The FreightCaviar Podcast

In this conversation with Christian Salazar, President at Brotherly Freight, and Jesse Buckingham, Founder at Vooma, we look at how AI can help teams make faster decisions, share operational knowledge, and scale business. Hear how Brotherly Freight is putting Vooma’s new AI operator, Vee, to work on the brokerage floor, and what the next year could bring for the industry.

Mark A. Hill, CEO of PCS Software, a Houston-based TMS for trucking carriers, shares what dispatchers should do now to prepare for 2027, and what carriers and freight brokers are up against: freight fraud, a down market that battered fleets with low rates, tariffs and war, and diesel he expects to stay above $5 through 2027. Mark also explains why trucking's fragmentation is a feature rather than a bug, his TSA PreCheck-style idea for verifying carriers, how AI has already cut dispatch work by 30%, and how a career in Houston's energy trading world during the Enron era led him to trucking.This week's episode is sponsored by Epay Manager, Highway, Bitfreighter, and Resolve Logistics.Interested in sponsoring our podcast? Send us an email at [email protected]

Michael Cherney, Co-Founder and CEO of Cooler Logistics, shares how his team grew a food and beverage focused brokerage to a $25 million run rate in three years without posting loads on load boards, how a network built on repeat carriers has kept them free of stolen freight, and why relationships with carriers and shippers still matter more than any tech stack.Michael also breaks down his path from employee number seven at Load Delivered to first-time CEO, the tough first year that led him to rebuild his entire carrier team, how walking industry trade shows without a booth became a pipeline for new shippers, when a small brokerage is ready for enterprise freight, and why long-term carrier relationships matter more than quick fixes.'This week's episode is sponsored by Epay Manager, Goodship, Resolve Logistics and TrackFlo.Interested in sponsoring our podcast? Send us an email at [email protected]

Gabrielius Stonys, Co-Founder of Spotter Labs, shares how he turned an AI dispatching startup into a 650-truck operation while carrier profitability collapsed 80%, and why he believes scaling down is guaranteed death in trucking. Gabriel also breaks down arriving in Chicago at 12 barely speaking English, meeting his co-founder as a random teammate in Dota 2, raising a $2.5M pre-seed round in 2020, why carriers had zero appetite for automation during the COVID freight boom, and why he thinks autonomous trucks could make up 30% of the market within five to eight years.This week's episode is sponsored by Epay Manager, Bitfreighter, Goodship and Highway.Interested in sponsoring our podcast? Send us an email at [email protected]

What separates preferred transportation providers from the rest?In this conversation with Kevin Mitchell, Director of Transportation at James Hardie, and Derek Zetlin, Director of Sales at GoodShip, we take an inside look at how leading shippers evaluate providers, balance relationships with performance data, and decide who earns more freight.