A ‘dating app’ for truckers to connect with shippers — and other tech potentially buoyed by virus effects
In a push for no-broker freight options, software provider LaneAxis is trying to deploy a network that connects shippers and carriers so they can “build relationships,” the company says. Likewise, other notes on tech buoyed by recent events…
Transparency in high demand, though seldom formally sought from this broker: Part 2 with Paul Berman
How often has Berman had an owner-operator request to review a freight transaction record under 371.3? Very rarely, and when it happens, his company requires an in-person review in an effort to control the information as much as possible to satisfy shi…
Transparency, history, strategy from the other side of the fence with a food-industry broker — part 1
Listen: As the crisis of the last two months has done so much to expose bad actors among brokerages and spur a push for market fairness, Part 1 of the views from a longtime broker (and onetime former owner-operator), East Coast Transport’s Paul Berman,…
Trucking insurance agent to hotshot trucker — the curious case of Steve Libertore
Why one full-time insurance agent started a three-truck hotshot fleet. A window onto changing shopping patterns via uShip’s fast-rising shipment index. Another window, too, on used-truck deals for the foreseeable future. And: One broker’s late-model eq…
Three pieces of unsolicited advice for government, for parking providers, for rates negotiators
Details on the federal farm food surplus contracts coming online in the Farmers to Families Food Box Program. One way to steer the negotiation up from a lowball rate offer. And in a cash pinch, paying to stop the truck is maybe not a preferred option, …
Amid anemic freight market, some independents see glimmer of hope
While COVID-19-related freight and rate problems persist, a recent Overdrive survey shows an increasing share of respondents is optimistic that conditions will improve soon.
New partnership harnesses factoring, freight tools
Has a factoring relationship helped you manage through the current crisis? Among expanded carrier-support at factoring companies, the latest integration sees OTR Capital partnering with Trucker Tools to include the latter’s predictive freight-matching.
D.C. protests, broker transparency, hours changes and more with independent Bryan Hutchens
For this edition of Overdrive Radio, independent owner-operator Bryan Hutchens details his take on the issues discussed by D.C. demonstrators on the days he joined them this week. Also, what else? The hours of service changes set to go into effect as e…
New tools toward broker transaction transparency, truck stop amenities status
1) Trimble’s new interactive ‘COVID-19 Safe Havens’ status map for truck-stop locations, partially relying on crowd-sourced status details. 2) OOIDA’s call to action to members offered a new basic template to put in writing a transaction details review…
Cap those broker margins? Readers sound off, and one broker moves to do it himself
And more voices on freight-transaction transparency and rates. In the words of reader Robert Breslin: If owner-operators know the freight charges and brokers’ commissions, “we can decide with whom we want to deal,” no price regs necessary.