Cartage

What do they actually do

Cartage runs a managed “AI logistics coordinator” called Wilson that handles routine freight coordination for shippers and small logistics teams. It reads orders from CSVs or emails, reaches out to carriers by email/phone like a human coordinator, gets and compares quotes, books trucks, and posts tracking/updates back into the customer’s workflow. Exceptions are escalated to human operators. Customers don’t have to change carriers or adopt a new TMS to use it (product pages, case studies, YC launch).

The company delivers this as a service-with-automation rather than just software: Cartage operates the day-to-day coordination and keeps records/visibility in its system while fitting into the shipper’s existing process. Public case studies (e.g., Musser Biomass, Aspire) show live deployments in commodity and manufacturing contexts where Cartage reduced manual quoting/booking workload without forcing process changes (case studies, Aspire, overview).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Mid-market manufacturers and distributors running regular truckload shipments with small logistics teams: They need to avoid hiring more coordinators and want routine quoting, booking, and status updates handled without changing carriers or systems (case study, product).
• Small in-house logistics teams or single coordinators: They spend most of their time on repetitive email/phone outreach and data entry, and often lack complete historical performance data unless every step is manually tracked (product, case study).
• Shippers who currently outsource to brokers: They want lower per-load coordination cost and better control; broker margins, inconsistent communication, and fragmented records/analytics are common issues (analysis, summary).
• Small 3PLs or broker teams: They need to scale without hiring more coordinators and face bottlenecks during volume spikes; training new coordinators for routine quoting/booking is costly (YC launch).
• Commodity shippers with repetitive lanes (e.g., timber, biomass): They run high volumes of similar loads with frequent exceptions (detention, cross-border paperwork) and need automation for common cases with humans available for edge cases (Musser case study).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Founder-led, high-touch pilots targeting mid-market manufacturers and commodity shippers via introductions and outbound; convert to 4–6 week paid pilots where Cartage runs coordination and measures time/cost saved, backed by case studies and human oversight.
• First 50: Codify a one-page pilot playbook (data intake, outreach templates, escalation rules, success metrics) and hire SDR/ops to run it; add a referral program, public case studies, and a few TMS/3PL channel partners to accelerate intros.
• First 100: Productize onboarding (automate CSV/email ingestion and common lane configs) and offer clear service tiers; expand reseller partnerships (3PLs, TMS vendors, broker networks), add customer success, and use documented ROI to drive scalable inbound.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

U.S. freight coordination spend is roughly $60–70B, composed of about $51.7B in freight brokerage revenue plus an estimated ~$9–20B of in-house coordinator/dispatcher payroll that handles similar work (brokerage estimate, BLS roles, BLS dispatchers).

Bottom-up calculation:

Brokers: ~$51.7B in 2023 revenue. In-house: Logisticians (~241k) + Dispatchers (~206k) ≈ 447k; assume 30% are doing truckload coordination ≈ 134k FTEs at ~$70k employer cost ≈ ~$9.4B. Total ≈ $61B (brokerage, BLS counts, BLS dispatchers, salary benchmarks).

Assumptions:

• Focus on U.S. truckload coordination (not global, not total freight bill).
• 30% of BLS logisticians/dispatchers spend most time on truckload quoting/booking tasks Cartage replaces.
• Employer cost per coordinator ≈ $70k (salary + benefits/overhead).

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Loadsmart: Digital freight brokerage/TMS with instant, bookable rates and integrations; automates quote-to-book but typically steers shippers to Loadsmart capacity and platform workflows rather than layering onto existing email/phone processes (shipper, API).
• Uber Freight: Large marketplace offering instant quotes, self-serve booking, tracking, and a broad carrier network; competes on speed and price but emphasizes using its marketplace and tools over sitting on top of a shipper’s current workflows (overview).
• Convoy (Convoy Platform): Digital freight execution/marketplace that automates carrier matching, negotiation, and tracking for brokers and shippers; positioned as a marketplace/execution layer rather than a managed coordinator embedded in a shipper’s existing carrier communications (platform).
• Transfix: Technology-first broker/TMS that uses AI to speed quoting and carrier sourcing; expects customers to adopt its platform and workflows instead of layering automation onto existing phone/email processes (solutions).
• Shipwell: All-in-one TMS with RFP automation, tendering, and visibility; reduces manual outreach by centralizing operations in its TMS, typically as a system replacement rather than a non-invasive coordinator (TMS platform).