8 Years Strong!

In our personal lives, some people celebrate their entire birth month while others want to forget it exists. For me, Arrive’s “birthday” is a time to process the prior year and think about what’s next.

Before starting this year's blog I reviewed what I wrote for years five, six and seven. It was great to see so many themes continue to be drivers of our success today: People First. Talent. Technology. Service. Partnerships. Financial Strength. And Flexibility. These have been our north stars since the start and they will continue to be moving forward.?

From a numbers perspective, Arrive experienced strong year-over-year growth in many ways. Below are a few areas I am particularly proud of when I look at our results from July 2021 to July 2022:

• Volume: We grew our truckload business over 60% in volume per day.? The only real way to measure sustainable growth.? Revenue and margins move with market conditions
• Revenue: But if you want to discuss revenue… Last year we were trending towards $1.6B — today we are trending towards $2.5B.??
• Talent: We grew from 1100 employees last July to 1550 today, had a 9% reduction in attrition, and promoted over 100 employees within the organization.
• Development: We saw a 100% increase in average productivity per rep in their first year, demonstrating our commitment to effective hiring, training, and technology.?
• Technology: We hired an additional 100 rockstars into our technology team in roles across data, engineering, product, and design allowing us to surpass our initial digital goals through the adoption of Arrive's carrier technology, machine learning, and increased connectivity to shippers through Arrives RateAPI.
• Performance: Across our entire network, we saw an increase in our on-time delivery to over 93% from 87% the year prior. As a result of increased performance, Home Depot and Shaw Industries awarded us “Carrier of the Year” — and we hear more might be on the way!
• Expanded Services: We made our first-ever acquisition to offer Cross Border services for Mexico and Canada. We have also doubled our LTL and Partial business!
• Partnership: We piloted “We Deliver Flexibility” — a program connecting owner-operators with private fleets to create partnership opportunities.

It really is amazing to see those numbers compared to where we were just last year, let alone when we started in 2014. Beyond our performance, it was also interesting to look back and see how much the industry has changed. Nowhere is that more clear than on the digital transformation forefront.?

When we started Arrive, tech was barely a part of the conversation. But over the last 5 years, there has been a significant increase in focus on the digitization of the supply chain and how this will affect brokers of the future. The tide is definitely turning. Smart brokerages are investing heavily in building best-in-class technology that promotes internal productivity, customer and carrier connectivity and outstanding data analysis. Those who have yet to do so will only fall further back as this becomes the new industry expectation.

People, processes and technology. That is what got us here and as I look forward to the next year at Arrive it will be more of the same. Like they say, “If it isn't broken, don't fix it.” And whether it is building the team or the technology or new service offerings, Arrive is going to tackle it like every other challenge we have faced in the past; delivering on the fundamentals with a relentless pursuit of perfection.??

We have our eyes set on being a top three transportation provider in the U.S. by 2025.? The next 12 months will be important in shaping how we get there.? The market will be challenging and we are seeing significant changes in rates as spot opportunities continue to decline. We are investing in the processes that make us more efficient and better operationally as a team and as always, the strong will thrive and grow in challenging environments.? A few specific focus areas for us include:

• Scale: Another strong year of 30%+ load growth positioning us to hit $3B in 2023.
• Tech: Ongoing investment in technology that drives efficiency, productivity and connectivity.? Building technology that will allow us to take on significantly more volume while still delivering the level of service customers have come to expect from our team.
• Talent: Continuing to attract talent while building careers for our current team through development and promotion; building the best team in the industry to make us capable of achieving all of our growth goals.
• Services: Diversifying our service offerings, investing heavily in Cross-Border and LTL and actively sourcing feedback from customers about what additional services would be meaningful for us to provide them.
• Financial Strength: Remaining focused on doing what we do well — building a financially sustainable business with unparalleled growth, best-in-class technology, cost per load and ultimately contribution margin.
• Service: Continuing to deliver best-in-class service to all shippers and carriers. This may be recognized through awards but the internal drive will always be to redefine the freight broker experience for our customers.
• Location Expansion: We officially opened our doors in San Antonio this week. Tampa is coming in Q3, and we have our sights on opening 3 more offices in the next 12 months.?

We will do all of the above and more because we know that is what it takes to deliver so our customers can. That is our value and our mission. Getting there will require us to keep thinking strategically like a mature organization and working with the grit and determination of a start-up. From our newest hires to our ELT our entire team is customer obsessed and ready for the opportunities and challenges that the next year will bring.