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Pac Man is coming.

Uber Freight's acquisition of Transplace is a sign of things to come.

Steve Geary
By Steve GearyJul 27, 2021
Steve Geary
Steve Geary is adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee's Haaslam College of Business and is a lecturer at The Gordon Institute at Tufts University. He is the President of the Supply Chain Visions family of companies, consultancies that work across the government sector. Steve is a contributing editor at DC Velocity, and editor-at-large for CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.
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Decades ago, trash hauling was a fractured market.  Small, local operations and municipal services dominated the scene.  Then consolidation hit.

According to the Institute for Self-Reliance, “Big Waste companies own or control 75% of the permitted landfill capacity in major metropolitan areas, and control an estimated 50% of the national hauling market, with increased levels of domination in regional markets.”

Last week Uber Technologies announced the acquisition of buying Transplace for about $2.25 billion.

According to Reuter’s, “Uber Freight operates as a middleman in the fragmented long-haul trucking business, connecting truckers with shippers. Transplace works with shipping brokers and carriers to manage supply chains and plan logistics, including cross-border shipments.”

This is a classic play.   Consolidation.  Economies of scale.  Streamlined transaction.  

As the pace of change in logistics continues to accelerate, you should be thinking about the same things.   Maybe you can do it on your own.   Or maybe you can team up with a friend.

Pac Man is coming.  

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steve geary on global logistics and risk
Blog
steve geary on global logistics and risk

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