New company provides truck dispatch support service to logistics companies in Japan
SoftBank Corp. (hereinafter, "SoftBank") and Nippon Express Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Mitsuru Saito; hereinafter, "Nippon Express") jointly established a new company, MeeTruck, K.K. (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Naoki Yokoi; hereinafter, "MeeTruck"), on April 2, 2020 to support the digital transformation (DX) of the logistics industry. On October 15, 2020, MeeTruck began providing dispatch support service to trucking companies.
In Japan, the logistics industry is facing problems such as driver shortages and sharp increases in shipping volumes due to rapidly increasing e-commerce transactions. SoftBank and Nippon Express teamed up and established MeeTruck to resolve these issues by utilizing technology. Building on its core telecommunications business, SoftBank has been employing cutting-edge technologies to promote the creation of new businesses and the digitalization of industries under its "Beyond Carrier" strategy, part of which has been focusing on revitalizing the logistics industry through DX. Nippon Express has been taking on challenges in markets worldwide as it strives to grow into a logistics company with a strong presence in global markets, and it believes that continuing to offer innovations that generate new value for customers and the general public is essential to this growth. MeeTruck, SoftBank and Nippon Express, adopting a co-creation approach, aim to transform the logistics industry by providing their innovative services in collaboration.
MeeTruck's inaugural service is a cloud-based dispatch support service for trucking companies.
Its second service, due to begin sometime in fiscal 2021, will entail matching up logistics companies offering trucking services with shipper companies. This service will allow logistics companies looking for cargo and shipper companies seeking trucks to find cargo and trucks that satisfy their respective conditions. Based on the knowledge and data obtained through providing its initial dispatch support service, MeeTruck will leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge technologies, and thereby achieve an even higher-quality matching service suited to the needs and inclinations of customers.
Nippon Express will continue providing services that will prove foundational for the logistics industry, and thereby create new value through technology that will contribute to the sustainable development of the industry.
