Uber Freight looks to compete for Valley truck drivers in the gig economy

There’s a new trucking brokerage looking to compete for independent truck drivers across the Rio Grande Valley — Uber Freight. 

A promotional tractor-trailer for Uber Freight was recently parked in the Walmart parking lot in Hidalgo, a busy intersection near Jackson and Dicker roads, a popular resting location for truck drivers. 

San Francisco-based Uber Technologies does not operate any tractor-trailers directly but instead serves as a virtual brokerage connecting drivers to potential shipments, whether full or partial loads, with several different customers along a route. It’s a similar model to the ride-hailing mobile app for passenger rides, courier services, or restaurant meal delivery. 

For more about Uber Freight’s plans, see this news story. Walmart deferred comment to Uber.

Uber has been building its logistics brokerage across Mexico for several years and already has a sizable cross-border trade operation in Laredo — a 1.5 million-square-foot warehouse that handles 2,000 daily shipments and a customs brokerage on the other side of the Rio Grande in Nuevo Laredo, according to the company. Truck drivers cross the border and drop off loads at Uber’s centralized warehouse before U.S.-based carriers take the load to the end customer. 

In 2021, Uber acquired Frisco, Texas-based Transplace, a trucking logistics brokerage. 

By 2024, Uber had reached $750 million in freight under management across Mexico, with plans to integrate its operations in Mexico into a transportation management system by mid-2025. 

Uber Freight has offices across Mexico in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico City, Tijuana, Querétaro, Monterrey, Saltillo, and Apodaca.

At the time, the then-CEO of Uber Freight Lior Ron, touted the company’s expansion into Mexico. The company had more than 1,300 employees to support its cross-border trade operations. 

“As cross-border trade proliferates and nearshoring reshapes supply chains as we know them, we’re proud to be the trusted partner shippers and carriers rely on to navigate complex challenges and capitalize on this burgeoning area of business,” Ron said. 

In mid-2025, Ron left Uber to lead a Canadian autonomous truck startup, Waabi. 

As for how Uber may operate in the Valley, it’s unclear, but the mobile application to solicit both drivers and customers was active as of May 26. 

There are more than 13,800 trucking carriers across the Valley, according to U.S. Department of Transportation records. There are more than 2,800 trucking carriers in Mission, 2,300 in McAllen, upwards of 1,400 in Pharr, and more than 400 in the city of Hidalgo.