Above the Fold: Supply Chain Logistics News (August 15, 2025)

By Adrian Gonzalez

What did I miss?

I was on vacation and off the grid last week, but apparently, I didn’t miss much during my time off. Tariffs continued to dominate the headlines, AI continued to march forward, and spammers continued to email me (I spent my first day back deleting 3,432 junk emails).

The world continues to spin, with or without me online. That is one of the best things about vacation: it reminds me that whatever role I play in the cosmos, it can wait.

Speaking of waiting, that is what my loving wife will be doing at the top of Mt. Washington tomorrow morning. She will be driving up that treacherous road early in the morning and waiting at least 3 hours for me to reach the summit on my bicycle. It’s one of the many definitions of love. But I have no doubt she will use this as leverage against me for the rest of the year. From now on, whenever she asks me to do something I don’t really want to do, she’ll undoubtedly say, “Remember when I drove up Mt. Washington and waited for you in the cold and windy summit for 3 hours?”

Yes, I am climbing up Mt. Washington in NH tomorrow morning on my bicycle. A big thanks to everyone who posted kind words of encouragement on LinkedIn and who have donated to the cause so far. Also, a big thank you to our Logistics Leaders for T1D Cure Team sponsors: TranzAct Technologies Inc., Descartes Systems Group, JBF Consulting, and Pando. (It’s not too late to become a team sponsor; we have other rides coming up in September and October. If interested, please contact me.)

Why am I doing this? For my daughter Hannah and everyone living with type 1 diabetes. I do it to raise money for Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF), the leading non-profit organization dedicated to research and advocacy for type 1 diabetes.

But I’m doing this particular ride for another reason too: to give cancer the middle finger. I did relatively little cycling last year as I recovered from thyroid cancer surgery and treatment. Reaching the top of the mountain, wearing this custom jersey I designed, will be my way of celebrating becoming a cancer survivor. I’m also doing it for one of my beloved aunts who is currently battling cancer.

I’ve done what I can to raise my fitness level to reach Mt. Washington’s summit. But the clock is still ticking for me to reach my fundraising goal. I’m only at 63% at the moment. If you’ve been affected by type 1 diabetes or cancer, directly or indirectly, or simply want to support the cause, you can help me reach my fundraising goal by donating here: http://www2.breakthrought1d.org/goto/ll4t1dcure

Thank you for listening.

Now, here’s the supply chain and logistics news that caught my attention this week:

What is Uber Freight?

Earlier this week, Uber Freight announced the appointment of Rebecca Tinucci as Chief Executive Officer. She succeeds founder and CEO Lior Ron, who will transition to Chairman and take on a new role as COO of Waabi, “a company pioneering Physical AI starting with autonomous trucking in which Uber is a major investor.”

I typically don’t comment on executive appointments, but I’m making an exception here because I’ve seen some comments online questioning whether Tinucci is the right person to lead Uber Freight because she doesn’t have any logistics/freight experience. Here’s her background, per the press release:

Rebecca brings deep expertise from Tesla, where she led the global charging organization, transforming it into a profitable, multi-billion-dollar business and spearheading industry-wide collaborations that set the North American standard for electric vehicle infrastructure. In that role, she helped orchestrate industry-wide change, a skill directly applicable to helping shippers embrace new digital and operational models in logistics.

Most recently, she led Uber’s global electrification strategy, forging partnerships across the energy and mobility ecosystems to accelerate Uber’s zero-emission goals. Her ability to connect disparate systems, scale networks, and accelerate technology adoption [emphasis mine] mirrors the challenges and opportunities in building the world’s most connected logistics platform.

Who is the right person to lead Uber Freight? The answer depends on how you answer this question: What is Uber Freight?

I actually addressed that question almost three years ago in a November 2022 post. Below is an excerpt of what I wrote at the time, which I still believe is true.

What is Uber Freight? [My Response from 2022]

When the acquisition [of Transplace] was first announced in July 2021, I wrote the following:

Uber Freight acquiring Transplace seems like a “digital freight broker” acquiring a “managed transportation services” provider. But for me, that is an outdated and myopic view. What I see is two logistics networks and technology platforms coming together to enable broader and more powerful network effects.

Is a new type of supply chain and logistics solution provider emerging? I believe so. I don’t know what to call them, but maybe “Network Effects Providers”?

What is Uber Freight today? It is a “logistics platform and partner [emphasis mine] built to help shippers and carriers stay ahead in a rapidly evolving world.” That is how Lior Ron describes the unified company in a [October 2022] blog post .

It’s a platform and partner, not a 3PL or technology company.

Why not a 3PL? As I have argued in the past, the traditional definition of “3PL” is stale and limited. It is a reflection of the world we used to live in. Not surprising, many companies that used to call themselves 3PLs in the past are now abandoning the term when defining themselves today.

Why not a technology company? Because software (which is usually equated with technology) is not enough. As I commented in that July 2021 post, Marc Andreessen’s famous quote that “Software is eating the world” needs to get updated. Today, it is more accurate to say that “Software and networks are eating the world” — especially in the supply chain and logistics world.

My proposed name of “Network Effects Provider” has been simplified by the industry to just Platform.

And when talking about platforms, scale and scope matter. In Uber Freight’s case, here are some of the platform stats [back in November 2022, so the numbers are much larger today] the company highlights:

135K+ carriers
1.7 million drivers
8K+ customers (plus 280 customers using the TMS)
2+ million facility ratings
$17 billion freight under management
11 million shipments per year managed on TMS across all modes
70 million ETA calculations per year with over 3 million “at risk” ETAs

Why are logistics platforms better aligned to address the challenges and opportunities of the world we live in (and heading toward) than the way we’ve always done it?

It’s a good question, one that I will unpack in future posts.

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Back to Rebecca Tinucci. If you view Uber Freight simply as a freight broker with a managed transportation services group, then I think it’s fair to question Rebecca’s appointment as CEO.

But if you view Uber Freight as a “Network Effects Provider” — or as a Supply Chain Operating Network, another term I coined back in 2003 — then her experience “to connect disparate systems, scale networks, and accelerate technology adoption” is exactly what the company needs at this moment.

And what is this moment? I believe it’s when Supply Chain Operating Networks start to gain momentum and acceptance in the market, which is why we recently launched our Better With A Network research initiative.

Of course, as with all bold bets, this one can fail to pay off for Uber Freight. If that’s the case, Uber will likely spin off Uber Freight and focus on its other businesses. It might do that anyway, even if the bet pays off.

As Robert F. Kennedy said, “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

Or to quote myself from an August 2015 post: “Here is my simple advice for shippers and 3PLs that seek profitable growth in the years ahead: Be bold and different. Otherwise, you might find yourself caught in the middle, or in a failed relationship, with nowhere to go.”

And with that, it’s time to pack my bags and bike, and head to the great rockpile up north.

Song of the Week: “Ready to Go” by Republica