C.H. Robinson has launched BidBoardX, which is a digital freight tool that gives carriers direct access to the company’s longer-term committed freight opportunities. For shippers, the online marketplace opens the door to a strategic carrier base while also offering operational options.
Committed freight is planned, higher-volume shipments with specific timelines and expectations.
C.H. Robinson, which connects 450,000 carriers with 75,000 customers and manages 37 million shipments annually, created BidBoardX to respond to several industry needs. The company said carriers “have been looking for better access to committed freight, dependable opportunities and predictable revenue streams,” while shippers “have been looking for more reliable coverage on critical lanes, a broader pool of carriers that fit their needs and more consistency in service.”
Adam McDonough, vice president for capacity at C.H. Robinson, said the company works with carriers of all sizes, and they all have different needs. “Small carriers want consistent, predictable revenue opportunities, while mid- to large-sized carriers want to optimize their networks,” McDonough said. “With BidBoardX, they get direct access to the opportunities that best fit their business needs, including local or short haul, dedicated freight and our Drop Trailer Plus and 4PL programs. That’s how we connect unmet supply and demand and create significantly more value in the marketplace.”
C.H. Robinson said “committed freight” could mean a series of 400 loads between two different cities, within a certain timeframe and on specific days of the week. “This is the kind of steady, repeatable freight that carriers can plan around and for which shippers need coverage they can count on,” the company said.
While the company’s network is made of carriers of different sizes, it also comprises tens of thousands of shippers that range from small businesses to global enterprises. And they all have specific logistics needs. “For carriers, finding these companies’ committed freight opportunities has historically been a manual process that involved long phone or email exchanges, with limited visibility into what was available,” the company said. “Through BidBoardX, available on C.H. Robinson’s digital platform, certified carriers in C.H. Robinson’s network can search for freight that previously wasn’t accessible to them, submit bids and track their activity—all through one user-friendly online interface.”
Aside from finding more freight, carriers can use advanced search tools to find the opportunities that best fit them and then bid on deals of different sizes. They can also move from one-off transactions to build stronger relationships with leading shippers for the long term.
“The carrier market has long been built around fragmented, transactional decisions,” said Michael Castagnetto, C.H. Robinson’s president of North American surface transportation. “What we’re doing with BidBoardX is creating a more structured, network-driven approach that helps carriers build their business with greater stability while giving shippers more dependable outcomes. At our scale, that is the kind of improvement that can drive meaningful impact across the supply chain.”
