Blythe and Grace Sharkey (Orderful; formerly FreightWaves) break down what everyone’s been talking about coming out of Manifest: agentic AI moving into real workflows, drones/computer vision becoming more practical, freight fraud getting more coordinated, and why “end-to-end visibility” still isn’t end-to-end (spoiler: carrier adoption and execution still run the show).

The gist (what we cover):

• Agentic AI: not just demos—people are pushing it into rate negotiation and booking workflows
• The uncomfortable question: what happens to brokerage models when humans aren’t the bottleneck?
• Drones + computer vision: still early, but moving from “cool tech” to real use cases
• Freight fraud: it’s coordinated—and most companies still fail at the basics
• Visibility: we keep selling the dream, but execution (and carrier adoption) keeps punching it in the face
• Quick time-capsule: what 2016 taught us, what 2026 is repeating, and why insurance keeps winning

Timestamps / chapters (approx):

• 00:00 – Intro + Grace joins
• 04:35 – Agentic AI: what’s real vs what’s marketing
• 10:10 – What this changes for brokers and carriers
• 15:25 – Drones + computer vision
• 17:30 – Fraud: why basic controls still matter
• 25:40 – Visibility + ocean integrity
• 31:40 – 2016 vs 2026: the industry memory test
• 39:50 – Wrap-up + Manifest Europe note

Watch this episode on YouTube

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

CargoRex.io 2.0 is live and this isn’t a paint job. It’s a rebuild around how people actually research logistics tech when they don’t know what to search for yet.

In this episode, I break down what changed, why it changed, and how to use CargoRex to move from “I think we have a problem” to “here’s the shortlist and the questions we need to ask.”

What’s inside:

-- A redesigned site built for faster discovery (not endless scrolling)

-- A revamped search model: broad-match exploration + tighter category paths

-- 3 live Buying Guides (with more coming): LogTech Implementation, Buying a TMS, and Visibility

-- A stronger company listing page: integrations, associations, awards, news, white papers, case studies, and more

-- Save-and-export Lists (CSV) so your research isn’t trapped in browser tabs

-- Logged-in dashboards that separate your activity from what’s trending site-wide

-- New contributor submissions so operators, consultants, and creators can add real-world lessons to the guides

If you’ve got a logistics-adjacent business, claim your listing (free), fill it out, and make it easier for the right buyers to find you. And if you’re researching tools, use the lead form on listings so companies can see the signal that CargoRex is driving the conversation.

Watch this episode on YouTube

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this special "Best-Of" compilation,  I’ve mashed up four powerhouse conversations into one episode to give you the ultimate blueprint for building a successful freight agency.

We aren't just talking theory; we are connecting the dots between the vision, the tech, the sales strategy, and the culture required to win in this market.

In this episode, we break down:

1. The Vision: How the agent model was invented to solve a specific problem.
2. The Engine: How technology must enable—not replace—human process.
3. The Execution: How successful agents actually win business in a tough market.
4. The Culture: Why relationships and "soft skills" still trump automation.

Whether you are thinking about making the jump from W2 to 1099, or you just want to scale your current book of business, this is the masterclass you need.

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Business types will be the first ones to tell you that there are always opportunities in a down market. This is why I'm pumped to share this conversation with SPI Freight Agent, Michael Gray.

After spending years on the carrier and technology side of things, Michael made the jump to becoming a freight agent and earning business in a down market. If you're looking for positive inspiration in this current freight market, Michael is a good one to get that advice from.

LINKS:

• Michael's LinkedIn
• SPI Freight Agent Guide

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In part one of our NASA series, Blythe speaks with Matt Wittal about the challenges of resupplying spacecraft beyond Earth orbit, including autonomous docking, lunar dust mitigation, and radiation protection. They also discuss how NASA is adapting air cargo techniques for space and establishing new supply chains to the Moon and beyond.

This is just a glimpse into the complex logistics of space exploration and the innovative solutions being developed. More deep space logistics topics will be covered in future NASA series episodes!

LINKS:

• Growing Beyond Earth Program
• GEOS-U Road to Launch

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Holly LaBoda from Logistics Luminaries Live! They explore the challenges of implementing CRM systems in logistics companies and strategies for encouraging adoption among seasoned salespeople.

Holly offers advice on creating a balanced sales team with both "hunters" and "farmers," and discusses the importance of aligning commercial strategy with team structure. She also shares tips on crafting effective cold calls and the underutilized power of phone communication in modern sales.

LINKS:

• Holly’s LinkedIn
• Logistics Luminaries, Live! with Blythe Brumleve
• Luminaries Consulting’s website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Grace Sharkey is back with her monthly appearance on EiL, and in this episode, she and Blythe are talking about space logistics, NASA, and food fraud, as well as Grace's experience attending a recent Samsara conference where asset tracking was the highlight of the event.

LINKS: 

• Grace’s Linktree
• Cracking the Code: Intent Data and the Future of Logistics Marketing with Kara Brown
• Archimedes and a Boat Lift: the Falkirk Wheel
• The Rise of the Building Material Distributors

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Chris Jolly, aka The Freight Coach. They discuss Jolly's motivation to become an entrepreneur after feeling unfulfilled in the corporate world. He shares his mindset shift from chasing vanity metrics to focusing on creating genuine impact. Jolly also reflects on the challenges of changing people's negative perceptions of freight brokers.

LINKS:

• Chris' LinkedIn

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Kara Brown, CEO of Lead Coverage. They discuss the importance of intent data in modern marketing strategies for supply chain companies. 

Kara explains how her company helps clients identify and act on buying signals, emphasizing the need for persistent follow-up and targeted messaging. 

She shares insights on measuring marketing success through volume, velocity, and value metrics, and stresses the importance of marketers understanding these numbers to secure a seat at the executive table.

LINKS:

• Kara's LinkedIn
• LeadCoverage's Website

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, we're recapping takeaways from TMSA in New Orleans, held from June 5-7, 2024. Recorded live, this roundtable discussion features insights from an in-house marketer, a marketing agency leader, and a company founder, offering valuable perspectives on marketing and sales strategy.

• Aaron Dunn: Director of Sales & Marketing, PDQ America, and Co-Host of  Trucking for Millennials podcast
• Leigh Sauter: Director of Operations & Strategy, Virago Marketing
• Kameel Gaines: Founder, CEO, and Director of Recruitment, Rig On Wheels Broker & Recruitment Services

• Transportation Marketing and Sales Association Website

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Sheldon Mydat, CEO and Founder at Suppeco. They discuss the importance of relationship-driven resilience in procurement, and how Suppeco's platform facilitates collaboration and transparency between suppliers and customers. 

Mydat explains how the platform incorporates live data, automation, and AI to provide actionable insights and streamline processes. He also shares his journey of launching Suppeco during the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges he faced.

LINKS:

•  Sheldon Mydat
• Suppeco Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe reflects on her podcasting journey and the importance of being a lifelong learner. She discusses leveraging online resources, understanding business fundamentals, and reverse-engineering successful content strategies to help your podcast stand the test of time.

QUESTIONS ASKED:

1. What was your entry into podcasting and podcast production?
2. What is your educational background? And has it been helpful in your endeavors?
3. What is the most helpful skill you've brought with you into your projects? And how has it assisted you?
4. What does your day-to-day look like as a Podcast Producer both individually on your own project and in your role at JPGU?
5. What is your favorite aspect of this work?
6. What is your least favorite aspect?
7. What are some challenges you've met throughout your career journey?
8. What does your marketing mix look like? What kind of marketing has been the most successful for your brand?
9. Do you feel you're able to maintain a good work-life balance through your work?
10. How does today compare to your first day or first few months of entering into podcast production?
11. Any recommendations for those aspiring to enter into a role like yours?

LINKS:

• Digital Dispatch Website
• Jax Podcasters United Website
• Meetings Are Wasting Your Time: Here's How To Get It Back

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Dave Gulas, a former pharmaceutical sales executive who co-founded EZDC 3PL, an e-commerce fulfillment company. Dave talks about pivoting to the logistics industry during the COVID-19 boom, partnering with SPI Logistics as a freight agent, and the value of networking and building relationships. He also offers insights into his content marketing strategy and the impact of his "Beyond Fulfillment" podcast.


QUOTES:

• "If you just start and keep showing up, good things are gonna happen. And that's really the secret. If you want even call that a secret. And so I just decided to do it and kept doing it. And now we have a real podcast, we've dropped 38 episodes and have a bunch more recorded and continue to book more." - Dave Gulas on persisting with his podcast
• "You really never know where they're going to come from, or wet. Or right, it's got to be the right time as well, right? It's got to be the right, the right fit at the right time. So the more you can be visible out there with your online presence. And for me, it's through the podcast, or it's being a guest on a podcast like this." - Dave Gulas

LINKS:

• EZDC 3PL
• Beyond Fulfillment Podcast
• David's LinkedIn
• David's Twitter
• David's Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this best-of episode of Everything is Logistics, we’re building the business case for healthy paranoia in freight. I’m pulling together clips from past conversations with Jonathan Ryan (Overhaul), Reid Clements (Highway), and Mark Funk & Shivrani Narayan (SPI Logistics), plus a breakdown with Grace Sharkey (Orderful) on the current state of cargo crime. From fake carriers and spoofed identities to food-and-beverage loads that “disappear” into the market, this is the stuff that quietly nukes margins while everyone argues over rates.

This episode walks through how fraud actually happens on the ground, what the red flags look like inside your TMS and inbox, and what the best teams are doing to shut it down before a load ever hits the road.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why identity is the real battleground in freight fraud—and how a $300 fake MC can wreck your quarter.
• How shippers, brokers, and carriers are using data from telematics, ELDs, and IoT devices to spot sketchy activity in real time.
• What cargo crime looks like at the agent level: carrier vetting, distress loads, and “oh no” moments that could’ve been prevented.
• Why thieves are shifting hard into food, beverage, and other “easily consumed” loads—and what that means for your contracts and processes.
• Practical steps to tighten carrier selection, build better response playbooks, and protect both freight and drivers.

If you touch freight in any way—shipper, broker, carrier, 3PL, agent—this is your reminder that trust is not a strategy. Paranoia, on the other hand, might just save your freight budget.

Watch the video version of these episodes over on YouTube. 

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode we're talking with Jennie Malafarina, CEO of Virago Marketing on the common pitfalls companies make with freight marketing, including failing to research their target market, using overused stock imagery, and neglecting to embrace new channels like podcasting. Malafarina stresses the importance of building a personal brand and shares insights into creating a strategic revenue generation plan.

LINKS:

• Jennie's LinkedIn
• Viraago Marketing's Website
• Ed Burns' Post on Images
• Jennie's new Freight Marketing Podcast
• Matt Silver Cargado's Email Newsletter
• Whitney's Mediocre Marketer Podcast

QUOTES:

1. "I find that this industry sucks you in, and you never leave. More importantly, it's good that the industry sucks you in and that you move around the industry because we need that knowledge. We need people to understand the different nuances of the industry and be able to quickly apply solutions versus some of the greenroom people that are coming into the space." - Jennie Malafarina
2. "There's never just this one path for every company. It's really about having a conversation and saying, what is the business trying to accomplish? What are the sales objectives? And how can marketing support that? So it's always going to be different based on that response." - Jennie Malafarina
3. "Don't just start doing things to check boxes. Don't be like, we want a blog, so we're going to have a blog every week. Or we want to podcast so we're going to build a podcast. Who's your audience? Why is there a gap there?" - Jennie Malafarina

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe explains the reasons behind her decision to separate her podcast from her web design company, Digital Dispatch. She discusses the need for better communication with clients, upgrading her financial acumen, and streamlining processes to maintain profitability and sustainability.

QUOTES:

• "I went through and I wrote down every part of the process for onboarding, off-boarding, what happens during lead conversations, what happens when somebody becomes a customer, what happens when they move into an active opportunity. I ripped it all down and built it back up from the ashes of those flames from the previous processes." - Blythe Brumleve
• "I'm a process junkie, and I would not be able to figure out my prices, I would not be able to develop a stronger financial acumen, if I didn't take all of my processes and just tear them down and start almost from like a zero-based budgeting perspective, but start as zero-base processing perspective." - Blythe Brumleve
• "I thought if I was giving a fair price to me 10 years ago, me then, that was good enough. And that shouldn't be good enough. But I was creating this perception of myself and of my work and of my business, that I was cheap." - Blythe Brumleve
• "If you never hear from me, it's a good thing; everything is running smoothly. If you hear from me, things are a little shaky. The problem is that my tech team does a really great job. So the clients never heard from me. And that was a gap in our communications." - Blythe Brumleve

LINKS:

• Digital Dispatch Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Jennifer Miller, Vice President Integrated Transportation at DHL Supply Chain. They discuss DHL's history as a parcel delivery pioneer, its evolution into a global logistics powerhouse, and its early adoption of digital technologies. Jennifer shares insights into DHL's use of robotics, AI, and sustainable vehicles to drive innovation and meet evolving customer needs.

QUOTES:

• "When you have men and women in an organization, you're inherently going to be better when they can part if you only have women, you only have men that can be effective, but I generally find if you have different perspectives, different walks of life, and you can all come together and approach these problems and innovations differently, you're gonna get to a better place." - Jennifer Miller
• "Visibility, I would say visibility of what is happening in their supply chain. And the ability to look at exception management through that visibility. So you know, I don't necessarily your customers don't necessarily want to go out and look at everything, but I want to see, tell me what I need to know and tell me in a really efficient digital way." - Jennifer Miller
• "We have very large operations in both Latin America, both in Mexico and South America, as well as Central America. Mexico has a very large operational footprint for us. as well as cross border services, you know, either starting in Mexico or starting in the US. So that's something that we're very comfortable with and something we do, you know, extensively today." - Jennifer Miller
• "When I started in supply chain, there weren't very many of us, I'll be honest, and certainly almost none in leadership. DHL has made a huge commitment to women in leadership. I would just tell [others] to be fearless. Just don't hold yourself back. This is a great industry." - Jennifer Miller

LINKS:

• Jennifer's LinkedIn
• DHL Supply Chain's Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Join Grace Sharkey and Blythe for the latest installment of Freight Friends, where they give some love to the unsung modes of shipping: tugboats and barges. Grace also gives us insight into Uber's third annual Carrier Summit, and gals close out the show by talking about the illegal ivory supply chain, Hubble Network, and good freight marketing.

QUOTES:

• "Conventionally, tugboat captains move close to the assisted vessel to be able to grab the messenger line from the assisted vessels troops, often even under the bow or in the turbulent. A minor floor in the maneuvering can result in major damage or injuries of the deck crew of both the tugboat and the assisted ship." - From the video
• "Most of the sales processes are very manual, and you got to talk to a lot of people, depending on what you're doing, you may be coordinating across 3456 different parties, each of which you have to communicate individually, depending on your use case. And that creates a really high barrier of entry for shippers." - From the Open Tug video
• "So we simplify that we're the first digital marketplace to connect bulk and Breakbulk shippers with transportation and terminal capacity. Customers simply search for their requirements or destinations or cargo and their timeline, they booked that shipment and they track it to their destination." - From the Open Tug video

LINKS:

• Grace's Linktree
• National Geographic’s “Warlords of Ivory”
• Uber Freight
•  Tugboat mug on Everything is Logistics 
• OpenTug
• SSBadger
• BoatNerd
• A Crash Course in Freight AI with Garrett Allen
• Lessons from 15 Years at TQL with Chris Fields
• Tenney Group
• Hubble Network

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Oana Jinga, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial and Product Officer at Dexory, discuss the company's tall, autonomous robotics solution that collects granular data from warehouses to create a dynamic digital twin environment.

Jinga shares insights on leveraging this data for optimization, consolidating product locations, identifying discrepancies with WMS systems, and orchestrating other robotics operations.

LINKS:

• Oana's LinkedIn
• Dexory's Website

QUOTES:

• "The way we look at a digital twin is like it's a dynamic and living and breathing digital object. So it needs to be able to show you at any point in time, what's the latest that's happening in the physical world [of your warehouse], how that's evolving, and what factors are influencing that change." - Oana Jinga 
• "The robot is there to collect information. But what you can do with that information, is pretty much limitless. You can extract data and different points, you can compare it with other data sources, you can crunch it, you can use it for simulation for forecasting, and so on." - Oana Jinga 
• "So when we say a digital twin of a warehouse, we literally mean like this digital environment that changes continuously as the warehouse changes, and that you can also then use in the future, like if you do want to simulate and try different scenarios." - Oana Jinga 
• "From our perspective, we use the robot to get data continuously from warehouses to push them into that digital twin and show as close to reality as possible what's going on." - Oana Jinga 
• "We take continuous pictures of the racks, and then we deconstruct those and can use computer vision. And again, some elements of machine learning to see what we're seeing in that data." - Oana Jinga

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, we talk with Steve Burroughs, agency owner at SPI Logistics, who exclusively hires family members to work at his freight agency. Hear how this approach has shaped the dynamics of his business, from maintaining work-life balance to building a resilient and loyal team. Steve shares personal anecdotes and lessons learned from integrating family into his professional world and navigating the intricacies of the freight market.

LINKS:

• Steve's LinkedIn
• SPI Logistics' Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Heather Hoover-Salomon, CEO of uShip, about her journey from a PR intern to leading the 20-year-old company.

She discusses writing an unsent resignation letter that changed her career trajectory, advocating for customers, embracing AI, and encouraging women in logistics.

Heather also explores navigating entrepreneurial challenges, leveraging data for streamlined solutions, promoting diversity in male-dominated industries, and using strategic communication to drive organizational change.

QUOTES:

"Did I really want to leave? No. But it helped me clearly articulate and put on paper, what the roadblock is, what I want to do about it, and then clearly articulate alright, what am I going to go back and talk to my senior leadership about and really make the case that we need to drive change here in order for our business to be sustainable in order for us to earn the right to continue to innovate in areas outside of our core business."

"Week one was all communication to the company: here's what's happening, here's why. Here's the plan- just giving confidence, lots of meetings with lots of people internally, and then communicating the plan and the way forward." - Heather Hoover-Salomon (on her first week as CEO)

LINKS:

• Heather's LinkedIn
• uShip's Website
• Powertofly Interview
• uShip on Shipping Wars

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Jake Hoffman, CTO of Gnosis Freight, about container visibility and execution in global supply chains.

He explains how Gnosis provides a "container operating system" that connects disparate data sources to give shippers real-time visibility and enable automated execution.

Jake also discusses overcoming imposter syndrome when tackling unsolved supply chain data challenges, the importance of managing supply chain exceptions, and how Gnosis approaches data standardization across ocean carriers, terminals, and customers.

LINKS:

• Jake's LinkedIn
• Gnosis Freight's Website

QUOTES:

"If there was standardization in the industry that everybody adheres to that would be easier. And I think there are efforts being made by the Digital Container Shipping Association to work with the ocean carriers themselves. If we get all the ocean carriers to follow this data model and their API's and their data exchange that they're participating in, that it makes it easier for both individual shippers, software companies like us, freight forwarders, and so on to digest that data and do things with it." - Jake Hoffman

"Visibility helps you understand what's happening and execution helps you actually do something about that."

"We have a ubiquitous data model for everything. Every container that flows from Shanghai to Los Angeles is on these big vessels. And we know the route that it's taking and the stops that the vessel is making along the way. So we can make predictions for say 80% of it. And then the last 20% is at the customer level." - Jake Hoffman


WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Nate Cross and Ben Kowalski, creators of the Freight Broker Basics course and the Freight 360 podcast, share their insights on content marketing, freight broker training, and balancing work with side projects. They offer valuable tips on prospecting, follow-up processes, cold-calling techniques, and how AI tools like ChatGPT can aid brokers. The two also cover challenges new brokers face, creating authentic content, effective marketing emails, and advice for managing personal branding efforts.


LINKS:

• Nate's LinkedIn
• Ben's LinkedIn
• Freight 360 Website
• Freight 360: Freight Broker Basics
• A Day in the Life of a Freight Broker – Episode 209

QUOTES:

• "The number one reason that brokers don't succeed in the sales side is they're not make they're not putting the activity in, it's a numbers game. And if they just if you're not making the calls, number one, it's less opportunity to talk to people. And number two, it's less opportunity for you to refine your skills to effectively communicate." - Nate 
• "A lot of this was just me and him writing it out, coming up with the topics sharing it back and forth and then sending it to other people we knew in the industry to audit it for us and say, Hey, what are else? What else are we missing?" - Ben Kowolski on creating the Freight Broker Basics course. 
• "So the coffee challenge is really just to go when next time you buy coffee, you have to ask them for a discount, which no matter what it is, you just say hey, can I get 25% off this cup of coffee, which is a really awkward thing to ask." - Ben Kowolski on practicing negotiating skills 
• "Everybody likes to teach and talk about things they know. I want to ask just enough questions to get this person I'm calling to be interested in to want to talk to me a question does that." - Ben Kowolski on effective prospecting. 
• "I think it does help us get better at the things we're doing. I hope there's more of that and less of people just outsourcing it directly and going, whatever, what's good enough, send it as big unintended consequences." - Ben Kowolski on using AI tools to assist rather than fully automate. 
• "And I don't know what that's going to look like. So there's a fear a little bit. But I'm like, Well, I'd rather move towards the fear and be on the front edge of it. Because there will be winners, and there will be losers." - Ben Kowolski on adopting AI early. 
• "The vast majority of brokerages are smaller than that. So they don't they're not going to have the manpower or the the cash flow to pay somebody to be like your education person." - Nate Krause on why most brokerages don't have robust internal training.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Yikun Shao, Head of North America Supply Chain at Alibaba.com, discuss how the platform helps small and medium businesses with global sourcing and logistics. Shao highlights Alibaba's AI tools like language translation, image generation for product design, and logistics marketplace. He also details educational resources on trade compliance, managing cross-border shipping challenges, and navigating customs regulations.

LINKS:

• Yikun's LinkedIn
• Alibaba.com

QUOTES:

• "Nearly two thirds of businesses they plan on increasing their reliance on online sourcing, and including those bigger and more established businesses." - Yikun Shao
• "Using AI capability can also handle real time inquiries from multiple areas and provide even in some instances provide some industry insights, so that our business buyers and sellers can make more informed decisions." - Yikun Shao
• "We recently launched a smart assistant tool to help facilitate RFQ transaction and communication aspects on our platform. One of the functions is real-time language translation when buyers and sellers are communicating through a video chat, it helps provide translation services in real-time to at least 17 different languages. Since this new RFQ feature has been introduced, it has driven a 29% increase in quotes from suppliers for small businesses." - Yikun Shao

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Our sister company CargoRex has been monitoring the keywords users are anonymously searching for on the site so in this episode, we’re breaking down what those phrases are.  

What You’ll Learn

This episode breaks down five months of anonymized CargoRex search data to show what logistics buyers actually look for — and where companies are failing to show up.

Key Points

• The top search terms on CargoRex (visibility tools, TMS, freight audit, CDL schools, and company-specific queries).
• Where searches get zero clicks and what that reveals about missing listings, bad keywords, or weak profiles.
• How profile completeness, verification, categories, and tags determine your ranking in the directory.
• Why CargoRex is becoming a research destination with lists and CSV exports to use for AI-powered analysis.
• How this data gives companies market intelligence and a clearer path to showing up for real buyer intent.

Watch this episode on YouTube

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Jennifer Karpus-Romain, the Executive Director of the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA), discuss the organization's 100-year history, digital transformation, and the upcoming ELEVATE 2024 conference in New Orleans from June 9-11, 2024. Jennifer also shares insights into TMSA's marketing strategies, award programs, and educational content designed to help logistics professionals enhance their marketing and sales skills. 

LINKS:

• Jennifer's LinkedIn
• TMSA Timeline
• TMSA ELEVATE Conference
  (Use code Blythe24 so we score bonus points with the crew)

QUOTES:

"We have a benchmarking study. That's a sales and marketing survey that we do to our members and people in the industry. It tells you what is going on and sales marketing today what people are spending their budgets on. How many sales and marketing people do they have at their companies? That's always a question I get all the time. What are people outsourcing like? What are people keeping in house? What software's are they? What types of software are they using? Are they integrating their software's all that kind of stuff lives in that benchmarking study, and that's accessible only to members so it all lives inside the member portal." - Jennifer Karpus-Romain 

"Like when people are always like when you're starting new things like what what's your advice? And I'm like, well, like anytime you're starting new things you need to evaluate its actual purpose. And like half the people, especially as the marketing person, like you get thrown so many things and you're like what is the what is the point of this? Like, what how does this serve our business purpose?" - Jennifer Karpus-Romain

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Mike Mikulik, VP of Marketing and Sales at SPI Logistics, offers an insider's perspective on the freight agent model. He and Blythe discuss topics like commission structures, technology tools, carrier vetting, and effective sales strategies. Whether you're considering becoming a freight agent or want to improve your current operations, this episode provides the information needed to navigate and thrive in the competitive logistics industry.

LINKS:

• Mike's LinkedIn
• Email Mike
• SPI Freight Agent Program
• From Intern to Freight Agent: Tynan Guthrie's Journey to Building His Book of Business

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Join Grace Sharkey and Blythe for the latest installment of Freight Friends, where they unpack the current state of the freight market and its economic drivers. Discover cutting-edge business ideas like using drones to streamline warehouse inventory, leveraging digital twin technology for optimizing manufacturing, and implementing AI-driven phone systems for smoother logistics operations. Plus, don't miss their exploration of the logistics behind the diverse flavors in the booming snack industry and the hype surrounding themed movie theater popcorn buckets.

LINKS:

• Grace’s Linktree
• JB Hunt Q1 Report
• GatherAI
• Freightwaves Future of Supply Chain
• TMSA’s ELEVATE Conference (Use code Blythe24)

QUOTES:

• "A lot of brokers have been telling me produce season hasn't been picking up like it should. Again, I always like to kind of look at those around me whenever I want to kind of make a prediction of what's happening with the freight market or even more so what's happening possibly down the line." - Grace Sharkey
• "We have a broker that I inherited, and I swear each week, I get another email or call from a different rep. They're DMs, we are already a customer and he says it's very annoying." - Matt (quoted by Blythe)
• "What I think is really cool is this is a company that uses drones, computer vision from those drones to offer inventory management solutions for warehouses. So again, taking a giant warehouse and being able to send a drone out to read every item, take inventory, take all that data, bring it back to managers and figure out where they only want that they can." - Grace Sharkey (on Gather AI)
• "If you're buying a specialty flavor, Lay's chips it likely came from a factory that's two hours away and has been in business for 50 years with a local supply chain." - Ryan Harlan (quoted by Blythe)
• "Companies like Nestle think that this model of novelty is the future as they come back things like Ozempic Taking over where people are eating less." - Blythe Brumleve
• "Last summer AMC chief Adam Aaron predicted that 25,000 Special Edition Barbie Corvettes would sell out by the end of opening weekend at $35 a pop he was right that means nearly 1 million in revenue or about $875,000." - (Quote from Hollywood Reporter)

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Justin Cramer, co-founder of ProShip, and Blythe discuss what it's like managing thousands of parcel shipments daily. He explains his transition from the Navy to logistics software, handling peak seasons across industries, and integrating carrier compliance updates. The episode also explores separating systems of record, the onboarding process for enterprise shippers, and how AI could enhance predictive transit time estimates based on weather, events, and other data.

LINKS:

• Justin's LinkedIn
• ProShip's Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe speaks with Pablo Palafox, CEO of Happyrobot, about using AI-powered voice assistants to automate repetitive tasks in freight operations. They discuss Pablo's background in industrial engineering and computer science, and how Happy Robot's technology can free up logistics teams to focus on higher-value work, improving efficiency and customer service.

LINKS:

• Pablo's LinkedIn
• Happyrobot's website
• Email Happyrobot

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode of Everything is Logistics, Blythe speaks with Jack Zwart, the shipping manager at GatorBar, a manufacturer of composite rebar in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He shares information on the history and importance of the Rust Belt, the role of the Great Lakes in raw material shipping, and the value of building personal relationships with carriers. Jack also explains how he stumbled into his manufacturing role, the unique transportation challenges faced by rural Midwest shippers, and insights into the future of American manufacturing.

LINKS:

• Jack's LinkedIn
• The Great Lakes aggregate industry is rather quiet but massively important
• GatorBar Website
• Heartland Revival Podcast by Jack

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Grace Sharkey and Blythe are back with another episode of Freight Friends! This time the duo addresses the evolving retail landscape, including Shein's supply chain services and Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology halt. They also discuss the Baltimore bridge collapse and the rise of online misinformation, covering a range of timely logistics and supply chain topics.

LINKS:

• Grace's Linktree 
• FightingForTruckers.com
• How to reverse image search
• Formula1 chief appalled to find his team manages 20k parts via Excel
• Kyla Scanlon's Shein post on X
• ERP Failure Case Study - Hershey’s

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe speaks with Greenscreens CEO and Chief Product Officer Dawn Salvucci-Favier about her transition from administrative assistant to freight tech innovator. Dawn discusses the evolution of freight brokerages, TMS systems, and the power of predictive pricing using AI and machine learning. She also shares insights into the changing freight landscape and strategies driving successful freight tech companies.

LINKS: 

• Dawn's Email: dawn@greenscreens.ai
•  Dawn's LinkedIn
• Greenscreens' Website
• Kevin Hill's LinkedIn Post

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

• Gabby Salazar- 03:44
• Chris Cook- 21:18
• Lauren Beagen - 01:15:52
• Nick Chubb- 02:08:07

QUOTABLES:

Lauren Beagen: "90% of all goods are shipped via the big cargo ships, there are many issues that pop up all the time.  Navigating through the legal straits that every cargo ship must cross underscores the monumental stakes of maritime law."

Gabby Salazar: "Working in a male-dominated field, it's like just another day in the office... our office just floats and is 1,000 feet long."

Chris Cook: "The invasion of Ukraine... opened up a series of enormously important stories."

Nick Chubb: "Streamlining this ancient industry is about more than just integrating new technology; it's about changing the way we think about shipping and logistics."

• How War Affects Shipping with Sal Mercogliano
• More podcast episodes from Maritime Means by Spire

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Sean McGillicuddy, Chief Revenue Officer at Tai Software, explore how inefficient processes can hold back freight brokerages. Sean shares valuable advice on optimizing operations, leveraging data and analytics, and developing a strong brand identity to attract and retain customers. He also discusses auditing processes, utilizing TMS analytics, balancing marketing/sales efforts, implementing AI/automation, and understanding modern buyers' needs - all aimed at helping brokerages improve efficiency and drive growth.

LINKS:

• Sean's LinkedIn
• Tai Software's website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In today's show, we’re bringing back some of the best interviews from industry thought leaders to create a mashup you can listen to over time. That way, if you want a crash course in what shippers want out of their 3PL partnership, you can listen to one long-form episode instead of having to dig through our library. 

Guests are from these episodes: 

00:58 What a Shipper Wants with The Produce Industry Podcast

19:49 Study Reveals Marketing Ideas That Shippers Won’t Hate

37:36 Shipper Explains What He Wished He Knew Before Working With a 3PL

43:53 The Logistics of Calypso Lemonade

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe discusses the world of AI in freight with Garrett Allen, the co-founder of LoadPartner. Garrett discusses the current state of AI and how businesses can prepare for AI adoption. He also explains how AI can enhance logistics operations, addresses concerns about job displacement, and discusses the future of AI across the industry.

LINKS:

• Podcast: Will LoadPartner AI Replace Trucking Industry Check Calls? w/ Garrett Allen
• Garrett on X
• Garrett's LinkedIn
• LoardPartner LinkedIn

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe speaks with Jake Battles, VP of Business Development and Sales at REPOWR, about how his company has built a digital marketplace for renting trailers and equipment. Jake explains the challenges of trailer utilization, REPOWR's innovative solution, and how it benefits carriers and shippers alike. He also highlights pioneering approaches that increase supply chain flexibility and efficiency through intelligent trailer-sharing.

LINKS: 

• Jake's LinkedIn
• REPOWR LinkedIn
• REPOWR Facebook
• REPOWR Instagram

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe speaks with Marina Mayer, the Editor-in-Chief of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive, about her journey in the logistics industry. Marina discusses the importance of promoting women in supply chain, the challenges of editorial planning, and her advice for independent creators. She also provides insights into her favorite tools, books, and logistics facts, and provides valuable perspectives for those passionate about supply chain, content creation, and gender diversity in the field.

LINKS:

• Marina's LinkedIn
• Food Logistics Website
• Supply & Demand Chain Executive Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

This episode features a discussion between Blythe and Holly LaBoda from "Logistics Luminaries Live!" focusing on leveling up freight sales strategy. Topics include bridging the gap between marketing and sales, leveraging content creation for customer engagement, the power of storytelling, and using AI tools to enhance sales processes. This episode provides valuable takeaways for logistics professionals seeking to improve their sales approach, align marketing efforts, and effectively connect with customers.

LINKS:

• Holly's LinkedIn
• Logistics Luminaries, Live! with Blythe Brumleve
• Luminaries Consulting's website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

This episode highlights a panel discussion moderated by Blythe, from Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics, focusing on the topic of "Multimodal Shipping & International Growth: How is True Visibility Achieved?" Panelists included: 

• Charlie Cunnion, VP, Supply Chain & Customer Service, CMPC Forest Productions NA
• Jim McCullen, CIO, Century Supply Chain Solutions
• Andrew Petrisin, Supply Chain Advisor, U.S. Department of Transportation 
• Peter Weis, CIO, SVP Supply Chain, ITS Logistics

The discussion centered around challenges and solutions for attaining comprehensive multimodal visibility within the supply chain, addressing issues such as data quality, standards, and emerging technologies like APIs and AI, and emphasizing the importance of ecosystem collaboration to enhance transparency and coordination. Another focus was the necessity for collaborative efforts and an ecosystem approach to improve visibility and coordination across the supply chain.

LINKS:

• Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics website
• Charlie's LinkedIn
• Jim's LinkedIn
• Andrew's LinkedIn
• Peter's LinkedIn

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Kristy Killingbeck, VP of Supply Chain Operations at Ryder, discuss evolving shipper expectations, the push for automation like AGVs, navigating the labor landscape across the U.S., and her perspective on mentorship for women in supply chain leadership roles. Kristy also describes what it's like to manage 40 facilities and a $1 billion freight book for major CPG brands.

LINKS:

• Ryder's Website
• Kristy's LinkedIn

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Ryan Schreiber, the Chief Growth Officer at Metafora, discuss AI readiness, integrating data sources, developing a strong data strategy, and identifying specific business use cases.

Drawing from his diverse background spanning freight brokerage to tech startups, Ryan also offers practical advice for companies looking to successfully implement AI and extract meaningful insights from their data.

LINKS:

• Ryan's LinkedIn
• Metafora's website

WATCH FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Grace Sharkey and Blythe Brumleve are back with another episode of Freight Friends! This time the duo discusses ISO Technologies releasing service awards for carriers, advice for freight brokerages, automating manufacturing, and the supply chain of makeup.

LINKS:

• Grace’s Linktree
• Sisters of the Road: Inside a cross-country tour spotlighting 40 truckers during Women’s History Month
• Live From Northwest Arkansas: A Conversation with Shelley Simpson
• HBO's Lovecraft Country Contains a Crucial Historic Reference
• Grace Black History Month X Thread

WATCH FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe and Nate Robert, founder of logistics startup Baton, discuss how his company was acquired by Ryder to build out their new Silicon Valley-based technology lab. The goal of the 40-person lab consisting of engineers, designers, and product managers is to solve pain points identified through engagement with Ryder operators. This includes tackling the driver efficiency issue of only 6.5 productive hours out of an 11-hour driving day.

LINKS:

• Ryder's Website
• Press Release: Ryder Establishes Silicon Valley-Based Technology Lab Led by Founders of Start-Up Baton
• Nate's LinkedIn

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Grace Sharkey is back for a special live edition of Freight Friends recorded during Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain and Logistics in Las Vegas. Discussed on the show are the latest visibility technology and the problems that still need to be solved to achieve true end-to-end solutions, along with some of our favorite booths and trade show marketing on the 500-square-foot expo floor. 

Also, shout out to Zehl Logistics for hosting us at their podcast booth, which was a genius way of getting foot traffic, social media content, and making genuine connections.

LINKS: 

• Grace’s Linktree
• Lessons from 15 Years at TQL with Chris Fields

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Building a logistics search engine sounded cute… right up until I was elbows-deep in dev tickets, spam signups, and 2,000+ business listings.

In this behind-the-scenes episode of Everything is Logistics, I’m breaking down what we’ve actually shipped on CargoRex over the last six months, why the site has been such a giant pain in the ass (in a good way), and what Plus and Premium members get for their money.

What we cover:

• What CargoRex actually is: a search engine for logistics associations, tech, creators, services, and events so you stop guessing on what tools and communities deserve your time.  
• How the new listing manager works so your CargoRex profile can act like a one-page website for your company.  
• Verification badges, quarterly update reminders, and a rebuilt search engine that finally doesn’t suck.  
• Why we added categories like tariffs tools, CDL schools, and space logistics--and how they’re curated from drivers, practitioners, and the freight nerds already in this community.  
• The not-so-fun part: spam and fraud protection, email/domain verification, and keeping the data clean enough to actually trust.  
• A breakdown of the Free, Plus, and Premium plans, including page-level analytics, lead-gen forms, promo campaigns across Everything is Logistics, and upcoming panel spots for Premium members.  
• Why I kept CargoRex bootstrapped, how I’m funding it through the podcast and Digital Dispatch, and how your feedback is shaping the roadmap.

Who this episode is for:

• Freight tech founders and marketing teams who want another distribution channel that isn’t just “yet another website rebuild.”  
• Associations, media, and creators who want their work found by the right logistics audience.  
• Buyers and operators who are tired of random LinkedIn DMs and just want a clean place to research vendors, events, and content.

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe explains how to organize a website redesign project into phases based on priority, starting with an MVP launch before adding other features. Listeners are presented with tips for gathering the necessary "ingredients" ahead of time - such as detailed page outlines, text, images, bios, etc. - to make development smoother. Other audience takeaways include strategies for getting stakeholder buy-in early, while also limiting feedback rounds later to avoid getting derailed by too many opinions.

RELATED LINKS:

• Quick Website and Marketing Wins in 2024
• What I’ve Learned After Hosting 30+ Websites
• How To Stop Annoying Your Website Visitors

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe discusses fighting fraud and the value of great customer service with Meghann Erhart, EVP at Relay Payments. She emphasizes customer service rooted in empathy, honed through over 15 years in the industry and firsthand experiences with drivers. Meghann also stresses the importance of kindness and fostering strong relationships within the freight community.

LINKS:

• Relay Payments' Website
• Meghann's LinkedIn

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

In this episode, Blythe discusses the art of freight sales with 15-year industry veteran and former MoLo cofounder, Stephan Mathis. He shares tips on building trust and long-term partnerships, overcoming adversity to strengthen relationships, leveraging storytelling and reviews to stand out, and developing a personal brand on LinkedIn, as well as providing more invaluable advice for new and experienced brokers alike.  Overall, this episode serves as a masterclass on setting a brokerage up for long-term success!

LINKS:

• Stephan's LinkedIn
• Stephan's Website

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers.