From culture clash to cohesion: Uber Freight delivers 95% intranet adoption with Simpplr

ABOUT

Get to know About Uber Freight

Uber Freight is on a mission to advance supply chains and move the world’s goods. Founded within Uber in 2017, Uber Freight delivers an end-to-end enterprise suite of Relational Logistics to help its customers supercharge and streamline operations. Uber Freight is unique in its ability to offer technology, capacity, and partnership services to its customers — its carrier network delivered more than 26 billion pounds of goods in 2023 alone.

CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

RESULTS

At-a-glance

A big merger and an even bigger challenge

In 2021, Uber Freight acquired Transplace, creating one of the nation’s largest network of shippers and carriers that moves $18 billion of freight every year. The merger brought together large workforces, forming a single organization with more than 5,000 employees. 

The merger was not without risk: Cultural misalignment is one of the leading causes of failed mergers, as it disrupts employee engagement, reduces productivity, and leads to increased turnover. When employees from different organizational backgrounds struggle to align with a new, unified culture, it can create confusion, resistance and conflicts, ultimately undermining the integration process and the strategic goals of the merger. In fact, experts estimate that cultural clashes are responsible for the failure of 50% to 80% of mergers and acquisitions.

One Uber Freight culture

With 30 offices and thousands of employees across the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe, creating a culture of “One Uber Freight” was a top priority for leadership. However, the team faced several obstacles to achieving that goal:

• Disparate cultures: Uber Freight’s tech-driven culture was highly open and collaborative, while Transplace’s was more traditional and hierarchical. Bridging this gap was essential for productivity and employee engagement. Without addressing this cultural gap, Uber Freight risked creating a fractured workforce where employees felt disconnected from the company’s mission and from each other.
• Metrics: The internal communications team lacked visibility into employee engagement, especially around communications. This lack of analytics made it difficult to understand whether their efforts to unite the two companies were succeeding. They had no way to track whether employees were reading important announcements or whether internal campaigns, like the push to build the “One Uber Freight” culture, were having an impact.
• No unified intranet: While Uber Freight initially used a homegrown solution from Uber Technologies, and Transplace relied on Microsoft SharePoint, neither solution provided the necessary features for a combined entity. Without a central communication platform to unify all employees, there was a risk of miscommunication and inefficiency. Important messages, such as policy changes, company announcements or cultural initiatives, could easily be missed, especially by remote employees or those working in different locations and warehouses.

“Culture is everything — it’s what keeps employees motivated, engaged and loyal,” says Keith King, Internal Communications Manager at Uber Freight. “For us, getting the culture right was a top priority because it’s the foundation for retention, recruitment and, ultimately, our success.”

Why Uber Freight chose Simpplr

Acknowledging the need for a modern intranet, the internal communications team at Uber Freight began searching for the right solution. Simpplr’s platform offered the comprehensive, AI-driven solution Uber Freight needed to foster a unified culture and achieve seamless communication across teams. 

The key features that drove Uber Freight’s decision included:

1. Centralized communication and content sharing
   Simpplr provided a unified space where employees could share important documents, company updates, stories and announcements. This central hub for communication was critical in ensuring that both legacy Transplace and Uber Freight employees had access to the same information. This centralized access helped reduce confusion and frustration among employees.
   
2. Advanced analytics
   Simpplr’s analytics tools gave the Uber Freight team actionable insights into who was engaging with the content, which stories were resonating, the true perception and emotion of employees, and how effectively the intranet was being used. Before Simpplr, Uber Freight lacked the ability to track intranet usage or open rates and other metrics for company newsletters. These insights proved invaluable for measuring the success of internal communications, enabling the company to refine its strategy continuously, thus driving action proactively.
   
3. Mobile experience
   With a large portion of employees working in warehouses and without regular access to desktop computers, Simpplr’s mobile app was a key selling point. This allowed all employees, including those who didn’t work in an office, to stay connected and receive important company updates on the go and with a easy-to-use UX.
   
4. AI-driven features
   Simpplr’s AI capabilities make it easier to find the right information, create content, and understand the performance of the intranet. The smart search capability improves Uber Freight’s employee experience by delivering high-quality results faster than ever. Meanwhile, the AI writing assistant gives employees the ability to create and publish content faster and with more confidence, thus driving productivity. 
   
5. Ease of integration with existing systems
   Simpplr’s interoperability with Uber Freight’s existing technology systems was also a key consideration. For example, the easy integration of Simpplr with UKG (the organization’s people portal) gives Uber Freight the ability to provide accurate, real-time information such as titles, org charts, and employee contact information via the Simpplr platform. This integration extends UKG’s role as the system of record for HR information and empowers Simpplr users to be more productive. 
   
6. Commitment to innovation
   The Uber Freight team also cited Simpplr’s constant drive to innovate as a determining factor. Simpplr’s commitment to continuously improving and introducing new features gave Uber Freight confidence that the platform would evolve with their needs.

Driving results that matter

The implementation of Simpplr’s intranet has had a transformative effect on Uber Freight’s internal culture and communication. Some key results include:

• Enhanced employee engagement: 95% of employees rely on Uber Freight’s intranet to access important information monthly, and more than 60% log in or read a newsletter every day, demonstrating the platform’s value in keeping employees connected and informed.
• Culture alignment: Simpplr played a pivotal role in merging the distinct cultures of Transplace and Uber Freight. The platform provided a central location for all employees to experience the unified One Uber Freight culture through shared stories, celebrations and office activities.
• Improved HR self-service: Employees can now easily access employee policies, reducing the number of inquiries to HR departments. This has streamlined processes and made onboarding new employees more efficient.
• Future-proofing with continuous innovation: Simpplr’s commitment to innovation played an important role in Uber Freight’s implementation and ongoing success. The company’s proactive approach to adding new features and improving the platform ensures that Uber Freight’s intranet will continue to evolve as their needs grow.

“Simpplr gave us the central hub we desperately needed to unify our teams,” says King. “It not only brought the entire organization together under one platform, but it also helped us merge two very different cultures faster than we could have imagined.”