From 1 lane a week to 15 lanes a week in 6 months: How Eddie Pino Alvarez grew NIN Cargo with Uber Freight

Amid market volatility and rising costs, one Texas owner-operator found stability and growth through Uber Freight’s Powerloop dedicated tours program.

In trucking, 2022 marks the start of one of the worst freight recessions of all time. In the two years prior, the COVID-19 pandemic drove record demand and high spot rates. New carriers entered the market to take advantage, but by mid-2022, spending shifted from goods to services, leaving too many trucks to chase too little freight. Small carriers were hit the hardest.

That didn’t deter Texas-based Eddie Pino Alvarez from leaving his role as a company driver to launch his own trucking company, NIN Cargo, inspired by the first letters of his children’s names: Noah, Ivana, and Nicholas.

“I started as a company driver in 2017,” Eddie says. “Then in 2022, I took that leap of faith and was able to start the company as an owner-operator.”

Eddie started as a lease-on driver for his cousin’s trucking company, where he was introduced to Uber Freight and began running loads for a Fortune 500 retailer in Austin. In June 2023, Eddie obtained his authority to have more control over his business. NIN Cargo began booking loads and operating independently, but one thing didn’t change: Eddie’s new business still worked with Uber Freight.

Consistent, high-quality freight would help sustain NIN Cargo’s growth

Like many small carriers, Eddie needed consistent, high-quality freight to keep his truck moving and NIN Cargo growing. For carriers, and especially owner-operators, consistent, high-quality freight delivers more steady earnings. The consistency through repeat business with preferred shippers on preferred lanes was important for Eddie, who prioritized local and regional routes so he could be home at night with his wife and small children.

But for smaller carriers and owner-operators, securing consistent, high-quality freight in a soft market can be challenging. The best, most consistent freight tends to be awarded to large fleets and carriers with trailer pool capacity and established relationships. Smaller carriers are left to compete on what’s left on the spot market. For owner-operators, the lack of steady, reliable work makes it challenging to plan, maximize equipment use, and grow.

Eddie continued to cultivate his relationship with Uber Freight, meeting a high-performance bar for that Fortune 500 retailer in Austin, which drew the attention of Uber Freight’s Alex Zachariah. Alex saw Eddie’s level of service performance and reliability, making him the perfect candidate for Uber Freight’s Powerloop dedicated tours program. And Eddie told Alex he wanted more consistent freight to grow NIN Cargo. It was a match.

Running dedicated lanes through Uber Freight for steady earnings

With Powerloop, carriers can book Uber Freight’s power-only loads to serve shippers’ drop and live freight using Powerloop’s trailers. They can book one load at a time or multiple loads bundled across Uber Freight’s network. They can also grow their business by providing shippers with committed drop and live capacity weekly or dedicated capacity on an ongoing basis.

Powerloop dedicated tours help carriers grow their businesses through consistent freight from the world’s leading shippers. By committing to move freight for a major shipper, carriers gain access to steady loads, reliable schedules, and the opportunity to earn more.

“Using Powerloop drop-and-hook gives us the flexibility of running multiple loads,” Eddie says of Uber Freight’s power-only loads using Powerloop’s trailers, the benefits being faster pickups, faster dropoffs, and less downtime. “Instead of having to use one trailer that is tied up for the whole day, drop-and-hook gives us the ability to grab that trailer, drop it, and get another empty. It’s a win-win for everybody.”

Eddie says one of the challenges he had that Uber Freight alleviated for him was load availability, or having access to more loads that align with his preferred lanes. Limited or inconsistent loads can be frustrating for drivers. “The load availability, that’s a plus,” Eddie says. “[Uber Freight] started getting awarded a lot of dedicated lanes, which I thought was pretty amazing. And I jumped at the opportunity.”

From 1 lane per week to 15 lanes per week in 6 months

In January, Eddie ran his first dedicated Uber Freight load under the Uber Freight Powerloop Dedicated Tours program: a drop-and-hook load on a primary lane for another Fortune 500 retailer. Just a month later, due to his performance and on-time-or-early reliability, Eddie was asked to cover a critical Buda-to-Richardson, Texas, lane for a delivery provider specializing in oversized furniture shipments.

That move set the stage for NIN Cargo’s continued growth. Eddie’s strong service helped Uber Freight win more lanes in June, which Eddie says was a proud moment. In just six months, Eddie went from running one lane a week to running as many as 15 lanes in a week.

“The Powerloop program is awesome or phenomenal,” Eddie says. “It gives me the leisure to run multiple loads and not just be grounded to one load at a time. That has helped my company generate more revenue.”

With this dedicated freight, Eddie has grown NIN Cargo, adding a second truck and hiring another driver, even amid shifting tariff policies that have increased many carriers’ operating costs. He has found he prefers furniture shipments because they weigh less, which improves his fuel efficiency, reduces wear and tear on his equipment, and further lowers his operating costs.

Dedicated freight is what this industry is all about: relationships

What started as a single lane has grown into something much bigger. Eddie now runs Uber Freight’s entire Texas business for that oversized furniture delivery provider, plus he’s earned backhaul lanes from other Fortune 500 shippers along the way.

These regular lanes bring familiar faces. The relationships Eddie has built with facility employees are just another advantage of committed freight—stronger shipper relationships help small carriers grow faster in the long run.

“This is the community that we’re setting up,” Eddie says of the people working at the facilities. “We see them every day, and we’re happy to service them. Everybody’s very relatable, very friendly.” The employees at the Richardson, Texas, facility told Eddie, “They love their Uber Freight [carriers] and how Uber Freight [carriers] take care of them, and they were very happy.”

Eddie shared his own years-long experience partnering with Uber Freight and how he’s built relationships with multiple Uber Freight representatives, including Alex, who first introduced Eddie to Powerloop.

“Customer support has been pretty awesome,” Eddie says. “Everybody’s been very helpful. I haven’t had a bad experience. I’ve heard stories from fellow drivers. Other brokers aren’t there with that customer service. Other carriers, you call and you try to get an answer, and it’s just not there. That’s why I like dealing with Uber Freight specifically. If you need any help or run into any issues at the shipper, customer support is very attentive to the owner-operator.”

Dedicated freight reduces the hassle and stress of finding new loads, especially amid on-again, off-again tariffs

Dedicated freight allows Eddie to focus on service and efficiency, reducing the hassle of constant load board searching and the stress of wondering where his next load is coming from. That’s been a relief in recent months with the unpredictable tariff situation, which Eddie says hit carriers, including NIN Cargo, and the freight market hard.

“It hit everybody,” Eddie says. “It hit us, too, but we’re able to maintain two trucks. I’m able to provide work for my driver. We’ve been able to sustain and continue driving. And we still continue to do our Powerloop and dedicated contracts with Uber Freight using Powerloop trailers. Having these dedicated loads takes the hassle and stress out of being on the load boards looking for loads.”

When Eddie’s not hauling dedicated shipments or delivering backhauls for other Uber Freight shippers, he likes having visibility into the loads posted on the Uber Freight app—either new dedicated opportunities or spot loads that complement his schedule, so he stays on the move.

“I look at the Uber Freight app daily to see the loads posted,” Eddie says. “I tell everybody, it’s just a click of a button, and there you go, you have a load, just as advertised.” He also uses the app to plan and track loads, as well as complete trailer inspections at pickup.

Growing a trucking business while still getting home for bedtime

But perhaps the biggest success of all is that these dedicated loads give Eddie the ability to run his preferred Texas regional and local lanes, so he can be home with his wife and children, including a fourth who came along after NIN Cargo’s founding in 2022. The ones who inspired the “leap of faith” NIN Cargo to begin with.

“With these accounts that we have right now, I feel very fortunate, very blessed, to stay within the state of Texas and be home more,” Eddie says. “I’ve got four babies and my wife, so it definitely gives [me] the opportunity to have that and to enjoy it, to enjoy life.”