Students get schooled on disruption in logistics and transport

Nick Hoffman, GM, Linebooker

Nick Hoffman, GM at Linebooker, believes it’s imperative to equip young people with the practical and experiential learning necessary to conceive pioneering ideas. “In order to stay ahead of the curve, students of today need to have a perspective of business that extends beyond the classroom. Business models that may have worked in the past are now being disrupted as technologies are introduced.”

Reimagining the transport industry

A technology leader in South Africa’s transport and logistics industry, Linebooker helps guide students in reimagining the transport industry in the 21st century. Inspiring university students to devise smart solutions to sustainably evolve the sector, the online transport business is using its ‘on the ground’ experience to impart learnings from its business to the next generation. As part of these efforts, the company spent time lecturing more than 40 Logistics and Transport Economics honours students and postgraduate diploma students at Stellenbosch University. Earlier this year, the company hosted a team of Stellenbosch MBA students to assess their business, a tech startup.

“The transport and logistics sector is evolving at an unprecedented rate, and as educators and researchers, we need to ensure students are kept abreast of changing business models and the impacts of new technologies,” noted Anneke de Bod, lecturer at Stellenbosch University and co-author of the Logistics Barometer, the most comprehensive national study of trends in logistics costs in South Africa. “We’re trying to teach future leaders and professionals in the industry to be adaptable, especially in our technology-driven environment.”

Nick Hoffman engaging with students

Turning big ideas into high-impact solutions

As part of its model, Linebooker does not own any trucks, but rather matches transport customers with transport providers via a mobile-friendly online bidding platform. Offering a more efficient system that saves transport customers an average of 13% while guaranteeing transporters payment within 15 days, the company provides end-to-end execution on road freight transportation. Since launching in early 2017, their online bidding platform has amassed over 106 transporters with a collective fleet of more than 3,200 vehicles.

Hoffman concludes, “By working with tomorrow’s transport and logistics leaders, we hope to inspire the next generation to think laterally, use information smartly and to integrate technology as a means to turn big ideas into high-impact solutions for the industry at large.”