Full Truck Alliance began as freight listings posted in QQ and WeChat chat groups. Its two founding apps, Huochebang and Yunmanman, turned that chatter into China's biggest digital freight market. A factory posted a load, and a nearby trucker took it. In 2020, more than 2.8 million truckers completed 71.7 million orders through the platform. Two weeks after its June 2021 IPO, Beijing ordered a security review and froze new sign-ups.

Two Rivals Merge

Huochebang started in 2011 and Yunmanman in 2013. Both began by posting loads in chat groups, then built apps, and both grew into leading freight platforms. In 2017 they merged to form Full Truck Alliance. Peter Hui Zhang, the founder, became chairman and chief executive. The bet was that China's millions of small trucking outfits wasted time and fuel hunting for loads, and one big network could match them faster.

A Review Two Weeks In

Full Truck Alliance priced at $19 a share, the top of its range, on June 21, 2021. It began trading on the NYSE under the ticker YMM and rose 13 percent on its first day. On July 5, 2021, China's cyberspace regulator opened a security review of both apps and stopped new user sign-ups. The freeze lasted until June 29, 2022. The company is still public on the NYSE.

Cover: Two Horse Cart at Juncture in Road, Style of Peter De Wint. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a horse-drawn cart on an open road (freight).