🎣 Looking to Leave TQL

Happy Thursday. Here’s what’s trending across freight and logistics on X, LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube.

Trending on X: Shell Trucking Networks Operating From Empty Offices Are Finally Drawing a National Spotlight

An investigation alleges that dozens of trucking companies are registered at shared or vacant addresses while still operating on U.S. highways.

In one case, a single building was listed as serving 32 carriers with no visible operations. Reporters also flagged questionable PPP loan classifications tied to a related entity.

What’s turning heads:

• Empty offices, moving freight: Active carriers tied to addresses that appear to have no real operations.
• PPP red flags: One linked business received $152K in forgiven loans under a mismatched category.
• Bigger systemic cracks: Shell carriers, CDL loopholes, and oversight gaps are back in the spotlight.

People in the trucking industry have discussed these tactics for years.

What’s changing now is who’s paying attention. Media outlets outside the transportation bubble are digging in, and that kind of scrutiny has a way of forcing action.

If the pressure holds, it could help push enforcement forward and clean up parts of the industry that have operated in the gray for far too long.

A full documentary investigation is expected next week.

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Trending on LinkedIn: Florida’s Produce Spike Flips Fast

A post from Dean Croke, Principal Analyst at DAT Freight & Analytics, is trending after highlighting how quickly produce lanes can reverse.

Carriers rushed into Florida last week chasing strong reefer rates, only to risk soft reloads days later. Meanwhile, South Texas signals remain mixed, and California’s six-week shortage without rate acceleration suggests underlying pressure building in the market.

• Florida rate spikes can strand trucks when outbound demand softens.
• Reefer rates were up ~11% YoY but are expected to cool near term.
• California’s prolonged shortage without price movement signals tension building beneath the surface.

“Last week’s hot lane is this week’s trap.” — Dean Croke
“I pushed a couple of brokers up $300–$400 out of FL yesterday.” — Alien Milian

Trending on Reddit: Looking to Leave TQL

Two Reddit threads trending this week show what brokers usually talk about off-record: life after Total Quality Logistics.

One broker asked what comes next after years in the grind. The answers were practical: freight tech, shipper roles, insurance, equipment sales, etc. Jobs where the phone stops ringing at night and weekends exist again.

But another thread highlighted the catch: non-competes and legal risk still shape where people land and who will hire them.

• Many leave for lifestyle and stability, not income.
• Adjacent roles help people ride out non-competes.
• Some firms avoid recent TQL hires to reduce legal risk.

“Best decision I made was moving to the software side.”
“We don’t hire anyone… until they’re clear.”

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Trending on YouTube: Is AI About to Take Your Job?

Last week, we premiered our original FreightCaviar film. We flew to San Francisco to ask freight tech’s oracles one question:

Is AI coming for our jobs?

It’s only 16 minutes.

Watch it here.

MEME OF THE WEEK