Oway Halves Long‑Haul Freight Costs Using ELD Data

Thousands of long‑haul semitrucks cross U.S. highways each day only partially loaded, and a San Francisco startup believes that wasted space is a multibillion‑dollar opportunity. Oway — founded in 2023 and backed by Y Combinator and General Catalyst — raised a $4 million seed round to build an "Uber for freight" focused on matching small shipments to empty trailer space on existing routes.

How Oway actually works

At the core of Oway's pitch are electronic logging devices (ELDs) — government‑mandated telematics that record location and driver hours. By combining ELD telemetry with machine learning, Oway finds nearby trips that already have empty pallet space and matches shippers into those trailers with minimal detour. The startup also automates paperwork and insurance tasks to speed onboarding.

Why it matters

Oway says this approach blends the speed of full truckload shipping with the cost savings of less‑than‑truckload. By placing small shipments on direct long‑haul routes instead of routing them through multiple warehouses, shippers pay less, deliveries are faster, and goods suffer less handling damage.

• Lower cost: Oway claims a pallet move from Los Angeles to Dallas can fall from about $350 to as little as $140.
• Faster, more direct routes than typical LTL networks, reducing transit time and reloading risk.
• Environmental and utilization gains as empty miles are monetized and emissions fall.

Challenges and trade‑offs

ELDs make this model possible, but they’re also controversial: drivers worry about surveillance and some analyses suggest safety trade‑offs when hours are strictly enforced. Operationally, matching random small shipments to live routes requires tight coordination with carriers and brokers and robust data controls to protect privacy and compliance with hours‑of‑service rules.

Bigger picture and the road ahead

Trucking is a trillion‑dollar industry and analysts estimate empty space creates a roughly $100 billion inefficiency. Oway is positioning itself as a decentralized layer that works with carriers, brokers and shippers rather than buying trailers outright. That model could scale rapidly if fleets accept tighter telematics integration and customers embrace flexible, pallet‑level pricing.

If successful, this approach would lower consumer shipping costs, cut emissions, and change how goods move across the country. The big question now is execution: building reliable ML matching, establishing trust with drivers and carriers, and navigating privacy and regulatory concerns while scaling partnerships.

Startups like Oway are one example of how telematics and machine intelligence can unlock latent efficiency in legacy industries. For carriers and shippers, the immediate opportunity is straightforward: convert underused trailer space into revenue and faster, cheaper options for small shipments without rebuilding the entire logistics network.

Oway is focusing on the U.S. market for now but says it has international interest. If the math holds, empty miles could become a new revenue stream rather than an accepted cost of doing business — and that would reshape freight economics for the next decade.