According to Will Lawrence, the co-founder and CTO of Iron Sheepdog, building something simple can often be quite challenging. Iron Sheepdog aims to develop user-friendly technology for the short-haul trucking industry. This approach is also why the company believes it has achieved a higher level of industry adoption compared to its competitors.
The Williamsburg, Virginia-based company is developing software to enhance the short-haul trucking industry by streamlining and improving the process of outsourcing short-haul jobs to truckers booked through brokers. Iron Sheepdog provides companies with the ability to track their contracted trucks, offering increased transparency regarding the trucks’ locations, job durations, and payment amounts. Iron Sheepdog provides truckers with a user-friendly app that streamlines job acceptance and online payment processing.
This week, Iron Sheepdog secured a $10 million Series B round, with SJF Ventures leading the investment and Grand Ventures, Supply Chain Ventures, and strategic partners also participating. According to Mike Van Sickel, co-founder and CEO of Iron Sheepdog, the company dedicated its initial years to securing customer adoption and achieving profitability. Now it’s ready to expand. 
“Trust is crucial; we need to ensure that the subhauler actually uses the app,” Van Sickel emphasized. “If contractors refuse to embrace the solutions available, they are only exacerbating the existing problems.”
The concept for Iron Sheepdog emerged from the personal experiences of the three co-founders, as mentioned by Van Sickel. Despite their lack of firsthand experience as short-term truckers, companies hired them. According to Van Sickel, there is a lack of effective software solutions for hiring short-haul truckers, despite the availability of such solutions for other aspects of their business. The current process was a source of frustration for all parties involved.
Similar to a venture capitalist, Iron Sheepdog has experienced exponential growth every year since its inception, despite being one of many companies attempting to develop software for short-haul truckers. That’s because it has a unique approach to building compared to its competitors. Instead of prioritizing the contractors to drive adoption, they initially focused on the short-haul truck drivers themselves.
“We decided to approach the problem from a grassroots perspective rather than a top-down approach,” Van Sickel explained. We developed a straightforward app for the subhauler and connected it to a 24-hour payment system. I describe it as straightforward; it was deliberately designed to be straightforward in order to encourage adoption.”
Encouraging truckers to sign up for the free app motivates the brokers who provide their jobs to also join, creating a positive ripple effect. Contractors are eager to sign up as well, as the app provides them with the opportunity to connect with over 4,000 short-haul truckers. The company generates revenue as these contractors compensate the underlying truckers via the platform.
According to Van Sickel, with a significant number of brokers and truckers on the platform, companies can now make better use of their services. For instance, a company could utilize a truck to efficiently complete multiple tasks in a single day or deliver materials to multiple locations, thereby minimizing the required number of trucks. This could potentially contribute to reducing emissions.
When it comes to Uber Eats, the Uber driver doesn’t have to leave their home, collect the sandwich, deliver it to your place, and then return home. “That’s not how the industry works,” Van Sickel remarked. Once you hop on these trucks, you can begin exploring ways to optimize their usage.
Iron Sheepdog’s round was particularly noteworthy for several reasons. Recent years have seen significant growth in investment in construction tech startups, yet this particular aspect of the system has received less attention. What’s the point of having software that accelerates job site planning if the coordination of trucks will just hinder the process again?
Innovation in trucking has largely overlooked this area. There are already companies focused on developing autonomous construction vehicles and addressing last-mile freight solutions. However, there seems to be a lack of technological advancements dedicated to dump trucks and similar vehicles. There are other companies in the market aiming to address this issue, such as TruckIT and Loadtraxx. However, Iron Sheepdog stands out as a venture-backed startup that is actively taking on this challenge.
Iron Sheepdog’s emphasis on adoption is particularly noteworthy. It is clear that companies should prioritize building products that cater to the needs of their target organizations. However, it is unfortunate that many industries are lagging behind in terms of technology adoption.
Without user adoption, new technology loses its value.
“It needs to be a gradual progression, starting with crawling, then walking, and eventually running,” Van Sickel said. There seems to be a lack of alignment between certain software solutions being developed and the willingness of end users to adopt them.
