Haulio: The Future of Haulage is here (Part?2)

2018: The Year of Validation

This calendar year, Haulio started off with just 4 of us, and it was going to be our first full year as a company. It was also the year that I officially said goodbye to my “Daddy issues” and stepped down from my previous role in my family business.

CNY 2018: When our names could still all fit in to our 春联 《志在四方昇豪杰，虹琦春风招贤才》

I went on to take up the position as CEO of Haulio and took charge in bringing together a group of young dynamic team in our attempt to change this stubborn industry. As shit gets real every month, I wake up every morning with a renewed purpose that I’ve been seeking out for my entire short stint in this industry: to challenge the norm and constantly ask:

“Why cannot? Why not?”

Haulio went on to get the media attention as a group of young 21st century “kids” trying to inject some life and hope into this otherwise “sunset” industry, where the typical average age of Towkays (aka Local Bosses), Controllers and Drivers are usually 2x of ours.

Throughout the year, we spent time interacting with various stakeholders involved in the shipping of a container with goods: from the Port (PSA) to the Customers’ Warehouse to the Depots, as well as the companies which facilitate the execution of the deliveries: Freight Forwarders (Brokers/Agents), NVOCCs, Hauliers (Truck Companies), Controllers, Operations and Drivers (Staff from the Truck Companies).

Our team came up with our very own “ Haulio-pedia”, where we study the entire process flow of a Container from the point of discharge to the customers’ hands and vice versa

Together, We Cargo Faster!

With this motto, we went on to become the Largest Digital Haulage Network in Singapore, with over 160+ (out of 230) of the local hauliers on our platform — that’s 70% of the market — transacting over 100,000 TEUs in 2018.

And we did that the hard way. Over countless “Kopi” sessions at kopitiams with the towkays and several industry outreach to the drivers, we are driven to work even harder. Due to their inadequate know-how of this new scary monster known as “Technology” & “Digitalization”, the pain from their manual work for years is very real.

Yup, this is 2018 for you folks.

One of the most common question we ask our interviewees: “Have you seen a Container Truck before? Ever wondered how the Containers are transported?” And the common answer was: “No, I actually never noticed”. It was really sad to hear because one of the most important pillars that contribute towards the success of being the Best Seaport in the World is hidden from everyone, even though the trucks have always been there, running behind the scenes.

“Uncle don’t want to do already, all my kids are grown up now and they are not interested in this business, how about you take over and buy from Uncle? Uncle sell you.” - With Uncle Frank from LSHK

Hence, we embarked on a mission to make a difference to the lives of those forgotten from the industry, and those that have been left behind from the focus on eCommerce Last Mile Deliveries over the past years. The shortage of Truck Drivers is a global problem with rising average age of drivers and the lack of appeal to the younger generations to replace the old ones who retire.

A veteran driver with our SG Haulier Decal that we gave out to over 1,500 trucks in Singapore during National Day last year

Giving out 1,000 Xmas Goodie Bags as a way to show our appreciation to the drivers of the industry

As I look back at some of the highlights in 2018, I am heartened to say that we have started well and built a team of Haulions who care about the purpose and value in the work that we do over at Haulio. We had the opportunity to continue the good work we’ve started out on and had the honour to be acknowledged by our fellow industry for the work that we’ve laid out.

The harsh reality still stands: it takes a lot of effort to move a mountain. Throughout the year, we had our fair share of ups and downs, even having the state of our industry portrayed as gloomy and bleak.

Proud winners of Supply Chain Asia Awards

2019: The Year of Conviction

The good news, however, is that we are starting to see an interest in this “neglected” space as the entire Supply Chain gets increasingly digitalized and various platforms start to diverge and connect digitally. This sudden hype of a Platform that connects Shippers to Truckers will continue to manifest over the next couple of years, along the fact that we are observing another trend of major Shipping Lines and Ports looking to offer an end-to-end solution for Cargo movements. Even UberFreight is looking at innovations with their recently launched: Powerloop.

Time for the Pain to stop

The future of Supply Chain will be one where information and updates flow seamlessly across the chain, and Haulio intends to play our part as the digital connecting node of the Container Haulage vertical.

One thing that remains clear about a largely fragmented space involving multiple parties along the chain:

“Every Supply Chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”

I firmly believe that this industry is ripe for disruption but our approach would be facilitation instead. We believe in delivering value via our Technology to our users and we will continue to do so by adding the human touch to our business. Technology is not here to replace the humans but rather, to empower them to do better.

As we draw an end to this crazy year of 2018, I am deeply grateful to every single one whom I had the chance to work with. Every setback that I’ve faced, every critic that I’ve gotten and every rejection that I get; to every encouragement I received and every smile that I got, have made Haulio to who we are today. We will continue to ignite the industry with hope through our burning passion to contribute and make a difference.

Happy New Year from Team Haulio

“I could either watch it happen or be a part of it.” — Elon Musk

Boy, am I glad to have made those crazy decisions.

Driving the Future of Haulage

Alvin Ea