Welcome to the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Newsletter presented by Trauxit. In this issue, freight meme wars; what imports say about holiday retail; and skipping the line in Panama.
The meme wars have begun
Battle lines — Just hours after FreightWaves’ F3 ended, a rival journalist tweeted, “Most people in logistics and freight and trade are nice people, but serious people, and meme-ing your way into the industry’s consciousness only goes so far with them.”
The problem with that line of logic is that we’d just spent three days with over 1,000 of those serious people in logistics, and we learned something: A depressed market requires a healthy dose of humor. Maybe it’s the gallows swinging or just the stress and tedium of the job, but memers went over big at F3.
In fact, when I think of the best modern marketers in this space, I don’t look to people who actually call themselves marketers. I look at the work of FreightCaviar, LostFR8, Boris Panov and of course what we do on WTT.
In fact, we had so much success inviting content creators out to F3, we’ve made it a core part of our mission moving forward.
$100K memes — Every group needs a common enemy or idea to attack in order to galvanize the troops. Nobody understands that better than my boss, Craig Fuller. Instead of standing in front of the meme revolution, he has put a bounty out for creators to grab.
He tweeted, “FreightWaves is going to launch the first-ever ‘Freight Creator Contest’ at F3 next year with over $100K in cash prices.”
Meme a little meme — While more details about the contest will be released soon, I’m happy to announce that I’ll be hosting the event. I can’t wait to see the creative energy that this contest produces and in turn, I hope it helps me to elevate my game.
For now, all you need to do is be on X and use the #F3Memes hashtag to participate. The submissions are already coming in hot. Here are a few of my early favorites.
What imports say about the holiday retail season
Signs aren’t great — Lower seasonal hiring, consumers feeling crushed by retail inflation and general import trends are pointing to a muted holiday season. Not only that, but experts are telling consumers to wait out holiday deals. “This holiday will be late breaking and heavily deal reliant,” Chris Cocks, chief executive at Hasbro, told The Wall Street Journal.
On the import side, multiple categories are down over 20% this year, including bicycles, footwear, toys, TVs and furniture.
The National Retail Federation says pandemic-led growth has all but eroded. Mishtalk reports, “It expects November-December spending, not including inflation, to rise 3% to 4%. By contrast, sales rose 5.4% in 2022, 12.7% in 2021 and 9.1% in 2020.”
Line jumping at the Panama Canal
Slipping the bouncer a century note — It doesn’t matter if you’re in Vegas for F1 or stuck in line at the Panama Canal: Cash buys access and positioning. With over a hundred ships currently stuck in line to cross the canal and wait times growing daily due to the drought, the affluent and impatient carrier can cut in line.
But it’s going to cost you. Fortune reports, “Japan’s Eneos Group paid $3.975 million in an auction Wednesday to secure the crossing, bidding documents show.” The normal fee to transit that vessel would be around $400,000.
WTT Wednesday
Is GOT Act good for drivers?; getting the 411 on docks — On Wednesday’s episode of WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, FreightWaves’ Rachel Premack joins Dooner to co-host the show. They’ll talk about the GOT Act and if it’s good for trucking; freight meme wars; and how not to drive a truck simulator.
DeGroot Logistics’ Adam DeGroot just got back from Chattanooga. We’ll find out what deals he was making at F3, why DeGroot acquired Dock411 and what they’re learning about the state of shipper facilities.
ZuumApp’s Mustafa Azizi talks about hang gliding over Chattanooga at F3, how to cook a mystery box and what innovation means for a TMS.
SRS Distribution Inc.’s Ben Richey takes us into world of roofing materials and building supplies. We’ll find out how a distribution network works for this type of freight.
FreightWaves’ Justin Martin joins us with a Tesla Semi review, driver overtime pay, what not to do during a Level 1 inspection, how soon is too soon to put up Christmas lights and tips for memelords looking to win the $100K Freight Creator Contest.
Plus, latest news and trends.
Catch new shows live at noon ET 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.
Now on demand
F3 recap; Trucker For Troops; hero dogs; holiday fulfillment
F3 Day 2: What FreightTech VCs are investing in; freight fraud; automation
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Don’t be a stranger,
Dooner