"Carriers have been vetted to death. ... For 20 years, carriers have been vetted, vetted, vetted. And brokers have not. There's no entry-level audit, no checking in every year like the carrier has to do. The carrier has a responsibility and an ability to start asking questions." --Dale Prax of Freightvalidate Asking questions, that is, to fully "vet the brokers," noted Prax, freight fraud watcher, FMCSA's onetime "worst critic," and proprietor of FreightValidate , a vetting tool offered to both carriers and brokers and unique in that regard. H spoke to the one-sided nature of vetting that’s gone on for decades now. In this Overdrive Radio edition, track back through the opening panel discussion at the Mid-America Trucking Show where Prax delivered those words. As was the case last year during the opening, the fraud in freight markets was a big part of the discussion. Our own Alex Lockie detailed the fraud focus in a report last week you can find at this link -- https://overdriveonline.com/15821288 -- featuring Prax and his work alongside so many around trucking to light a fire underneath regulators (and truckers and brokers themselves) on combating the bad actors. It wasn’t the only big theme coming out of this year's MATS. Panel moderator Brent Hutto, now working with Truck Parking Club, teed up another topic up at the very start -- the notion of AI, and what quick advancement in various forms could mean for freight relationships for owner-operators and trucking more broadly. Panelists included other voices regular readers will be familiar with, including past Small Fleet Champ Jason Cowan of Silver Creek Transportation on his own growing adoption of automation for parts of his back-office processes. Yet Cowan also underscored the importance of really working personal relationships for any owner-operator looking to grow. "I would go to people and say, 'Hey I want to haul your freight,'" he said of his early efforts to ink shipper contracts. The answer, too often, was a question barked back to him, "Well how many trucks do you have?" In those early days, shippers were looking for fleets larger than his three trucks, yet he never lost an opportunity to offer to be the pressure-release valve for any who would listen. "Hey listen," he might say, "here's my card. When somebody drops the ball, give me a call." Thus was a meager start to long-term business relationships with a myriad customers. Silver Creek's up to around 75 trucks today after a recent acquisition, proof positive the approach at least can work to get you started, if you deliver. More about that acquisition: https://overdriveonline.com/15773179 There's more where that came from, likewise from the other panelists featured in an opening MATS session sponsored by Progressive Insurance and DAT Freight & Analytics: **Lee Klaskow, Senior Analyst, Bloomberg Intelligence **Jamie Hagen, Owner & President, Hell Bent Xpress: https://overdriveonline.com/15819686 **Bill Driegert, Executive Vice President, DAT Carrier Products + Convoy Platform **Sanjay Vyas, General Manager for Commercial Lines Product & Pricing, Progressive **Adam Wingfield, Founder & Managing Director, Innovative Logistics Group Also in the podcast, OOIDA Executive VP on the outlook for the broker transparency rulemaking (still hearing May from the FMCSA) and delay on drafting the next big highway bill in Congress. Partisan arguments over war, over immigration and so much more increase the likelihood Congress might kick the can down the road on the front, Pugh said. But time will tell. More ongoing coverage of news, custom trucks, analysis and more from MATS at this collection: https://overdriveonline.com/tag/mats
