For years, the transportation industry has looked for ways to improve booking freight by using some form of digital booking. Some platforms have carved out a small niche, but end up struggling to deliver lasting change.
Until now, digital freight booking has often been treated like a consumer marketplace. In that world, a purchase is made and the journey ends — the marketplace owns the booking and takes a cut of the transaction.
Freight is different. Booking freight isn’t just a transaction; it’s the broker’s process of selecting a motor carrier, recording that choice in the system of record, and passing along shipment details. That’s the moment the real work begins, relying on the carrier to deliver on a promise.
That’s why Highway built the first secure digital exchange, Trusted Freight Exchange (TFX).
Highway sets the new standard for secure freight with TFX — a transparent exchange that verifies identity, enforces compliance, builds trusted relationships, and ensures every load is secure before it ever hits the road.
What is the Difference Between a Marketplace vs an Exchange?
Marketplaces operate without guardrails, while secure exchanges require trust and process.
Marketplaces act as middlemen, owning the transaction, algorithm, and payment flow. Participants give up control in exchange for convenience, while the marketplace extracts margin from each interaction. That model works in consumer categories where goods are low risk and interchangeable. But in freight, every load carries risk, context, and relationships that matter.
Exchanges create an environment where both participants meet on equal footing. They enforce rules, verify identity, and ensure every match is secure and compliant. Producers and consumers enter with clearly defined roles and rules that all parties must follow to participate in the exchange.
The Challenge with Marketplaces in Freight
Marketplaces try to flatten transactions into one-size-fits-all postings. That works in some sectors and even with some freight, but freight is relationship-driven, time-sensitive, and risk-heavy. Freight also brings its own set of exceptions to manage that cannot be accounted for in a marketplace flat transaction.
The deeper issue is incentives. Marketplaces profit by staying in the middle, not by empowering brokers and carriers (producers and consumers). The cost of participation is handing over control, and in an industry where trust and accountability drive value, that trade-off is unsustainable.
We've seen this play out. Reibus International faltered by trying to be a metals marketplace when it could have built an exchange for inventory. Producers and consumers wanted transparency, not another layer. The problem was real, but the solution wasn’t to insert a new control party, it was to enable the participants themselves.
Zillow’s iBuy tells the same story by overreaching into transactions instead of enabling them. While buyers no longer need a realtor to find a home, the home-buying process is too complex to be flattened into a click. A good realtor is more valuable than ever, focusing on high-value activities, while technology handles the rest. Zillow couldn’t disintermediate the realtor, only empower them.
The Exchange Advantage: Why Exchanges Succeed in Freight
Exchanges are built around the fundamentals the freight industry requires:
- Identity and Trust – Every participant and every load is verified against defined rules.
- Alignment With Brokers – Exchanges don't replace brokers, they empower them. The platform disappears into the background, delivering carriers directly into broker networks.
- Carrier Experience – Carriers get a seamless digital entry point. One login, instant validation, no juggling across boards.
- Transparency – Liquidity and efficiency improve, while choice stays in the hands of participants.
It’s the same principle that powers NASDAQ and the NYSE in finance, Visa and Mastercard in global payments, and Plaid in digital banking. These exchanges succeed because they verify identity, enforce trust, and move with speed. They don’t try to own the participants, they enable them. Traders, banks, and consumers all keep their defined roles, while the exchange guarantees security, compliance, and transparency.
Freight’s Future with the Trusted Freight Exchange
Freight is too complex, too high-stakes, and too dependent on verified, trusted relationships to be treated as a simple transaction.
Exchanges are built for this reality. They embed identity, compliance, and payments into the fabric of every transaction, not as add-ons, but as the foundation.
This is why Highway built the Trusted Freight Exchange: to give the industry the infrastructure it’s been waiting for.
Want to learn more about TFX? Book a demo here.
