FreightCasts

Malcolm Harris and Michael Vincent kick off the new format with a packed headline block. CBP finds more than 1,000 pounds of meth hidden in a load of leeks at the Texas border. Highway’s Q3 Freight Fraud Index shows hijacked email accounts behind 40% of stolen loads. Nvidia hardware goes missing somewhere between Oakland and Fort Worth. The RICO suit against C.H. Robinson and TQL gets a jury date of 2028. And two Georgia men are charged in a $760,000 fuel card scheme that ran for five months before anyone noticed.

Then four guests take the hot seat:

Steve Shebuski, VP of pre-sales at MCA Connect, gives a reality check on autonomous trucking. Driverless trucks are already running in Texas, so what happens when one shows up at a warehouse that isn’t staffed or connected to receive it?

Sarah Abernethy, director of marketing communications at Kenworth, explains the logistics of hauling the 2026 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. It’s a 76-foot spruce from Idaho’s Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest traveling more than 2,000 miles to Washington, D.C. This is Kenworth’s 13th straight year hauling the People’s Tree.

Jack Holmes, CEO of STG Logistics, talks about going from UPS package handler to leading STG out of bankruptcy. He covers why owning intermodal assets is cool again and his plan to unify six businesses around fanatical service.

Mitchell Ward, chairman and CEO of MW Logistics, explains why data is worthless if nobody acts on it. He also discusses keeping the human touch in an AI world and how 53% of MW’s business came to run on dedicated electric vehicles.

Happy Veterans Day to all who served. This episode is presented by Chevron. If your business has fleets to fuel, go to the source.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Truckload spot rates are up 52% year over year, October set an all-time intermodal record, and AI agents are now booking more than 40% of one broker’s loads. FreightWaves Today for November 11, 2026 covers the full freight market.

In this episode, we cover the $760,000 fuel card fraud case, Wing’s $125 million drone factory, and Uber Freight’s restructuring. We also have the weekly SONAR freight market update, the new SONAR MCP connector for AI tools, rail traffic from Trains magazine, and interviews on AI in freight brokerage and fleet compliance.

What’s in this episode:

📰 Top freight headlines
Fuel card fraud: Two Georgia men face federal charges in a $760K scheme that used a Michigan carrier’s stolen identity to get Pacific Pride fuel cards, with charges across 23 states.

Drone delivery: Wing will invest $125 million in a Fort Worth, Texas manufacturing facility and expand with Walmart to nearly 20 U.S. markets, ahead of the FAA’s beyond visual line of sight rule.

Uber Freight: About 80 roles are cut while 290 positions are open, and managed transportation volume is up 2.5x year over year.

🤖 AI freight brokerage and M&A (Fura)
Jeff Dangelo, CEO, discusses the acquisition of Road Dog Logistics (about $30M in revenue). He also covers the AI agent “Donna,” which now handles 40%+ of bookings with a goal of 90%, plus plans for 6–12 more acquisitions next year. We also cover how small brokers are handling the spot-versus-contract squeeze and what the Montgomery ruling on broker liability means for them.

📊 SONAR freight market update
Outbound Tender Rejections are at 12.88%, roughly double last November.
Tender volumes are up 12% year over year.
Truckload spot rates are $3.56/mile, up 52%, and contract rates are $2.88/mile, up 25%.
Diesel is $6.13/gallon.
Road-to-rail cost savings are at 30.2%.
Intermodal volumes are at 2026 highs, while inbound ocean bookings have cooled since July.

We also introduce the SONAR MCP connector, which lets you query SONAR data in plain language inside Claude, Copilot, or other AI tools.

🔧 AI for fleet compliance (Fleet Worthy)
Michael Precia, President and CRO, explains Radar, Fleet Worthy’s new AI tool for tolling, safety, and compliance data. He also covers toll leakage, the Hall acquisition, and what fleets want as enforcement tightens.

🚂 Rail and intermodal (Trains magazine)
Bill Stephens breaks down week 44 rail traffic (U.S. intermodal +11%) and the AAR’s October report, with a third straight record month for U.S. intermodal. He also covers Genesee & Wyoming’s plan to split into three holding companies and BNSF earnings.

🎖️ Happy Veterans Day to the veterans who keep freight moving.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we kick things off by examining a massive federal fraud case that highlights how vulnerable fuel providers can be to identity impersonation schemes. Two Georgia men face federal charges in a $760,000 fuel-card fraud operation that exploited a legitimate Michigan trucking company's identity. The elaborate scheme involved altered documents, unauthorized credit applications, and eight Pacific Pride fuel cards that generated unpaid purchases across twenty-three states before prosecutors charged both defendants with wire fraud, mail fraud, and unauthorized access device crimes.

Next, we explore Alphabet's Wing and its aggressive bet on the future of ultra-fast drone delivery as the company invests $125 million to build a major manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The fifteen-thousand-square-foot plant will produce tens of thousands of unmanned aircraft annually to support Wing's massive expansion through its Walmart partnership, which aims to bring drone delivery to nearly twenty U.S. markets and over forty million people next year.

Finally, we cover Uber Freight's strategic workforce realignment that cuts eighty jobs while simultaneously hiring nearly three hundred employees in a growth push concentrated on its rapidly expanding managed transportation business. CEO Rebecca Tinucci emphasized that the restructuring is designed to simplify operations and eliminate overlapping responsibilities, positioning the company for future growth as managed transportation deal volume has surged two and a half times year over year.

Follow the FreightWaves NOW Podcast

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

Is peak season real? Truckload tender rejections hold near 12.9%, about double last year, and the Nvidia chip cargo theft shows how exposed freight is to fraud. FreightWaves Today for November 10, 2026 covers it.

In this episode, we break down the freight market with data from FreightWaves SONAR. We cover truckload rejections, volumes, reefer capacity, diesel prices, air cargo, drone delivery, and the AI agents now booking freight.

What’s in this episode:

📉 Truckload market and peak season outlook: Outbound Tender Rejections are flat at about 12.5–12.9%, roughly twice last year’s level. Tender volumes are up 12% year over year and 3% from October. We also look at whether rate relief before Thanksgiving will be limited this year.

❄️ Reefer market: Refrigerated tender rejections are near 21%, up from 12.6% a year ago. We also cover the strong El Niño’s potential impact on winter weather and protect-from-freeze capacity.

🚛 Spot rates by mode: We compare reefer, flatbed, and dry van spot rates. We also cover the Pacific Northwest seasonal surge and why flatbed demand tied to AI data center buildout remains strong.

📰 Top freight headlines:

The RICO lawsuit against C.H. Robinson and TQL: jury selection isn’t expected until April 2028, and TQL is pushing for dismissal.
COSCO Shipping Holdings reports an 81% jump in Q3 profit, with Trans-Pacific revenue up 61%.
Six pallets of Nvidia hardware worth $11.4 million vanish on an Oakland-to-Fort Worth shipment, part of a wave of data center freight thefts.

🔐 Cargo theft and freight fraud: Why high-value freight needs stricter carrier vetting, security protocols, and counterparty checks.

🤖 AI agents in logistics: Joel Clum (Chief Commercial Officer) and Nick Ciubotariu(CTO) of ShipStation Global discuss the 250+ AI agents behind their platform, from email-to-quote-to-booking automation to sales tools. We also cover how small and mid-sized shippers can use AI to compete with enterprise shippers.

✈️ Air cargo and drone delivery: Eric Kulisch on why Air cargo rates are up about 30% year over year, with volumes up about 6%, driven by AI equipment shipments. Wing plans a $125 million Texas drone factory and expanded Walmart delivery, while Zipline raises new funding ahead of the FAA’s long-awaited drone rules.

⛽ Diesel prices and energy: John Kingston on the DOE average diesel price falling 16.5 cents, post-election moves in crude futures, Iran conflict risk, and the Strait of Hormuz.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

🔥 BRAKE CHECK went LIVE from the Stars, Stripes & White Lines Truck Show at EchoPark Speedway outside Atlanta, Georgia, thanks to the Bennett Family of Companies!

We traded the boardrooms, industry predictions, and doom-and-gloom headlines from trucking media for the REAL heartbeat of American trucking: THE PEOPLE!

In this episode:
THE EXTINCTION DEBATE: Are American trucking companies really disappearing, or is somebody selling a narrative that doesn’t match reality? REAL OWNERS, REAL STORIES, REAL TRUCKING. We sit down with the owner of Storlie Construction and the owner of Lifetime Nut Covers to hear firsthand from the people building businesses and keeping this industry rolling. PLUS A SURPRISE FOR TONY JUSTICE! The Bennett Family of Companies delivers an unforgettable moment for country music artist and trucking favorite Tony Justice!

THE INDUSTRY TEMPERATURE CHECK: We take the microphones straight to the people of trucking to find out what’s REALLY happening beyond the headlines.

No corporate talking points
No polished PR answers
No crystal balls predicting the end of American trucking.

Just real people, real businesses, and the passion that keeps this industry alive, because before you declare an entire industry DEAD, you might want to check its pulse!

Join Charles for another episode of BRAKE CHECK on FreightWaves, where we ask the questions others won’t and bring the conversations directly to the people who matter.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
👇 Is the American trucking company really facing extinction, or is the industry being counted out too soon? DROP YOUR TAKE IN THE COMMENTS!

👍 LIKE if you believe American trucking is worth fighting for.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE to FreightWaves for more Brake Check episodes, hard-hitting trucking conversations, and stories from the road.

AMERICAN TRUCKING ISN’T DEAD, AND WE WENT LOOKING FOR THE PROOF
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices