The freight industry is the lifeblood of the economy. That has never been more apparent than in today’s uncertain environment. While the world increasingly turns toward sheltering in place and remote work, demand for essential goods has grown steeply, directly impacting the shippers and carriers who are on the frontlines of producing and delivering these goods.

In this time of crisis, Uber Freight remains committed to supporting our carriers and our shipper partners by providing 24/7 service and support, and keeping our operations running strong. Since March 13, the FMCSA has suspended federal hours-of-service regulations for operations engaged in emergency relief related to COVID-19. In this time, Uber Freight has helped move nearly 4,000 relief loads including food, water and medical supplies and worked with nearly 2,000 facilities to update their site-specific operational requirements.

Today, we are rolling out a series of initiatives to support carriers and shippers as well as help keep essential goods moving throughout these uncertain times. 

Supporting small shippers’ relief efforts 

There are thousands of shippers using Uber Freight’s shipper platform today. Many of these businesses are responsible for moving essential goods around the U.S. including food, water, medical equipment, and sanitation supplies.

Over the coming weeks as the current FMCSA hours-of-service suspension is in place, all relief loads booked via the Uber Freight shipper platform will be hauled with zero profit pricing for Uber Freight. By lowering the cost of transportation, we aim to support small shippers as they navigate this challenging economic time as well as help ensure that critical goods can get where they need to be reliably and on time.

Offering warm meals for drivers 

There are more than 50,000 carriers using Uber Freight to power their business. These carriers and their drivers are working long hours, far away from home, to deliver the goods we need most during this time. With increasing regional lockdowns and fewer restaurant options available, we’ve heard from our driver community that accessing food while on the road is growing increasingly difficult. 

To help truck drivers more easily find warm meals, we will be sending drivers hauling loads through the Uber Freight app a weekly $20 credit towards any meal ordered on Uber Eats. 

Helping keep smaller carriers safe 

We have also heard from some smaller carriers in our network that they are finding it difficult to source sanitation materials for their equipment. As part of a broader effort to help keep carriers safe on the road during this time, we are committing to provide thousands of sanitation kits to small carriers using Uber Freight. Supplies will be distributed directly to carriers as early as possible and will be shared with our most active small carriers that have under twelve trucks.

As we navigate this challenging time together as an industry, we will continue to look for ways to support the many businesses that keep supply chains running smoothly and our community stores stocked.

For more information on how Uber Freight is responding to the COVID-19 emergency and more details on the initiatives outlined above, please visit this page.