Tackling the Future of Transportation with Greylock’s Reid Hoffman and Simon Rothman

Recently, our friends at Greylock Partners hosted an invite-only event in San Francisco on The Future of Transportation. The event brought together a mix of tech startup founders and press to talk about the impact of technology on the transportation landscape and the role of autonomy over the next few decades. Panels featured insights from leaders at startups Aurora, Nauto, Nuro, and Convoy.   

Convoy VP of Operations Kristen Forecki discussed the need for innovation in trucking and shared how Convoy is transforming the industry by fundamentally rethinking the way trucking operates.

“We created our technology by thinking about how the world and industry should work.” – Kristen Forecki, VP of Operations at Convoy

Here are three highlights from Kristen’s predictions on how trucking and logistics will evolve in the future of transportation:     

1. 1. Solutions like Convoy will bring more capacity to the marketplace by helping shippers access the small, decentralized carriers that make up the majority of the US market. Marketplaces and networks like Convoy will give shippers a one-stop-shop for flexible supply sourcing while making it easier for small carriers to connect to jobs and other benefits that help them succeed and grow their businesses.

1. 1. Autonomous trucks and truck drivers = better together. Many aspects of trucking will always require a person’s judgment or physical presence, so fully autonomous trucking will likely never be the norm. But adding some autonomous features to the trucking process can help drivers, carriers, and shippers. The combination of people and technology can often accomplish more than one or the other can alone. (Said Forecki, “It’s not about a person OR technology, it’s about a person AND technology.”) In the future, we see a world where trucking will use a combination of human driver and autonomous driving to move freight more efficiently and help carriers to get more capacity from their trucks.

1. Technology and automation will ultimately increase the speed and lower the cost of transporting goods. With growing demand and higher consumer expectation around fast delivery times, the freight market will continue growing exponentially over the next 20+ years, putting more pressure on shippers to move freight faster and cheaper. Convoy has already built a marketplace that automates the process of matching supply and demand at the right price. Data science, machine learning, and continued product innovation will create even more automation, leading to greater warehouse productivity, improved customer service, and significant costs savings.

Greylock Partner @simonrothman discusses the future of shipping and logistics with @convoyteam VP of Operations @kforecki and Nuro CEO and Co-Founder Dave Ferguson. pic.twitter.com/zkXvJNiQZU

— Greylock Partners (@GreylockVC) May 25, 2018

Big thanks to Kristen for representing Convoy, and to the entire team at Greylock Partners for hosting such a great, engaging evening—we’re honored to have been a part of it.  

Update July 31st:

The full recording is now available on Soundcloud. Listen and comment!