Revolutionizing the Trucking Industry with Aayush Thakur and Deme Yuan of FR8relay

Summary

On this episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by Aayush Thakur and Deme Yuan, a husband and wife team who co-founded FR8relay, where Aayush serves as the CEO and Deme is the COO. Aayush is also a board member for the Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses and a council member on the Forbes Business Council. FR8relay is a technology company working to create a more efficient and equitable trucking logistics ecosystem by introducing a collaborative model where multiple drivers work together to transport shipments. Throughout the episode, James, Aayush and Deme discuss how FR8relay is working to revolutionize the long-haul trucking industry, what entrepreneurial resources they have tapped into and their relocation to Bentonville.

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Show Notes

(0:51) Introduction to Aayush and Deme

(2:12) About FR8relay

(6:33) Inspiration behind FR8relay

(11:30) Grant Funding

(15:36) Northwest Arkansas Resources

(21:26) Why FR8relay Relocated to Bentonville

(24:55) Why Founders Should Partake in Fuel

(31:53) How Bentonville Has Helped Build FR8relay

(41:02) #BecauseBentonville Story

(45:37) What’s Next for FR8relay

(46:45) Closing Thoughts

‍Links

James Bell

Bentonville Economic Development 

Aayush Thakur

Deme Yuan

FR8relay

Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses (AAAB)

Fuel Accelerator

Quotes

“The objective is for our product, for our company, to increase efficiency in the way long haul trucking is done. Our beneficiaries would be everyone involved in the value chain.” - Aayush Thakur, (3:22)

“Electric vehicles are only used and marketed for short distances because it doesn’t make sense to have to stop and wait for them to charge in long haul. But with FR8relay, we could actually make it make sense.” - Deme Yuan, (13:48)

“The people in the community have been very helpful in getting connected to the right folks here…but in our personal life too, we are living in the community and that is also phenomenal. The people are just amazing.” - Aayush Thakur, (32:03)