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Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Check Call: TIA's annual fraud report spotlights surge in incidents
The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) has released its April 2025 'State of Fraud in the Industry' report, revealing a significant surge in freight fraud incidents that are impacting 3PLs and freight brokers nationwide. From Sept. 1, 2024, through Feb. 28, 2025, there were 1,611 fraud reports filed across seven key categories — an increase of 65% from the prior eight-month reporting period. Key findings: Truckload freight as primary target: An overwhelming 97% of respondents identified truckload freight as the mode most susceptible to fraud. Prevalence of unlawful brokerage: Unlawful brokerage schemes, in which fraudsters impersonate legitimate brokers to misappropriate loads or payments, were cited by 34% of respondents as the most common fraud tactic encountered. Multiple fraud types experienced: Some 83% of respondents reported encountering at least three different types of fraud within the past six months. Widespread geographic impact: Fraud incidents have been reported across nearly every region, with Texas, California, South Carolina and Washington identified as top states where fraudulent activities originated. Financial strain on small businesses: About 22% of respondents reported losses exceeding $200,000 due to fraud in the past six months, while 10% have invested over $200,000 in fraud prevention measures. Chris Burroughs, TIA president and CEO, emphasized the severity of the situation: 'Our members are on the front lines of this crisis, and when fraud hits, they need to act fast.' TIA has also released a Post-Fraud Incident Checklist. Burroughs said, 'This checklist gives 3PLs and freight brokers a clear, tactical guide they can turn to in the heat of the moment — and we believe it's going to make a real difference.' The report highlights the evolution of fraud tactics, including: Identity theft and spoofing: Fraudsters are increasingly using identity theft and spoofing techniques, with 42% of respondents citing these as common fraud experiences. Compromised communications: There has been a steady increase in impersonation attempts, unauthorized contact changes and bad actors attempting to gain access to broker networks. The report also delivers a strong message to policymakers: Now is the time for coordinated action. TIA is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to crack down on fraudulent carriers and remove illegitimate listings from its databases. The association is also calling on Congress to pass the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act and the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which would provide additional tools for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute this crime. For a comprehensive understanding of the findings and recommendations, access the full TIA fraud report here. Market Check. Dallas sees more than just the FreightWaves Freight Fraud Symposium this week, as outbound tender rejections have fallen 1.23% week over week. Rejections are sitting at 4.82% in this relatively stable freight market. Volatility comes when rejections are at or above 7% for many weeks, which was seen throughout April in Dallas. With rejection rates lowering, brokers and shippers can expect stronger contract carrier compliance. Secondary carriers will see less award volumes and freight coming out of Dallas. Brokers can take their time when it comes to prioritizing coverage for lanes. Spot rates continue to leave a lot to be desired as rejections fall, meaning the rates from April will be on the high side when bidding for freight. Who's with whom. After months of escalating tensions and economic uncertainty, a welcome pause has arrived in the U.S.-China tariff standoff. The two global powers have agreed to a 90-day suspension of most tariffs that have been in place since April 2, offering a reprieve and an opportunity for further negotiations over the next three months. As part of the agreement, both nations will begin rolling back many of the reciprocal tariffs that have defined the trade dispute. U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods will fall from 145% to 30%, and China's tariffs on U.S. goods will fall back to 10%. These lower tariff rates are set to take effect Wednesday, signaling the first tangible sign of de-escalation in what has been a prolonged trade battle. Beyond tariff reductions, the deal addresses key nontariff barriers. Beijing has committed to suspending or canceling several retaliatory measures, including export restrictions and the blacklisting of dozens of U.S. companies. This is seen as a significant move to rebuild trust and open dialogue between the two economies. One of the most critical components of the new agreement centers on intellectual property rights. Article 1.1 of the agreement reaffirms both nations' commitment to respecting IP rights, while Article 1.2 mandates the fair, adequate, and effective protection and enforcement of those rights. It also guarantees equitable market access to companies whose businesses depend on robust IP protections. The agreement comes at a pivotal time. Just last month, concerns were raised as certain Chinese manufacturers began promoting luxury goods at significantly reduced prices, raising red flags about potential IP violations. This temporary trade truce may help curb those practices and ensure a more level playing field. For U.S. retailers and importers facing an average transit time of about 20 days for goods traveling from Chinese ports to the U.S. West Coast, this window allows companies to pull forward inventory or restock products that may have run low during the high-tariff period. The more you know Highway releases Freight Fraud Index revealing 400,000 sophisticated fraud attempts in Q1 2025 CEVA Logistics acquires Turkish logistics company Borusan Tedarik XPO sees minimal shipper conversion from LTL to TL Taking on Porter, Uber launches logistics service Courier XL for delivery of large goods Logistics firm buys $2M in Trump meme coins to boost US-Mexico trade The post Check Call: TIA's annual fraud report spotlights surge in incidents appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Combating freight fraud with certificates of insurance
Key strategies for combating fraud involve certificates of insurance for supply chain partners. In an industry that moves billions of dollars of goods annually, freight fraud has become increasingly concerning for supply chain professionals. Recent data from the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) 'State of Fraud in the Industry 2024 Report' sheds light on the alarming trends and impacts of fraudulent activities in the freight sector. According to the TIA report, 'The average gross cost of fraud among respondents was $402,344.47, with some companies reporting losses well over $1 million, with the per-load cost of fraud averaging $40,760.17.' The impact extends beyond monetary losses, affecting operational efficiency, reputation and customer of the most prevalent forms of fraud identified is identity theft and impersonation. Criminals are impersonating legitimate companies, using stolen identities to commit fraud. This often leads to significant financial losses and damage to a company's reputation, proving there is a need for quality verification processes. At the moment, there is little recourse for fraud victims. If goods are stolen, identity theft occurs or any other problem results in a loss of the load due to a scam or fraud, there is nothing impactful that businesses can do. As of right now, the only options are file a police report and report the fraudulent motor carrier to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Without concrete protocols in place to catch and prosecute the perpetrators, shippers, brokers and carriers are left with building their own solutions and trying to mitigate their exposure to fraud. There is hope in a bipartisan bill that has been brought to the Senate in hopes of cracking down on flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 would establish a coordinated multiagency response and create tools to tackle evolving trends in organized retail theft. The two main sponsors of the bill are Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. The proposed law would create a department under the Department of Homeland Security and develop means to investigate and prosecute thieves. Similar pieces of legislation were brought forward in 2022 and 2023 but didn't make headway. And in the meantime, supply chain professionals are still largely on their own to mitigate their exposure to fraud. A common tool/protocol for verification is a certificate of insurance. A COI is issued by the insurance provider, offering proof that a carrier has coverage. It includes the name and contact information of the insurance provider, policy numbers, term dates, underwriter details, coverage limits for cargo, auto liability, and general liability, as well as any extra insured parties. Because these documents are issued by the insurance company, a true third party for a shipment, it's another tool that can be used in verifying carriers and reducing fraud across the freight ecosystem. COIs serve as proof that a carrier has the necessary insurance coverage to operate legally and safely. By requiring and thoroughly checking these certificates, brokers and shippers can ensure they're working with legitimate, insured carriers. This simple yet effective measure can prevent many instances of fraud before they occur. The importance of COIs extends beyond compliance. They act as a trust-building mechanism in an industry where relationships and reliability are paramount. When all parties can verify each other's credentials and insurance status, it creates a more secure and efficient operating environment for everyone involved. However, the process of obtaining, verifying and managing COIs has traditionally been time-consuming and prone to digital companies have integrated into different transportation management systems that provide the verification immediately. The current process is a little more manual with more phone calls and can cut down on response time for brokers and carriers. Taking the value of certificates of insurance seriously is Truckstop. In 2024, Truckstop received over 500,000 carrier COIs through the Certificial integration. Currently, 80% of the COIs Truckstop receives come from this partnership. Rob Blanchette, co-founder of Certificial, said in a news release, 'Truckstop has been at the forefront of introducing digital insurance monitoring to the transportation industry, streamlining carrier connections and automating data collection. This innovation has led to cutting-edge insurance monitoring and a more trusted network. Together, we've successfully advanced digital insurance monitoring in the transportation sector.' Verifying insurance, is one of the most impactful processes to have in onboarding carriers as it can catch bad actors who fall through the cracks. The TIA report notes: 'As fraud tactics evolve, so too must the technology used to combat them. Companies should continue to invest in cutting-edge tools that enhance their ability to detect and prevent fraud. This includes advanced verification processes, real-time tracking systems, and artificial intelligence to identify and flag suspicious activity.' This level of up-to-date accuracy is crucial in an industry where conditions can change rapidly, and outdated information can lead to significant risk. As the freight industry continues to evolve and face new challenges, the role of technology in ensuring security and trust will only grow. The industry must remain proactive in its approach to combating fraud. This includes staying informed about emerging fraud trends, continuously updating security measures and fostering a culture of vigilance across all levels of the supply chain. The post Combating freight fraud with certificates of insurance appeared first on FreightWaves. Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
22-04-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Telling Trucking Fraud to Hit the Highway: Talking Transports
Fraud in the trucking industry has become a major issues for carriers, brokers and shippers alike. The Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) estimates that freight fraud costs supply chains over $1 billion annually in the US. The pandemic, market participant anonymity and ease has helped spark a new wave of cargo theft. In this Talking Transports podcast, Michael Caney, chief commercial officer of Highway, joins Lee Klaskow, Bloomberg Intelligence senior transportation and logistics analyst, to share his insights about how the company's technology based platform is fighting abuse in the industry. Caney also talks about types of fraud, the importance of knowing your customer, double brokering, dispatch services, rising costs for truckers and stumbling into the freight brokerage industry lead him to Highway.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Check Call: New legislation targets freight fraud
Freight fraud has continued to be a hot topic of discussion in the freight brokerage space. Last week at the Transportation Intermediaries Association annual conference, TIA President Chris Burroughs provided some guidance on the agency's plan to tackle freight fraud. Burroughs referenced 2020 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration data showing the agency had more than 80,000 complaints of freight fraud. He called the figure 'staggering and quite frankly unexpected.' He doubled down on the need for enforcement: 'We're also working directly with Congress and the federal agencies to push forward and getting regulations that are already on the books enforced.' Prosecuting and otherwise doing more than just reporting bad actors and stolen freight has long been a struggle for the entire freight industry. It seems there is some hope to be found in this arena after all. A bipartisan bill has been brought to the Senate in hopes of cracking down on flash mob robberies and intricate retail theft schemes. The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 would establish a coordinated multiagency response and create tools to tackle evolving trends in organized retail theft. The two main sponsors of the bill are Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. The proposed law would create a department under the Department of Homeland Security and develop means to investigate and prosecute thieves. Grassley said: 'Our bill improves the federal response to organized retail crime and establishes new tools to recover stolen goods and illicit proceeds, and deter future attacks on American retailers.' Cortez Masto added: 'Large criminal organizations are constantly evolving their tactics to steal goods from retailers and the supply chain in communities across the Silver State [Nevada]. The rise in organized retail crime has left businesses scrambling, and it is time for Congress to pass this bipartisan legislation to help law enforcement agencies keep our communities safe.' Grassley and Cortez Masto introduced similar legislation in 2022 and 2023. Here's hoping the third time is the charm. Legislation like this could not come at a better time. There is a strong fear that more fraud will occur as tariffs continue to change and surge between the U.S. and China. Grace Sharkey notes in a FreightWaves article: 'Importers facing steep duties are resorting to creative, and sometimes illegal, methods to avoid paying the required fees. Mislabeling goods, undervaluing shipments and falsely declaring the country of origin are just a few tactics being employed to bypass customs inspections.' Sharkey also brings up the historical precedent for tariff evasion. 'These types of fraudulent activities have already had significant financial implications. In one case from the early 2000s, a group of importers used fraudulent schemes to misrepresent the country of origin of textiles from China to evade tariffs. In that instance, the perpetrators were caught, but not before costing the U.S. Treasury over $100 million in lost duties.' A new artery for fraud and no way to stop the bleeding are the last things the supply chain needs. Last year estimated losses to fraud were $454.9 million. That's just the reported number; it's likely much larger once you get into loss of revenue, loss of business and financial fraud. The average value per theft also rose to $202,364 in 2024, up from $187,895 the previous year. Market Check. Ontario, California, typically serves as a strong barometer for the freight market in the U.S. It's a trendsetter. With most West Coast imports coming through the ports of LA and Long Beach and then heading inland, Ontario serves as that gateway. That being said, there is plenty of excess truck capacity and most outbound lanes have decreasing spot rates. Inbound container ships have seen a drop-off in volumes amid the threat of tariffs, which has pulled significant volume from the market. The prognosis for spot rates isn't much better as the Outbound Tender Rejection Index is 2.12% – half the national average. Ontario saw a 1.49% drop in rejection rates, which is great for shippers and brokers in the market as contract carrier compliance is incredibly high for this time of year. Who's with whom. Tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from Mexico were subject to a 25% tariff before tariffs were paused for 90 days. It seems as though that number is subject to an increase. President Donald Trump has brought up a long-running water dispute between the U.S. and Mexico as a reason to possibly levy higher tariffs. The spat is over a 1944 water treaty, the 'Treaty Relating to the Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande.' The gist of the treaty is that the U.S. is obligated to deliver 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually to Mexico from the Colorado River and Mexico is obligated to deliver 1,750,000 acre-feet of water over a five-year cycle to the United States from the Rio Grande, with an average annual delivery of 350,000 acre-feet. Why does a treaty about water stand to disrupt cross-border freight? Great question. The current administration is saying Mexico has not fulfilled its water obligation. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum claims the drought has made it difficult for Mexico to comply fully with the treaty. However, the International Boundary and Water Commission, the organization that enforces the treaty, has been working to identify solutions that benefit both countries. The water shortage is negatively impacting produce grown in the Rio Grande Valley, which can also negatively impact the freight market, especially since produce season is around the corner. There has been no official word on whether additional tariffs would be levied or what possible actions could be taken against Mexico. The main impact seen from this will be decreased produce volumes from South Texas in a few weeks. Trump exempts smartphones, chips, computers from tariffs New rail-sea route boosts auto exports from western China to Middle East How RFID helps retailers streamline reverse supply chains ITS Logistics issues April U.S. port/rail ramp freight index Trump's tariffs rattle fashion's global supply chain The post Check Call: New legislation targets freight fraud appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Breaking from the FreightTech AI pack: Companies make their case at TIA meeting
SAN ANTONIO – What became obvious in more than three hours of legacy companies and wet-behind-the-ears startups touting technology solutions for 3PLs at the Transportation Intermediaries Association's meeting is that artificial intelligence is absolutely real right now, and one of the next battles will be over what might be called the last mile of technology. The presentations came during a Media Day at the TIA's annual Capital Ideas Conference, a day before the full launch of the largest gathering of freight brokers. One by one, nearly 20 companies laid out the capabilities of new or near-new technologies and capabilities they had launched to serve the 3PL industry. While it was clear that the capabilities of generative AI are no longer the technology of the future and very much part of the present, it was just as obvious that the overlap of what many of these solutions do, which has always been a feature of technology products aimed at the supply chain, doesn't go away in the AI world. That's where the 'final mile' comes in, those small capabilities that the tech suppliers look to create to differentiate themselves from what is already becoming a crowded field. For example, several presentations touted applications that would use AI to intake the never-ending stream of emails, text messages and phone calls a brokerage receives from drivers, other carrier employees or shippers. The new tools can use generative AI to formulate a response that meets the queries of the supply chain without consuming brokers' time, leaving them to more productive tasks. So far, there is no shortage of companies offering this service. David Bell, the founder and CEO of CloneOps AI, whose company presented at the Media Day, said the unusual name of his startup – which launched its product in conjunction with the conference – came from the oft-heard wish that during times of worker overload, some of a company's more productive employees could be cloned. 'Your emails are stacking up, your phone calls are on hold, your voicemail is getting full, your texting is getting full, and you're a one person show trying to keep your head above water,' Bell said in an interview with FreightWaves, describing the situation that several companies face. But with other companies offering similar AI products that take in communications and respond to them without human intervention when possible, the question to Bell was, how do you separate yourself from the pack? How does your last mile differ from that of others? Bell spoke of his experience as the owner of Smith Cargo, a consolidator, and then the founder of Lean Solutions (which also presented at Media Day.) But it wasn't just his background, Bell said. For example, he boasted of CloneOps' voice identification capabilities, which he said 'is going to prevent fraud right from the start.' If a call comes in from a 'fake carrier trying to get a load, it's going to identify if they're authorized to speak and if they're authorized to book a load on behalf of the carrier.' The goal, Bell said, is to 'create a bad actors database of the voices that are actually stealing the loads.' ParadeAI attended the conference but wasn't a presenter at TIA Media Day. However, its AI-driven offering is not duplicated by any of the companies that did present, as its capabilities involve using AI to provide what it calls capacity management. ParadeAI, which founder and CEO Anthony Sutardja said launched in 2019, uses a variety of tools to develop a reservoir of information about carriers that AI then can use to provide information to brokers looking to secure capacity. At its launch, Sutardja said, it used truck list emails to populate its data. 'We took the natural language processing technology that existed back then to start structuring it into available trucks for matching,' he said. 'That was one way of getting capacity,' he said. With the addition of more FreightTech solutions being adopted by brokers, Sutardja said, all of them create further sources of capacity that can then be interpreted by AI to give a broker a look at available capacity that might be a match for the lane that is seeking trucking services. The new features launched in conjunction with the TIA meeting are marketed under a product called CoDriver. The capabilities recently launched were described by Sutardja as a 'voice AI agent that can help have a conversation between the broker and carrier to discuss an available load, check if the carrier is qualified and check if it meets the load requirements.' While capacity management capabilities are the core of ParadeAI's business, it also has a pricing product called Advantage. ParadeAI and CloneOps both had booths on the TIA exhibition hall floor, which is dominated by FreightTech companies. CloneOps was also the sponsor of the conference's Wi-Fi; its brand marketing popped up whenever an attendee accessed that service. OTR Solutions has multiple financial tools for the industry, including factoring and fuel cards. COO Grace Maher introduced OTR 365, which she called an 'always-on network of interconnected financial products delivering intelligent solutions and powerful technologies.' What this means for drivers getting paid, she said, is 'no more cutoff times for same-day funding, no more weekend or bank holiday delays.' Pallet's AI solution is in the already crowded field of companies using AI to process and aid in what Jason Feng of the company's marketing team described as automation of 'any sort of repetitive workflow, including order entry, RFQ processing, track-and-trace and reconciliation.' Its product is called Copilot. The role of AI 'agents,' essentially human-like robots with an element of a personality, came up several times during TIA Media Day. At TMS provider Revenova, the agent's name is Artimus, introduced earlier this year. Marketing manager Mike Marut said the main strength of AI agents is that they can be tailored to the capabilities of a brokerage. 'It's customized and configured to what you do in your operational processes, but it's going to be different from everybody else,' he said. Michael Caney of Highway spoke about an upgrade to the company's visibility solution that combines it with the company's security validation, which is at the heart of Highway's rapid success in the market so far. It helps answer a key question that brokers need to answer to fight fraud: 'Are they [the carrier] within the geographic location of the load that they're looking at?' One company whose AI-driven product didn't have any obvious matches was Qued. Based on the pitch from President Tom Curee, it also is focused on using AI to help manage the stream of communications, but its focus was on one particular task: appointments. 'Imagine all these different appointments that have to be scheduled,' he said. 'They're in web portals, they're in emails or phone calls.' The AI solution at Qued is designed to tackle that with new technology. Crum & Foster rolled out new ways of accessing its TripExcess insurance offering that sells insurance to cover a high-value load whose value exceeds the coverage in a carrier or broker's insurance policies. Fleetworks introduced a solution that involves AI-produced conversations that can take the place of human interaction with phones and email for more routine tasks. Its new product also involves an AI-driven tool that can speak multiple languages. Freight Claims is a new company that will use AI and machine learning to produce automated workflows dealing with claims, which founder and CEO Mike Schember said was 'the last department to get any resources in any organization.' Get Real Rates, according to its co-founder Omar Singh, is using automation to generate rate information, 'fast forwarding automation that I thought was going to happen years ago, but it's taken a little bit longer.' Alfonso Quijano, CEO of Lean Solutions, introduced StudioQ. TalentQ is the first application under the StudioQ set of AI-driven solutions that Quijano said give its customers an 'unprecedented level of visibility to access talent.' It also aids in the onboarding process 'from start to finish, ensuring your new hire is fully prepared to thrive in their role,' Quijano said. CEO Dawn Favier, fresh off the company's announced planned acquisition by Triumph Capital (NASDAQ: TFIN), said her company will be adding an AI-driven product, Intuition. 'Pricing long-term freight contracts has always been a major challenge in the freight industry,' she said. Using AI and drawing on historical data, Intuition will build market forecasts on lanes out to 12 months in advance, greatly speeding up a broker's ability to respond to a longer-term RFP as opposed to the spot market. Happy Robot is rolling out Bridge, 'a control panel to run the operations across your entire business,' Catherine Dean said in presenting the product. Bridge, she said, 'is like a connection point between your teams and your businesses, shared knowledge and task execution.' Steve Kochan of HaulPay discussed his company's financing activities, which involve factoring and payments among other services, with a special focus on fighting fraud. He was presenting at Media Day because of the first update of the company's app and user interface in more than six years. Among the presentations by so many new companies was a veteran: Infinity Software Solutions, a TMS provider in business for 25 years. CEO Josh Asbury said the company was taking a 'big swing' in introducing WorkerOS, which he described as 'unifying all the different data, all the different data streams that workers have, the different data pipelines, into a common pool of data.' Another veteran company that presented was McLeod Software. Its new AI product is It was described as McLeod's first AI solution, and its functionality is targeted at what already looks like a crowded field: processing voluminous levels of all types of communication. Rose Rocket's TMS has added its own human-named feature, Ted, to its system, which was introduced earlier this year. It's another entry into the battle for cleaning up communications like emails that pour into brokerages every day. 'You get reduced time spent on manual entry by up to 20%, and new users of Rose Rocket will onboard onto our system 70% faster,' field marketing manager Neena Salifu said of Ted. David Ely, chief product officer at broker-focused Tai Software, used the word 'flexibility' to describe his company's new offering, which was introduced at the TIA. Tai believes, Ely said, that brokers are 'forced to work around preset work flows, fixed fields, static period logic, and it makes true automation impossible without costly development.' The flexibility he said is being built into Tai will 'let them define their business rules, trigger automated workloads and adapt the platform to fit their unique operations.' Michael Davidian, the vice president of business operations at TrueNorth, introduced Loadie, its 'virtual dispatcher' that takes information posted to the company's load board and seeks to use AI to match it with a carrier. 'Our AI doesn't just wait,' Davidian said. 'It works to match loads with quality carriers in real time, and the broker can specify what type of carriers match to that broker's load. This can be based on authority compliance criteria, past relationships with that broker and a variety of other customizable factors.' More articles by John Kingston Fighting freight fraud an immediate focus at annual meeting of brokers' group New Mack long-haul truck makes grand entrance in bid for market share ATBS says independent drivers earned a little more in '24 but drove more as well The post Breaking from the FreightTech AI pack: Companies make their case at TIA meeting appeared first on FreightWaves.
