Uber Freight lays off as many as 50 brokerage employees

July 13, 2023

Uber Freight has implemented layoffs in its legacy digital brokerage operations in the second round of cuts this year.

A spokesman for Uber Freight (NYSE: UBER) on Thursday confirmed the layoffs, which sources said totaled between 40 and 50. None of them were reported to have been in the transportation management business at Uber Freight, which houses the legacy Transplace business acquired by Uber Freight in 2021.

“On the back of efficiency gains realized across the business and to ensure continued alignment between our cost structure and the current market realities, we are reducing the workforce in our Brokerage business across a small number of roles,” Uber Freight said in a statement released to FreightWaves. “As we look ahead to a market rebound, we remain well positioned to deliver exceptional service and help our customers navigate the rapidly evolving logistics landscape.”

Layoffs in the range of 40 to 50 staff members would be significantly less than the approximately 150 jobs that were eliminated in January. At the time, that figure was said to be about 3% of the company’s staffing levels, though the layoff percentage would have been calculated against the total number of company employees, including those in the legacy Transplace business.

Uber Freight’s earnings are reported within the larger Uber earnings in terms of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. In the first quarter of 2023, that number came in at negative $23 million, easily the worst performance since Transplace was integrated into earnings in late 2021. In the last two quarters of 2022, EBITDA at Uber Freight was positive $1 million and negative $8 million before the plunge in the first quarter of this year.