Keychain Logistics launches an iPhone app for the trucking industry

Many would be surprised to learn about the amount of tech sitting in the cab of an 18-wheeler. Keychain Logistics wants to build on this by making it easier for truckers to connect with shippers.

The startup enables businesses to connect directly with carriers, track shipments, and monitor the process online. It’s still in the early stages, but the one-man startup already has 1 in every 500 trucks in America signed up to its system. Why? “The process is fragmented,” said founder Bryan Beshore (pictured, above), who took the stage today at the Y Combinator Demo Day in Mountain View, Calif.

To illustrate, Beshore uses the example of Tide laundry detergent and fabric care products. Every day, Tide needs to ship thousands of truckloads. Before moving its product, Tide has to contact hundreds of brokers (“mostly mom and pop shops”) that connect shippers with trucks.

Keychain Logistics wants to eliminate huge costs for companies by using an iPhone app to find trucking loads. Beshore said that it’s a “classic case of technology cutting out the middle man.”