Ryder doubles down on venture investment with acquisition of tech startup

Logistics and transportation provider Ryder System Inc. has acquired a San Francisco tech startup that speeds up truck deliveries at DCs by staging freight loads at local “drop zones” and shrinking detention and dwell time for truck drivers, the company said today.

Baton says its artificial intelligence (AI)-based platform determines the best locations for long haul trucks to drop off and pick up loads, letting Baton handle pick up and delivery to and from warehouses.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Ryder had already held a stake in the three-year-old firm through its 2021 investment backing made through the company’s corporate venture capital fund, RyderVentures.

Following the move, Baton’s cofounders, Andrew Berberick and Nate Robert, will join Ryder as co-chief product and technology officers for the supply chain and dedicated transportation businesses and remain based in Silicon Valley. In that role, they will further develop Ryder’s portfolio of technology products, the company said.

Also joining Ryder are several members of Baton’s core leadership team, including Erik Malin as a group director of operations, Ryan Houlihan as a director of engineering, and Jason Liu as a director of engineering.

“The acquisition of Baton is consistent with our strategic focus to continue to grow our supply chain and transportation solutions businesses, and part of that strategy is to bring new technology-driven solutions to market,” Robert Sanchez, chairman and CEO of Ryder, said in a release. “With Baton, we gain the talent and the team of product developers and technologists behind the Baton logistics platform, who will lead the innovation and development of the next generation of customer-facing technologies at Ryder.”