2025 Freight Recap

We recently caught up with Clayton Griffin, President at OTR Solutions, for a 2025 freight recap and a discussion on strategies to combat fraud – and much more.

He shared his impressions from the year:

“It’s been a very newsworthy year, but it doesn’t feel like the news to this point has amounted in things affecting the market significantly, as far as it’s performing. The demand is still very much in the air, lots of people are gaining confidence in the supply side, and we should be closer to equilibrium from that perspective.”

We also discussed freight fraud prevention strategies.

In Clayton’s opinion, while technology plays a critical role in fighting freight fraud, everyone in the industry has a part to play.

“I think we as an industry, as businesses, have to be prepared to handle those situations quickly and reasonably because ultimately people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake.”

OTR’s platform, he explained, is designed to detect anomalies such as email hacks or minor changes in email structures, which are sometimes obvious.

“It’s a really consistent double-brokering format of email, so if you can build your systems and process around identifying those anomaly’s you should probably do a little extra work.”

Clayton believes that few tools in our industry are fully able to solve a problem this large. Fraud is receiving so much attention that many are searching to try to find a one-size-fits-all solution that can solve the problem overnight. Ultimately, it all comes down to brokers digging a bit deeper or working only with the carriers that have met all of the criteria that they’ve set up in their system.

But there is a silver lining:

“The good thing is that people became a lot more aware this year, started asking questions, double-checking things, and slowing down before clicking anything- and most importantly- started wanting to understand what is actually going on.” 

So what can business owners do to protect themselves and their clients?

Slow down, implement protective systems, and set yourself up for success with technology that safeguards both your business and your customers’ freight. Doing so not only protects your operations but also builds a strong reputation that spreads.

“Many people think brokers and trucking companies are laggards in technology, but if you can build something that makes their lives easier, where they have better transparency, without having to call you for updates, they will do it. You just have to make it easy enough and provide enough value for them to change.”

Clayton concludes that investing in protection opens the door to growth and long-term success.