FreightCasts

In this episode, we kick things off with a massive strategic move in the air cargo sector as Atlas Air, the world's largest Boeing 747 freighter operator, acquires a forty-nine percent stake in Iceland-based Air Atlanta and purchases its fleet of fourteen widebody aircraft through Titan Aviation Leasing. The partnership strengthens Atlas's ability to provide freight service at a time when many large freighters are nearing retirement and manufacturers cannot increase production fast enough.

Next, we explore how UPS is rolling out a major service upgrade specifically designed for cross-border industrial shippers as the logistics giant launches time-definite heavy freight air service between the US and Mexico on its own aircraft for the first time. With one-day, two-day and three-day options launching in August, this move supports UPS's broader strategy to deemphasize low-margin parcel business and focus on high-value goods and complex supply chains like automotive.

Finally, we cover a clear signal that the driver labor market is heating back up as Illinois-based Nussbaum Transportation announces driver pay increases and a first-ever profit sharing plan, becoming the first carrier to publicly disclose such a move in what appears to be an emerging industry trend. The National Transportation Institute confirmed that multiple fleets have quietly reported pay increases in recent weeks, driven by surging hiring challenges in the second quarter.

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Welcome to a historic Friday edition of WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Not only is this our massive 100th episode with host Malcolm Harris, but it also marks the official birth and kickoff of What the Truck Studios West out of North Fort Worth, Texas with Michael Vincent! The content and the vibes are only getting better, so buckle up for the fastest 45 minutes in freight.In this episode, we tackle the latest hard-hitting headlines shifting the industry before diving into two incredible interviews you won’t want to miss.

Joe Ezzo (Product Management, Trimble Transport & Logistics): Joe bridges the gap between freight optimization and the ultimate workforce fuel—coffee! As the founder of Third Day Coffee, he breaks down the volatile geopolitical factors impacting diesel fuel prices and explains how Trimble’s new optimization logic acts as a “cost thermostat” to eliminate wasteful empty miles and deadhead time for fleets.

Mike Branch (VP of Data & Analytics, Geotab): With Geotab connected to over 6 million commercial vehicles globally, Mike’s team analyzed billions of data points to rank the 16 World Cup host cities on how drastically the tournament will disrupt commercial freight. Find out why Boston grabbed the #1 spot, why Mexico City surprised the data team with its resilience, and why Toronto landed flat at the bottom of the list.

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In this episode, we kick things off in Washington, where federal regulators have conditionally accepted the massive Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application, but with major strings attached. The Surface Transportation Board accepted the merger paperwork Thursday, but only on the condition that the railroads submit significantly more information across nine distinct areas of concern by July twenty-seventh. Shares of both companies fell about five percent on the news, while the two Class I railroads argue the proposed transcontinental network will eliminate handoffs, convert two point one million truckloads to rail annually, and kickstart reindustrialization across a sprawling fifty-three thousand-mile network.

We also explore how the ocean carrier Maersk is paying a hefty price for billing the wrong parties. The company has agreed to pay a one point nine million dollars civil penalty to the Federal Maritime Commission over detention charges that were billed to third parties who had not agreed to Maersk's bills of lading, service contracts, or tariffs. Under the settlement, Maersk agreed to stop the practice entirely, amend its U.S. tariff rules to strictly limit the definition of "merchant," and provide refunds and waivers to impacted third parties.

Finally, we cover the major leadership shakeup at Hub Group following a massive accounting error that continues to reverberate. The logistics company announced Thursday that its chief financial officer and chief operating officer have both departed the company, though both will remain available on a consulting basis during the transition. The exits come as Hub Group is forced to restate results for twenty twenty-three and twenty twenty-four, on top of a previously flagged seventy-seven million dollars understatement of purchased transportation expenses for the first three quarters of twenty twenty-five.

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Broker liability will invariably change the transportation landscape, but it is still unclear as to what that means heading into the strongest shipping (volume) month of the year.  

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The trucking industry is at a breaking point.

Spot rates are crushed. Small carriers are disappearing. Brokers and carriers are battling over transparency, pricing, and survival while AI and automation are rapidly changing the game.

On this episode of Brake Check, we bring together a hard-hitting roundtable discussion on the real future of trucking:

Why carrier attrition is accelerating

Whether the “market cycle” excuse is finally dead

The truth about broker margins and transparency

What load boards MUST become to survive

How AI is already reshaping trucking operations

What owner-operators need to do RIGHT NOW to survive the next 2 years

Who actually benefits when small fleets disappear

No fluff. No corporate talking points. Just real conversations about where trucking is headed — and who may not make it there.

If you’re a driver, owner-operator, broker, fleet owner, or anyone who cares about the future of freight, this is the conversation the industry needs to have.

Subscribe to Brake Check for real trucking talk from the front lines of freight.

Guests:

Dan Lindsey & Paul Gibson from the Broker Carrier Summit

Dale Prax with FreightValidate

Nate Johnson with GLCS

John Howland with⁠ Truckstop.com⁠

Jessica Dotson with Triumph

Jacob Thomas with BridgeHaul

#Trucking #Freight #OwnerOperator #Logistics #TruckDrivers #FreightBroker #CDL #SupplyChain #AI #SpotMarket #LoadBoards #BrakeCheck

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Military freight is one of the most misunderstood corners of trucking.

Most owner-operators hear about Department of Defense freight and immediately assume:

it’s impossible to access,

only big fleets can get it,

or the system is too complicated to understand.

But the reality is deeper than that.

In this episode of The Long Haul Podcast, Adam sits down with Philip Nenadov, CEO of Military Freight Consultants, to break down how military freight actually works, why the system operates under a completely different standard, and what small carriers misunderstand most about getting involved.

This conversation digs into:

Why military freight demands tighter compliance

Why most carriers struggle to qualify

The difference between transactional freight and trusted freight

How the DoD views risk and carrier accountability

Why discipline matters more than truck count

And what the broader trucking industry can learn from military logistics

This is not a sales episode.

It’s a real discussion about standards, structure, and what separates professional carriers from everyone else.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining Amazon's aggressive push into urban micromobility with a ten-month e-cargo bike pilot program in Washington, D.C. deploying up to fifteen battery-powered bikes through independent delivery partners. This marks Amazon's second U.S. pilot following Brooklyn in 2024, and builds on a global network that delivered 170 million packages via micromobility in 2024 across more than forty-five cities worldwide.

Meanwhile, a sobering reality check from the banking sector reveals that stronger freight rates haven't translated into healthier carrier balance sheets at BMO, one of the largest lenders to trucking. Gross impaired loans stood at $417.2 million U.S. dollars, while allowances for credit losses climbed to $86 million from $57 million a year earlier, signaling continued financial stress across the carrier segment despite recent market improvements.

Finally, we explore how fleet technology provider Motive is betting that artificial intelligence can solve the industry's most persistent operational headaches with its new AI Dashcam Plus and Atlas assistant unveiled at Vision 26 in Nashville. The dashcam combines telematics and cameras into a single unit powered by a Qualcomm AI processor capable of running over thirty AI models simultaneously, while Atlas scans safety, compliance and fuel data to generate morning briefings and draft personalized driver messages, saving fleets an average of twenty hours per week.

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Welcome to another jam-packed edition of What The Truck, the fastest 45 minutes in freight! Host Malcolm Harris is holding down the fort today to bring you three incredible, heavy-hitting conversations with top leaders across the logistics and supply chain landscape.

MoniKa Joshi, Product Marketing at Amazon Relay, drops by to discuss how Relay is combatting the exploding issue of freight fraud by building trust and security directly into the carrier experience. She shares insights on their screening processes , the Safety Rewards Program (and how you can get a free dashcam) , and how carriers can position themselves right now to maximize volume for Prime Day, which hits early this year in June!

Geoff Anderman, CEO of STG Logistics, gives us a look behind the curtain at what it takes to lead through one of the toughest freight environments in recent memory. Fresh off a consensual restructuring that slashed the majority of the company’s debt, Jeff shares masterclass insights on resilient leadership , the future of capacity , and what it truly means to operate as North America’s only true “port-to-door” containerized freight provider.

Sean Mitchell, VP of Customer Operations at Gather AI, closes out the bullpen to tackle the massive $1.7 trillion problem plaguing supply chains: the warehouse reality gap. Learn how Gather AI is turning standard forklifts and autonomous drones into active data platforms , fixing inventory inaccuracies at the source, and helping companies bypass the hidden “AI trust tax”.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining a sweeping piece of legislation that just cleared its first major hurdle on Capitol Hill. The House Transportation and Infrastructure committee has overwhelmingly approved the BUILD America 250 Act by a decisive sixty-two to two vote, drawing rare bipartisan praise from both OOIDA and the American Trucking Associations. Two provisions in the sprawling, thousand-plus-page bill are generating particular attention from truckers: mandatory bathroom access at facilities where drivers are delivering or loading cargo, and expanded funding for commercial vehicle parking under an improved version of Jason's Law, which is named after a driver murdered in 2009 while parked at an abandoned gas station.

Next, we head north to examine a damning government audit that's exposing widespread failures in commercial driver training oversight. Ontario Auditor General Shelley Spence's office sent undercover secret shoppers to six truck driving schools, uncovering shocking compliance gaps where two private career colleges provided only fifty-nine and eighty-one hours of training, well below the province's mandatory minimum of one hundred three point five hours. The audit also revealed that Ontario's Ministry had never inspected fifty-four of the province's two hundred sixteen registered private career colleges offering Entry Level Training as of March 2025, despite industry groups warning officials as early as 2017 that stronger compliance measures were desperately needed.

Finally, we cover a high-profile interstate legal battle over commercial driver licenses and immigration. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected Florida's attempt to sue California and Washington over the issuance of CDLs to immigrants who are not legally authorized to be in the United States. The case stemmed from a deadly crash on Florida's Turnpike in August 2025 involving a truck driver from India who held a valid CDL issued by California, with Florida's Attorney General seeking an injunction barring the two states from issuing licenses to applicants who are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. The court's refusal to hear the case leaves existing CDL licensing rules in California and Washington intact.

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