FreightCasts

What is up everybody, welcome back to What the Truck?!? The freight recession is officially over as demand builds into the summer, but a tightening market means the old procurement playbook is completely broken.

In this episode of WTT for May 1, 2026 , we sit down with Ciaran Doherty, Founder and CEO of Loadar, to expose a hard truth: the era of shipper leverage is ending. He breaks down why traditional RFP cycles are failing in a tight market and how capacity exiting and rising fuel costs are forcing a massive shift. If you are a shipper still relying on a loose-market strategy, you are going to bleed cash.

Then, we uncover the silent margin killer draining fleets dry: bad routing. Ronak Amin from HERE Technologies drops in to reveal how static maps and inefficient routes are causing extra miles, wasted fuel, and blown ETAs. He brings the math to prove it, including a real-world example of how a 200-van fleet in Chicago could uncover nearly $100,000 in potential savings just by optimizing their location data.

Plus, we are diving into the latest industry headlines:• The FBI is late to the cargo theft epidemic, but the industry isn't.• A Kentucky congressman is pushing the FAA to permanently shut down MD-11 aircraft.• The STB chairman and industry leaders headline the Future of Rail Symposium to discuss the supply chain rail network.

⁠Watch on YouTube⁠

⁠Visit our sponsor - TAYLOR AND MARTIN⁠

⁠Subscribe to the WTT newsletter⁠

⁠Apple Podcasts⁠

⁠Spotify⁠

⁠More FreightWaves Podcasts⁠

#WHATTHETRUCK #FreightNews #supplychain
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we kick things off by examining the latest quarterly results from a major multimodal carrier that signal improving fundamentals in the truckload market. Listen in to learn how Schneider National exceeded Wall Street expectations with better-than-expected earnings and revenue growth despite disruptive winter weather and fuel volatility. The company's strong execution on cost discipline and productivity initiatives allowed it to capitalize on a structurally healthier freight environment marked by ongoing supply rationalization.

Next, we explore a blockbuster development in autonomous trucking as Aurora Innovation and Hirschbach Motor Lines dramatically expand their partnership to deploy 500 driverless trucks powered by Aurora's virtual driver technology. With deliveries beginning in 2027, this massive fleet expansion will generate an estimated 500 million autonomous miles and establish a multi-year revenue stream worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Aurora under its innovative Driver as a Service model.

Finally, we unpack a puzzling paradox in the ocean freight sector where trans-Pacific container rates continue climbing despite traditionally low seasonal demand due to the ongoing Strait of Hormuz blockade by U.S. forces. The Persian Gulf crisis has sent oil prices to record highs and pushed diesel well over $5 per gallon, keeping ocean freight costs elevated during what is normally the weakest pricing period of the year following the post-Lunar New Year lull.

Follow the FreightWaves NOW Podcast

Other FreightWaves Shows
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Freight markets are reacting in real time to global disruption, seasonal uncertainty, and mounting regulatory pressure.

Fuel volatility tied to the Iran conflict continues to ripple across transportation, driving cost swings and network disruption. At the same time, April is proving to be a transitional (and potentially misleading) moment in the freight cycle, with seasonal patterns colliding with a still-fragile market.

- How the Iran conflict is impacting fuel, capacity, and global freight flows
- Whether April is a true inflection point—or just a seasonal speed bump
- What to expect from Roadcheck and how enforcement could tighten capacity
- Early signals on summer freight demand and market direction
- The key risks and opportunities shaping the road ahead

Follow the Freightonomics Podcast

Other FreightWaves Shows
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone wants to own a truck.

Very few understand what comes after.

In this episode of The Long Haul Podcast, Adam sits down with Pamela Polyak — a third-generation transportation owner who took over her family’s asset-based operation at the start of 2020 and has spent years helping small carriers navigate compliance, operations, and growth

This conversation breaks down:

Why most new authorities are unprepared for what ownership actually requires

The massive gap in back-office knowledge

The compliance mistakes that quietly shut carriers down

The difference between driving a truck and running a company

And what it really takes to build something that lasts

If you think owning a truck means you’re running a business… this episode will challenge that.

⁠Follow The Long Haul Podcast⁠

⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No studio. No script. No safe answers.

This episode of Brake Check wasn’t filmed in a quiet room...it went down LIVE at the Broker Carrier Summit in Kansas City… where brokers, carriers, regulators, and tech companies all showed up in the same place… and finally had to face each other.

And when that happens?

Things get REAL.

We’re talking:

The growing divide between brokers and carriers

What the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is actually doing (and not doing)

The truth about enforcement, training, and pay

Tech companies promising solutions… but are they fixing anything?

And the one thing this industry STILL refuses to admit

This isn’t a panel.

This isn’t PR.

This is what happens when the walls come down and the conversations get uncomfortable.

If you’ve ever wondered:

- Why trust is completely broken in trucking- Why the same problems keep getting worse- And what it actually looks like when the industry tries to fix itself…

This is the episode you don’t skip.

Welcome to Brake Check

Real trucking talk for real trucking people.

No fluff. No spin. Just the truth.

Follow the Brake Check Podcast

Other FreightWaves Shows
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices