FreightWaves Today

In this episode, we kick things off by examining the latest developments in the proposed mega-merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The two Class I railroads just submitted critical new data requested by the Surface Transportation Board addressing control questions over key interchange terminals and equipment cooperatives. Despite delays in formal review, the partners remain committed to closing their massive eighty-five billion dollar deal by mid-2027.

Shifting gears to the parcel sector, we explore how DHL Group raised its full-year earnings forecast after posting remarkable second-quarter results that included a twenty-nine percent jump in pre-tax income. The Germany-based logistics giant attributed the strong performance to favorable demand conditions compared to the tariff-impacted prior year, efficiency savings, and staggering capacity constraints in air cargo driven by the Iran war.

Finally, we cover the harsh realities of the freight recession as another LTL carrier confirms it has shut down operations effective July seventh. Mountain Valley Express, a small regional operator with thirteen terminals across California, Arizona, and Nevada, is the latest casualty in a brutal operating environment that has claimed numerous carriers despite aggressive growth plans announced just months earlier.

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In this packed episode of FreightWaves Today, hosts Craig and Julie dive deep into the major issues transforming the logistics world right now—from massive international cargo theft rings to the critical deployment of emergency technology in global disaster zones.

First, we tackle the latest headlines exposing a staggering $10 million international freight fraud indictment. Then, we explore how freight tech providers are integrating real-time databases to fight identity theft and double brokering at no additional cost. Finally, we cover the financial shifts on the rails as Greenbrier reports a softer second quarter but raises dividends.

Featured Guests:

Tony Urban – Executive Vice President of Transportation Information Systems at Cass Information Systems. Tony (the "OG" of freight bill processing) shares how Cass leverages its stability as a federally regulated bank to help shippers secure working capital, reduce friction, and build layered security protocols to combat pervasive payment fraud.

Vidya Sampath (Senior Product Manager of Disaster Relief) & Jeff Schweitzer (Principal Technical Product Manager for Disaster Relief) – Amazon. The tech and retail giant breaks down how they utilize their massive global footprint, dedicated fulfillment hubs, and rapid-response tech kits to deliver power and communication infrastructure to disaster areas like Venezuela and the Mariana Islands in a matter of hours.

John Kingston – Market Expert & Journalist. John breaks down the unprecedented "nutty" crack spread that has blown out to levels never seen before, highlighting a major divergence between collapsing wholesale crude numbers and stubbornly high retail diesel prices.

Michelle Livingstone – Supply Chain Veteran & Board Member. Drawing from her decades of leadership at Home Depot and major transportation boards, Michelle talks about the evolution of hurricane response, the massive value of aiming for "Shipper of Choice" status, and the urgent need to empower and bring more women into logistics leadership roles.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining a massive criminal indictment that reveals the scope of organized freight fraud across the United States. Federal prosecutors have charged eight individuals in an alleged international conspiracy that stole at least ten million dollars in cargo over a three-year period, targeting everything from electronics and liquor to meat and cryptocurrency mining machines. The criminal organization allegedly impersonated legitimate carriers to obtain transportation contracts, then diverted freight and removed tracking devices before selling the stolen goods.

Meanwhile, the industry is fighting back against this pervasive fraud threat with powerful new technology tools. We explore how AscendTMS has integrated SearchCarriers into its carrier verification platform, giving freight brokers and shippers access to real-time carrier and broker data at no additional cost. This collaboration is designed to help transportation providers combat freight fraud, double brokering, identity theft and unsafe carrier selection while simplifying due diligence across over sixty-nine thousand companies worldwide.

Finally, we shift over to the rails to discuss the challenges facing major equipment manufacturers in a tough market environment. Railcar maker Greenbrier reported weaker second-quarter earnings as lower railcar deliveries weighed on revenue, with earnings per share coming in at just forty-seven cents versus eighty-nine cents in analyst estimates. Despite serious margin pressure, management raised the quarterly dividend by six percent and updated full-year guidance upward, signaling continued confidence in cash generation.

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Freight markets are navigating a post-holiday slowdown while cargo theft, fraud, and fuel prices remain top concerns across the supply chain. In this episode of FreightWaves Today, Craig Fuller and Julie Van de Kamp break down the latest freight headlines, analyze SONAR market data, discuss ocean shipping trends, and explore how AI and identity verification are changing logistics.
Featured Guests:
Jesús Guerra — President of Energy, The Pilot Company
Jesus discusses the state of the oil and diesel markets, the impact of fuel volatility on trucking, renewable diesel and biodiesel, and how the proposed SEED Act could help reduce fuel costs while strengthening America's energy infrastructure.
Brandon Fried - Director, Air Forwarders Association
Brandon Discusses lessons that the domestic trucking market can learn from air cargo security regimes, the recent changes to IATA's direct airway bill liability, and how Amazon Air Cargo is impacting market competition.
Bryan Lewis — CEO, Intellicheck
Bryan explains why identity verification has become one of the most important tools in the fight against freight fraud. He discusses emerging threats driven by AI-generated fake documents, organized cargo theft, and how verifying the individual taking possession of freight can protect shippers, brokers, and carriers.
Pawan Joshi - Chief Strategy Officer, E2open:
Pawan Discusses the reality of modern, multi-party supply chains. Pawan details how strategic tracking platforms, active sensors, and rapid event horizons help shippers detect freight disruptions and theft in real-time.

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In this episode, we kick things off with a stunning embezzlement case that rocked a Texas freight brokerage when a former controller pleaded guilty to stealing over three point two million dollars from Austin Freight Systems. The thirty-four-year-old fraudster executed one hundred forty-seven payments between October 2023 and March 2025, depositing the stolen funds into personal accounts and funneling over one million dollars through an online gambling platform. Despite the massive theft, the company confirmed it remains financially sound and continues normal operations.

Meanwhile, we explore the heated debate unfolding in Washington as the bipartisan CORCA bill advances to the Senate amid controversy over cargo theft data and federal enforcement expansion. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act passed the House by a massive three hundred forty-eight to sixty margin and would establish a new coordination center within Homeland Security Investigations. Critics argue documented cargo theft represents only a small fraction of freight moved, while supporters maintain current reporting systems capture just one in every ten full truckload thefts nationwide.

Finally, we head south to examine a disturbing trend where cargo theft incidents in Mexico are falling but attacks on truckers have turned brutally deadly according to official government statistics and industry reports. While cargo theft investigations dropped twenty-one percent in the first five months of 2026, fourteen truck drivers have been killed in highway attacks as criminal groups deploy increasingly aggressive tactics. Mexico's National Freight Chamber reports robbers are now using firearms and opening fire on drivers rather than waiting for vehicles to stop, with the State of Mexico and the Veracruz-Puebla corridor identified as the nation's most dangerous freight routes.

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The freight market heads into the Fourth of July weekend with strong momentum—and we're breaking down everything you need to know.
Craig Fuller and Max Fuller are joined by Matthew Leffler to discuss the latest freight market developments, North American trade, Supreme Court decisions impacting the trucking industry, broker liability, insurance trends, and what they all mean for carriers, brokers, and shippers.

In this episode:

Special Guests:

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining a massive shift in how freight contract pricing is getting done as Triumph debuts a powerful new RFP management tool designed to help brokers keep pace with drastically compressed pricing cycles. In today's supply-constrained market, some shippers are now repricing contracts as frequently as every thirty days, a brutal acceleration from the traditional annual cycles. The platform draws on real transaction and carrier payment data tied to more than one hundred seventy thousand carriers, providing visibility into approximately seventy percent of North American brokered freight transactions.

Next, we explore a major legal battle that could reshape broker disclosure requirements across the entire industry. The case involving Pink Cheetah and Total Quality Logistics heads to oral arguments before the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia on September eleventh. The dispute centers on documents revealing that the carrier received only fifty-six percent of payment for a load, with TQL extracting approximately forty percent commission rather than the customary fourteen to sixteen percent.

Finally, we unpack the critical developments surrounding North America's signature trade pact after the U.S. rejected automatic renewal of USMCA in its current form, triggering annual reviews until issues are resolved or the agreement expires in twenty thirty-six. Despite North American trade reaching historic highs last year, this decision creates uncertainty for the trucking industry and the hundreds of billions of dollars in cross-border freight moving annually through major gateways like Laredo, Detroit-Windsor, and Otay Mesa.

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It is hump day, which means it’s the best day of the week—the release of the weekly American Association of Railroads (AAR) tonnage index! In this packed episode, we dive deep into the legal and insurance crises gripping the freight industry, analyze how extreme heatwaves are altering refrigerated shipping, track global energy volatility, and break down the massive intermodal surge redefining logistics.

Featured Guests:

Ted Bassett – Head of the Personal Injury Law Firm Group at Merrick  

Niles Openheimer – Chief Revenue Officer at CoverWell  

Matt Munster – Chief Economist at Breakthrough  

Bill Stevens – Editor and Writer at Trains Magazine / Trains Pro

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In this episode, we kick things off in Washington with a blockbuster Supreme Court ruling that dramatically expands presidential authority over independent regulatory agencies. The six-three decision in Trump v. Slaughter overturns nearly a century of precedent and is likely to decide the fate of STB member Robert Primus, whom President Trump fired without cause last August. With the Surface Transportation Board now short-handed and facing the largest rail merger in history, the president can more easily install policy-aligned replacements at a critical moment for freight rail regulation.

Next, we shift over to the ocean shipping sector where Israel's flag carrier officially transitions to new leadership today. Chen Lichtenstein takes the helm at ZIM Integrated Shipping Services following the departure of Eli Glickman, who resigned in April after Hapag-Lloyd's four point two billion dollar acquisition. Glickman is credited with an astounding turnaround that reshaped ZIM into an agile, digitally-focused global player ranked tenth in the world by capacity.

Finally, we explore how the freight industry's transition to electric trucks is revealing that intelligent charging strategy may matter even more than the hardware itself. BetterFleet CEO Dan Hilson explains that managing dense electric fleets requires abandoning the diesel fueling playbook entirely due to brutal demand charges and time-of-use pricing penalties. The company's machine learning platform staggers charging across networks of slower chargers, throttling power to avoid costly spikes while capturing off-peak pricing to deliver enormous savings.

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The freight market is changing fast—and this episode of FreightWaves Today breaks down the biggest legal, technology, energy, and market developments shaping transportation.

We kick off the show with breaking news on the Florida U-turn lawsuit and discuss why CH Robinson was named in litigation despite having no involvement in the crash. We also debate broker liability, the post-Montgomery legal landscape, Florida's CDL policy, and whether the industry should rethink barriers to entry for new drivers.

In this episode, we feature interviews with:

Jonah McIntire, Chief Platform Officer at Trimble

John Kingston, FreightWaves Editor-At-Large

David Spencer, Arrive Logistics

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