FreightWaves

What used to take four McKinsey-style consultants, several months, and a $1 million bill to complete during an acquisition can now be done in minutes with AI. Ed Mehr, CEO & Co-Founder of Machina Labs, discusses how uploading deal rooms and contracts into tools like Claude is fundamentally transforming FP&A and M&A due diligence forever.

When technological disasters happen, the gut reaction is often to blame the hardware—but the reality goes much deeper. Scott Darpel breaks down why preventing the next tragedy isn't just about developing better tech, but rigorously maintaining the management processes and focus needed to guard against "unknown unknowns."

"The North Star is a fully automated aircraft with a remote pilot... but I don't think it's going to be one giant leap to just go do that all at once." Robert Rose, CEO & Co-Founder of Reliable Robotics, explains the step-by-step roadmap bringing automated takeoff, landing, and collision avoidance to the cockpit first to maximize safety and operational density.

When food delivery first exploded, every tech giant chased dense city centers like New York, Miami, and LA—while DoorDash quietly built out the suburbs and rural communities. Harrison Shih, Head of DoorDash Labs, discusses how delivering to suburban families and remote homes completely redefined last-mile convenience.

If we want to bring manufacturing and the supply chain back home, we can't build it like we did 50 or 100 years ago with grueling manual labor. Ed Mehr, CEO & Co-Founder of Machina Labs, discusses why reshoring requires robotics and modern automation to build a resilient, domestic industrial base.

Highway’s latest Freight Fraud Index says compromised communications were tied to 40.2% of reported stolen loads in the third quarter, underscoring how criminals use trusted carrier identities to obtain freight. The company recorded 184 stolen load incidents, down 28.1% from the prior quarter but up 8.2% year over year. Highway said brokers must verify the person requesting freight, not just the carrier. vist.ly/5rsmt

In an era dominated by coding and robotics, CEOs are now wanting to hire English majors. Ed Mehr and Craig Fuller discuss how AI tools are automating technical grunt work—making human creativity, clear communication, and original thinking the most valuable assets in the modern workforce.

Buying assets before you have a revenue plan is the fastest way to kill a business. Don't buy the Sprinter van and then look for work. You just bought a liability and handed your business an emergency to fix. Build the foundation. Secure the revenue. Then acquire the assets.

What does the end state of autonomous flight look like when you completely remove the pilot from the cockpit? Robert Rose, CEO & Co-Founder of Reliable Robotics, breaks down the design of a ground control station that uses touchscreen flight management—where every uploaded flight plan is hard-coded to cross-check terrain obstacles and safely land at a designated parking spot.

For decades, deep space exploration missions like Voyager, Curiosity, and Perseverance relied on Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) to generate power. But Scott Darpel explains that as missions grow more ambitious, nuclear fission and closed-loop Brayton converters are stepping up to deliver game-changing power and efficiency.

Owner-operators and carriers are weighing new versus used trucks in a buyer’s market as lead times stabilize, used pricing levels off and freight rates reward lean operations. Werner Fleet Sales says buyers are being more selective, favoring late-model, well-maintained units and factoring in financing, repair risk and monthly cash flow. John Paynter said financing is now the biggest driver of transaction velocity. vist.ly/5rrbk

When you order dinner on an app, you don't care whether it arrives via drone, sidewalk robot, or human driver—you just want it fast and affordable. Harrison Shih, Head of DoorDash Labs, breaks down why the future of autonomous delivery isn't about single hardware bots, but an orchestration engine running multimodal logistics behind the scenes.

Stop walking into shippers saying: "I need freight." Your pitch is: "Here is how I fix the bottlenecks costing you money."

When an aerospace software engineer stepped back into the cockpit to finish flight school, one big question stood out: why are billions pouring into self-driving cars and space tech, but airplanes are still flown like they were decades ago? Robert Rose explores why aviation remains surprisingly primitive—and what it takes to build truly autonomous flight systems.

The Surface Transportation Board is signaling broader federal protection for rail-served projects, saying state and local restrictions aimed at rail customers’ facilities may face greater scrutiny under federal law. The policy statement, set to become final Nov. 9, also argues that efforts to take exclusive possession of railroad rights-of-way may be categorically preempted in some cases. The agency says individual disputes will still depend on the facts and applicable law. vist.ly/5rqsr

Your first freight sales call isn’t a pitch—it’s an introduction. 1. Introduce yourself. 2. Ask two direct questions: Who handles outbound, and what’s the hardest part of getting trucks on your dock? 3. Shut up and listen. Watch The Long Haul now: vist.ly/5rqse

The truck-buying scramble is over. It's a buyer's market now, with little room for a bad call. 🚛 @One_Werner Fleet Sales on how financing, repair risk and total cost of ownership are shaping owner-operator decisions: #Trucking #OwnerOperator vist.ly/5rqgq

Get your own house in order before worrying about what everyone else is doing. If you want to win in dedicated freight, focus on the business that actually pays you. Clear the internal clutter first—everything else follows. A new episode of The Long Haul is out now: vist.ly/5rq7t

PS Logistics said it acquired Roane Transportation Services and its affiliates through subsidiary Loudon County Trucking, adding 189 power units to its flatbed network. The deal also includes Roane’s logistics and leasing operations, with Roane continuing under its current banner as a division of Loudon County Trucking. PS Logistics said the move strengthens its East Tennessee presence and support for customers in a critical manufacturing region. vist.ly/5rq4j

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers seized more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a tractor-trailer carrying leeks at the Texas border. A canine alert led to the Oct. 30 inspection, which uncovered 909 packages of suspected narcotics weighing about 1,082 pounds, CBP said. The seizure, announced Nov. 2, was tied to Operation Southern Surge in South Texas. vist.ly/5rpx5