Linebooker to Disrupt South African Transport Industry

Linebooker embraces technology
Linebooker, a Cape Town-based spinoff from the innovation arm of CCS Logistics, has launched an online bidding platform. The platform connects bulk business transport customers and trucking companies to offer transparent pricing and end-to-end delivery facilitation services.

“It’s time for South Africa’s road freight industry to join the 21st century,” says Naudé Rademan, managing director of CCS Logistics “Technology exposes the imbalanced relation between buyers and sellers, and with our online tools and a single point of service, customers can enjoy more control and insights over the transport of various goods and products,” he explains.

The company challenges an industry plagued by opaque pricing and antiquated systems.
Using the online bidding platform, transport customers can submit load requests online to alert multiple transporters that are given a two-hour window in which to provide the best bid, often competing up to the last second.

For transport customers, this means: A single creditor (a set fee is charged per transaction based on the value of a load Vetted transporters and truck availability; and Facilitation of the entire delivery process.

CCS Logistics owns and operates several cold storage facilities in southern Africa.

Since mid-2016, Linebooker has facilitated the delivery of more than 1 000 loads, saving customers an average of 13% per load. According to Rademan, it currently has more than 60 transporters with over 1 300 trucks on its system and serves brands like Lucky Star, Shoprite and Heinz. While composed of several former transport brokers, the company itself is not a transport brokerage.  It also doesn’t own any trucks.

“Today, each transport request made online is like a mini-RFP,” concludes manager, Nick Hoffman.

“We are improving the efficiency of the industry, connecting customers with more transporters (and vice versa), and ensuring transparent pricing. In some cases, customers are saving up to 18% per load,” he adds.
For transporters challenged with cash flow issues due to payment terms that average 40 days in the industry, the company offers:
Access to more customers;
A single debtor (with no broker markup);
Payment within 15 days; and
Improved ‘lane balancing’ (deliveries loaded in two directions).