ICO Review: Fr8 Network

The Fr8 Network is a blockchain-based network for the freight and logistics industry.

The freight industry is something that impacts our lives on a daily basis, serving as the foundation for how we get items like food and clothes. As this is a massive field, Fr8 looks to help solve a few different problems with their blockchain-based network, which so far seems to have enormous potential. And as a group seeking to raise $60,000,000 for their token sale in July, here are our thoughts on the offerings listed out in their whitepaper:

The Actors

Fr8 lists out a few key players, including:

1. Carriers, who physically ship the product.
2. Suppliers, who supply the product.
3. Brokers, who act as intermediaries between the carrier and supplier.
4. Freight Factors, who pay cash to carriers for their invoices, charging up to 5 percent.
5. Insurers, which every carrier is required to hold.
6. And regulators, who provide oversight and rules on trades in different locales.

As you can see, there are a lot of different moving parts currently in the freight industry, which Fr8 is looking to simplify through their marketplace. By providing a public ledger, it becomes a much more transparent exchange, which plays well for almost all parties involved. However, before we go too in-depth on their product, let’s first take a look at the problems they view in the field.

Problems In The Freight Industry

As freight is such a massive field, it’s also one that has a lot of inefficiencies, fraud, and antiquated methods. Here are some of the highlights Fr8 notes:

1. Redundancy of paperwork that is recreated over and over again on trips, increasing the potential for error.
2. Low standards of adoption for information systems through current platforms.
3. Limited data transparency for things like the reputation of a carrier outside of must-haves like proof of insurance.
4. Price manipulation by large brokers.
5. Inefficient tracking mechanisms.
6. A high risk of theft and fraud.
7. Finally, the environmental impact inefficient systems bring along.

How Fr8 Aims To Solve This

The big picture behind Fr8’s network is to increase transparency, as well as set standard protocols for the industry on the blockchain, including:

Data Standards

A system of international and domestic data standards that provide stakeholders with shipment info and replaces the current archaic paper trail.

Payment Standards

This improves credit and settlement reliability for suppliers and carriers.

Regulatory Standards

Looks to offer fully-compliant shipment contracts, reflecting all regulatory requirements and ensures shipper has all necessary data to pass through customs.

Cybersecurity Standards

As the blockchain by nature is encrypted and decentralized, there’s minimal risk of someone hacking into a central server and stealing data.

The Fr8 Marketplace

The marketplace is the initial core offering for Fr8, which looks to include a few different tools for helping the industry be more successful, including:

Fr8 Board

A decentralized application for carriers and shippers (as well as brokers) to coordinate freight transactions. Fr8 board also looks to offer full visibility into pricing data, as well as smart matching and curation algorithms to optimize capacity. Plus, it can integrate with most shipping management software, such as Salesforce and SAP.

Fr8 Cockpit

Enables users to input details about their shipment and track status once it’s booked Fr8 Board.

Fr8 Browser Extension

Allows companies who already have existing systems a way to interact with the Fr8 Marketplace. Intended to give shippers and brokers who have their tools a simple interface to manage their shipments.

Fr8 Carrier App

An app for carriers to update their status as well as accept deliveries.

Benefits Of This System

Fr8’s network provides a few unique benefits the current system hasn’t been able to offer, such as reputation ranking, which pulls in a few different sources of data to deliver transparency and incentive behaviors. Furthermore, settlements are handled automatically with smart contracts, which saves a tremendous amount of time and energy with invoicing. In regards to new features to the industry Fr8 is offering, they also want to include:

Dev Tools, which will help with onboarding software like Salesforce and SAP

Fr8 Factoring, which will be a peer-to-peer finance market for those that want to increase their cash flow via selling their receivables. Fr8 hopes that the transparent p2p nature of their market will help bring down prices in an otherwise predatory market.

Fr8 Rewards, a way to provide strategic partnerships with complementary product and service providers, such fuel, lodging, insurance, and whatnot to give them more back.

Overall, Fr8 hits the nail on the head with their offerings, creating an ecosystem off that bat that could serve the entire industry. With a team that’s worked in the freight industry, they had a good knack for what was needed. And with such an impressive project, here’s our overall thoughts:

Overall Thoughts

If successful, Fr8 could be sitting on a country worth billions. Not only would they bring down the cost for everyone across the board, but have the capabilities by offering a practical, straightforward solution that the blockchain plugs right into. Furthermore, implementing the blockchain in the freight industry creates an immediate “must have” for the industry, something rarely seen in crypto. Overall, Fr8 is a project that could honestly change the way the freight industry operates and potentially bringing down the cost of goods all around, which is why you should definitely be on the lookout for their ICO in July.