It’s time to rip up the insurance safety net

If it were up to Markel Insurance, I would have lost my job. Apparently, I was the worst driver in the MSM fleet. Every time they sent a rookie safety…

The Private Fleet Creep: How to turn private trucking from threat to opportunity

Carriers have had more thrown at them in the last five years than most industries see in a generation. Covid-19 chaos. Driver Inc. Exploding insurance costs. Driver shortages. Rate pressure.

The AI ditherers are running out of time

The trucking industry’s reaction to artificial intelligence (AI) today looks a lot like its reaction to the internet in the late 1990s. Skeptical. Dismissive. Convinced it can wait. The companies…

Poinsettias and the uncomfortable truth about Driver Inc.

As an investor and figurehead president of a freight brokerage, I don’t live in the weeds of the business. I’m too old and crusty to run the day-to-day at Rite…

Playing the sales game, the Blue Jays way

I had my plans for Oct. 27 all mapped out. Throw on my late father-in-law Stan the Man’s lucky jacket from the 1993 World Series, catch Game 3 of the…

Hiring in the age of copy-paste AI résumés

When Rite Route recently posted for an operations job, the response was crazy. Maybe we should have expected it, since asking for people with no experience, no résumé, and not…

My AI Journey: A lesson for old-school truckers

I finally caved last year. That’s when I reluctantly downloaded ChatGPT. Not because I’m a tech guy. Not because I saw the future. But because after too many nights on…

Smart fleet owners control their culture

The external factors hitting trucking companies these days are relentless. Trade wars, fuel prices, regulation, soft rates – we’ve all seen fleets wave the white flag, convinced there’s no other…

Why Driver Inc. is doomed

On most Friday nights, I cruise to the cottage carefree with the classic rock blasting. Not after the National Recruiting & Retention Symposium (NRRS). That second Thursday in May, I…

Economic storm clouds — and a silver lining

I can always count on Murray Mullen, the top dog at the Mullen Group, to provide a little dry powder for a future column. Take his last quarterly call. Discussing…

When it comes to M&A, yes, it’s a seller’s market

Recently, I met with the owners of a trucking company about selling their business.  Like a lot of truckers who watched their once-solid earnings erode over the last three years,…

Light the lamp for Canada

One of the perks of having a daughter who works for the NHL is access to premier events. I’m spoiled, so when she asked if I wanted tickets to the…

Don’t let a crisis go to waste

For a few weeks, 2025 looked like a rebound year for Canada’s trucking industry. Truckers entered January in their strongest rate-negotiating position in two years. The post-Covid capacity glut and…

Could self-policing spell the end of Driver Inc.?

In November, I was the guest speaker at the Windsor Transportation Club’s annual Highway Carrier Night. My topic?: The future of the Canadian trucking industry: Combating Driver Inc. I was excited…

Trucking trumped by Trump

On Nov. 5, I was glued to the U.S. news channels watching the election unfold. Leading up to the last day of voting, I wasn’t bullish on either candidate. In…