Uber Technologies, the ride-sharing company, has publicly launched an app to allow shippers and truckers to arrange freight transportation using their smartphones.

Uber Freight matches trucking companies with loads to haul and claims that several hours and multiple phone calls can now be achieved with the touch of a button.

Vetted users download the app, search for a load, and tap to book it.

Uber has also built a team of industry experts, leading technologists, and truck drivers to help it “push the industry forward and level the playing field for trucking companies”.

Uber stated: “We send a rate confirmation within seconds, eliminating a common anxiety in trucking about whether or not the load is really confirmed.

“We fundamentally believe that by focusing on drivers’ pain points we can solve the industry’s biggest challenges.”

Frank Kho, Vice President, Market Intelligence, Strategy and Development at Kalmar, recently pointed to parcel logistics being the first shipping sector to undergo uberisation due to delivery companies “struggling to find enough trucks and drivers to move all of their parcels at peak periods in urban areas”.