Auto Hauler Exchange (AHX) is a vehicle transportation marketplace launched to digitize the traditional logistics broker model. It allows auto shippers and carriers to connect directly — bypassing brokers sitting in the middle.
The auto transport industry has traditionally followed a broker business model, in which a large portion of shipping opportunities are controlled and dictated by a small number of brokers. The result is a manual and complex process where multiple broker touch points are required to complete a transaction.
After spending years in vehicle logistics as founder & CEO of freight brokerage firm, SFL Companies, Royce Neubauer recognized the need for his business to digitize to stay competitive and began searching for opportunities to overhaul the disconnected vehicle transportation industry. In 2022, Royce and his team founded Auto Hauler Exchange to create an environment where shippers and carriers can connect directly, without broker oversight.
It was clear to Royce that Auto Hauler would need to utilize the marketplace model to connect shippers with carriers directly and facilitate transactions without brokers. But building a marketplace from the ground up can be a time-intensive, expensive endeavor.
To validate Auto Hauler Exchange in the market, the team needed a solution that didn’t carry the high capital costs and long implementation cycles of a custom build, but was flexible enough to work with their existing partners and systems.
Auto Hauler Exchange launched on the Nautical Commerce multi-vendor marketplace platform. Nautical made it possible for AHX to launch within 90 days and validate their business model through a phased crawl, walk, run implementation process. AHX realized a faster time to value and were able to demonstrate their marketplace business model to partners quickly with significantly less capital risk than a custom build.
With Nautical’s technology, AHX was able to keep their relationships with existing partners and build out the flexible payments and logistics offerings their users required.
Digitizing the traditionally analog broker business model with Nautical allowed Auto Hauler Exchange to:
Nautical’s implementation process is phased to ensure customers can see faster time to value and validate their business model quickly with less upfront capital risk.
“From the day I pitched my concept (to Nautical), to the day we were able to sit down in one of the largest vehicle logistics retailers office in the country was less than 90 days…the speed at which they brought us to market was insane.”
Auto Hauler Exchange leverages their existing technology and knowledge of the unique needs of the logistics industry on top of Nautical’s API-first infrastructure to create a better operating model that challenges the industry status quo.
“The efficiency that Nautical continues to bring to the table for us is how dialed in they are with meeting and working with our other vendors to make sure everything that we're bringing into the exchange fits within the Nautical code and that things are flowing seamlessly.”
By removing the inefficiencies that exist in the traditional logistics broker model, Auto Hauler Exchange is able facilitate more transactions by creating a shorter path from order to fulfillment for customers.
"The platform has allowed for more shipments to be moved within the same time frame. By connecting shippers directly to carriers and bypassing brokers, we have been able to offer more competitive rates for our clients."
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