Welcome to the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Newsletter presented by Tai Software. In this issue, your WTT listener stats; HappyRobot’s big raise; FreightVana acquires Loadsmith; and more.
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WTT wrapped 2024
Spotify
Boom town — Thank you so much for making 2024 the biggest year yet for WHAT THE TRUCK?!?
During the past 365, days we’ve launched a store, done a documentary with Talon and the Port of Long Beach, California, held private events with Redwood and Univar, lit up the stage across conferences, and gotten syndicated in drive time on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146 at 5 and 11 p.m. Eastern on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Spotify
What’s really amazing to me is how much this community has grown. In this past year alone, we added 75% new listeners, grew all listeners by 68% and increased followers by another 45% on Spotify.
The mission of this show has always been to put faces and names to the issues, companies and the stories that impact us. We did that across 121 live shows this year that featured over 420 guests. You can find all previous episodes here.
In 2024, your top show topics were freight fraud; conflict in the Red Sea; FreightGuards; whether truckers were really boycotting New York; the freight recession; and more. In two weeks we’ll release the list of top episodes.
Drivers getting their CDLs revoked by the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse was our top TikTok, with over 236,000 views, 895 comments and 5,519 shares. We dove even deeper on the subject Wednesday on WHAT THE TRUCK?!? with Adam Wingfield. Check that out here.
X
Spotify and TikTok weren’t the only platforms we made big gains on. X followers delivered 29.5 million impressions as we doubled in follower size.
LinkedIn
Love it or hate it, LinkedIn is a crucial channel in this space. There we raised impressions to over 13 million. Your favorite posts were a Waffle House conference booth concept; a cheeky way to defeat dashcams; and a suggestion to have ocean contracts settled by bare-knuckle brawling on a shipping container.
We still have two more weeks of shows to go before A VERY WHAT THE TRUCK?!? CHRISTMAS and are finishing strong with an amazing slate of guests like Flexport’s Ryan Petersen, HappyRobot’s Pablo Palofax, CNBC’s Lori Ann LaRocco, Project K9 Hero and more.
We’re setting up our annual Freight Industry Christmas Tree! If you have an ornament for it, send it my way and it’ll be right on that tree during each show for the rest of the year. If you need an address, just email me.
Thank you for your support and Merry Christmas!
The AI is coming
Big bucks for bots – On Thursday, FreightWaves’ Grace Sharkey reported, “HappyRobot, an AI-powered communication solution, announced Wednesday it has closed a $15.6 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from Y Combinator, RyderVentures and other strategic investors.”
HappyRobot has been dazzling investors and industry insiders with its lifelike AI that aims to reduce the number of calls freight brokers and other logistics service providers have to contend with.
“We’ve seen like 25% more freight, more loads covered per rep per month.” – HappyRobot CEO Pablo Palofax
Personally, I hate talking to bots on any customer service line as they’re typically slow and extremely limited. What’s exciting about HappyRobots AI-powered agents is that they’re far more natural sounding than any I’ve tested so far.
Monday on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, HappyRobot CEO Pablo Palofax talks about what they’ll do with the capital they received, the future of AI agents and whether AI will be commoditized.
FreightVana x LoadSmith
FreightWaves
Deals are heating up – FreightVana makes another big bet on power-only moves with the acquisition of Loadsmith. FreightWaves’ Grace Sharkey reports, “The acquisition, set to be finalized by the end of the month, will see Loadsmith’s employees transition to the FreightVana team, operating under its established brand.”
What will the new FreightVana look like? If what Loadsmith has planned transfers over, automation and autonomy could be a big part of the business. Back in June 2023, it was announced that Loadsmith would buy 800 self-driving trucks from Kodiak Robotics.
We’ll catch up with Brett Suma on our first show of the new year to talk all about this.
P.S.: Be ready for a lot more deals to be announced between now and February!
Friday on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?
Most important nuclear verdict in trucking history – Friday live on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, I’m joined by Armchair Attorney Matthew Leffler to get a legal take on the controversial Werner accident ruling that could cost the company $100 million. What are the implications of the case, what does it mean for carrier liability, and did the courts make the right call?
Owner-operator Lee Schmitt thinks it is high time the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration added a trucker to the top of its ranks. He’s thrown his hat in the ring to be considered for the role of head of the FMCSA. We’ll find out why he thinks he’s the man for the job.
Stephen Ruhe drops in to help us better understand what broker transparency means and whom it will benefit.
Plus, all the latest headlines, trends and viral weirdness since our last show.
Catch new shows live at noon EST Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on FreightWaves LinkedIn, Facebook, X or YouTube, or on demand by looking up WHAT THE TRUCK?!? on your favorite podcast player and at 5 p.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146.
MAFA
MAKE AMERICA FREIGHT AGAIN – We are so back. Head on over to WTTGear.com to get our newest merch! Use code WTTFans for 10% off.
Now on demand
179,000 truckers’ CDLs revoked; broker transparency; truckload markets
Carrier411: FreightGuardians of the brokerage galaxy or evil incarnate?
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Subscribe to the show
Or simply look up WHAT THE TRUCK?!? on your favorite podcast player. Or, if you have SiriusXM, tune in to the show Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Road Dog Trucking Channel 146.
Exit through the gift shop: WTTGear.com
Don’t be a stranger,
Dooner