FreightCaviar Community Asks Matt Silver Anything

FreightCaviar CEO Paul-Bernard Jaroslawski had the luck of the draw on a flight to the Manifest conference in Vegas when he was seated next to logistics legend Matt Silver. From Coyote Logistics to Forager, Matt is an industry authority with a wealth of experience, and we couldn't pass up the chance to tap into that.

PBJ turned to social media and conducted an impromptu "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) with Matt, requesting questions from the freight community on X (Twitter).

Following Faux Pas

• Curious about social follows, Truckstop (@Trckstopdotcom) questioned their Twitter absence on Matt's list.
• Matt: "I used to use Truckstop when I was a Carrier Rep at Coyote, and that's how I found all the owner-operators & cheaper carriers I booked. Do they actually Tweet stuff?"

A Mid-Flight AMA?

• HammerDown Podcast host Mike Bush (@mikebush) asked how Matt got himself into this situation.
• Matt: "I was stuck in a middle seat. I got sick before the plane even took off, leveraging one of those fancy bags they have in the seatback before passing out. I was woken up by a flight attendant shortly thereafter, asking if I felt alright and could make the flight. Luckily, I convinced them I was fine."

Getting Down to Business

Users jumped at the chance to have their top logistics questions answered by one of the best.

• Adam Neumanns (@AdamNeumannsCoS) wanted a truth bomb, asking Matt to "drop his biggest freight pill."
• Matt: "Don't start a freight brokerage. If you're going to leverage the best existing technology out there. Don't build it yourself." He said to check out his newsletter to read more on this.

Shipper Advice

• User Keao (@freight_Dogs) asked about the best way to get in front of enterprise shippers.
• Matt: "It's a three-pronged approach:
  
  1. Lots of freight memes.
  2. A lot of shitposting on social media.
  3. Figure out the way you're different than your competitors and how to crystalize that in a 30-second elevator pitch. Then, stalk them at conferences and on LinkedIn. But, for Pete's sake, don't send them long rambling messages.
  
  Go read the sales tactics part of this newsletter."

Coyote Comeback?

UPS acquired Coyote in 2015 for $1.8 billion, but now the company is considering selling off this freight brokerage unit.

• User Dad of Two Roadside (@DOTRoadside) asked Matt if he wants to buy Coyote back.
• Matt: "No. I love what I'm building right now. I never owned it in the first place."

For a few more laughs and sage advice from Matt Silver, check out the full thread here.