Will Lawrence, the co-founder and CTO of Iron Sheepdog, has a unique perspective: he believes that simplicity is often the most difficult thing to achieve. And that is exactly what Iron Sheepdog strives for – to create simple technology for the short-haul trucking industry. This approach has set them apart from their competitors and has contributed to their success within the industry.
“Trust is the most important feature; we have to get the subhauler to actually use the app.”
Based in Williamsburg, Virginia, Iron Sheepdog’s software aims to streamline and optimize the short-haul trucking space. This industry largely relies on outsourcing jobs to truckers who are booked through brokers. Iron Sheepdog’s solution allows companies to easily track their contracted trucks, providing them with more transparency and efficiency. On the other hand, the truckers themselves have access to a user-friendly app that helps them accept jobs and receive online payment.
This week, Iron Sheepdog announced a $10 million Series B round led by SJF Ventures and joined by Grand Ventures, Supply Chain Ventures, and strategic partners. Co-founder and CEO, Mike Van Sickel, explained to TechCrunch that the company’s first few years were focused on ensuring customer adoption and profitability. Now, with a solid foundation, they are ready to expand and scale their operations.
“We chose to look at the problem from the bottom up instead of the top down.”
Van Sickel credits the idea for Iron Sheepdog to the lived experiences of the three co-founders. While they were not short-term truckers themselves, they had worked for companies that hired them. It was during this time that they noticed the lack of efficient software solutions for hiring short-haul truckers. Both sides of the industry were becoming frustrated with the existing process.
Although Iron Sheepdog is not the first company to attempt to build software for managing short-haul truckers, they have seen their growth double each year since their inception. This can be attributed to their unique approach compared to their competitors. Instead of targeting contractors to drive adoption, they focused on the truck drivers themselves.
“We made a very simple app for the subhauler and tied it to 24-hour pay. I call it simple; it was intentionally simple so that they would adopt it,” Van Sickel explained.
This simple but effective strategy has led to a chain reaction – once the truckers sign up for the free app, brokers who supply their jobs also sign up, and the trend continues. Contractors are also eager to join, as they gain access to a network of over 4,000 short-haul truckers. Iron Sheepdog earns their revenue from these contractors, who pay the underlying truckers through the platform.
“Once you get on these trucks, you can start to find ways to better utilize those trucks,” Van Sickel added.
Iron Sheepdog’s recent funding round stands out for several reasons. One being the growth of investments in construction tech startups in recent years, but this particular part of the system has not received the same attention. After all, what good is software that speeds up job site planning if coordinating the trucks for the job slows down the process?
Innovation in the trucking industry has also overlooked this specific area. While there are companies working on autonomous construction vehicles and others that address last-mile freight, there is a lack of tech devoted to dump trucks and similar vehicles. Iron Sheepdog is not the only one trying to tackle this problem – TruckIT and Loadtraxx are also in the race – but they are one of very few, if not the only, venture-backed startup addressing this issue.
One of Iron Sheepdog’s key focuses is on adoption. While it may seem obvious that companies should build products that their target audience will actually use, it doesn’t always happen. As a result, there are many industries that are lagging behind in terms of technology.
“It’s got to be a crawl, walk, run approach, it can’t be a crawl, run approach,” Van Sickel emphasized. “There is a disconnect between some of the software solutions that are being developed and a willingness by the individuals who will actually use it to embrace them.”
The bottom line is, new technology is only useful if people are willing to use it. Iron Sheepdog understands this and has successfully implemented a strategy that prioritizes user adoption, making them a standout company in the industry.
