Hwy Haul raises $10M to build produce book to keep reefer drivers busy

Digital freight platform Hwy Haul has announced the raising of $10 million in additional funding to continue growing its solution focused on bringing reliability and efficiency to shipping produce across North America.

The company’s new funding is led by Eileses Capital with participation from True Blue Partners, BluePointe Ventures and FDC Partners.

“The food and fresh produce supply chain is a vital network affecting multiple industries, and it faces immense challenges today,” said Kishore Bopardikar, founder and managing partner at Eileses Capital, in Wednesday’s news release. “We are excited to lead this investment round for Hwy Haul as they digitize the overall supply chain experience, making it more accessible and affordable for all parties.” 

The company has raised a total of $20.6 million since being founded in 2018. 

“Our north star is to eliminate food waste during the transportation process,” said Syed Aman, founder and CEO of Hwy Haul, who formerly served as the director of supply chain technology at Walmart Labs.

“Produce spends 50% of its life on a truck, and one out of every 10 truck loads ends up being rejected, usually due to unreliable capacity not making its refrigerated needs. We believe that our system can help fix that problem while reducing empty miles and reducing each load’s carbon footprint.”

According to Ivan Momchilov, Hwy Haul’s senior director of capacity, in order to bring a digital and more efficient transportation experience to drivers, shippers and produce brokers, their 3PL partners must be proficient in the niche. 

“It’s not like working at a traditional 3PL,” Momchilov said. “It’s about knowing crop yield and what goes into production levels. For example, did it rain in Mexico recently? Because if not, I am not going to have any produce crossing the border this week or the upcoming 10 days.”

Momchilov said knowing these intricacies helps the company build technology to keep drivers on the road all year long, even when farmers experience unexpected lower yields.

“We strategically positioned our carriers six months ago for the freight they are hauling today,” he said. “We use our technology to automate the drivers’ processes so when these shipments are ready to go, it automatically goes through our carrier routing guide and keeps them busy even when their peers are struggling to find good freight.”

Leveraging Momchilov’s carrier experience with the founders’ technology expertise, carriers are able to receive the same data analysis and reporting that Hwy Haul can offer its shippers as well.

Given its recent capital infusion, the company plans to build more relationships with the largest growers, distributors, wholesalers and produce retailers in North America to continue its promise to carriers to keep them rolling.

“Hwy Haul has deliberately built the operating infrastructure to support the leading and most demanding companies in the fresh produce industry,” said Sunil Grover, managing partner of True Blue Partners. “The company is now going toe-to-toe with the incumbent market leaders and winning. We are very excited about doubling down on our investment partnership in its next phase of sustainable growth.” 

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