C.H. Robinson Launches Freightquote for Self-Service Shipping

C.H. Robinson recently introduced Freightquote by C.H. Robinson, a self-service offering that helps small businesses find the best multimodal shipping options. The new offering allows users to create a shipping quote and compare carriers in a few clicks. 

C.H. Robinson claims to work with 76,000 vetted suppliers that are evaluated every quarter. Carrier scorecards are used to determine the best match for each shipment (as shown below).

This is part of a more significant trend to replace shipping software with portals or business platforms built on a self-service model. A few examples of similar initiatives include Ware2Go, a fulfillment and delivery platform created by UPS, and Shopify's acquisition of 6 River (part of its investments of $1 billion to set up a network of fulfillment centers across the U.S.). 

One aspect all of these platforms have in common is the fact that the companies providing them aren’t traditional shipping or supply chain management software vendors. The advantage of having new players in the supply chain software market is that they bring a new approach that focuses more on services than software. On the other hand, these new offerings are usually not as robust as shipping or freight management software and are beneficial mostly to small businesses.

We expect to see more self-service platforms for supply chain management in general, and shipping in particular. As these new platforms evolve and include new features, traditional vendors will need to adapt and focus on a self-service model, rather than monolithic software products that are inflexible and complex.