Customers’ demands for faster delivery times at lower costs have forced businesses to get creative and be smarter when it comes to shipping and storing their products.
One-day delivery has practically become the new standard as companies both big and small turn to machine learning, artificial intelligence and vast networks of warehouses to keep products within arm’s reach of consumers.
The logistics industry has embraced technology by producing autonomous trucks and drones, providing small businesses with more convenient delivery options and giving consumers more positive shipping experiences. With all of this innovation on the horizon, it should come as no surprise that many logistics companies have operations in San Francisco, which is a long-standing center of tech innovation in the U.S.
Here are 17 logistics companies in San Francisco that are changing the ways consumers get their products.
San Francisco Logistics Companies To Know
- Quartzy
- Alloy
- Cheetah
- Deliverr Inc.
- DoorDash
- KeepTruckin
- Postmates
- Prologis
- Shippo
- Zipline
Founded: 2009
Location: Fully Remote
Focus: Life sciences
What they do: With access to more than 10 million products from 1,800 leading brands, Quartzy operates a life sciences management platform that allows organizations and laboratories to stay in-supply with the products they need to find solutions to some of the world’s most critical challenges. The distributor has designed a proprietary platform that makes client requests, approval, ordering and inventory management a breeze, ensuring that all parties in the chain are aligned and ready to reach new milestones.
Founded: 2013
Location: Tenderloin
Focus: Logistics, SaaS, Shipping, Software, Supply Chain Management
What they do: As global trade continues to thrive, companies are increasingly dependent on freight forwarding to get products out to different states and countries. Flexport uses data analysis software to find the most efficient way to transport goods by air, ship, truck or freight train while allowing businesses to keep track of their shipments from start to finish with lower costs. As of 2020, Flexport serves more than 10,000 clients in over 100 countries.
Who they work with: Sonos, Timbuk2, Klean Kanteen, Georgia-Pacific and JLab.
Founded: 2017
Location: San Francisco
Focus: E-commerce, Shipping
What they do: Deliverr Inc. allows small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced delivery landscape by shipping products to consumers across the country. While SMBs may not own warehouses across the country, Deliverr takes their items and distributes them across its several locations to be delivered to online shoppers within one to two business days. To make matters even more convenient, Deliverr works with some of the most popular businesses in the digital retail space — such as Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify — to promote your products on their websites.
Founded: 2015
Location: San Francisco
Focus: Delivery, Drones, Transportation
What they do: Not all logistics is simply about moving merchandise or goods from one place to another. Volans-i produces unmanned aerial drones to deliver spare parts and medical supplies when and where they’re needed most. Volansi’s technology has primarily been used in the construction, oil and gas, mining, and medical industries as of now, with more possible expansions in the future. The company also received the 2019 North America Enabling Technology Leadership Award from Frost & Sullivan.
Founded: 2012
Location: The East Cut
Focus: E-commerce, Retail, SaaS, Shipping, Supply Chain Management
What they do: Positive experiences with companies often leads to long-term customer loyalty. Narvar wants to increase the frequency of these interactions by helping businesses improve their operations by offering accurate shipping information, real-time tracking and convenient return options. As of 2020, Narvar has locations in seven countries on four continents with plans to expand in the future.
Who they work with: Sephora, Patagonia, Home Depot, Gap, and Bose.
Founded: 2013
Location: Tenderloin
Focus: Logistics, SaaS, Shipping, Software, Supply Chain Management
What they do: As global trade continues to thrive, companies are increasingly dependent on freight forwarding to get products out to different states and countries. Flexport uses data analysis software to find the most efficient way to transport goods by air, ship, truck or freight train while allowing businesses to keep track of their shipments from start to finish with lower costs. As of 2020, Flexport serves more than 10,000 clients in over 100 countries.
Who they work with: Sonos, Timbuk2, Klean Kanteen, Georgia-Pacific and JLab.
Founded: 2011
Location: South Beach
Focus: Food Delivery, Logistics, Same Day Delivery, Transportation
What they do: There’s likely never been a time where it was more convenient to get food as a consumer. With the advance of technology, consumers can open their smartphones and scroll through dozens of local restaurants, press a button and just wait an hour — or less — and have their next meal come directly to their front door. Postmates is one of the biggest players in food delivery and has services in 40 major cities as of 2020.
Founded: 2014
Location: South San Francisco
Focus: Drone delivery
What they do: Zipline operates an autonomous logistics network and a fleet of fixed-wing drones to provide easier access to medication to 13 million people throughout Ghana and Rwanda. The organization’s drones are capable of making a complete trip around the equator in just 2.5 days, allowing people to receive the medication they need when they need it most.
Founded: 2013
Location: SoMa
Focus: Fleet Management, Logistics, SaaS, Transportation
What they do: The trucking industry is embracing a wide variety of technological advancements to improve shipping and cut back on costs. KeepTruckin is introducing multiple products to modernize the industry, such as AI-powered dashcams to record any accidents, GPS tracking to follow drivers’ paths in real-time and more efficient methods of communication with dispatchers. KeepTruckin’s products have already saved customers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Founded: 2013
Location: South Beach
Focus: Food Delivery, Logistics, Mobile, Small and Medium Businesses
What they do: A few years ago, it felt like there were only a small handful of delivery options when it came to food — most notably, pizza or Chinese food. That probably feels like a different world given the abundance of companies that will have drivers deliver food from local restaurants straight to customers’ doorstep with the push of a button. DoorDash played a major role in this cultural shift after it was founded in 2013 and helped restaurants expand their reach even further with its food delivery service.
Founded: 2016
Location: SoMa
Focus: Automotive, Autonomous Vehicles, Logistics, Transportation
What they do: Embark Trucks is taking on one of the most exciting lanes in the tech space — autonomous vehicles. Instead of focusing on carrying passengers around busy cities, Embark’s founders are focusing on producing self-driving trucks that can carry inventory across the country. As of early 2020, the company is already moving freight for five Fortune 500 companies throughout the southwest. U.S. Embark was also named one of Built In San Francisco’s 50 Tech Companies to Watch in 2020.
Founded: 2013
Location: Tenderloin
Focus: B2B, Developer APIs, E-commerce, Logistics, Shipping, Supply Chain Management
What they do: Shippo is a shipping API and web app that gives businesses access to multiple carriers around the world to compare real-time rates, track shipments, facilitate returns and more. As of 2020, Shippo processes more than 100 million shipments a year for more than 35,000 customers. With Shippo’s help, businesses can deliver goods to customers around the world.
Who they work with: MeUndies, Etsy, hims, Lootcrate and Lyft.
Founded: 2016
Location: The East Cut
Focus: Artificial Intelligence, Consumer Goods, Machine Learning, PaaS, Predictive Analytics, Retail, SaaS, Sales, Supply Chain Management
What they do: Not every company has the bandwidth and resources to get customers the products they want at a moment’s notice. So, the next best option is to anticipate which products customers will want and have them available in advance. Alloy produces predictive software that forecasts how much inventory businesses will need in various locations so they can meet demand. With the use of artificial intelligence and real-time data analytics, Alloy is allowing both smaller startups and mid-size businesses to compete with global corporations.
Who they work with: Kano, eero, Walker & Company and Soludos.
Founded: 2014
Location: SoMa
Focus: E-commerce, Food and Beverage, Logistics, Packaging Services, Supply Chain Management
What they do: While tech has made it far easier for patrons to book reservations and make pick-up orders online, the same convenience wasn’t always available on the back-end of the restaurant business. Without convenient access to fresh food and supplies to prepare, restaurateurs would be in a bind. Cheetah operates on the notion that restaurants — and other small businesses — should be able to spend more time focusing on their day-to-day tasks and leave the trouble of finding and transporting supplies to someone else. That’s why the company operates an app that offers transparent pricing on supplies and next day delivery.
Founded: 2014
Location: Financial District
Focus: Enterprise Software, Logistics, Shipping, Software, Supply Chain Management, Transportation
What they do: If a customer expects a package on Tuesday but it doesn’t arrive until Saturday, they’re likely going to be left with a bad impression of the business. ClearMetal is helping companies avoid this kind of awkward interaction by using machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to provide more accurate delivery times while cutting back on shipping costs. ClearMetal’s software also helps businesses get back time and resources that were previously spent managing inventory or tracking down shipments.
Who they work with: Carter’s, Unilever and Georgia-Pacific.
Founded: 2012
Location: SoMa
Focus: Delivery, Enterprise Software, Location Based Services, Logistics, Mobile, Navigation
What they do: OnFleet’s mission is to help businesses streamline their last-mile order and delivery process with its software. Its products include a smartphone app for delivery drivers, a dashboard that allows dispatchers to schedule deliveries and notifications and real-time tracking for recipients. Businesses that use OnFleet’s services come from the food and beverage, retail, pharmacy and parcel industries, and many more.
Who they work with: Napa Auto Parts, Gap, Hyvee, Methodology.
Founded: 1983
Location: Embarcadero
Focus: Logistics, Industrial Real Estate
What they do: When people think of logistics, their first thought might go to a semi-truck driving down a highway or a package being delivered to a happy consumer. But an equally important part of the logistics formula is storage. Many companies store products in warehouses so that they can be cut the distance short when they ship to customers. Prologis, which owned 964 million square feet in space and 4,649 buildings as of December 2019, rents out these spaces to businesses looking to store their products before shipment.
Who they work with: Amazon, BMW, DHL, Pepsi, Home Depot, UPS and Walmart.
Founded: 1983
Location: Fisherman’s Wharf
Focus: Logistics, Railroad, Transportation
What they do: Waterfront Container Leasing Co., Inc. has more than 30 years of experience in leasing intermodal equipment to businesses of all sizes for storage and shipping. The company offers leases of varying lengths for both new and second-hand equipment and containers of different varieties. Waterfront’s network includes North, Central and South America, Asia, Europe, Australasia, Africa and the Middle East.
