“When I say you’re going to require high levels of authenticity and authentication at the point of entry... that is no longer going to be enough to prevent access. You’re going to need multiple points that all need to match in order to unlock access- that’s where we’re going."
FMCSA launched a new carrier registry three weeks ago to stop freight fraud — zero new carriers have been registered since. Plus: PepsiCo is running 41 driverless trucks, peak season and a shrinking driver pool, cameras know where your carriers have been, and more.
Freight AI pilots succeed. Production deployments often don't. Augment CEO Harish Abbott on the change management gap — and what ops leaders need to do before the tech even matters.
ICYMI: FreightCaviar is travelling across the U.S. Here's what the first three weeks have looked like: Sponsor meetups, subscriber photo shoots, premieres, truck stops, Elk Grove to Phoenix, and more. FOMO starts now.
For the last three weeks, CEO Paul & Videographer Darek traded their office desks for a truck stop in Birmingham, a bar in Chattanooga, and a conference hall in Phoenix, all in service of Issue No. 3 and the next FreightCaviar film.
Here's what the team has been cookin' up at FreightCaviar.
Today's Newsletter is Brought to You By OTR Solutions.
📍 Chicago/Elk Grove Village – Quick Start
The trip started in Chicagoland, including a stop in Elk Grove Village, one of the most freight-dense zip codes in the country and home to more dispatchers, brokers, and carrier ops teams than most people realize.
Paul sat down with Pavel Botev, CEO of Sunbelt Drayage, to discuss what's really driving freight fraud. You can catch the podcast from that conversation here.
📍 Chattanooga – Freight Alley Launch Party
Paul got to Chattanooga on April 9. The next night, FreightCaviar PrintIssue No. 2 dropped at Home Bar on Market Street, alongside the exclusive premiere of the Freight Alley film.
We got to meet a lot of our sponsors and people who've been reading the newsletter since day one.
Highway posted it best: "FreightCaviar brought the industry together."
📍 The Road – April 11-14
Chattanooga → Birmingham → Dallas → Midland → El Paso
"Post and Pray" shouldn't be the only way to find new capacity - now with OTR Select it's never been easier to find reliable capacity and market insights.
Real Capacity: Built on millions of invoice-backed loads from continuously vetted carriers, not self-reported or scraped data.
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The Most Secure Network: Every carrier in the OTR Network is vetted on entry and monitored 24/7/365.
OTR Select is a capacity and rate intelligence platform available to a select group of brokers.
The Transportation Intermediaries Association Capital Ideas Conference. The energy in the room was different this year: brokers who spent the last two years grinding through the worst market in recent memory were finally coming up for air.
Rates tightening. Rejections climbing. The slump isn't over, but the mood has shifted.
📍 Chicago + Kansas City – April 18-23
Back in Chicago for the final stretch. The team is still filming extensively and conducting interviews, but did squeeze in another event on the 22nd, sponsored by getdrivers.ai.
Next stop is Kansas City, a city that doesn't get talked about enough. We'll be exploring the rail history, CPKC rail presence, and getting the real talk on the proposed $85 billion merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.
Levity automates high-volume email and phone tasks like quoting, load building, and track & trace, without black-box agents or risky AI experiments. Designed for teams that need control, transparency, and results they can trust.
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“When I say you’re going to require high levels of authenticity and authentication at the point of entry... that is no longer going to be enough to prevent access. You’re going to need multiple points that all need to match in order to unlock access- that’s where we’re going."
FMCSA launched a new carrier registry three weeks ago to stop freight fraud — zero new carriers have been registered since. Plus: PepsiCo is running 41 driverless trucks, peak season and a shrinking driver pool, cameras know where your carriers have been, and more.
Freight AI pilots succeed. Production deployments often don't. Augment CEO Harish Abbott on the change management gap — and what ops leaders need to do before the tech even matters.
The freight boom arrived. For some carriers, it arrived too late. We explain why in today's feature. Plus: real gouda fellas, satisfactory doesn't mean safe, LTL is waking up, and more.
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