ideal equipment and length of haul, automatically prioritizing those loads in search results;
• a mandatory load checklist that requires carriers to confirm equipment and pickup/delivery times prior to booking a load; and
• global, including multicurrency capabilities, multi-language support including French, German, Spanish, and Polish, and EU-compliant privacy policies