Proof of Usefulness Report

Terminal49

Analysis completed on 1/31/2026

+421
Proof of Usefulness Score
Certified Problem Solver

Terminal49 is a verifiable Series A logistics tech company (Y Combinator W16, ~$8.7M funding) with significant real-world utility in automating container tracking. While the project solves a high-value problem for a verified B2B audience (freight forwarders, shippers), the submission itself contained low-quality, exaggerated claims (e.g., 'most people have used my product', 'audience: everyone'). The score reflects the strong underlying business fundamentals and technology, heavily penalized by the low quality of the provided evidence and accuracy in the submission form.

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Score Breakdown

Real World Utility+212.5
Audience Reach Impact+10.0
Technical Innovation+97.5
Evidence Of Traction+50.0
Market Timing Relevance+85.0
Functional Completeness+2.5
Subtotal+457.5
Usefulness Multiplierx0.92
Final Score+421

Project Details

Project URL
Description
Terminal49's mission is to automate global trade. \n\nTerminal 49’s online platform gives logistics service providers, shippers and logistics tech startups complete visibility into end-to-end trade operations and container movements. With over 600 million containers moving globally every year, much of the operations to move a container from A to B is still very much a manual process. Today, we are building tools and API's to that provide real-time visibility to people who help move containers and make the entire process a lot more efficient. \n\n2015: We started building software for drayage tucking companies, helping them automate their dispatch operations and back office. https://dispatch.terminal49.com/\n\n2016: Released a free container tracking tool for the Port of Oakland. Helping truckers and service providers track thousands of containers daily. https://medium.com/inside-terminal-49/introducing-the-ability-to-save-your-containers-75e2c91e3bf1\n\n2017: We launched our own trucking service in the Port of Oakland with full visibility and collaborative tools for our trucking partners, our ops team and our customers through an online portal. \n\n2019 \u0026 2020: We lauched the all-in-one container tracking platform based on our learnings from our drayage customers in Oakland. They loved the container visibility and wanted to track their containers in every port around the world.

Algorithm Insights

Market Position
Strong market validation with clear user adoption patterns
User Engagement
Documented reach suggests active user community
Technical Stack
Modern tech stack aligned with sponsor technologies

Recommendations to Increase Usefulness Score

Document User Growth

Provide specific metrics on user acquisition and retention rates

Showcase Revenue Model

Detail sustainable monetization strategy and current revenue streams

Expand Evidence Base

Include testimonials, case studies, and third-party validation

Technical Roadmap

Share development milestones and feature completion timeline