Before “Freight Tech” Was a Category: 2018 to 2020 and the Founding Class

The concept of “freight tech” was virtually unheard of in 2018, a year when the shipping industry still relied on decades-old technology. Transportation management systems, load boards, and EDI connections were all part of the industry’s technological landscape, but there was no shared perception that these components formed a distinct category worthy of recognition.

FreightWaves understood this gap and launched the FreightTech awards in 2018 to fill it. The timing was crucial because the innovation in freight was invisible, scattered, and unrecognized. Venture capital was beginning to notice the space, but there was no reliable way for the broader industry to identify genuinely innovative companies from those simply trying to stand out.

FreightWaves aimed to provide a credible signal by building the award deliberately to be recognized rather than promotional. The structure of the award separated a broad list of nominees from a ranked few: the FreightTech 100, narrowed from hundreds of nominations, and then the FreightTech 25, selected from the hundred by a hand-picked peer group of CEOs, industry leaders, and investors actively investing in freight.

This design, combining a wide net narrowed by analysts and ranked by those with capital and operating experience, gave the list its authority from the beginning. The founding class of 2018-2020 included both established giants and venture-backed newcomers, reflecting the range of the category even early on, from the largest players in transportation to startups betting everything on a single insight.

The award’s structure was crucial from the start because it guaranteed the list’s credibility. Any company could be nominated at no cost, and a FreightWaves panel narrowed the field, while a separate peer group of industry leaders ranked the top companies. This design ensured that a company’s inclusion was based on analyst vetting and peer recognition based on capital and experience, not promotion or self-interest.

In 2018-2020, innovation in freight tech primarily meant digitizing analog processes, turning traditional methods into software solutions. The bar was relatively low compared to today’s standards, but the companies that convincingly translated offline processes into software were recognized as innovators. The founding lists remain relevant today because they represent a trustworthy signal in a young and rapidly evolving category, valued by those who deploy and fund freight technology.