Brake Check

FreightWaves, Charles Gracey

Join Charles Gracey as he tackles the biggest topics in trucking

  1. 4d ago

    TRUCKING'S BIGGEST MONEY SUCK

    YOUR AUTHORITY IS STUCK, SO ARE YOUR TRAILERS....AND GUESS WHO'S PAYING? FMCSA'S REGISTRATION SYSTEM IS CAUSING HEADACHES. TRAILERS ARE SITTING IDLE,  AND TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE LOSING MONEY WITHOUT TURNING A SINGLE WHEEL. Welcome to another episode of BRAKE CHECK, where Charles goes after two expensive problems hitting American carriers: government compliance headaches and equipment that isn't earning its keep. FIRST UP: SHANNA GRAY | S&B TRANSPORTATION FMCSA's new Motus registration system is supposed to make life easier for legitimate carriers. But what happens when the system you're REQUIRED to use becomes the very thing standing in your way?Shanna spent more than FOUR HOURS trying to resolve ONE carrier's registration issue, with no answer. We're digging into Motus registration problems, FMCSA compliance, DOT inspections, driver qualification files, enforcement relief, and what carriers can actually do when government technology isn't cooperating. YOUR DEADLINES DON'T DISAPPEAR, SO WHY SHOULD GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY? THEN: TODD WALDRON | REPOWR Your trailers might be costing you more money sitting still than you realize.REPOWR reports that trailers spend roughly 40% of their operational life idle. Meanwhile, carriers keep buying equipment, repositioning empty trailers and paying expenses on assets that aren't generating revenue. Todd joins us to break down how carriers can turn parked trailers into income, avoid unnecessary equipment purchases, protect their assets from fraud and make smarter decisions about renting, sharing or selling. YOUR TRAILER DOESN'T HAVE TO MOVE FREIGHT TO MAKE MONEY,  BUT IT DAMN SURE SHOULDN'T JUST SIT THERE COSTING YOU MONEY. Two guests, Two expensive problems,  One question every carrier should be asking: HOW MUCH MONEY IS YOUR TRUCKING COMPANY LOSING BEFORE THE TRUCK EVEN MOVES? No corporate fluff. No sales pitches disguised as solutions. Just real problems, real numbers and questions with some actual damn teeth. LIKE, SUBSCRIBE AND FOLLOW FREIGHTWAVES for more Brake Check, FreightCasts and trucking conversations that put the people operating the equipment FIRST. SMASH THE BRAKES, LET'S GO FULL STOP. #Trucking #FMCSA #Motus #TrailerRental #OwnerOperator #TruckDrivers #FreightWaves #BrakeCheck #FleetManagement #TruckingIndustry TRUCKERS & CARRIERS, SOUND OFF: WHAT'S COSTING YOUR BUSINESS MORE RIGHT NOW: GOVERNMENT RED TAPE THAT KEEPS YOU FROM MOVING, OR EQUIPMENT SITTING IDLE THAT YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO KEEP PARKED? Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

  2. 6d ago

    BIG FLEET MONEY vs. SMALL FLEET RESPECT: WHO WINS?

    BIG FLEET vs. SMALL FLEET: WHO REALLY TREATS TRUCK DRIVERS BETTER? BIG FLEET MONEY vs. SMALL FLEET RELATIONSHIPS....WHO ACTUALLY EARNS YOUR LOYALTY? Every trucking company promises great pay, great equipment, great home time, and a place where you're treated like family. Sounds fantastic RIGHT? SO WHY THE HELL DO GOOD DRIVERS KEEP LEAVING? On this episode of Brake Check, Charles puts two very different trucking operations in the hot seat to tackle one of the industry's biggest problems: DRIVER RETENTION. BEN PILE | WERNER ENTERPRISES Werner has the resources, recruiting technology, freight network, and career-development opportunities most smaller fleets can only dream about. But does BIGGER actually mean BETTER for the professional truck driver?We're digging into driver pay, career advancement, specialized freight, home time, training, and what happens when the promises made during recruiting don't match reality after orientation. If you're building careers instead of filling seats, WHY DO DRIVERS STILL LEAVE? DAVID FOOTE | BROWN DOG CARRIERS & LOGISTICS On the other side, we've got a smaller carrier competing for those same professional drivers WITHOUT the mega-fleet recruiting budget.No giant marketing machine. No endless list of terminals.Just the promise of being treated like a PERSON instead of a truck number. But is knowing your driver's name enough when another carrier offers $10,000 more a year? CAN RESPECT REALLY COMPETE WITH A BIGGER PAYCHECK? We're putting both sides to the test. BIG FLEET vs. SMALL FLEET! Recruiting promises vs. operational reality... Career advancement vs. personal relationships... Higher pay vs. long-term opportunity... And the question that should make EVERY trucking company uncomfortable: IF YOUR COMPANY IS SO GREAT TO WORK FOR, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP REPLACING DRIVERS? Because trucking doesn't have a shortage of recruiting promises. IT HAS A SHORTAGE OF PROMISES KEPT! TRUCK DRIVERS, SOUND OFF! Would you rather drive for a BIG fleet with more career opportunities or a SMALL fleet where you have a direct relationship with the people running the company? And what's the ONE thing that would make you leave either one?Drop your answer in the comments. We want to hear from the people actually doing the job. Like, subscribe, and follow FreightWaves for more Brake Check, FreightCasts, trucking news, and conversations with some actual damn teeth. SMASH THE DAMN BRAKES AND LET'S GO FULL STOP! #Trucking #TruckDrivers #WernerEnterprises #DriverRetention #TruckDriverJobs #OwnerOperator #TruckingIndustry #FreightWaves #BrakeCheck Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

  3. Oct 8

    TESLA SEMI & DRIVER SIMULATORS: WORTH THE MONEY?

    SMARTER TRUCKS, BETTER DRIVERS, OR JUST MORE EXPENSIVE BS Everybody in trucking has a shiny new toy promising to change the industry. Electric trucks. Driver simulators. Alternative fuels. Next-generation technology. And every sales pitch comes with the same promise: “IT PAYS FOR ITSELF.” Cool..... SHOW ME THE DAMN MATH! On this episode of Brake Check, Charles puts trucking's next generation of technology on trial with two guests who actually work with it. MATT McLELLAND | COVENANT LOGISTICS Covenant's VP of Sustainability and Innovation put a loaded Tesla Semi through California's infamous Grapevine, tackling steep grades and real-world trucking conditions. We're asking: Can the Tesla Semi actually compete with diesel when you calculate the REAL cost per mile? What happened climbing and descending a 6% grade? Does regenerative braking actually deliver measurable savings? What about charging, battery life, resale value and driver acceptance? At $6-plus diesel, when does electric finally make financial sense? Would Matt spend his OWN money on a Tesla Semi? Forget the Tesla hype, WOULD YOU WRITE THE CHECK? ENRIQUE ALLEN MAR | SIM EXPERTS Next, we're putting driver training under the microscope. Can simulators create safer, better-prepared professional truck drivers, or are carriers buying really expensive video games? We're digging into simulator training, CDL schools, emergency maneuvers, crash prevention, insurance costs and whether technology can improve training WITHOUT replacing real behind-the-wheel experience. And we're asking the uncomfortable question: IF SIMULATORS MAKE DRIVERS SAFER, WHERE'S THE PROOF? Because the trucking industry doesn't need another shortcut to a CDL. IT NEEDS BETTER-PREPARED PROFESSIONALS. One guest tests the machines. One guest trains the humans. And BOTH have have to answer the same question: DOES THE TECHNOLOGY ACTUALLY EARN ITS DAMN KEEP? No corporate sales pitches. No PowerPoint promises. Just real trucking, real costs and questions with some actual teeth. SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS: You've got $350,000 to invest in your trucking operation, ARE YOU BUYING AN ELECTRIC TRUCK, INVESTING IN DRIVER TRAINING, OR KEEPING YOUR DIESEL AND YOUR MONEY? Tell us WHY. Like, subscribe and follow FreightWaves for more Brake Check, FreightCasts and trucking conversations that don't pull punches.SMASH THE DAMN BRAKES, LET'S GO FULL STOP! #TeslaSemi #Trucking #ElectricTrucks #TruckDrivers #CDLTraining #DriverSafety #FreightTech #OwnerOperator #CovenantLogistics #BrakeCheck Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

    TESLA SEMI & DRIVER SIMULATORS: WORTH THE MONEY?

  4. Oct 6

    80,000 MORE DRIVERS? OR JUST 18 MINUTES?

    For years, trucking has been told it has a driver shortage. But what if the bigger problem isn't how many drivers we have? What if we're wasting the ones already here? Research led by Dr. David Correll at MIT FreightLab found long-haul drivers averaged roughly 6.5 hours of actual driving in an available 11-hour driving window. When Correll compared utilization with the industry's then-claim of an 80,000-driver shortage, the math produced a wild alternative:Roughly 18 more productive minutes per existing driver per day could t heoretically create comparable additional capacity, Not 18 more hours....18 MINUTES. So where the hell is the rest of the driver's day going? Detention, Appointment delays, Loading, Unloading, Congestion, Parking, And hours of a professional driver's life that somebody else controls. On this episode of Brake Check, we put the policy AND the data in the same show. OOIDA Executive Vice President Lewie Pugh joins us fresh off TenFour D.C. on the National Mall to talk about what truckers actually told Washington, what FMCSA heard, broker transparency, detention, parking, diesel, bad actors, CDL enforcement and why OOIDA continues challenging the industry's driver-shortage narrative. Then Dr. David Correll of Telegraph, formerly with U.S. DOT and MIT FreightLab, brings the receipts. We ask him to revisit the famous 18-minute calculation for TODAY'S trucking market. Is it still 18 minutes? How much productive capacity are we wasting? How much money does detention really cost? Are railroads taking freight from trucks? And if Washington gets ONE chance to increase trucking capacity, should it put more people behind the wheel... OR GIVE THE DRIVERS ALREADY HERE THEIR DAMN TIME BACK? Because maybe trucking doesn't need another recruiting funnel. Maybe it needs to stop wasting the professionals already moving America. SOUND OFF: What's the most time you've lost at a shipper or receiver WITHOUT getting paid for it? And the bigger question: DRIVER SHORTAGE...OR DRIVER-TIME SHORTAGE #Trucking #DriverShortage #TruckDrivers #OwnerOperator #OOIDA #Detention #Freight #TruckingIndustry #FMCSA #BrakeCheck Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

    80,000 MORE DRIVERS? OR JUST 18 MINUTES?

  5. Oct 1

    TRUCKING BOUGHT THE AI, SHOW ME THE DAMN MONEY

    Trucking bought the AI,  Now SHOW ME THE DAMN MONEY! AI is recruiting drivers. Reading contracts. Building RFQs. Automating workflows. Booking freight. And every trucking-tech company suddenly has “AI” somewhere in the pitch. Cool....RIGHT? DOES ANY OF IT ACTUALLY MAKE THE CARRIER MONEY? On this episode of Brake Check, Charles skips the keynote buzzwords and puts trucking’s AI boom to the test. First, Christy Choice from Tenstreet takes us inside the recruiting machine. Where should AI replace busywork? Where should a HUMAN still pick up the phone? Is lower driver turnover actually better retention, or are drivers simply staying put because the freight market has them trapped? And what are carriers already paying for that they barely use? Then FreightWaves truck-tech analyst Thomas Wasson joins us fresh off Trimble Insight 2026 in San Diego. We’re digging into AI agents, TMS automation, recruiting technology, driver tools and what real carriers like Alvis and Spartan are actually doing with this technology after the demo ends. Forget “efficiency.” HOW MUCH MONEY DID IT SAVE? Forget “automation.” WHAT WORK DISAPPEARED? Forget “AI-powered.” PROVE IT.... Because with diesel around $6.38 a gallon and margins already getting squeezed, carriers don't need another expensive screensaver with a monthly subscription. They need technology that EARNS ITS DAMN KEEP. SOUND OFF: What's one job inside a trucking company you would happily hand to AI TOMORROW...and what's one job you would NEVER let it touch? #Trucking #AI #FreightTech #TruckDrivers #TruckingIndustry #Tenstreet #TMS #Automation #Logistics #FleetManagement #BrakeCheck Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

    TRUCKING BOUGHT THE AI, SHOW ME THE DAMN MONEY

  6. Sep 29

    IS TRUCKING FINALLY AT THE BOTTOM? NOT SO FAST | Brake Check

    Is trucking finally at the bottom...or are we still digging? Diesel is around $6.53 a gallon. Rates remain under pressure. Capacity keeps leaving. Cash is getting tighter. And trucking has been hearing the same promise for what feels like forever: “THE RECOVERY IS COMING.” Cool....WHEN? On this episode of Brake Check, Charles follows the money with two guests looking at the trucking market from completely different angles.First, John Larkin, Senior Investment Partner at Venture 53, brings decades of transportation and Wall Street experience to the questions every carrier wants answered: Are we finally at the bottom? How many more trucks have to disappear before rates move? Is freight volume or excess capacity the bigger problem? Who breaks first at $6.53 diesel? And when does buying another truck become an investment instead of a really expensive gamble? Then we put $1 MILLION on the table. Trucking capacity, Freight technology, Brokerage, Warehousing, or cash. Where would John Larkin put HIS money today? Then Jacob Thomas from AtoB joins us to attack the problem from the cab instead of Wall Street. At $6.53 diesel, fuel discounts aren't pocket change anymore. We're breaking down fuel-card savings, where discounts actually come from, hidden costs, fuel fraud, cash flow, working capital and the mistakes that make expensive diesel even MORE expensive. Because surviving this freight market isn't just about waiting for rates to recover. It's about having enough damn money left WHEN THEY DO. SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS: If you had $250,000 in cash TODAY, what are you doing? BUY A TRUCK? PAY DOWN DEBT? INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY? OR SIT ON THE CASH? And the bigger question: IS TRUCKING FINALLY AT THE BOTTOM? #Trucking #Freight #Diesel #OwnerOperator #TruckDrivers #FreightMarket #TruckingIndustry #FreightTech #DieselPrices #BrakeCheck ⁠Follow the Brake Check Podcast⁠ ⁠Other FreightWaves Shows⁠

    IS TRUCKING FINALLY AT THE BOTTOM? NOT SO FAST | Brake Check

  7. Sep 29

    IS TRUCKING FINALLY AT THE BOTTOM? NOT SO FAST

    Is trucking finally at the bottom...or are we still digging? Diesel is around $6.53 a gallon. Rates remain under pressure. Capacity keeps leaving. Cash is getting tighter. And trucking has been hearing the same promise for what feels like forever: “THE RECOVERY IS COMING.” Cool....WHEN? On this episode of Brake Check, Charles follows the money with two guests looking at the trucking market from completely different angles.First, John Larkin, Senior Investment Partner at Venture 53, brings decades of transportation and Wall Street experience to the questions every carrier wants answered: Are we finally at the bottom? How many more trucks have to disappear before rates move? Is freight volume or excess capacity the bigger problem? Who breaks first at $6.53 diesel? And when does buying another truck become an investment instead of a really expensive gamble? Then we put $1 MILLION on the table. Trucking capacity, Freight technology, Brokerage, Warehousing, or cash. Where would John Larkin put HIS money today? Then Jacob Thomas from AtoB joins us to attack the problem from the cab instead of Wall Street. At $6.53 diesel, fuel discounts aren't pocket change anymore. We're breaking down fuel-card savings, where discounts actually come from, hidden costs, fuel fraud, cash flow, working capital and the mistakes that make expensive diesel even MORE expensive. Because surviving this freight market isn't just about waiting for rates to recover. It's about having enough damn money left WHEN THEY DO. SOUND OFF IN THE COMMENTS: If you had $250,000 in cash TODAY, what are you doing? BUY A TRUCK? PAY DOWN DEBT? INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY? OR SIT ON THE CASH? And the bigger question: IS TRUCKING FINALLY AT THE BOTTOM? #Trucking #Freight #Diesel #OwnerOperator #TruckDrivers #FreightMarket #TruckingIndustry #FreightTech #DieselPrices #BrakeCheck Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

    IS TRUCKING FINALLY AT THE BOTTOM? NOT SO FAST

  8. Sep 24

    $6 DIESEL… AND YOUR FUEL SURCHARGE IS SCREWING YOU

    Diesel is above $6 a gallon. But what if the pump isn't the only place your trucking company is getting crushed? One carrier analyzed by Magnus Technologies was reportedly more than $53,000 behind through August because of the timing of its monthly fuel-surcharge resets.Read that again. $53,000. GONE. BECAUSE OF THE MATH. On this episode of Brake Check, Charles  goes after both sides of the squeeze hitting carriers right now: keeping good drivers when margins are disappearing and making damn sure your fuel surcharge is actually recovering what diesel is costing you. First, Brad Hackett, Director of Recruiting & Safety at Jett Express, breaks down the “Big Four” behind driver retention: pay, equipment, home time and respect. When fuel destroys your margin, which one do you protect? What actually keeps a driver from leaving for a few cents more? And can running a genuinely safe operation become a recruiting advantage Because seeing FUEL SURCHARGE on the rate confirmation doesn't automatically mean you're getting your money back.And at $6-plus diesel, guessing whether you're profitable isn't good enough. Six-dollar diesel hurts when you buy it. Bad math makes it hurt AGAIN when you don't get it back. CHECK THE DAMN MATH. SOUND OFF: How often does your fuel surcharge reset .... weekly, monthly or quarterly? And have you actually checked whether it's covering your real fuel increase? #Trucking #Diesel #FuelSurcharge #OwnerOperator #TruckDrivers #TruckingIndustry #DieselPrices #Freight #FleetManagement #BrakeCheck Follow the Brake Check Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows

    $6 DIESEL… AND YOUR FUEL SURCHARGE IS SCREWING YOU
See All (73)

About

Join Charles Gracey as he tackles the biggest topics in trucking

Information

  • Creator
    FreightWaves, Charles Gracey
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Firecrown Media Group 2026
  • Show Website
    Brake Check

You Might Also Like