FreightWaves Today

FreightWaves Today hits the road for a special episode live from ShipStation Global headquarters in Austin, Texas, as Craig Fuller and Zach Strickland break down the latest forces shaping freight, logistics and the broader economy.

The show opens with a look at the current freight and economic environment, including rising transportation and warehousing costs, inventory management challenges and the growing gap between truckload and intermodal pricing. Craig and Zach discuss why shippers are becoming more selective with inventory and SKUs, how uncertainty around demand and interest rates is influencing supply chain decisions, and what elevated costs could mean for the remainder of the year.

They also dive into the extraordinary investment surrounding AI and data centers. With corporate profits climbing and massive infrastructure projects driving industrial activity, Craig and Zach examine how the AI boom is affecting railroads, construction, manufacturing and blue-collar employment. They also discuss the growing community backlash against hyperscale data centers and why the technology industry's messaging around AI could become an increasingly important part of the conversation.

Then, ShipStation Global CEO Tom Madine joins the show to discuss the combination of ShipStation and Worldwide Express and what the newly integrated company is building for shippers.

Madine explains how ShipStation Global is bringing together ShipStation's e-commerce shipping technology with Worldwide Express' transportation and freight expertise to create a more unified logistics platform. The goal is to give small and midsized businesses the ability to manage more of their supply chain from a single place instead of jumping between different providers and systems.

A major focus is ShipStation's newly launched LTL offering. Madine explains why LTL was one of the most requested additions from ShipStation customers and how integrating freight directly into the platform can simplify inbound inventory movements, middle-mile transportation and other shipping needs that previously required merchants to leave the ShipStation ecosystem.

The conversation also explores why transportation decisions can't simply come down to finding the cheapest rate. Service reliability, damage risk, estimated arrival times, carrier selection and the consequences of a failed shipment can all dramatically change what "best" means for an individual shipper.

Craig, Zach and Madine discuss how data and intelligence can help businesses make better transportation decisions, particularly for smaller companies that don't have dedicated logistics teams or the resources to constantly monitor freight market cycles.

Madine also lays out ShipStation Global's larger vision: bringing parcel, LTL, truckload, final mile and potentially additional transportation modes together into a more unified experience. He explains why simplifying logistics could be especially valuable for entrepreneurs and SMBs already balancing everything from finance and accounting to marketing, inventory and product development.

Finally, the conversation turns global. Madine discusses ShipStation's presence across North America, Europe and Australia, the company's hundreds of parcel-carrier API connections and its ambition to become a truly global shipping technology platform.

Topics include:

• ShipStation Global's new LTL offering

• The ShipStation and Worldwide Express combination

• Bringing parcel, LTL and truckload together• Freight market cyclicality and SMB shippers

• Using data to improve carrier and shipping decisions

• Why the lowest freight rate isn't always the best option

• Rising transportation and warehousing costs

• Inventory management and changing shipper behavior

• Truckload versus intermodal economics

• AI, data centers and industrial freight demand

• Corporate efficiency and the AI investment boom

• The growing economic importance of hyperscale data centers

• ShipStation Global's international expansion

• The future of multimodal shipping technology

FreightWaves Today brings together the latest freight market intelligence, transportation news and conversations with the leaders shaping global supply chains.

Subscribe to FreightWaves for more interviews, market analysis and breaking news from across trucking, logistics, technology and the global supply chain.

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The freight industry is facing a major wave of regulatory, economic and operational changes. On this episode of FreightWaves Today, Craig and Julie breaks down the latest developments affecting trucking, freight brokers, autonomous trucks, railroads and cross-border freight.

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In this episode, we kick things off in California, where organized labor is aggressively challenging the state's newly implemented autonomous truck framework. The California Teamsters filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court, arguing that the DMV improperly fast-tracked driverless truck testing regulations through an expedited process reserved for minor updates. Despite the legal challenge, the permit queue continues to move forward with Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI already holding drivered testing permits.

Meanwhile, two powerful trucking industry groups are sounding the alarm over a recent appellate court decision they say could fundamentally upend the entire carrier liability model. The American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers of America filed a joint amicus brief requesting a full en banc hearing to reconsider a Fifth Circuit ruling that found Penske Logistics liable for a fatal crash involving a double-brokered driver the company knew nothing about. The associations warn that if the precedent stands, the entire trucking industry may have been violating federal leasing regulations for decades.

Finally, we cover a long-awaited federal transparency rule for freight brokers that has cleared a critical Washington checkpoint. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sent its broker transparency rulemaking to the White House on August twenty-seventh, marking the first concrete movement since the comment period closed in March twenty twenty-five. The rule would require brokers to maintain transaction records electronically and provide copies to carriers or shippers within forty-eight hours of a request.

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Labor Day is just around the corner, but is the freight market ready for the traditional fall surge? On this episode of FreightWaves Today, we break down the latest signals across trucking, rail, freight technology and the broader supply chain.

We cover the proposed Union Pacific–Norfolk Southern mega-merger, a wave of freight and logistics bankruptcies, and new federal pilot programs that could give truck drivers more flexibility with hours of service.
Then, we dive into the growing battle between Highway and Motive over ELD data access — and what the dispute could mean for small carriers, brokers, fraud prevention and access to freight.

AVRide Chief Commercial Officer Sergei Kirillov joins the show to discuss autonomous vehicles, delivery robots, robotaxis, college-campus deliveries and what it will take for autonomous delivery to expand into more cities and suburban markets.

We also examine the latest SONAR freight data heading into Labor Day, including tender rejection rates, spot rates and whether the anticipated peak-season surge is finally beginning to emerge.

Plus, Trains Editor Bill Stephens joins from the North Carolina Transportation Museum to discuss Mexico's growing rail market, Grupo México's innovative rail-ferry operations and the technology and security measures being used to combat cargo theft.

And in Freight Expectations with Matt Leffler, we tackle organized cargo crime, the push for the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act (COCA), the legal risks surrounding double brokering, and how massive AI data-center construction is creating new demand for industrial freight.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining the heated regulatory battle over the proposed mega-merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The Class I railroads are aggressively defending their application, telling the Surface Transportation Board that their filing contains extensive evidence demonstrating benefits for employees, customers and the broader economy. The combined company promises new single-line service across more than eighty-eight thousand county-to-county lanes and the diversion of two point one million truckloads from highway to rail.

Meanwhile, a brutal wave of financial distress is hitting the freight and logistics sector as at least twenty-one transportation companies filed for bankruptcy protection between late July and August twenty-fifth. The filings range from single-truck carriers to massive national distributors with hundreds of millions in assets and liabilities, underscoring how financial hardship remains uneven across the freight economy as small trucking companies struggle alongside larger logistics businesses confronting debt loads and restructuring challenges.

Finally, we explore how federal regulators are moving ahead with pilot programs that could fundamentally reshape how truck drivers manage their workdays. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Thursday that it has completed pre-tests for its Flexible Sleeper Berth and Split Duty Period pilot programs and is reviewing results ahead of a planned full launch in twenty twenty-seven. The Split Duty Period pilot would allow participating drivers to pause the critical fourteen-hour driving window for up to three hours per day, effectively giving drivers more ability to wait out heavy traffic or severe weather.

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Welcome back to FreightWaves Today! Host Malcolm Harris and Zach Strickland kick off today's show breaking down the latest supply chain headlines, market data, and major industry developments.

Morning Minute Headlines: Kenco successfully deploys six supply chain AI agents in just three months with Deep Fabric; Canadian authorities seize nearly 850 lbs of cocaine at the Bluewater Bridge; and a deep dive into the massive global container ship order book pressuring ocean rates.

State of Freight Fraud: Danielle Spinelli (Director of Partnerships at Gen Logs & "The Fraud Girl") breaks down Q2 cargo theft trends, high-value target risks, and how Gen Logs' nationwide sensor network helps catch criminals and assist law enforcement.

$100M Tech Acquisition: Andrew Wimer and Mitch Mitchell join the show to discuss Descartes acquiring Ty Software. Learn how combining AI-powered brokerage workflows with global visibility tools like MacroPoint aims to streamline broker operations into a single execution layer.

Driver-Led Innovation: 20-year veteran professional truck driver James Boyce, founder of Bubba Lee LLC, introduces the "Trucker Tote"—a modular console designed to eliminate cab distractions, improve safety, and help fleets prevent thermonuclear verdicts.

SONAR & Freightnomics Update: Lead Economist DJ Donahue and Ben Peterson (Head of Shipper Solutions) join Zach for a deep dive into tender rejections, Q2 GDP revisions, PCE inflation figures, and strategic shipper advice for the upcoming bid season.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining a major breakthrough in the often-painful journey from AI demo to live operations. Third-party logistics provider Kenco has successfully deployed six supply chain AI agents into production with DeepFabric in just three months, a stark contrast to broader industry trends where Gartner expects more than forty percent of agentic AI projects to be canceled by the end of twenty twenty-seven. The partnership is now scaling aggressively, with twenty agents planned across North America over the next twelve months and audit-spend reductions of forty-five percent already achieved.
Next, we explore the critical role of border security in cross-border supply chain integrity. Canada Border Services Agency officers seized approximately three hundred eighty-five kilograms of suspected cocaine from a commercial truck at Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward, Ontario on August thirteenth. The driver was arrested and charged with importing a controlled substance and possession for trafficking, underscoring the ongoing enforcement challenge at busy commercial border crossings.
Finally, we discuss the ocean freight sector bracing for a massive wave of new capacity that could severely pressure container rates. The global containership orderbook has reached an orderbook-to-fleet ratio of roughly thirty-eight point seven percent, meaning vessels on order represent nearly two-fifths of the existing fleet's capacity. With fleet growth running at about four point two percent against expected container-trade growth of only three to four percent, industry analysts warn that vessel supply is likely to outpace demand, potentially releasing significant downward pressure on freight rates once current geopolitical disruptions normalize.

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In this episode of FreightWaves Today, hosts Craig Fuller and Julie Garner analyze the current trajectory of the North American economy, key supply chain news, and recent data across freight modes.

Craig and Julie open with commentary on strong U.S. industrial and rail volume data, record corporate profit margins driven by technological efficiency, and the passing of country music legend Dolly Parton, highlighting her recent venture into driver-centric travel stops. They also cover a proposed $6 billion freight rail bypass around Atlanta and a major $150,000 cargo theft bust in California’s Mojave Desert.

Pavan Joshi, Chief Strategy Officer at E2open, breaks down ongoing trade posturing between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Joshi highlights the operational challenges of unwinding 30 years of integrated continental supply chains (particularly in auto, agriculture, and energy) and stresses the need for stable trade policies and strategic friend-shoring.

Sonar Daily Market Update: A deep dive into tender rejections shows refrigerated capacity remaining tight (~20.5%) due to summer weather demand, while flatbed rejection rates have cooled off. The hosts highlight strong intermodal performance, driven by a 33% contract cost-savings advantage over truckload.

Einride CEO Roozbeh Charli discusses the commercialization of autonomous and electric freight networks. He reviews recent deployments, including their partnership with Tesla, the expansion of their vehicle-agnostic software stack, and their entry into defense applications to remove human drivers from high-risk zones.

Valentina Jordan, CEO and co-founder of Nada, explains why successful AI adoption requires a solid, contextual data foundation rather than just standalone AI agents. She shares details on their recent strategic funding round and how Nada's platform processes fragmented global trade data to eliminate stockouts and reduce costs.

Aaron Decker, CEO of Multi-Service Fuel Card, clarifies that elevated retail diesel prices are primarily driven by historic refining crack spreads and global refining disruptions (including attacks on Russian energy infrastructure) rather than crude shortages alone.

Weekly AAR Rail Report: The episode closes with the latest Association of American Railroads (AAR) data, which reveals sustained year-over-year volume growth in U.S. intermodal units (+5%) and Canadian trade traffic.

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In this episode, we kick things off by examining an ambitious infrastructure proposal that could dramatically reshape freight movement in the South. An influential coalition is leveraging the proposed Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern mega-merger to demand a massive freight rail bypass around Atlanta that would free up track for passenger trains and thin out the city's legendary traffic congestion. The six-billion-dollar project would divert eighty percent of freight trains onto a U-shaped route, opening capacity for fourteen commuter rail lines and offering a far cheaper alternative to the ninety billion dollars Georgia would otherwise need to spend on highway expansion by 2050.

Next, we shift over to the rails to discuss a brazen cargo theft in California's Mojave Desert that illustrates how quickly high-value freight can disappear. San Bernardino County deputies recovered over $150,000 in New Balance shoes after reports of people breaking into BNSF boxcars near Daggett, an unincorporated community east of Barstow along I-95. Authorities arrested a suspect following a traffic stop and foot pursuit, underscoring how rail cargo theft can move high-value inventory from a railcar to a highway within minutes.

Finally, we cover the passing of an American icon who made professional drivers part of her final business chapter. Country music legend Dolly Parton died peacefully Tuesday in Nashville at age 80, just two months after making a surprise appearance at the grand opening of Dolly's Tennessean Travel Stop in Cornersville, Tennessee. The facility, located about an hour south of Nashville, was designed specifically for professional drivers and featured truck parking, fuel, showers, laundry, restaurants, and a dog park, reflecting Parton's decades spent touring the country by bus.

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This episode of FreightWaves Today covers critical shifts across truckload market dynamics, equipment remarketing, cross-border trade, software consolidation, and global energy risks.

Used Truck Market Update: Chris Backeberg (President, Daimler Trucks Remarketing) discusses tight sleeper and day cab inventories, stable used-truck pricing, and fleet age/maintenance cycles.

Spot Market & Bidding Dynamics: Rush Feldhacker (Tabi) details Tabi's Pricing Pressure Index and how disciplined brokers leverage spot data and automation to navigate shifting pricing power.

Credit Quality & Energy Risks: John Kingston (FreightWaves) dives deeper into BMO's credit metrics, historical diesel crack spreads, and seasonal heating oil demand.

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