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Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Why Small Carriers Should Be Watching Government Freight Right Now
Government freight isn't the secret shortcut social media makes it out to be—but for small fleets that are tired of chasing the spot market and ready to build something more stable, it's a lane worth learning. Over the past year, more owner-operators and small-carriers have started asking how to bid on government loads, especially as contract freight keeps shrinking and spot rates stay unpredictable. The truth is, government contracting—or GovCon, as it's often called—isn't a fast track. It's a structured lane with strict rules, longer payout cycles, and big paperwork. But for those who understand the game, it can also mean steady lanes, longer contracts, and consistent recently broke this all down in a deep-dive session inside the Playbook Masterclass—but here's what every small carrier needs to understand right now, whether you watched it live or not. Let's start with what's real. There's more freight out there than just what you're seeing on DAT and Truckstop. From local school districts needing weekly milk deliveries to FEMA emergency contracts that need box trucks on standby, the government buys more transportation than any private shipper in the here's what most carriers don't realize: a large portion of that freight is set aside specifically for small businesses. If you're a carrier with: Fewer than 500 employees Less than $30 million in annual revenue Proper authority and registration …you qualify to bid on many of these jobs. Some contracts are even reserved exclusively for small carriers or companies with certifications like Woman-Owned, Veteran-Owned, or Minority-Owned. But qualification doesn't mean readiness. Melanie Patterson, founder of Team Integrity Knowledge Center, a firm that assists small business owners with navigating the complexities of getting established as a government contractor said it best; 'Too many small carriers think GovCon is out of reach. The government buys everything—and they're required to buy from small businesses first. If you're set up right, you've already got a shot.' Let's be honest up front—GovCon is not for everybody. There are serious downsides that you need to be ready for: This isn't the world of quick pays and factoring. Expect Net 30, 45, or even 60 on some federal contracts. That means you'll need to float fuel, driver wages, insurance, and maintenance before that first check lands. If you're already tight on cash flow, this can bury set up in (the federal contractor registration system) isn't a simple sign-up form. You'll need your business structure in order, tax info, NAICS codes, and a banking setup ready to go. And even when you're registered, just being in doesn't get you work. You still have to find the bids, respond with a clean package, and compete on pricing and capability. Government customers use systems like WAWF (Wide Area Workflow) or IPP for invoicing. You can't just fire off a QuickBooks invoice. If your admin team—or your cousin managing the books—can't handle this, you're going to have serious delays. Despite all the red tape, government freight can be a game-changer for the right carrier with the right setup. Take this scenario: You're running one or two reefers. You've got a dependable driver. You know your cost per mile and have some admin support. Now picture this: A local USDA contract opens up to deliver temperature-controlled goods 3x per week to three counties. Total value? $180,000 over 10 months. No brokers. No bidding war. Just a clean response, a capability statement, and a pricing sheet. This happens more often than you think. But the carriers that win are the ones who are organized, registered, and pay attention to what's posted. You don't have to go all-in on federal contracts right away. Here are three ways small fleets are entering the GovCon space without overextending: Instead of going after the award yourself, link up with a prime contractor who already has it. They need reliable carriers to execute the work—and they handle the invoicing and compliance. You focus on delivering freight and building a relationship. Local governments—school boards, counties, state agencies—also need transport. These jobs often pay faster and come with less complexity. Some can be found on your state's procurement site, others are listed right on under 'State/Local'. Every week, the government posts small, low-dollar, short-term contracts for basic freight. These jobs are a great way to get your feet wet, understand the paperwork, and start building past performance—without locking into something huge. We've seen too many businesses win a government contract and lose money because they didn't calculate real costs. Here's a basic formula you need to know before quoting anything: Start with your cost per mile. Add admin time and billing complexity. Include buffers for fuel and unexpected accessorials. Factor in time delay on payments. If you quote like you're on a load board, you're going to sink. GovCon freight pays well—but only if you submit a complete, realistic rate that covers your full operation. As Melanie shared in Masterclass: 'You don't win contracts by bidding the lowest. You win them by bidding clean, fair, and clearly.' If you want to explore this lane, there are four things you need to get in order first: – Get your Unique Entity ID (UEI), DUNS no longer used. Free to register. – A 1-page resume for your business. Lists your equipment, service area, and past performance. – Build a template that calculates your breakeven per load and gives you a buffer. – Keep your COI, DOT/MC info, safety rating, driver roster, and endorsements in one place. Optional (but powerful): Certifications like WOSB, MBE, DBE, or 8(a) can put you in front of set-aside contracts you won't see otherwise. The freight market is full of noise right now. Everyone's chasing the next hot load or hoping rates bounce back. But the carriers that will survive and scale in 2025 are the ones building systems and securing freight they can count on. Government work isn't for everyone—but for those who want out of the chaos and into something consistent, this is a lane worth learning. And no—you don't need a $2 million fleet or a full compliance department. You just need: A clean setup A smart plan A willingness to execute This isn't a shortcut. It's a shift in strategy. But for those ready to shift, there's real opportunity here. If you want more help with the setup, the bidding, or understanding how to structure your backend to support this freight—our Masterclass covered all of that. You can catch the replay in the portal. But even if you never watch it, now you know what's possible. And for a small carrier, that knowledge could be your edge. The post Why Small Carriers Should Be Watching Government Freight Right Now appeared first on FreightWaves. Connectez-vous pour accéder à votre portefeuille
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Truck Parking Club doubles network in under 6 months
Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Truck Parking Club recently announced it has surpassed 2,000 property member locations nationwide, a doubling of its footprint in six months. Part of the growth came from targeting diverse property types, from trucking companies and repair shops to storage facilities and real estate investors. 'This isn't just about hitting a number – it's about solving a decades-old problem that costs the trucking industry billions annually,' said Evan Shelley, co-founder and CEO of Truck Parking Club, in a press release. 'Every new location means drivers spend less time searching and more time earning. Our goal is clear: reduce parking search time to under 10 minutes per day.' The rapid expansion and milestone followed an announcement in February of the addition of industry veteran Brent Hutto as chief relationship officer, the position he formerly held at Truckstop. Part of the push is to build on driver momentum and turn it into enterprise-level relationships. Reed Loustalot, chief marketing officer at Truck Parking Club, said in an earlier interview with FreightWaves, 'Truck Parking Club grew organically and doing that we coincidentally have drivers in 60 of the top 100 fleets booking parking with us, and we have never talked to the fleets directly about having their drivers use our app. It's their drivers, their dispatchers and their fleet managers finding us.' Another advantage of being a truck parking aggregator is it's less expensive and turns otherwise unused parking locations into income production opportunities. Shelley wrote, 'New truck parking construction typically costs $100,000-$200,000 per space and takes years to complete, while Truck Parking Club can activate existing spaces within a day.' Looking ahead to the next milestone, the company is setting its sights on 10,000 locations. The Logistics Managers' Index's recently released May data showed a second consecutive month of expansion. The May LMI came in at 59.4 points, up 0.6 points from 58.8 in April. The m/m increase was impacted by inventories, which saw higher costs and slower movement compared to earlier in the year. The LMI is a diffusion index, with a score above 50 signaling expansion, while below 50 is a contraction. The interplay between warehousing costs and inventory levels was a big theme in May. Warehouse capacity fell 5.4 points in May to 50, while warehousing prices rose 0.2 points to 72.1, a strong expansion. 'This suggests that the inventories that were rushed into the country earlier this year are now static and holding them is expensive,' noted the report. The LMI transportation metrics were mostly stale, with movement less than 1 point. There were some nuances, according to the report. Capacity dipped slightly to 54.7, with upstream firms facing tighter space at 50 points compared to downstream firms' expansion of 65.3 points. Transportation prices rose more for downstream (66.7) than upstream (61.7), but the gap wasn't significant. Transportation utilization fell to 52.6 points, the lowest since November 2023. Despite lower diesel prices ($3.487 a gallon), a predicted import surge could stress intermodal and over-the-road networks, testing supply chain flexibility. On the import front, prognostications for an import boom similarly seen during COVID remain cloudy, due in part to American consumers having less cash than during the stimulus-fueled buying binge. The report adds that it was demand-driven, while the current surge in imports during Q1 was more supply-driven, as shippers tried to pull goods forward to avoid higher costs. 'Even though costs were high, there was a sense that they could grow higher in the future. Today, after several rounds of start-and-stop tariffs, shippers may doubt that the highest levels of threatened tariffs will ever come to pass. At the same time, costs are higher on imports from essentially every country than they were a year ago,' added the report. The post Truck Parking Club doubles network in under 6 months appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Fighting fraud requires a multi-layered approach
Freight fraud affects more than just finances. Falling victim to a scam or theft can damage vital business relationships and tarnish reputations. Between monetary losses and loss of trust, just one instance of fraud can cause a carrier to go out of business. That's why Truckstop's approach includes the most robust tools on the market to act as the first line of defense for carriers and brokers. During the May 8 episode of What the Truck?!?, host Timothy Dooner sat down with Truckstop's senior director of customer success Taryn Daker to discuss the evolving tactics required to combat freight fraud and what Truckstop is doing to protect the trucking industry. 'Truckstop is always looking at ways to better help carriers and brokers,' Daker said. By focusing on high-quality carrier inbounds, Truckstop is streamlining the load booking process for both carriers and brokers. The company's first-to-market Authority Age Filter increases quality inbounds from carriers who meet specific authority age requirements and ensures that loads can be seen by a wider pool of available qualified carriers. 'Many drivers will start the process of negotiating loads with a broker only to find out that they don't have the correct authority to book a particular load,' Daker said. 'Our Authority Age Filter skips that hurdle. We are always trying to make things easier for carriers and remove frustrating barriers while keeping broker processes secure,' she said. Daker described a video account wherein an owner-operator discusses being able to get business with only two months of holding an authority. According to Daker, many drivers and brokers are reporting success using the Authority Age Filter. When it comes to new tools and tactics for carriers and brokers, Daker says, it's important to always keep in mind the various kinds of protection necessary to fight ever-increasing sophistication that scammers are utilizing. 'The way I look at fraud is like an onion,' Daker said. 'There are different layers and different tactics brokers should be using to protect themselves from various types of fraud.' One of those tactics is Truckstop's Risk Factors. 'This is the only vetting solution that leverages Truckstop's comprehensive data and advanced intelligence,' Daker said. 'It tells you what's going on with a carrier's history and what their risk behaviors are.' Risk Factors can be installed as a Google Chrome extension, which makes it easily accessible, even during a phone call or ongoing negotiation. 'Brokers are busy, and they juggle a lot of different screens,' Daker said. 'The Risk Factors extension overlays right over your browser so if a carrier calls in, you can type in their MC or DOT number, and Truckstop intelligence will let you know if they're high risk, medium risk, or low risk based on a variety of factors,' Daker said. If an email address associated with an account has been recently changed, for instance, Truckstop will take those details into account. 'We analyze anything that can be an indicator that someone might not be who they say they are,' Daker said. With advanced analytics, Truckstop can observe patterns, such as multiple addresses associated with a phone number or suspicious activity with other brokerages, which lets brokers isolate those risk factors to further assess the situation. In Truckstop's Freight Fraud Blog, the company recently published some staggering statistics: in 2024, 65,000 freight thefts were reported, a 40% increase year over year. 'We saw almost thirteen thousand suspicious account attempts in RMIS, which we successfully blocked,' Daker said. 'On our load board, we had almost ten thousand imposters try to create accounts,' she said. Truckstop continues to enhance the layers of security and is always developing new ways to identify and stop criminals. 'The one number that really sticks out is that our in-house security team thoroughly investigated seventy thousand different entities in 2024,' Daker said. With advanced AI tools, the number of cyberattacks and scamming attempts have increased rapidly. Just as security teams keep developing more robust security, bad actors continue to develop more pernicious methods of attack. 'Fraudsters are always look for gaps in your system that they can exploit,' Daker said. What, then, can carriers or brokers do to better protect themselves? 'One of the best layers of security you can use is working with a trusted partner who is also evolving in technology and tactics,' Daker said. 'Even if you're implementing the best tools, your partners and clients can be potential weak points that bad actors can use to get to you.' In January 2025, Truckstop customers reported 45% less fraud compared to January 2024. 'That decrease is due to different tactics that we're bringing to market, not just any one thing,' Daker said. According to Daker, it's vital for both carriers and brokers to be able to assess potential partners and how they're evolving with the whole range of tools and tactics as they advance every day. In 2024, Truckstop also implemented identity verification and multifactor authentication to better secure broker and carrier operations. 'These kinds of security checks better protect our customers from various types of fraud, and we make an active effort to keep constantly implementing new tactics,' Daker said. Click here to learn more about Truckstop. The post Fighting fraud requires a multi-layered approach appeared first on FreightWaves. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freight fraud: Your supply chain is showing
This fireside chat recap is from FreightWaves' Freight Fraud Symposium in Dallas on Wednesday. FIRESIDE CHAT TOPIC: How intelligence is power in freight fraud prevention DETAILS: Truckstop and Hetherington Group experts discuss the rising sophistication of fraud in the trucking industry. They emphasize the critical need for cybersecurity awareness, open-source intelligence and proactive verification of carriers and vendors. Key strategies include employee training, social media vigilance and using AI-driven research techniques to detect and prevent fraudulent activities. SPEAKERS: Shawn Rasmor, principal product manager at Truckstop, and Alex DuBay, senior technical instructor at OSINT Academy, the Hetherington Rasmor is the principal product manager at Truckstop, where he helps shape vision and strategy for RMIS and compliance solutions across the Truckstop ecosystem. Rasmor has been with Truckstop for over eight years, serving in various roles including integration product management and product strategy. DuBay retired from the Army after 10 years of service, including seven years in special operations within psychological operations. His expertise lies in integrating cybercapabilities into real-world applications, leveraging publicly available information for intelligence and operational effectiveness. DuBay has developed both physical and digital solutions to meet mission-specific requirements. KEY QUOTES FROM SPEAKERS: 'So we're seeing individuals be targeted through phishing to find information on the individual carriers and truckers. But we're also seeing that [technology] is being used to attack the brokers as well. … They're able to get into the systems of brokers and find the information that they're looking to gain access to, like credentials, that are on these systems.' – DuBay'The other way to find more information is social media. If you are too open on your social media, you're tagging your locations, you're tagging what companies you're working for, what truck routes you're going for – that's publicly open. Now your threat actors are able to see that information and start building a profile on you to further fine-tune their attack on you.' – DuBay 'The bad actors are continuously learning. They're talking. They have a network. They may even be sitting in a room like this and talking to each other and learning about new tactics and how to circumvent those and continue to work together. It's critical that we are all working together and trying to make this the least hospitable industry for the bad actors right now.' – Rasmor Articles by Grace Sharkey DAT acquires Outgo, enters race to become dominant freight exchange platform Avocados, auto parts and ambushes: Inside Mexico's cargo theft crisis Cyberthreats surge against US logistics infrastructureThe post Freight fraud: Your supply chain is showing appeared first on FreightWaves.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Freight fraud everywhere, but Truckstop CEO asks: Is anybody going to jail?
SAN ANTONIO – In the midst of an industry meeting of freight brokers who talked about freight fraud at every opportunity, Kendra Tucker made an interesting observation: She knows of no fraud perpetrators who ever found themselves in handcuffs. 'What I get a lot of are anecdotes from our customers about how cargo was stolen, the lengths to which people are going to steal it,' Tucker, the CEO of Truckstop, said in an interview at the company's booth on the exhibition floor of the Capital Ideas Conference of the Transportation Intermediaries Association. 'What you don't hear are stories about how this was punished.' And to make that happen, Tucker said, there will need to be a concerted effort on the part of the industry across companies and associations. 'I think it has to do with the issue not rising to the level of enough people as a group being hurt for the right dollar amount to get the FBI to really look at it and try to help us,' she added. Truckstop, known primarily for its freight-matching loadboard, has made being out in front of the fraud issue one of the most industry-facing strategies the company has undertaken. But Tucker suggested the company can't do it alone. The TIA itself talks about the issue regularly, and President Chris Burroughs, who rose to the top position last year, made it the core subject in his first address to the organization's biggest conference. But Tucker said the fight against fraud needs to be more collaborative. 'I was talking with TIA about this, and there really is an opportunity for brokers, carriers and shippers, who are all impacted by this, to come together with people like us and other key players in the industry, to decide how we want to approach it within the industry, so that we can have a cohesive approach to it,' she said. Such a step would involve bringing in the Department of Transportation and other government agencies to 'put some teeth on this.' And that gets back to how she opened the conversation: 'The reason fraud continues is because it isn't being prosecuted.' In conjunction with the TIA meeting, Truckstop released a report of a recent survey it did on the top issues facing the industry. According to the company, the top issue identified by brokers was 'finding a carrier you can trust.' Fraud is not new. But there is a consensus in the industry that it has exploded in recent years. Tucker, who became CEO in April 2022 but who joined Truckstop in August 2020, said her discussions with Truckstop customers have been consistent in saying that the fraud of the past few years most definitely is more pervasive than it was several years ago. But she said there is a parallel: what the industry went through during the great recession. 'That seems to track right where we're in, where we've been in a down cycle or down market that you see fraud really ticking up,' Tucker said. The difference this time from 2008 and 2009 is technology, she said. Two years ago at the TIA meeting, the buzzword was double brokering. It's a practice that can be legitimate if it is simply legal rebrokering: A broker assigns a load to a carrier who then reassigns it to another. There are instances in which that is acceptable under the terms of a contract. But beyond those situations, it can involve theft, late deliveries and service that violates the terms of a broker's agreement with a shipper, and a small loss on the cargo is a much lesser problem than cleaning up the mess afterward. But at the San Antonio TIA meeting, the conversation was about fraud in general. Tucker said the latest developments cover a wide range of categories: various digital activity, phishing emails, 'the actual stealing of freight at the docks and in the warehouses,' and the trafficking in legitimate motor carrier numbers bought from an owner willing to part with it for several thousand dollars. 'I think there have been so many technological advances since the great recession that fraud has been able to proliferate differently than it might have,' she said. Technology tools are available to the industry as well, Tucker said, 'but you have to think one step ahead of the fraudsters because for the nefarious actors, as soon as we find ways to prevent a certain type of fraud that's happening, new ways pop up.' The scam of fraudsters purchasing legitimate motor carrier authorities, usually from an unwitting seller, has become a big problem, Tucker said. As Tucker described it, the legitimate MC might have a clean record attached to it. But then if the MC number is not being actively used, the owner might stumble upon a Facebook page or other social media channel set up specifically for a scam artist to buy an MC. 'The pages say, 'We'll buy your MC for $15,000 or even $50,000,'' Tucker said. 'It is very active.' She noted that while there are more sophisticated tools that fraudsters can use rather than paying an unwitting seller for an MC, the purchase of a legitimate MC to pursue illegitimate ends relies on the seller being 'not educated enough and protective enough of their personal information.' When the scam hits, she said, the illegitimate activity will be tied to that MC number, with potentially long-lasting consequences for the person who sold it. 'Why would you sell your identity for any amount of money?' Tucker said. But here's the irony: For all the focus on fraud, the survey also found that it had declined in the past year. Tucker said Truckstop's own customers reported a 57% reduction in fraud between last year and this year. 'I'm not saying that fraud has gone away,' she said. 'I'm saying that for a good chunk of our customers, it is not at the peak that it was in '24 so that's very good.' Truckstop's own data is that last year, it blocked almost 13,000 entities that were trying to get on to the Truckstop load board but flunked the company's identity verification. That verification includes needing to present a driver's license as a basic first-step test. Beyond that, Tucker said, there is a multifactor authentication that includes a review by the company's 'security and assurance team.' Over recent years, Tucker said, that team has blocked more than 70,000 entities trying to get on to the loadboard as a broker, carrier or shipper from making it on to Truckstop's platform. 'We've got an actual team of humans; some of our highest tenured staff at Truckstop work on that team,' Tucker said. That enables them to address head-on the survey's biggest concern about a broker being able to trust the carrier that it hired. 'Our customers tell us consistently that they've never gotten a fraudulent carrier from us,' Tucker said. 'So nothing is 100% sure, of course, but very consistently, we get really positive feedback from our customers about how much they trust us.' More articles by John Kingston Breaking from the FreightTech AI pack: Companies make their case at TIA meeting 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 Freight fraud everywhere, but Truckstop CEO asks: Is anybody going to jail? appeared first on FreightWaves.
