Freightvine

This week’s guest is Jennifer Carpenter, President & CEO of The American Waterways Operators or AWO. Most shippers are not as familiar with the  US Domestic Tugboat, Towboat, and Barge Industry. This episode should shed some light on this often-overlooked segment of the freight transportation industry. With more than thirty years in the industry, Jennifer has great insights into where it has come from, where it is going, and how it contributes to the national economy. In our conversation we discuss the size and scope of the domestic waterways industry, how it fits into various supply chains, and the importance of the Jones Act. A sometimes contentious regulation, the Jones Act essentially restricts all domestic water routes, that is from one U.S. port to another, is restricted to U.S.-built, -crewed, and -flagged vessels. Cabotage rules like this exist for most other transport modes and are common in most other countries, but it is still a point of contention as it does, by design, restrict competition.  

This week’s guest is Alex Leslie, Research Analyst at the American Transportation Research Institute.  Alex is the lead author on ATRI’s latest research publication “Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking: 2023 Update”.  ATRI has been publishing these very detailed reports on trucking costs for over 15 years now.  Using detailed polling and data analysis, Alex is able to reveal not only the current average per mile costs, but also changes in the individual cost components, the impact of carrier size on costs and underlying trends in trucking activities.  In our conversation, we discuss the report in detail and really focus on trying to determine where the “floor” is for TL carrier costs.  This is something that all shippers, brokers, and carriers are trying to determine.

This week’s guest is Seth Clevenger, Managing Editor at Transport Topics, where they just released their 2023 Top 100 Carriers List. Published annually for over three decades, the Top 100 Carriers list provides the most accurate detailed snapshot of the leading companies in the trucking industry. In our conversation we discuss some surprises in this year’s list, recent mergers and acquisitions, and future trends for the industry as a whole.

This week’s guest is my colleague Jeff Hopper, CMO for DAT. Jeff is leading DAT’s initiatives for combating double brokerage and other fraud on transportation load boards. Working with shippers, brokers, carriers, government agencies, as well as other platform providers, DAT is actively designing and implementing approaches to both keep bad actors out and detect behavior that indicates potential fraudulent activity. In the conversation, we talk about what fraud looks like, why we are seeing more of it now, and what we all can do to minimize if not eliminate it.

This week’s guest is Professor Yossi Sheffi, Director of MIT’s Center for Transportation & Logistics and author of the recent book, The Magic Conveyor Belt: Supply Chains, AI, and the Future of Work. Written mainly in response to the general public’s newly awakened awareness of and interest in supply chains during the pandemic, the book explains in great clarity how supply chains work, why they are complex, and where the challenges are. Additionally, he addresses and explores the impact of future trends including robotics, automation, shifting labor patterns, and the need for continuous education. The conversation touched upon the influence of the pandemic on supply chains, the impact of technology implementation on labor, and, of course, the challenges and opportunities that AI brings. 

This week’s guest is Matt Harding, Head of 4PL Data and Analytics at UberFreight.  With over 25 years in the industry at logistics.com, Chainalytics, Transplace, and now UberFreight, Matt is a leading light in applying analytics and visualization to the transportation industry.  In our conversation, we trace the evolution of data science in trucking, discuss the understanding gap between the C-suite and transportation executives, debate the impact that the wide availability of market data has had on drivers, carriers, and the industry as a whole, and talk about the challenges and hurdles of introducing change - especially data driven - within an organization.  

This week’s guest is Dr. Jason Miller, Professor and Head of the Supply Chain Management Department at the Michigan State University's Eli Broad College of Business.  As an economist working in the logistics and freight transportation industry, Jason always has great and often unexpected insights into the transportation market and overall conditions.  In our conversation we discuss the current macro-economic conditions, debate the impact of more rate data on the volatility of the TL market, and make some guesses as to when the TL market will revert. 

This week’s guest is Corey Johnson, VP of North America Product Supply & Merchandising at Procter & Gamble. Corey has been leading P&G’s journey transforming their physical distribution into what they refer to as a “Multi-Dimensional Supply Chain”. In our conversation, we discuss exactly what P&G means by “Multi-Dimensional” to include increasing automation within their facilities, digitization of processes, and, most relevant to this podcast, growth of their private fleet. Corey and I talk about why the fleet was formed, what the benefits have been, and how this has provided much needed flexibility to their operations.

This week’s guest is Rich Mohr,  Vice President, Fleet Solutions for Chargepoint.   Prior to joining Chargepoint, Rich spent over 25 years at Ryder in various positions culminating in being CTO.  So, he understands how to run and manage large commercial fleets.  At Chargepoint, he is working with companies to ease the transition to EVs.  In our conversation, we talk about the economics of electrification of both personal and Commercial vehicles, the challenges and opportunities of transitioning, as well as when the tipping point might occur where there are more sales of electric than Combustion Engine powered vehicles.

This week’s guest is Marc Levinson, author of several influential books on business and finance. The two that we focus on in our conversation are: The Box that details how the introduction of seemingly simple shipping containers transformed the global economy and Outside The Box where he argues that globalization is now entering a new era in which moving physical products will matter much less than exchanging services, information, and ideas. In our conversation, we touch upon the introduction and adoption of containerization and how companies are adjusting to changes in globalization.