Puyallup-based truckload carrier Rollzi has raised $8 million in seed equity and credit financing.
The round, announced Thursday, will help Rollzi add equipment and drivers, according to co-founder and CEO Damien Hutchins, and it will go toward refining Rollzi's technology. Hutchins said the company currently has 13 employees, most of whom are drivers, and the company aims to at least triple in size a year from now.
"I would say at least 90% will be drivers," Hutchins said. "We're kind of keeping one eye on the economy and making sure we're being prudent about the way we allocate capital."
Rollzi, founded in 2020, focuses on a "single-lane relay strategy" in which the company transports loads along a single route, in this case Interstate 5 from Los Angeles to Seattle, and drivers hand off loads to drivers coming from the other direction. The method, according to Rollzi, allows the company to be more efficient while keep drivers closer to home.
Hutchins said advancements in technology have made this strategy possible, as a variety of data points like driver location, weather and time in service all play a role planning the relay. Drivers are Rollzi employees with benefits, and the company tries to keep its back-office staff as lean as possible, according to Hutchins.
Rollzi has a truck yard and small office in Puyallup on about two and a half acres, Hutchins said. He added that the company will likely double that space to house its trucks, of which it has 22 right now, and the company is exploring spaces from Puyallup to South Seattle.
Before co-founding Rollzi, Hutchins worked at the Seattle-based freight network startup Convoy, where he was director of the company's brokerage operations. In a release, Rollzi said its investors "include individuals who lead varied companies related to transportation, logistics and consumer goods, such as AJM Packaging, Belfor and Smile Direct Club."
Rollzi is eyeing other routes to apply the same single-lane strategy, including its next target of Los Angeles to Atlanta along Interstate 10. Because the company's advantage comes from the relay strategy along a specific lane, Hutchins said each new route Rollzi adds will act as its own business unit.
"For now, we're really focused on getting as efficient as we can," Hutchins said. "We think there's probably going to be a lot of unknown unknowns as we continue to develop these relays. Really, we think the strategy is good. So far, the model is working. Our costs are lower. We really want to see how low can we get those costs."
