FreightCasts

Most small carriers start every morning the same way. Coffee, phone, load board.

They're competing with every carrier in the country for freight that's three states away, at a rate set by whoever will take the least.

Meanwhile, inside twenty miles of their own front door, there are manufacturers, distribution centers, food processors, and warehouses that ship freight every single week. Some of them have trucks lined up at the gate right now, and the carriers in that line didn't find the freight on a board. Somebody picked up a phone. Somebody walked in.

This is a solo masterclass on the Green Mile, the twenty-mile circle around your operating zip code, and why working your home court is one of the most durable moves a small carrier can make. It includes a live screen demo of how I use Google to find shippers in any area, then covers how to read them, how to walk in the door, how to price what you win, and how to protect it once you've got it.

No guest. Just the strategy, step by step.

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Washington writes the rules. Silicon Valley wants the wheel. Regulators control the paperwork. But who's looking out for the American trucking companies keeping this country moving?The future of trucking is being decided, the question is, WHO GETS A SAY?Brake Check goes LIVE from the National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC) Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, bringing some of the industry's most recognizable voices together for a conversation that refuses to dodge the tough questions.Joining Charles,- David Owen — President, NASTC- Kevin Rutherford — Trucking business expert and industry voice- Ellen Voie — Trucking industry leader and advocate- Rick Gobble — Trucking industry voice ON THE DOCKET:ENFORCEMENT: Are we leveling the playing field or burying good carriers in red tape?AUTONOMOUS TRUCKING: Is technology advancing the industry or advancing past the people who built it?WASHINGTON & REGULATIONS: Who's really influencing the decisions that impact America's truckers?FMCSA & MOTUS: Modernization or another headache for the small carriers trying to do business?THE AMERICAN TRUCKING COMPANY: Can small carriers survive the pressure, politics, and promises of tomorrow?No carefully scripted corporate talking points. No pretending everyone agrees. Just real industry voices tackling the issues shaping the future of American trucking.Because the people making a living in trucking deserve more than a front-row seat to decisions about their future. They deserve a voice.WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:If YOU could put Washington, trucking's biggest organizations, and the autonomous-trucking industry on the witness stand, what's the ONE question you'd demand they answer?Drop it in the comments. We might just bring your question into a future episode. LIKE if American trucking deserves a seat at the table. COMMENT with your opinion SHARE with a driver, owner-operator, or fleet owner who needs to hear this conversation. SUBSCRIBE to FreightWaves for more Brake Check episodes where we put trucking's toughest issues under the microscope.#BrakeCheck #TruckingIndustry #NASTC #FreightWaves #AutonomousTrucking #FMCSA #OwnerOperators #SmallBusiness #TruckingNews #AmericanTrucking
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Freight markets remain tight as shippers navigate rising transportation costs, rail disruptions, and uncertainty heading into the holiday peak season. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of autonomous vehicles is raising an important question: how do we measure whether self-driving trucks and vehicles are truly safe to operate?

On this episode of FreightWaves Today, Julie Van de Kamp and Zach Strickland break down the latest freight market data, examine major transportation earnings, and welcome experts to discuss autonomous vehicle safety and the latest developments across North American rail.

In this episode:

🤖 The Future of Autonomous Vehicle Safety with Luc Vincent, Special Advisor at Empiric Earth: Why autonomous vehicles need more than billions of routine driving miles to prove they are safe. Vincent explains how rare real-world events—such as near misses, road debris, flooding, severe weather, and unusual driver behavior—can help train and validate autonomous systems. He also introduces APEX, Empiric Earth's developing safety-testing framework designed to measure autonomous vehicle performance across different driving scenarios and potentially provide a standardized scorecard for regulators.

📊 SONAR Market Update with Zach Strickland: A look at truckload tender rejections, spot rates, and capacity trends as the market approaches the holiday season. Zach examines why the dry van market remains tight despite some softening in rejection rates, why refrigerated capacity is especially constrained, and which markets are showing the strongest rate increases. He also highlights Los Angeles as a market to watch amid potential port disruptions and shifting intermodal volumes.

🚂 Rail Market Update with Bill Stephens, Trains Magazine Editor: The latest Association of American Railroads traffic numbers, including North American rail traffic growth, intermodal volumes, carloads, and key commodity trends. Stephens explains how severe flooding in New Mexico disrupted BNSF's Southern Transcon and how a technology outage at CSX affected train operations and interchanges. The conversation also explores the ripple effects on Los Angeles and Long Beach port operations, railcar positioning, third-quarter railroad earnings, fuel surcharge revenue, and productivity.

📈 Transportation Earnings and Freight Headlines: A closer look at Expeditors International's strong third-quarter results, growth in airfreight and ocean volumes, and the impact of AI infrastructure demand. The hosts also discuss GXO Logistics' record new business wins and sales pipeline, along with ArcBest's latest LTL and brokerage results. They examine how heavier shipments, higher fuel costs, and fuel surcharge revenue are shaping transportation company performance.

⛽ Diesel Market Volatility: The latest movement in diesel and crude oil prices, including the sharp futures selloff tied to geopolitical headlines and the rapid rebound as uncertainty surrounding negotiations continued.

Plus, the latest supply chain developments:

Potential labor disruption at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and what a strike could mean for peak-season freight.

Flooding-related service interruptions along a major BNSF intermodal corridor.

The CSX technology outage and its impact on rail network operations.

Tight refrigerated capacity and changing spot market conditions across key freight markets.

The transportation industry is facing a complicated mix of tight capacity, rising costs, infrastructure challenges, and rapidly evolving technology. Get the latest data, analysis, and industry perspectives on FreightWaves Today.

Subscribe to FreightWaves for the latest transportation news, freight market intelligence, and supply chain insights.

#FreightWaves #FreightWavesToday #FreightMarket #Trucking #AutonomousVehicles #SONAR #RailFreight #Intermodal #SupplyChain #Logistics #DieselPrices
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In this episode, we kick things off by examining the stellar third-quarter performance at logistics giant Expeditors International, where revenue surged 42% year-over-year to $4.1 billion, heavily boosted by hyperscaler demand from tech giants building out AI infrastructure. The asset-light customs broker and freight forwarder saw diluted earnings per share climb 61% to $2.65, crushing Wall Street consensus by 42 cents, while airfreight volume accelerated throughout the quarter—rising 8% in July, 13% in August, and 19% in September.

Next, we explore the warehousing sector where contract logistics provider GXO Logistics is riding a wave of momentum with third-quarter revenue of $3.59 billion and organic revenue growing 6.4%—the fastest pace in over three years. The company secured $375 million in new business wins during the quarter, a massive 34% year-over-year increase, while its sales pipeline swelled to a record $3.1 billion, signaling robust demand for outsourced warehousing and supply chain services.

Finally, we cover the dramatic volatility gripping diesel markets as geopolitical headlines whipsaw oil traders. While the DOE's benchmark retail diesel price fell six cents to $6.29 per gallon, the December ultra low sulfur diesel futures contract plunged 25.45 cents on Monday to $4.42—the lowest level since October 6th. Brent crude crashed 10.94% on hopeful news about U.S.-Israel-Iran negotiations, only to rebound Tuesday when reports emerged that Iran and the U.S. were "far from a deal."

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Live from Trimble Insight, FreightWaves Trucking Analyst Thomas Wasson sits down with Frances Kilgour, VP of Business Development & Channel Management at Drivewyze / Fleetworthy, at the Barkcast booth.In this episode of Loaded and Rolling, Frances shares insights from her trucking roots and unpacks Fleetworthy’s expanding mission around "fleet readiness"—unifying driver compliance, weigh station bypass, and toll management under a single cohesive ecosystem.

Key Discussion Points:

Breaking Down Data Silos: Why carriers are tired of disconnected safety and operational reports, and how API-first integration delivers a single source of truth across dispatch and back-office teams.

Continuous Compliance vs. Checklists: Shifting safety management from an annual review to real-time driver and vehicle readiness, reducing inspection anxiety at the scale house.

Smarter Tolling Decisions: Balancing time vs. toll expenses, in-cab route advisory, and using automated reconciliation to identify mismatched transponders and dispute bogus toll charges.

The Future of AI & Automation: How agentic AI pilots are helping fleet managers query their data directly, identify critical cost outliers, and prepare for autonomous inspections.

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