Enhancing Transparency and Payments in Uber Freight
Improving the user experience for Shippers and Carriers through a pricing plan mechanism, payment transparency, and a management dashboard.
In Uber Freight, we set out to make pricing more transparent, payments more reliable, and support teams more empowered — creating a better experience for everyone on the platform. Great logistics means more than moving goods — it means building trust between every person involved.
Personas
To design a solution that truly meets user needs, we focused on understanding the perspectives of three key personas in the Uber Freight ecosystem.
Each plays a critical role: Shippers who need transparent pricing, Carriers who seek reliable payments, and Customer Success agents who ensure smooth operations.
Their goals, frustrations, and insights guided every design decision we made.
Shippers are small to medium-sized businesses that use Uber Freight’s TMS system to manage regular shipments, typically sending goods from factories to stores once a week or a few times a month. They often struggle with unpredictable shipping costs, making financial forecasting difficult.
“Unexpected additional costs have put my business in trouble.”
Andrea Missoni
Carriers are the users of the Uber Freight app, typically truck drivers who transport goods for shippers. They rely on the app for consistent trips and earnings, but face challenges with payment delays and unpredictable job availability.
We created a dashboard for the Customer Success team to evaluate the quality of our value proposition, both for shippers and carriers
34 years old
Operations Manager at an Organic Ice Cream Factory
San Francisco
“They are bad and very disorganized. Took 60 days to pay our last invoice.”
Sam Kane
48 years old
Truck Driver for Uber Freight
California
“I need to good data overview, to meet all customers’ and business’ needs.”
Nathan Raynolds
31 years old
Uber Freight Customer Support
Chicago
Goals
Carriers
Ensure faster, more reliable payments after deliveries.
Build loyalty by reducing uncertainty and financial stress.
Shippers
Provide clear, upfront pricing to remove cost surprises.
Help small businesses plan shipments with greater financial predictability.
Customer Success Team
Improve visibility into shipment and payment issues in real time.
Reduce the volume of support complaints by solving problems earlier.
How to display the price?
Display the price as it is,
or write the base price + how much extra needs to be added for the package
How should the plan content be displayed for each plan in PayGuard?
the V be black or the icon green?
to display to the customer what is not covered?
In the TMS system of the shippers, there are two pages where our feature enters and handles the process:
The first page for scheduling a trip – which type of truck is needed, on which dates, the origin (departure location), and the destination (arrival location).
We took inspiration from El Al, which offers different flight options with varying conditions and pricing.
From there, we started looking at multiple plans and options.
We debated between several options for presenting the routes and where to place them in the TMS shippers flow to locate the new feature - PayGuard:
We will use the black lines taken from Uber's design system.
We decided to place our feature on the first page, right after selecting the cargo type, origin, destination, and dates. Below, the routes will be displayed, allowing the user to complete the process and see the price. On the second page, the user will review the trip details and confirm the price again.
The second page is where the price for the trip is received, approved, and thereby the trip is scheduled
Shippers Solution
We created a new feature - three insurance- plans:
The Base plan, is the existing plan in Uber Freight.
The Plus plan covers common damages like cargo and weather, with specified conditions.
The Pro plan covers 98% of risks, including weather damage and unforeseen events, with suitability for specific shippers.
Determining the location of our feature
Carriers are the users of the Uber Freight app, typically truck drivers who transport goods for shippers. They rely on the app for consistent trips and earnings, but face challenges with payment delays and unpredictable job availability.
The main carriers pain point is payment delays
Shippers get additional charges
Shippers don't pay on time
Carriers have payment delays
carriers solution
To avoid payment delay situations, we added a 'sort' option in the Uber Freight app for drivers, so they can see which shippers use the PayGuard feature to avoid accessorial charges, ensuring that carriers get paid on time
KPIs
🎯 Carrier
1. Reduced Payment Delays:
KPI: Achieve an 80% reduction in payment delays within 6 months through the implementation of PayGuard.
2. Increased Trust and Financial Confidence:
KPI: Increase carrier satisfaction related to payment reliability and financial transparency by 20%.
We created a dashboard for the Customer Success team to evaluate the quality of our value proposition — both for shippers and carriers
💼 Business
1. Driver Retention & Growth:
KPI: Increase active carrier base by 25% due to improved trust and financial reliability.
2. Operational Efficiency & Cost Reduction:
KPI: Reduce support tickets related to payment issues by 40%, saving time and customer service costs.
“I need to good data overview, to meet all customers’ and business’ needs.”
Nathan Raynolds
31 years old
Uber Freight Customer Support
Chicago
