Everything is Logistics
A podcast for the thinkers in freight. Everything is Logistics is hosted by Blythe Brumleve and we're telling the stories behind how your favorite stuff (and people!) get from point A to B.
Industry topics include freight, logistics, transportation, maritime, warehousing, intermodal, and trucking along with the intersection of technology and marketing within the industry.
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Everything is Logistics
Freight Friends: State of Cargo Crime, South American Logistics, and Wicked Dolls
Grace Sharkey is back with Blythe Brumleve for another episode of Freight Friends as we head towards the end of 2024.
This episode covers the State of Cargo Crime, South American Logistics, the packaging drama of Wicked dolls, and a Freightwaves F3 recap.
LINKS:
- Grace's Linktree
- Logistics Girlie LinkedIn
- Supply Chain Gals LinkedIn
- Asset Locator v1.0 Release
- Intent Data and the Future of Logistics Marketing with Kara Brown
- GenLogs launches initiative to combat theft using counterterrorism methods
- Meth seized from Myanmarese boat costs more than aircraft carrier
Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.
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Music.
Grace Sharkey:Let's say you're if you're moving truckloads throughout the year for Samsung. I mean, that would be the type of freight I would watch, probably with the same caution, every single year, just because, or every single day, because it is high value and and things that people are going to love to take off a truck, but I think over the next couple of weeks, just knowing that we're going to see high volumes of foods and how so good it's moving around the country, it's something that people should be considering more of. And I think with that too is just clearly like the locations that drivers are maybe stopping that is a big one. I would be more concerned with, you know, a truck stop in the weird part of town during this time of the year than than just in a random March date or something like that. Right?
Blythe Brumleve:Welcome into another episode of everything is logistics, a podcast where the thinkers in freight we are proudly presented by SPI logistics, and I'm your host, Blythe Milligan, still kind of getting used to saying that name, but we got Grace Sharkey back on the show and another episode of freight friends and a special holiday edition of freight friends. So Grace, welcome back, happy
Grace Sharkey:post Thanksgiving. By the time this comes out, I can't wait to eat that food. You know, actually, I already did, theoretically. But yes, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Happy holidays for the next couple weeks as well. And good old, peak season has begun. Is
Blythe Brumleve:it still? Is it? Is it? Is it peak season now? Or is it peak season, like October time frame?
Grace Sharkey:I mean, I would say in terms of, like, the E commerce orders, like, it would be probably peak season for the last mile delivery people, for the Amazon people. We'll get into that later as well. But yes, it's peak season in that regard, maybe not to what's coming into the ports. You're a little late, right? If that's what you're the numbers we're looking at, but it's for sure, like, small package peak season. Yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:interesting. Okay, I always thought peak season like happened like September. Maybe I'm just gaging it off of, like, my my Costco cashier days when we would get all of our Christmas stuff up in August of every year, and then it would just stay up until the end of the year. So I just assumed that peak season was like August to October, time frame. And then, to your point, if you didn't get the stuff in that you needed, then you were just kind of Sol,
Grace Sharkey:yeah, I could say I totally see that, depending on the store that you're seeing, but I think more of like scold small package surcharges and all that stuff is going to be happening now, so we'll see. It's the shortest period between Thanksgiving and Christmas that we've had in a while. I think it's 21 days. So yeah, 21 days to make those orders. And yeah, exactly right. If you haven't been shopping, think about it.
Blythe Brumleve:No, the problem with like, shopping is that I see all of these ads because for you know, a little behind the curtains view. We're recording this the day before Thanksgiving, and so it's right before Black Friday, you know, Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, whatever, all of those days kind of combined. But every time I see an ad, I'm like, Oh, that would be cute. Oh, I would love that. And so I feel like, more and more I'm just shopping for myself for these big holidays. And then I think I have to think about, oh, my God, I have to get gifts for everybody else. And oh, I really want to do unique gifts this year, maybe only try to buy from small businesses instead of, like, Amazon and temu, it's like all these, like, lofty goals, and you really have to start that process so soon because of the lead times that you need on shipping. So thank you for the reminder that it's going to be around less than 20 days by the time this episode drops. Yeah, yeah. So get your shopping done, and hopefully the you know, you're able to, I guess, afford Christmas or afford a good Christmas? Yeah,
Grace Sharkey:by the time you're watching the show, you're already behind.
Blythe Brumleve:Good luck. By the time you're recording the show, you're already behind, which that's how I feel. Thank you. Let me go ahead and give y'all a rundown of what we got in today's full episode. And so in today's full episode, which I've been trying something a little bit new, where we record the full episode and I drop it, but then if a segment is particularly interesting, then what I'll do is I'll isolate that segment, and then from that isolation, I'll create an independent episode from it. So the icebreakers that we covered a few weeks ago in one full episode. I released that as an independent episode, and people love it. And so we're going to keep doing more of that, especially for these larger segments that you know, we're cut we're going pretty in depth for about 30 to 45 minutes. And so our first one, we're going to talk about the state of cargo, crime. Time, and then we're going to get into building roads and ports in South America. So that's a couple shows there, right there. And then we're going to find out. We're going to round it out with the favorite segment, I think, for the both of us, which is a source to porch, where we each pick our own logistics of story. So to kick things off, Grace Sharkey is back from Freightways, and we're going to talk about the state of cargo crime in a recent poll that we conducted on Twitter. Very scientific. It's on my personal Twitter account, cargo crime was the top result of the topics that people want to hear more about, and it's one of those topics that I think the industry can't get enough of right now. It was a big topic at the recent freight waves at three conference that you just attended, just I want to give a couple key facts before we kind of dive into it, and it's sort of the state of cargo crime overall. And so a couple of these key facts is that the economic impact is global losses amount to billions, billions annually in losses. It leads to higher insurance premiums and security cost. The next key fact is that it causes supply chain disruption, which, of course, all of us are very familiar with, and it causes delays and stock shortages, damages customer trust and brand reputation. And then the common types of cargo crime are theft from vehicles and facilities. The goods are actually stolen from the trucks and warehouses and reports. Another type of cargo crime is hijackings, where vehicles are forcibly taken over to steal the cargo. Then there's also fraudulent pickups, the use of fake documents our identities, to illegally collect cargo. And then the cyber crime aspect, which is hacking logistics systems to manipulate the shipment information. Little bit historical context, because why not? But in ancient times, bandits and pirates targeted trade routes to conduct their cargo crime activities. Then during the Industrial Revolution, there was a rising cargo theft with expanded railroads and shipping. And then in the 20th century, criminals have adapted to containerization and the globalization of trade using those different technology solutions. So Grace, you were just at f3 there was, I think highway took the number one overall spot, which they they help prevent types of freight fraud. So do you think that this was freight fraud or cargo crime? Do you think that that was sort of the, I guess the consistency of what makes up the top 25 in freight tech right now, or is it, you know, just cargo crime or freight fraud prevention is kind of coming into its own. Would you say
Grace Sharkey:no, I think it's becoming more I think technology, in a way, has helped it come almost surface a little bit more, right? Like realizing, okay, there's ways for us to to track these individuals, like the fact that not only are they using cyber security against us, now we can start to actually kind of track this stuff and speak up. I think that's part of it too. People are actually speaking up about these losses because they are high. I mean, I think it was in 2021 or 22 the average loss during these crimes is like over $200,000 so, I mean, that's depending on what insurance covers, like that could be a huge hit for participants in the supply chain as well, let alone just the loss of the shipper in particular. So I think we're just seeing more and more in these values getting higher and higher. Right? We see inflation. Inflation is going to mean that also the cargo is worth more, and it's just becoming a bigger deal. And what's interesting, I will say about like the highway, making that number one spot is like highways trying to get us back to a point where we can just start to book carriers and not be afraid of what could potentially happen. Right for them, I was speaking with, with Michael cainey at the event. It's like, he, I don't want to say he doesn't like the the the fraud aspect of how highway is presented, but for him, it's, it's like, the reason that highway exist is to move on from that conversation so the industry can get to a point where it's like these, these mishaps are not happiness frequently, because technology has vetted most of these, these, these losers out. If that makes sense, it's kind of like something that Amazon works on, right? Like making sure there's not these third party individual sellers who are selling crap or just fake goods. So can we improve so that every person who purchases something off Amazon does also have to check reviews to make sure the product is good as well. So I that gets me excited that it's it's that they're looking to kind of move past that discussion. But in general, we'll get into this too. I think that the 25 list shows just like issues that we're we're getting through as an industry as well this past year. That's That's fascinating. It's I actually want to be in the timing of this episode. Throw some some extra Thanksgiving stats your way. Uh. Shout out to cargo net, who came out with statistics for lost value during the week of Thanksgiving. So for them, this will be the Tuesday review of last year, Tuesday to the Monday after Thanksgiving. Last year, we had a total loss value of over $7.83 million in product, with the average loss being$159,000 biggest states to to experience that was California, by landslide, than Illinois and Texas, with over 174 theft reports, with food and beverage actually being the biggest commodity type than household goods and electronics. So this week is the this is the this could be the Christmas week for all those fraudsters throughout the next couple of days as well, going into next week too. And so for everyone out there booking stuff for over the weekend, clearly, make sure you're using good carriers, since this episode is coming out afterwards, same thing or the Christmas weeks, you want to make sure good, good carriers are moving that stuff, especially if you're moving things that potentially will be gifts or electronics, right? Like that stuff is going to be really, really keen to watch, make sure drivers are are parking in good places that aren't getting themselves into sketchy parking situations. And that stuff's getting delivered, okay, too, but it's definitely a problem, and it's it's not even just like a truck problem. We're seeing it in retail as well, with with shrinkage numbers like representing a lot of that loss warehouse to warehouse, right? Just things being either lost or taken off pallets. So there's so many different ways that we're seeing this type of crime. Cyber security is another one, and I think that's a big part of it, too. It's just becoming so like sophisticated in the avenues that that these fraudsters are taking, that we have to be creative as an industry to just also stop it. Is
Blythe Brumleve:it something that, with a lot of these precautions, are you taking the same precautions this month or during the holidays as you are the rest of the year? Or is it because it is peak season and you're doing so much more volume that sometimes you know, just human nature, you're kind of maybe skipping a few of those, I guess, prevention strategies, is that, is that maybe what's happening more of I
Grace Sharkey:would say so. I mean, I think if you're, let's say you're, if you're moving truckloads throughout the year for Samsung, I mean, that would be the type of freight I would watch, probably with the same caution every single year, just because, or every single day, because it is high value and things that people are going to love to take off a truck. But I think over the next couple of weeks, just knowing that we're going to see high volumes of foods and how so good is moving around the country, it's something that people should be considering more of. And I think with that too is just clearly like the locations that drivers are maybe stopping at, is a big one. I would be more concerned with, you know, a truck stop in a weird part of the town during this time of the year than than just in a random March date or something like that, right? So it does depend. I think if you're moving that high value stuff, you probably clearly should be focused on this all year round. But just knowing that you know it's it's like for since a couple years ago, we lost a lot of power here in Lansing, Michigan, and for me, I wouldn't normally be nervous on not having power, but when I know that everyone around me knows that I probably have gifts underneath my tree, then I'm a little bit more concerned without having power. So I think it's just a little bit of that, right? It's like, okay, if we know that stores are going to be stocking up, we know that really good toys and things that are popular are going to be coming to these stores. How do we get our hands on them?
Blythe Brumleve:Are you in freight sales with a book of business, looking for a new home? Or perhaps you're a freight agent in need of a better partnership? These are the kinds of conversations we're exploring in our podcast interview series called The freight agent trenches, sponsored by SPI logistics. Now I can tell you all day that SPI is one of the most successful logistics firms in North America, who helps their agents with back office operations such as admin, finance, it and sales. But I would much rather you hear it directly from SBI freight agents themselves. And what better way to do that than by listening to the experienced freight agents tell their stories behind the how and the why they joined SPI hit the freight agent link in our show notes to listen to these conversations, or if you're ready to make the jump, visit SPI three. Pl.com, and I would imagine, what does it? Can a TMS in like a out of the box. TMS. Us help prevent freight fraud or some of these situations from happening. I know Thai software, you know, has integration partners with Highway, with, you know, a couple of other other vendors. But I'm curious as to what maybe like a a tech stack looks like for a modern brokerage to prevent as much as possible,
Grace Sharkey:I would say a lot of the bigger players, larger volume participants I've heard, are using pretty much everything they can get their hands on, because they all do stuff a little bit differently, right? Like, I think highway is a little bit more of, kind of almost, sort of like a background check of who you're using today, almost like, for me, like highway, feels a little bit more like a a credit check, if that makes sense, right
Blythe Brumleve:into their VIN number, I believe, right, yes, yeah. So it's
Grace Sharkey:like, more of, like the history this establishment behind the company you're using, where, like an offering, like verified carrier friends over there, right? That one is almost more of, like a of, like a plaid for, like, banking services, right? It's like verifying that yes that account is yours, or yes that VIN number and that driver are are together, right? So I think with that being said, people are kind of are being creative, and how they're using the different products based on what they're good at doing and and what they're showcasing as well. I would say, for the smaller players, clearly highway, I think would be a good one for them to look into. But I also just think, in general, how you're training individuals, like, if you're a really small brokerage, and you're like, I can't afford any of these tools. I mean, I get it. The market's been where it's but at like, if you're using carrier 411, and just creating really good operations that are being held to a standard, there's ways that you can, of course, I think better protect your your freight as well, right? So before you're if you're onboarding new carrier, are you calling the insurance company and making sure that insurance is active? That's something this technology could do in a second, but it's also something that takes a couple of minutes, that, again, probably is worth the risk seeing that you're a small brokerage and probably can't take $150,000 loss that potentially isn't covered, right? So just being like aware of what is in your system, what what information is there, verifying that also, like at this you can easily humans, right? We can watch for more spam emails. When you're getting truck lists over, are you checking to see if it says it's universal truckload that the email isn't like USA, dot universal, truckload.com, or something like that, right? Like a little off to where you're like, okay, is this the person I think I'm talking to? So I think even for the smaller players out there, it's not so much of like having to invest in this technology today. But what are you doing, just in your operations, to create a culture that's looking to mitigate more fraud within your your four walls as well, right? So I would say you're right. Most team s at least have integrations into these systems, or are working on some really great integrations with some of those legacy providers. But worst case, on a human level, I think there's discussions that should be happening across the board at a brokerage of any size, just because that at the other day, that human element, I think, is huge, right? Like being able to see some of these, see those issues, and say, You know what, maybe, maybe I shouldn't buy my CEO of 15 gift cards. And, I mean, he doesn't want, maybe that email looks a little suspicious. Yeah, exactly. Oh, I haven't heard from Craig fuller ever via text message, but now he wants me to to buy him 30 gift cards from Home Depot. Like, well, maybe I'll, I'll ask. I'll call, like, a quick phone call before I do that. But I
Blythe Brumleve:remember, I so I I've worked at a couple different brokerages, and so one that I worked at right before I started up Brumleve brands, I was in charge of carrier relations, and I was taught by a broker on how to do it. I never asked any of these questions. It was them just sending me what the carrier information was I checked carrier forward one just to make sure that they had a profile on there, and if they had a profile on there, they're immediately added to the system. Like there were no checks and balances that were being done. Frankly, because I did not know that I had to do all of these things, I'm pretty sure it was probably just a broker trying to, you know, get their carrier approved as soon as possible, and didn't want to train me on what you know, the fraud maybe looked like, but I think that that was maybe also a different time. You know this I'm talking like six or seven years ago, so this is definitely a while ago, and I don't think any of these tools really existed. I. Or even, you know, fraud to this extent existed. So it's, I think it's a good example of how this industry has evolved so rapidly, because of how criminals have evolved so rapidly and that they are using these digital systems. And I, when I say digital systems, I mean, you know, a fake website, a fake email address, or not even like fake email addresses, but there's there was one, like fake news site that was created to look exactly like the Guardian's website, except when they made the website, it was like the you of spelling out Guardian was the Latin version of a spelling out Guardian, and so you wouldn't catch it if you didn't know that, that it had the little, you know, symbol on the top of it, and so it was built to look exactly like the Guardian, and even in the domain name, the email address. And so these fraudsters are getting very sophisticated. So if you're not closely paying attention if it's happening. You know, in this area of the world, it only makes sense that it's going to happen. You know, to to your area of the world, meaning your business, how you operate it. And for a lot of these, I guess, slower to adopt technology industries, which I would put freight in. In that regard, I would put construction in that regard, where they're trying to adopt new technology, especially over the last five years, but it is still very much an older industry, like a legacy industry, and so for a lot of folks, it's tough for them to evolve. It's tough for them to change, but you're going to have to it's, it's, it's the the way that business goes you have to evolve, especially in the digital world we live in well.
Grace Sharkey:And I think there's a special that Oprah did on AI a couple, maybe a month or two ago. And one big thing I took from that, that I felt like related to this industry, is like, especially when it comes to AI tools and things of that nature. AI is like, one of those technologies, one of the only technologies that have come to fruition or have become mainstream, but have, like, beat beats the consumer to regulation. So, like, the government hasn't been able to regulate the technology as as quickly as it's becoming popular, right? And I think we kind of see that in freight as well, where it's like this, this fraud has happened so quickly through the technology that we're using that now we're seeing the FMCSA kind of respond to the to all of this, these issues after the fact, which makes it really messy and almost slower to to resolve some of this crime, compared to being maybe responsive to the site cyber security issues right like, for instance, like you before, you could use a online address right to to register your truck. Now I clearly that was never thought about anymore digital world, but now we're seeing them say, you know, you have to come on site. It has to be a physical location in order to register for us. So they're being a little bit reactive to it, which clearly isn't helping it. But again, I don't think anyone would have expected to see technology almost explode at the percentage point that it did right Excel up to the point that we're at now. So it's going to be interesting to watch. I think, clearly, I don't, I don't think we're going to go into 25 and people ignore the freight fraud type of or freight mitigation technology that's out there. But in general, I think something we'll talk about too is like, I just think we're going to see a lot of action between tech companies, maybe merging together who have similar goals, but could, could work better provide a better experience for users, if, together instead of apart. So
Blythe Brumleve:I remember on a, I think we did an episode about a year ago on covering cargo crime, and at that time, a lot of food goods and drinks were being stolen, and that was what was being targeted by these criminal organizations, and it was making it really, really tough for, you know, prosecutors or investigators to find out who was conducting this, because for those commodities in particular, the the evidence is gone, and it's they drink it or they eat it, and so it just goes like that, where, like, I think it was an order of pistachios, where it was, like a million dollars. It maybe more than that of pistachios that were stolen, and you can never track that down, because there is no like specific barcode, whereas something like electronics or, you know, I think it's all on this list. So electronics, pharmaceuticals, apparel and other consumer goods are high risk items, but they also have a high, a higher. More recovery than, say, some of these, like perishable items. So I thought that that was interesting, too. And then I think it's not a US problem yet, or it's not happening in the US system yet. But there was one company that I was talking to specifically about this, and they have, like, insurance monitoring. And they, I think they're, I believe they're global. And so in the South America, they I was asking, what's the difference between, like, cargo crime in the US versus cargo crime in other countries? And he mentioned that in Brazil, that for a lot of these fraud activities that happen, these kids are being targeted in like, middle and high school, and so they're being recruited at such a young age that, hey, we're going to, we're going to, you know, give you some money. We, you know, they they start becoming friends with them, or making them feel like they're friends with them in middle school and in high school. And so then, that way, they've kind of coaxed them into this friendly relationship, and then they pay for them to start working in logistics, working at ports, and then that's their in and then that's how they get into these different bigger organizations, is that they almost like are recruiting or hiring spies from a very young age. And that's how they get into the system in Brazil, versus in the US, where it's much more just highly targeted locations, such as the port, such as, I think we've all working in freight, we've all seen those that footage of, you know, the trains coming out from the Port of LA or the Port of Long Beach, and you know, the the trains are so slow moving, or they just kind of stay there. And you can willingly just walk up and, you know, unlock a cart on a train. I think that's the right phrase for it. I don't know what the right phrase is,
Grace Sharkey:but you guys know what I'm talking about. Yeah, a free car, yes, yes, a
Blythe Brumleve:car, not a cart, but they'll just open it up, and there's all these boxes just thrown everywhere, just people just opening it up and opening up people's packages and taking what they want and so that that's a little bit of, I guess, of a cultural difference is that it's much more targeted in specific areas like warehouses and ports, versus in Brazil, what they've seen in their data is that they're almost recruiting people at a very young age. And, you know, I don't want to say seducing them, maybe like molding them in a way that they are going to eventually work for them. Grooming now, grooming them, yeah, grooming them for when they do go work for these bigger logistics companies that they already have an in. And so I just find all of this, like endlessly fascinating about not just the fraud prevention. But what are you monitoring that's going on in different countries and how that's different? Like, uh, Mexican drivers, for example, they are told, like, don't drive at night and don't pull over on the side of the road. Like you, you make sure you are fueled up and ready to go whenever you have your shipment. And you do not stop you do not pull over, you keep going. And so that's another difference of, like, a different area of the world, and how they're trying to combat it, or they're trying to prevent it from happening. And so just, it's overall interesting. And so anything else that you think is important to bring up about cargo
Grace Sharkey:crime, I just, I think, well, clearly, you know, we started a new newsletter here at freight waves on it, so you guys can check that out. If you go to freight waves.com click on newsletters. You'll see fraud. Watch on there as well. And I'll, I'll share a link with you Blythe for that. But it's, it's, if we put out an article on it, it it goes bonkers. It's on, it's what's on everyone's mind. And I think it's because it's just so it's so broad, right, on what exactly that fraud is. I mean, it can be anything from poor business decisions, right? It can be anything from that to stealing cargo to retail fraud. And so I think because it's just so many avenues and ways of committing the crime. Again, that kind of goes towards why it's going to be so hard to stop too. And I think another part of it too is just like we, everyone who's been in the industry knows the checks and balances that would need to be done in order to fully stop it. And with that is also a lengthy discussion on, you know, how operations need to change, and how much, almost like, companies need to be booking shipments in a different manner. So with that big of a change issue needed in order to stop it, or at least, you know, halt it where it's at. I think that's why it's such a talk of a of the town, because people just not only how do we fix it, but like, where are these problems? Where's my risk, and how do we as an entity prepare ourselves for that risk as well?
Blythe Brumleve:All great points before we close out the topic, I wanted to bring this image up on the screen. What happened in eight. India, where meth sees from a Mirena, means boat cost more than the aircraft carrier Vikrant. It was built at a cost of $2.49 billion so the meth that they seized from this shipment was worth more than the carrier that it was built with. And we're talking about street value here for the drug not necessarily. There's a debate going on in the Reddit comment first one is the first comment they said, Damn, that's a lot of missing teeth, but referring to the enormous amount of meth that was caught on this quote, I mean, if you're just listening to the show it, what would you say? 123448, bad at math, but I would say probably, like 100 looks like cement bags full of meth, which is a lot of it's a lot of myth. But there was a debate going on in the comments about, you know, what are we placed these values of, and that when cargo crime happens like this, are we attributing value of the wholesale value, or are we attributing the retail value? So there's a little bit, I think, of game and ship going on with police departments and things
Grace Sharkey:like that. And nothing is different, because it's like, you're not gonna if someone steals your math, you know, you're not gonna report that. Yeah, for the police, you know. But I it's funny you bring that up because most insurance companies don't cover the product value right after the selling, the selling value, right? They'll for them, it's how much does it cost to actually make as a unit? It's not that's out your marketing. So I used to get into that argument all the time, especially like moving a lot of steel and things like that. If that, if I ever got wet, you know, it's they'd always want, well, I was going to sell it for this. So that's our loss. It's like, no, that's, it's not what you're selling it for. It's for what it's actually valued at at that moment, in terms of just like a being a product. So yeah, sometimes you're going to even lose that margin too, which makes the loss even more happy.
Blythe Brumleve:Brokering success demands a battle ready strategy. Thai TMS equips freight brokers with the ultimate battle station for conquering a tough market. With Thai brokers gain access to a comprehensive platform where rate intelligence and quote history converge on a single screen. It's not just a page, it's a strategic command center designed to help brokers win. Thai equips your team with all of the data they need to negotiate with confidence and allows them to communicate directly with carriers and customers from a simple control base, revolutionize the way your brokers perform by giving them a competitive advantage with Thai TMS. For more info, go to Tai software.com backslash battle stations, and we also have a link for you in the show notes to sign up for a demo. I just, I still wonder why we cannot put like an apple tag equivalent into pallets like, uh, wouldn't this solve a lot of issues.
Grace Sharkey:I think, well, one would they find the apple tag? I think is a big one at some point. It would solve a lot of issues. I mean, it's, it's visibility issues too, yeah, I think I would, I would assume it's probably a little bit of just, like, time and then, like, just, you know, hopefully there are trackers and things like that. I think there are, I mean, I just wrote about a tive tracker that helped FBI with a special case. So I think there are tracking providers that could help with this. But I think another part of the problem is they're just so sophisticated that they know and maybe to even look for those, or sense those out right. So that could possibly be one. But a lot of this too is like on the retail side, like just, you know, someone grabbing boxes off a pallet, so kind of stuff like that, where you might not even a tag, might not help you with it. It's, it's kind of that, like in between stage that's not helpful or more difficult to put your finger on. So again, that's, that's a cool part about all this is, like, there's multiple ways this can happen. I mean, they could even be something as small as, like, you take a load and the carrier says, Hey, I need a fuel advance in order to go pick up. And you send a fuel advance, and then they never pick up, right? Like that. The Apple tax not going to save you on that one. So it's just, it's so there are situations I think tech like that could help it, and I would hope that most of those companies are using some type of tracker. But I think there's also an element of like, within the booking process, within even the paperwork that's coming through that that adds that little spicy element to it. Yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:I think it's definitely something that it's very like, dependent on the type of commodity. If it's a bunch, you're shipping a load a bunch of flat screen televisions, then you're probably going to invest in a lot of different Apple tax but. Uh, to, I guess, to to point to our earlier conversation that you know those typically have serial numbers. They have bar codes on them so they're, if they are stolen, there's a high, a higher likelihood that they could be tracked back, versus, like a drink shipment, where an apple tag is just probably not worth it to add that kind of tracking functionality or that kind of visibility into your shipment. So there's a lot of things at play, and hopefully the combination of prevention monitoring and then insurance in case shit does happen, I think, is probably going to be what the the business case or the tech stack looks like. And I don't even know if that's necessarily tech, but it's like tech plus human involvement.
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, you know someone you probably should invite on the show, Andrew Smith from circle logistics that he was a part of my my second newsletter. I watched him speak on how he was using both carrier sure and happy robot to eliminate those calls from even coming into the business and tracking those individuals and figuring out who to do not use within their system. And he gave us a really detailed account of not only how the technology works, but how he's implemented it with his employees to make sure that, because you know you could have certain checks and balances within the day, if your employees are going to go around them, it's like, pretty much useless. So just creative and interesting incentives to make sure that technology is being used correctly, and then executing those those plans purposefully, like has really worked for him. So maybe someone you could have on the show too to discuss it. But I think it's a lot more than just, like you bought highway now it's fixed, but it's it's a problem. I again, I think we go into this next year and we still are having issues with it as well.
Blythe Brumleve:Yeah, you probably, I mean, given the historical perspective, we're always going to be facing this. Criminals are always going to be evolving, and it's just a game of like playing catch up with each other. And I think that that's probably is never going to go away. But you just mentioned, or we both have mentioned, the recent freight waves conference with highway being ranked number one, the f3 conference just happened in in Chattanooga in November. It's probably my favorite conference, by freight waves. It's, I unfortunately didn't make it this year. You know, Wedding, wedding budget kind of took over and also launching a new product. More information on that in the coming weeks or the coming months, depending on when you're listening to this, but I was focused more on that and trying to, trying to keep my sanity. But for you who was at f3 give us some of those highlights. You know, I'll bring up on the screen that the freight tech top 25 since we're talking about it, any other companies, any other notables that you think are important to mention?
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, for sure. Let's see. We bring that list up really quick. So I got I also got the Oh Hi Mary. I got the wonderful opportunity to not only see these ahead of time, but present them with Kaylee. So that was fun to do on the big stage again. What I love about this list is it's a really good idea of like, what's happened this past year and the issues with the market too. I mean, starting there at the bottom, of course, Aurora is like one of the last providers of autonomous technology that's still out there and not on the edge of falling into bankruptcy or other issues. So to see them on there was cool. You go up the list, you start to see more of these, like tools or companies that are helping with capacity and help you understand your capacity. What is what lanes you're good at, what lanes you're not good? Ship is something that provides that to shippers. Parade is one that provides that to brokers. Echo global logistics, I know it's a lot of that tech as well behind it. Talk about integrations. The cloud software is a legacy system who's really focused on making sure it's keeping up to date with its services. Happy to see them on there too. There's a number of try and pays, denims, etcetera, that focus on, you know, back office, making sure cash flow is good, which for, I think, every party in the industry this last year, that's been huge. I really get excited, though, when you jump start to jump in the top 10, number one or number 10. Technically, number one on the 10 is cargo, who's rare, have has only been in the industry for a short period of time this year, right? Yeah, just barely, in terms of, like, selling an actual product too, I think just under a year on that too, and they're in the top 10. I think that showcases you the importance of cross border trade with Mexico, and particularly. Especially after yesterday's, I find not so serious announcement, right? Of of, let's now tariff stuff coming from Mexico 25% crazy, because I think that goes against your own trade plan that you came out with years ago, Trump, but still,
Blythe Brumleve:it could be negotiating tactics, yeah, theory that I've heard, which, yeah, interesting,
Grace Sharkey:yeah, it's a, I will say interesting letter too, from the president back on that from Mexico as well. So that clearly, I'd like to see if that goes up. Car gotta goes up the list this past year. And cute is another one that's very new to at least like a selling point to having customers and beta users out there. That one, though, is, is appointments. And I think at the we all know the issues that come with booking appointments in this industry, and as trade or, of course, volume starts to come back into this industry, I think making sure that anything we book ahead of time works appointment wise is going to be big as well. But yeah, again. Then on top of that list, you see Highway, which I think like showcases. Hey, we dealt with a lot of fraud this year. We're we're assuming we're going to deal with a lot of fraud this upcoming year. And we like what this product is doing. But we especially want to get to a point where we can book loads with carriers and know whether or not there's a chance that it's going to get stolen or some type of fraud is going to happen along the way. I
Blythe Brumleve:do. I have a just because of the project that I'm working on and seeing this list like Echo, JB, hunt, XPO, even, I guess, Uber freight to it to an extent. Now, I thought these were just brokerages, yeah. How are they their technology? I know they probably developed something proprietary internally, but is that tool available, like to the public or to their customers. Like, could you, I guess, use that technology if you're not actually moving freight with these companies? Like, how does that work?
Grace Sharkey:Most of them, know, I think arrives always been kind of tech forward in their approach to logistics to begin with. Yeah, since they're like, founding days, I mean, they big purchase they made a couple years ago, was forager, so already on top of the game when it comes to cross border technology in particular. So I think that's a big reason you see them on their echo we have interviewed in the past, and they, over the last 10 years, they've been focused more on like the data scientists hires and in the maybe, what do you call it, that creativeness over on that side of the of their staff, in order to make sure that they're bringing better solutions to their shippers, especially in this like multimodal approach, right? Being able to say, hey, in an instance, here's your cost for every single type of shipment we could make, and which one is going to get it there on time, or get it there in a certain fashion, is big. So yes, they are. And then Uber freight, I think, is it makes probably the most sense in terms of, like, brokerages out there with tech stacks as well. But I will say, in regards to Uber, I think there are talks of whether or not they will spin that off, or spin the technology off from of the like translo, type of business that they're doing, seeing how well it is doing, too. So that one, I wouldn't count out as a standalone technology just for that, that reasoning, but totally understand the whole like, aren't these brokerages type of questions? Well, I
Blythe Brumleve:know that, and the reason I ask is because I asked this a while back of its logistics, you know, I Patrick McFarland and I are, you know, on the TMSA board, and he was talking about their new visibility solution that they have. And he I believe, if I'm if I'm remembering correctly, that the visibility solution that they have is free to their customers that move freight with them. But if you, if you didn't move freight with them and you still wanted that visibility solution, they would still sell it to you, you would still be able to get that technology. But it was just they offered it as a free component for everybody is, you know, kind of like an incentive, of, like, you know, I would imagine it's a very high incentive of like, maybe like a lead generation tool. This is the kind of technology that we're building. And, you know, if you become a customer and you purchase the technology solution like chances are, there's a higher likelihood that you will start to move your freight with them. So I thought that that was a really interesting play, and maybe there's something similar kind of going on here, where you can still use these technology solutions, even though they're technically a broker moving freight, but you don't necessarily have to. Move your freight with them to take advantage of that offer.
Grace Sharkey:I mean, the only one I would say 100% does fall underneath that would be uber freight. Right now they have their broker access. So even as a broker, you can go in there and leverage their tech under your own name as well. So there are a few that I think have an offering. The other few that we mentioned, don't but, you know, maybe that's something that they open up to in order to to gain more traction in the shipper and customer space as well. So works in some ways for sure. Well,
Blythe Brumleve:very much in in a similar vein of this topic, we usually talk about, you know, our favorite freight businesses and favorite freight marketing. So we're kind of gonna mash them together, as we're talking about, you know, other companies that kind of draw our eye with your cargo, crime beat, and then also this company's list. You just featured a company called Gen logs. Can you tell us a little bit about them?
Grace Sharkey:I love this company. It just like, feels like, like, No shit, Sherlock solution that an individual is figured out. So Ryan Joyce is the one of the founders behind the company, and to give you a little bit of his background, he and a little bit as I actually didn't know. So give a quick shout to Andrew silver for touching on this in his podcast. So apparently his his father was a potential I was in New York City during the sorry on the Pentagon during the 911 attacks, and so it was something that clearly affected him, and his father didn't pass away, but something that he wanted to make sure that noone had to worry about in the future. So he is an ex CIA member, and he got the idea from this technology, from something that they're doing, I believe, in the Middle East, which was using cameras that were set up across certain cities to monitor the bad guys, you could say, right? And and it for him, he was, you know, considering the infrastructure we have the United States, the private cameras we have across certain buildings, I mean, think of like your apartment buildings and stuff like that, or wire cameras, yeah, road cameras, or even just like, if you're driving on the highway, like those large like mall complexes and things like that, how many of these cameras are facing the highway or facing these main roads? And what if we could take that data from them and then be able to to see where our trucks are at any point in time? And that's like, quite literally, how the technology works. I mean, it's it's fascinating. They've opened it talk about something that's available. They've opened it up now to anyone to use for free to find those trailers. And it's, it's as simple as typing in either D O T or trailer number with that D O T, and then it will literally pull like where it's seen it. I think why? That's nuts. Yeah, I think I did. I can drop it here, if the document I shared you, you can see, yeah, if you take that, we can pull up their sub stack, and you can kind of see what the like search engine looks like, because I think it'll really quickly resonate with with viewers too. But did you see the screenshot? Yep, perfect. Okay, cool. So if you can, like, zoom in a little bit on that image, you you quite literally can, just like, put in there, right, these search engines, and it will pull up, like, the time period, that time range that you put in and where it saw that tractor. And that's insane. It is quite literally insane. It's like, like, I said it's one of those things where it's like, yeah, duh, you know, like, of course, this makes so much sense. And to kind of show again, they they partner with private locations, right, who have camera data to pull that. But they also, like, quite literally, putting up their own cameras across interstates. Wow, that's yeah, one of the first people that told me about the tech was, like, the first time and talked to Ryan. He was like, quite literally, up a pole, like, putting a camera in. Like, I love, I just love founder stories like that. Because it's like, oh, you're like, about getting this stuff done and, and he truly is. And if it works against terrorists, hey, it can work against bad guys here too. And I think they've have, they've helped authorities. And this is this, if you're reading this article, it's on here. Now this is old, but now they have over 400 missing trailers that they've helped find. Wow. So there's like, major rings that they've been able to watch in stock, because, like, you can take this information, this location information, and he was explaining to me, like, easily be able to see, like, Okay, if all the trailers are showing up in these areas, then the likelihood of that, like, criminal gang being in a certain area is high so they can, like, kind of pinpoint a better idea of, like, where it's all originating from. And I. On top of that too. Like, imagine that you're like, someone like Ryder, and you've got all these lease trailers and assets out there, like, just being able to be like, let's say it's past their leasing time, like you can go on here and find it and at least know it's like, not damaged, or have an idea where to send authorities to maybe confiscate that that trailer back. And I just, it's incredible to see, like, how it'll, like, I said like it will. It's depending on where the trucks are going, right if they're, like, trying to avoid cameras and are out and about. And like, the boonies, you might not see em, but for most cases, like, and it'll show where that trailer was in the last two weeks at some point, and you can at least start to narrow it down where that product could be, and clearly having calling authorities with some evidence behind it, and being able to get to get something done. So yeah, that's available free now to to users, and it's, I'm sure at some point that offering will go away. So I
Blythe Brumleve:was going to say, how are they making money? Like, right? The probably the data, maybe that they're or maybe they get a percentage off of, you know, any lows that they recover. Or
Grace Sharkey:I would assume it's probably a little bit of that too. I think, again, I think it's to be honest with Scott, it's got to be a gimmick that's not going to last full time. It shouldn't. And super valuable information. Yeah, very valuable. But it's not cheap to store all that data, no. And, well, I was just gonna say, I've heard major expenses are going towards not only the data providers, but clearly storing that and keeping that file too. So there's definitely take, maybe take advantage of it while you can. But I think it's, it's a really smart solution. And I everyone I've heard that's used it has has said remarkable things about, I mean, even potentially, like not having to add more and more cameras, not having to even check call the driver. It's like, okay, I know where he's at. It's just this camera just caught him this morning heading towards the shipper. Maybe I'll give him some more time and not bother him and check on him. Then right So, and also, for any drivers out there listening like we couldn't see it in the example of the image I just showed you, but like, driver identity is completely hidden. You can't see any passenger. Can't see any private vehicle information. So you're not going to see like in the images any of like our cars and and the actual like license plates on those but let's say my face, or a driver's face is in the image. It's all blurred. So for the drivers out there who I agree with you, like, hey, giving your cell phone number up, like, this could be the type of technology that takes the place of that type of of cell phone tracking capability that is also protecting your identity too. So I think that's cool, because that's probably a lot of times, right? The number one here thing we hear from carriers is that, like, I don't want to give up my identity. And again, this, you could call it Big Brother approach. It's like, I was honestly, I was like, one of my first questions when he's showing me this. I was like, Wow, this could, like, really change Amber Alerts, you know, and but he was like, quickly, like, we do not take in any of that information or store any of that info, including the driver images. So, yeah, I think that's cool. Like, just check watching the assets, see where the assets are going, and keeping track of that as well, I think is a big deal.
Blythe Brumleve:Yeah, that's super cool. And I heard of them, and I follow Ryan, and shame on me for not actually checking out. You know what he does, but that entire breakdown that you just gave and plus seeing Andrew Silver's post the other day about his background, I made a mental note. Okay, I'm gonna save that episode, so I listened to it for later. So now I can't wait to listen to it even more, because of everything that you just said about that. We'll also place a link to that newsletter of you featuring them for your what's the newsletter called, again, freight. It's
Grace Sharkey:called fraud. Watch,
Blythe Brumleve:perfect. Okay, good. So we'll make sure to put a link to that in the show notes. Um, any other favorites you saw outside of Gen logs? Or you kind of want to move on to maybe some. That's your favorite business, right? That's the,
Grace Sharkey:yeah, that was, that is my favorite freight business so far this month. I mean, there were a lot of cool one we I got to hang out the happy robot guys, which I think was the last episode we talked about, as well. And they're, you know, of course, enjoying themselves in this industry, still having a good, so much love. There's so much. And they're they updated their demo too. So the demo was a fun one to watch. I think actually, all those demos are now on our YouTube page, so you can check it out. Freightways YouTube page, um, but you know, talk of the town was a lot of this, AI usage, right? A lot of the especially phone clone ops, is another. One that's coming out. Fleet works is another one. So there's different options. Now it's not just happy robot that's out there, but a different a number of different providers, clone ops, for some background on that, is one that David Bell is a part of, which you might recognize from from lean solutions. And then fleet works. Paul Singer Stinger is a ex Uber freight guy. I want to say convoy or Uber freight. They all share the same guys. And I think fleet works is a little bit more proprietary tech. That's kind of what I've heard under the grant under scene, compared to maybe happy robots. But, I mean, we have to happy robots taken off. So I think there's going to be some exciting news coming out about them soon too, and the work that they're doing and well deserved as well, I will say funny story too, for everyone who might like some freight waves lore. So I won't say who the person is, but there's a customer of happy robots that's like working on creating like they want a more southern accent to call, like the south. So Christian Thomas, which is one of our, oh my gosh, yeah, you know exactly what. Christian Thomas is, one of our producers on the Freightways team, and he's got no background in freight or anything like that. But if anyone you ever met him, he is a a southern Georgia Farmer accent boy, like, I can't even do, I can't even, like, pretend to do his accent right now. It's just so genuine and so like, like Georgia boys stuff, that you can't miss it when he talks, you're just like, This guy's not real. And so there's someone in the free industry who's had him record about an hour and a half of just like, saying things, and they're like, now trying to use it within the happy robot system.
Unknown:That is so cool. I hope he's getting a license. He's not real.
Grace Sharkey:Well, it's, that's, that's the funny part about it too, is like, he had no idea, like, what this company is doing, and, like, what, like, he kind of understood, but like, I explained to him, like, how big of a deal like, this technology is, and, like, what? And so now he's like, hit him, like, potentially, like, he could bag. He's like, he's like, yeah, he fumble a bag, and he's like, now going to become, like, the southern accent of like, broke reaches everywhere. And I just think that is absolutely hilarious, like that, like his kid can be like, one day, like, using his voice, like, so, yeah, voice to book freight, there's some freight ways lore for you is that some, if you if that, if that ever becomes like, and I don't know if it's going to just be used by the individual who recorded it, it sounded like they were, you, like, potentially using it for happy robot. So if that accent does come out, there's, that's who, who is behind that, and that's who's who's I was telling him, like, you're just gonna, like, shippers are gonna, like, hear your voice and be like, Hey, I know you. You know like, so, yeah, I love it. I love our production team. They're like the guys behind the curtain that noone knows about getting stuff done, and also clueless to, like, what half the industry is doing until I, I guess, potentially, tell them about it. So that was, like, the most fumbled bag at f3 I guess you can say,
Blythe Brumleve:but wow, yeah, wow, that is I'm just stuck because I have looked into some of these, like voice recording tools, where you can clone your voice to script as a podcast editing program that I know a lot of podcasters use, but if you upload your audio files to them, and then you also Create some different test files or upload, you know, specific audio files. They have a system that will train it on your voice, and so you can essentially just type out a script and the voice talks in your tone. And, you know, it's very close. I tested it out a couple years ago and it wasn't quite there yet, yeah, but I think that this is a more interesting play of like, what happy robot is doing, where you can't tell that it's an AI voice, and you can even hear the background noise of an office, you know, phones ringing and paper shuffling and things like that. And I think those are such important little nuggets to add, but I also am a little, I don't want to say worried, but I do, how does what happens when, like the people who you know, cargo crime we've been talking about, what happens when these people start clone criminals, start cloning voices, and then just doing AI calls all the time. So I wonder what kind of fraud prevention, or maybe AI voice detection is going to come into play for those fraudsters as well. So that might be, you know, keep it funny
Grace Sharkey:that you say that, because I again, like, I don't know if audience members who've seen Silicon Valley, but you remember, like the one of the last Have you ever seen that show? Like,
Blythe Brumleve:no, I think you've told me several times to watch it, but you know,
Grace Sharkey:oh, it's so good, I'll watch penguin. You watch Silicon Valley, but, and it's only 30 minute episodes, so it's even easier to get through. But there's one of the last seasons. There's a episode where they they face off the AI, they train the AIS to talk to each other, and they end up, like, at some point, like, overthrowing the system together. And so, like, that is kind of a funny concept to think. Like, if, if a bot system, like AI, could have, like, eventually, like, team up with a happy robot. And, like, next thing you know, all of your loads are booked and, like, sent to, like, a just like, a shit carrier, or, like, even if a broker could, like, use it to, like, attack another broker and, like, take over all of their loads. Like, oh my God, our system just puts like, 700 loads, and like, C Robinson is moving all of them, you know, like, could that happen? I think that's but to bring up like, and I think we just, we I won't get too deep into it, because I think we talked about last time a little but to bring up, like, the regulation behind a lot of this tech like that is, I will say that type of AI and that type of tool is one from an investor standpoint, I do get nervous about because I think there are going to be a lot of regulations that do affect its value at the end of the day. I also think that potentially, we're already seeing other companies come out with this. It's kind of like a race to the bottom price wise, like, of how much this will cost. So I do, like, from a investment, investment standpoint, maybe like, nervous about the valuations that might come out with some of these companies, but, and then also, clearly, like, how will regulation affect that valuation, too? But in the meantime, party it up free. I mean, like, Yeah, I think it's going
Blythe Brumleve:to be a while before any kind of AI regulation comes down. Because the, I mean, the government we just mentioned, how the FMCA or FMCSA is, you know, been really slow to adapt to, what has it taken in four or five years to even slowly adapt to, you know, freight fraud. And so I think it's probably going to be something similar around AI. And AI is just going to evolve so much faster than what the the government can respond to. And so
Grace Sharkey:I do have another freight business that I'd like to touch on quickly, too, and it's only because, oh, my God, my lips are dry. So, you know, it's so dry up in here Blythe, it's so dry. And I, I thought I was just about to throw some a nice little lip What do you call it? Not gel, but lip gloss on it to undrie them. And speaking of a nice little freight company here, for everyone who is a big fan of Thomas Watson, Thomas Watson and his wife are also cosmetic creators, and they have their good old, newly cosmetics cherry pie lip line, including batch numbers. They're getting into batch numbers so they can track everything, which I love, and it was fully sealed package wise, but so yeah, shout out to to Watson and his wonderful wife, who I believe works at AI fleet, but go check him out. Maybe he'll get you a free sample, like he has. I would like a free sample,
Blythe Brumleve:especially because he's getting promo. This is the second time he's gotten promo on this show, and I am over here having to use, you know, lipsticks from Korea, which is not bad,
Grace Sharkey:actually, no, yeah, Korean makeup is great, so it's not
Blythe Brumleve:bad at all. But I would like to support, you know, some local state friends, other great friends. I
Grace Sharkey:will let Thomas know to get that out, out to you in the mail. Because, well, people
Blythe Brumleve:speaking of Yes, speaking of getting something out in the mail, and also, speaking of that, freight waves, top 25 freight tech list, yes, another company. Shout out to green screen, hey, look at that. Can be a little merch box so you can see a little green screen, oh,
Grace Sharkey:shout out to Dawn, who actually took her, her green screen shirt off at the Stone Temple Pilots concert and gave it to the lead singer, and got a nice little like, free ad out of that dude with him. Like,
Blythe Brumleve:love that. I know I love her so much, but they sent me a really nice care package. We got a little sweat towel and, you know, napkin, not napkins, sweat towel, notepad. Love it. I got some stickers too, and then they included this. So if you wear your swag, then you give them a little hashtag and you share it with them. So green screens in the wild. Hopefully this counts. I don't think it's going to count as a hashtag, but what I do love is that they sent two sizes for koozies. Oh my god. We love so we love we love green screens. Love Dawn, previous guest on the show, and I think I talked to her for like, an hour and a half. They're very, very good conversation, but two sizes, one for the seltzers and one for the regular beer can. So we need variety in in our koozies. And I'm glad that they are that. That they're doing this. So shout out to green screens for sending me the little care package, especially through the mail, because in our last episode, we talked about the power of direct mail. And here we are, you know, proving it. This was not planned, by the way, to talk about direct mail on the last episode and then to mention it for this episode. Very, very happy coincidence. So shout out to them for for sending me that that stuff. Um, I want to round out this segment with our favorite freight marketing, which I could absolutely put green screens in that list too, but I got another one I'm going to mention. Let me bring up company call that they just actually selfish promotion here, but they just previewed me on their channel. It's called supply chain gals. They have a really, really strong following over on Instagram, and also they're definitely building it up over on LinkedIn, but they feature women in supply chain roles, and also have some really fun like, different marketing graphics. Oh, hey, there's me that was featured. So yeah, that was nice to them, to throw that up there. But then they also have, you know, like, Taylor Swift logistics. Like, you know, we've covered this on the show before, but they put it together in like, you know, fun, like image formats. And they, you know, showcase other, you know, obviously supply chain gals. So they're featuring other, you know, women on their platform. So I just love this. I think that it's, you know, very similar to, you know, I think what you're trying to do with logistics girly and just, you know, showcase the women that work in freight. So shout out to them. It seems to be like a really good system to find and discover other women that are working in this industry. And, you know, kind of create, create a little club among us,
Grace Sharkey:yeah, which actually the next episode we record? I think I'm going to have some cool stuff to talk about on that too. So, yes, that next episode, you and I will have, we'll dive into that a little bit more as well, because it's I've been working on some things at f3 as well, on in that regard, good. Yes, I
Blythe Brumleve:was hoping. I was wondering, you know what? What was going on with that? Because I had, I don't know if it's probably just a LinkedIn algorithm, which has just been weird for me lately, but I haven't seen many, many posts coming out of it, not
Grace Sharkey:just me being terribly bad at my job. No,
Blythe Brumleve:you're working in silence. You're working behind that's it.
Grace Sharkey:Yes, it's not me being lazy. Yeah, a lot's been happening in the last, like five months or so, so, but we're getting, we're getting back on the train of of progress and the future. So yes, there's fun stuff on the next month to get into on that. Heck, yeah.
Blythe Brumleve:Well, maybe, uh, supply chain gals and logistics, girly can do, like a collaboration together. And I'm sure we'll see some of them over at the manifest conference that's happening in early February, I believe, yeah, or mid February, yeah, early, mid February, early, yes, yeah. It's like the eighth to the 11th, or something, or ninth to the 11th. Anyways, we'll put a link in the show notes for y'all, if y'all are interested. Okay, um, so that's it for my freight marketing and business. But did you have a marketing spotlight? I believe,
Grace Sharkey:yeah. And our YouTube page, again, has this interview, but one of my favorite interviews at f3 in a marketing aspect too, because so we'll start with lead coverage. Lead coverage, I'm sure you've worked with. Blythe is a very successful marketing firm in the industry. They do a really good job of building a store. As a writer, you know, a lot of times I get press releases and I'm like, What the is this? Even me, you know, like, this is they'll be like, the sky's blue, just announcing that the sky is blue, and it's like, yeah, we all need that, you know? So it's like, they do a really good job of sending over story ideas with their their pitches, right? So it's like, cool, like, this topic is popular, how can we help with that? Now, that's so funny. That's exactly what my screen looks like right now. Um, because the Mary O'Connell was perfect. So
Blythe Brumleve:Mary's gotten two shout outs in this episode. So so far, Mary,
Grace Sharkey:our queen over at check all so yes, Carol Brown, it works for them, is a big part of their organization. As CEO, I believe, right over there, she's recently released a book called The revenue engine. Not only am I just like, loving the color scheme of this book, but the information in there is absolutely incredible, and it does a really good job, I think, of discussing the discussing marketing from a executive, executive level standpoint. So kind of that good old question of, what's my return on investment into a marketing play, and then kind of and her diving into ways and strategies to not only communicate that, I think, with executives, but to to actually do that, to bring ROI and smart strategies for just even marketers in this industry in particular, to learn from and to to consider and. To think about, like a big area she talked about that she covers in the book on our show is kind of like intent marketing, right? Like, if you are opening up a new office or a new facility in certain area, how are you targeting that audience in that region and and being strategic with where businesses businesses are going with your strategy, which is funny, because I won't name them now because, because I it might inflict a little bit too much on what I do, and like, the confidential part of my job a little bit. But I noticed this a lot in some of the news. And if you follow news that I might release, like I think sometimes there's leading indicators to what could be happening. Actually, no, I'll give an example. I think to to kind of watch how Uber freight has released certain initiatives or programs is an interesting way of kind of showing, like, maybe their growth strategy, or what they're looking to do, right? Like a lot of their recent discussions and and promotions have been around the tech piece and how brokerages can use it, right? Is that mean, potentially, that there's an option for it to go solar or be sold, right? Like it to so from my perspective, it's interesting to kind of, like, see her side, and like how I work with some of the companies, and how I communicate with companies, or how companies communicate with just the overall free audience, and being able to, like, maybe understand where that messaging is coming from. But yeah, it's, it's an incredible book by a group of individuals that are really good at what they do. And part of the question that you asked me was, like marketing, like swag and stuff that I liked from f3 I mean, they were there signing the book and giving it out, and I think it's just it was a perfect audience for them to be doing that, a perfect way to not only, of course, like, get the book out there, but like a selling point for them too. And I mean, she's just an incredible interviewer as well. It's clearly being the role and work that she does. It was probably one of my only interviews that I just didn't feel like I needed to prep for, because it was just going to be an easy peasy conversation. And I think that, again, reflects on what they're doing at lead coverage, too. So the book was fantastic. I've heard wonderful things from especially high, again, high level executives. If you, if you're a marketing team right now, and you're like, God, I am sick and tired of my CEO telling me that things aren't worth it, or that they're not seeing an outcome. Like, go get this book. Read it, because I think it'll not only help you communicate that better with them, but it will also like, maybe it's a book that you kind of like push in front of your CEO too, for them to read and to understand the big picture of marketing, not just even in this industry, but honestly, I think any industry would like it, And at the end of the day too, it's another, like, we just talked about another woman in this industry, who, I think is, is leading great initiatives, who is authentic, very authentic in the work that she's doing. She's
Blythe Brumleve:not afraid to shoot you straight, no. And she's been working on this book for years now. So
Grace Sharkey:it's like, that's another part of it too. Is like, as someone who like, finds that, not that I say and I write a book, but like, I've always, like, been interested in, like, you know what that process is? Like, she go to her for advice on it too. She's open to those discussions as well. But I've got the book. I'm finishing up a book right now, and that's my next one in line. So maybe next episode I can share, like, something I learned from it, but even just the discussions I've had with people by what's in the book, Mary O'Connell actually that shout out, we'll be doing a new book club on check call. Like, that's cool. We
Unknown:talked about, like, I
Grace Sharkey:think she's into it, like, once a quarter, or something like that. But this is one that she'll likely review on the show too. So yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:we talked smart. I mean, we had her on the show I recorded. She's been on the show a couple times, but I recorded with her at the Summer TMSA elevate conference, and so she was talking about finishing up the book and everything that went into it. And it's, it's so rare to find somebody at that level of expertise when it comes to marketing, and then be able to talk to other enterprise level companies. And she's not afraid to say, like most companies cannot afford her, cannot afford lead coverage, like you really have to have your your I don't want to say your revenue dialed in, because I think that's kind of the point of her services is to, you know, expand that revenue. But what I really love that she brought up in that conversation is that they practice what they preach and at lead coverage itself. And so when they're doing these marketing campaigns or these marketing initiatives, these marketing programs, they set up all of like the sort of data analytics that side of things. But one thing that they do do is. Is that for qualifying they lead coverage, if they think that they have a lead for you, they will do the first call. Lead coverage does the first call to qualify the lead and to make sure that they're a good fit for their client before they pass that lead off to them. Because I think too often, you know, you especially from, you know, building websites on on the website side of things, I can't tell you how many times that you know for digital dispatch, for example, that I have a book a meeting function on my site, but so many people have booked a meeting with me that are not qualified, and I end up leaving these calls with no business because there, I shouldn't have been on the phone with them to begin with. Yeah. And so as we put like these different like marketing and sales, you know, initiatives into our digital campaigns, into, you know, sort of our conference campaigns, PR campaigns, things like that, that one little thing that they do of qualifying the lead before they pass it off to you, I think is just such a game changer. And I'm It's impressive that they were able to to have that thought process, to not waste the time of the companies that they're working with. And so it's your they're, they're leading the horse to water, but making sure that the water is like, safe enough to drink, yeah, and I think that that is the most pivotal thing of the service that they provide, in addition to just the overall education of the data that you should be paying attention to. So I think too often, especially with marketing agencies, just in general, not necessarily in this industry, but you see, a lot of it in this industry is that they just care about engagement. They just care about, you know, vanity metrics and things that don't matter. For example, I had a company that was talking about how they did not get enough comments on their LinkedIn posts, and they wanted to know how to get more comments on their LinkedIn posts. And I'm like, why does it matter? Like, what does this this is not moving the needle for you. I can make an argument that you know, putting a comment on a post expands the the reach into other people, of course, but for the overwhelming majority of people on social media are lurkers, meaning they're not interacting with any of your posts. They're not sharing them with anyone, but they are seeing them. And Carrie even brought up that in a conversation that there she had, like some kind of business partner that came to fruition years later, and the guy had been following her for years, and she when she was talking to him, she was like, What the hell? I had no idea you were even seeing any of my social media posts. You've never once liked it. You never once sent me a DM about it, like I had no idea. And I'm kind of crazy, of course, what Kara said, but they ended up doing business together years later, and he had never once engaged on her social media posts. And I thought that was really, really interesting that, you know, she's able to see through the vanity metrics and then also help other executives, other leaders, see through those metrics as well and focus on what matters. But that extra step of making the call is so brilliant. And I think that if you can afford her, you should go work with her.
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, I agree. And yeah, great presence at the show. I was again, great interview, too. And on top of that, I mean, I have to be honest, the best thing pass up. Got the puppies. Dogs were there, and
Unknown:our friends so cute. I saw pictures of them. They're so cute.
Grace Sharkey:I was on the on the plane with the truck, the truck stop dog, and he was being such a good boy the whole flight. Just a good little boy in his little barks in the airport. And I just think, I just think that concept so funny, like, I clearly I'm not in a really relationship right now, but like to just go to a conference and take home a dog. I think it's just like, what a prank.
Unknown:Like,
Grace Sharkey:like, I've definitely
Blythe Brumleve:thought about, I think every puppy I've held at a conference, I've thought about it.
Grace Sharkey:I just love the concept of, like, you're leaving chat and you go with a dog, like, What a weird life, you know, like
Blythe Brumleve:and I know for a lot of folks, they don't recognize that if you adopt these dogs, they it usually the people there that are helping facilitate the dog adoption, so they're usually like a charity or Humane Society, and it's the team that comes in to help manage the dogs and take them away for breaks and things like that, but They will also help you travel home with the dog. So it's like, win, win for all folks involved, yeah, um, I do remember from last year's f3 wasn't there like, several freight waves employees? Yeah, that adopted a dog. And I remember telling the boiler room boys, who now have gotten their second shout out during the. This episode with boiler and boys, or the production crew that work for freight waves. You know, we've talked, just talked about Christian Thomas, you know, lending his voice and not getting money for it, but I told them that they should follow the like puppy progress of like, you know, growing into adulthood as a dog for these freight waves employees, and I'm bringing them back. I want to see a Where are they now, hopefully you or dooner can make that happen of where the puppies are. Now, I want to see them.
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, we need a whole another pit to, like, bring the dogs back and like, but yeah, they're so cute. And they are like, you know, the day gets tense, you know, and it's nice to just like, turn the corner and be like, oh, what cute, good boys and girls we have so,
Unknown:so great. I
Blythe Brumleve:every conference should have this,
Grace Sharkey:yes, yeah, oh, yeah. And it's like, we sold, I think somewhere around seven or eight of them. And I think, I think the sponsors, Amazon, they usually cover all the costs. Right? Of, like, everything as well. So
Blythe Brumleve:the shots and, you know, all those, I guess, like, Intro puppy things that you gotta get done. So, yeah, maybe that's in my future, but not until I get a yard.
Grace Sharkey:So, see, I, I've lived through a puppy recently, and so I, like, Blythe knows, like, a manifest last year. I'm like, I just see something that's good. A whole group of animals are going to eat my shoes. Like, I do not I see Q puppies for like, five seconds, and I remember, like, oh, this thing is going to eat my shoe and poop on my rug. So, yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:you do have to find, like, a good personality dog, and that's why I, you know, I don't know that the best dogs that I have found are the ones that usually find me, I guess. And when I'm talking about the ones that I've had, it's like, you know, humane society, or like my mom, you know, did the this did happen? Like, 1015, years ago, someone dropped two puppies off on her front door. And I'm like, Why can't
Unknown:that happen to me? Like, it it could have happened to a better person in a perfect
Grace Sharkey:world. That happens never but like, if it does happen, why we had the same? I think it was about a couple months ago I found the same someone just dropped a dog on the neighborhood, and he was, I know, and he was like, he was a big he was a big boy, though it was one of those dogs where I stayed in my car. It's like, Nah, he's, he's a big boy, and the society came and got him. But
Blythe Brumleve:it's so sad that people do that. Yeah, it is really sad. I Well, we think that because we've always had dogs growing up, and so I we think that they were fighting dogs that weren't going to be up to par, because one of them, you know, his eyesight wasn't the best, and the other one had kind of problems with his hips. But they were puppy puppies, like, I could they were dropped off, and they couldn't have walked very even if, because my mom was at home at the time, and so when she came in with, like, it came to the front door and she had, you know, her hands with groceries, and she's unlocking the door, the puppies, like, kind of walk over to her, yeah, and start, like, licking her feet, and she's like, What
Unknown:is going on? Like, what a great surprise
Grace Sharkey:that is, they were, yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:they were babies, but kept them for for forever, until they passed away. But they were beautiful. So yes, the
Grace Sharkey:opposite of the possum I have living under my porch right now. He's so cute, too, and my cat is like, yowling at the back door all day long now, like trying to play with him, like, so, yeah, it's better than a blind baby possum. It's just using your porch to survive.
Blythe Brumleve:All right. Well, let's move into our next segment. Grace Sharkey back with us from freight waves the Blythe Milligan. Here we are proudly presented by SPI logistics, and we're going to talk about building roads and ports in South America. So this was such a fun story for me, personally, to do a lot of research on. I don't know if you could tell in my voice, and I will
Grace Sharkey:say, I annoy you what you're talking about. But I also was like, Oh, this is very interesting. So
Blythe Brumleve:I just so, I so I've been endlessly watching YouTube videos for a while. I've been keeping notes on this specific topic because, I guess as a backstory, my first trip out of the country was to Peru. Peru is a country that's based in South America. It has one of the world wonders with Machu Picchu. It was a trip that honestly, just changed my life. I literally think about that country at least five times a week. It's just so I got, you know, proof. No, I don't have the Peru stuff we got. We got this gentleman right here, I'm blanking on the name, but that got that Peru. So great country. Love it. But what I noticed when I was there is the road construction in the they have such they have a Andes mountain range that is located there, and also in other countries as well. But the roads are so. Insane. There's actually, you know, YouTube documentaries that I'll put a link in the show notes that talks about how dangerous these roads are. There's a road in in Bolivia, which I'll talk about here in a little bit. It's literally called the road of death, just because they're so dangerous to drive on. But the reason that this story came about is that I I always kind of have, like, my eyes open for anything like Peru related stories. But there is a new South American port in Peru that was just opened, the the shanka Mega port that was just opened. And if you don't know the geography of Peru, it's basically on the west coast of South America. And so for a lot of shipments, especially from China, that is a direct trade route for China. And so that's why they have heavily invested in South American infrastructure. And this is one of the biggest ports in the country that just recently opened up. So I guess to give a little bit of background of why the shanka Megaport matters, is because, if you think back to our Arctic shipping episode, we talked about, sort of the new Arctic Silk Road that China and Russia, you know, some other countries, are trying to explore, to develop that trade lane up into the North. Well, there's also other trade lanes that China is also trying to establish to really diversify their supply chain routes and their trade routes, so they're not going to get stuck on the West Coast port congestion or the Panama Canal, if it has, you know, similar drought levels of what we've seen, you know, it just happening over the last year. So it's they're part of their Belt and Road Initiative, where the the shanka aligns with China's push for new trade corridors. China is South America's largest trading partner, making up 20 to 34% of trade for individual countries, meaning that something like Chile is like 30% of their trade globally is with China. And so these direct corridors, and setting up those direct corridors are vitally important for China. For who, you know, I know a lot of people don't want to hear it, but they control the overall majority of the world's manufacturing. So if they're shipping goods, then they need to be able to protect these trade routes. And so it's called, essentially, the great Rerouting. And this comes from a gentleman that teaches over at Texas A and M, Jean Paul Rodriguez, and hopefully I'm pronouncing that name right, but he just came out with this phrase called the Great rerouting, and it's how China is diversifying all of their trade routes. And it's not just from the Arctic per or, I guess, the Arctic perception, but then also from other different areas of how they can avoid the Strait of Malacca, which the Strait of Malacca is in, is a little bit south of India. But the Red Sea route, in order to get through to the Red Sea, to get to the Suez Canal, China, has to go through the Strait of Malacca. And that is a very you know, historically, that is very challenging for them, because of all the drama that China has had with Japan, they've had with the Philippines, Vietnam, you know, other countries in that area, India, of course. And so that is a major choke point for them. And so he talks about how John Paul Rodriguez, he at the Texas A and M professor, and then he's also, I think he has is, he's the Department of maritime Business Administration. So stop me if I'm, you know, getting a little too far ahead here. But this particular screen, let's bring up this image, and it shows how China has been rerouting its goods based on everything that's happened over the last handful of years. And so basically, what they're doing is they're rerouting a lot of their shipments to avoid the Red Sea crisis, which is what you see here, the Panama drought, the Suez blockage that happened back in 2020 famously, but all of these different crises that are happening across the globe and how China is trying to deal with, you know, shipping their goods out, and really the rest of the world is trying to deal with shipping their goods out. And so with this port in Shanghai, it offers faster, cheaper routes for especially for Brazilian goods, because Brazilian goods can reach China now two weeks faster than using the Panama Canal. So there's also some strategic benefits as well for the China Peru sort of team up here that it reduces Peru to China logistics costs by 20% and it's also expected to generate 4.5 billion annually and create 8000 jobs in South. America, and that comes from G captain, which, you know, Salma cogliano, number one fan. He has such a great channel. It's called what's going on with shipping. He did a video covering this and cited G captain for a lot of these stats. I'll put a link in the show notes, in case you want to watch it. Because Sal just gives such a great he's such content goals, in my opinion, he just, he gives so much knowledge and perspective on a lot of these different things. But I'll get into some of the key challenges, but especially when it comes to geography and infrastructure gaps. And I got a lot of B roll that I'm ready to tee up. So anything before I start teeing up this B roll, because I'm that was just sort of setting the stage, and now I'm ready to get into the nitty gritty of it.
Grace Sharkey:I love it. Yes, no, it's, I think let's get into the nitty gritty, because it's, this is, like, The fascinating part too, especially when we get to the train route, to the railway route. I think that's interesting in particular,
Blythe Brumleve:I'm glad you brought that up. Oh,
Grace Sharkey:is that where we're going?
Blythe Brumleve:That is one of the first things.
Grace Sharkey:Corridor. Is that where we're headed?
Blythe Brumleve:I didn't know. I didn't know that part. But, yeah, when we talk about, you know, some of the challenges that are going on in South America, it is mainly tied around infrastructure. The roads are very challenging to be built outside of the great Inca Trail, which I'll get into in just a minute. But there's, there's roads, there's the Amazon River, then there's also the rainy seasons, then there's, there's so many it's a continent. So they have all different kinds of weather that are going on different elevations of weather. So the geography of the Andes Mountains is just insane to because I guess I should back up. It's not just the port that's on the west coast of South America. It's essentially trying to connect Peru to Brazil, because Brazil and China are major trading partners with each other. And so what now, what they have to do is Brazil's on the east coast of South America. And so they have to either go around the southern tip of South America, which is very dangerous waters you can't necessarily, you know, even take a ship through those waters for, you know, six months out of the year. So it's not reliable. And then when you factor in the Panama Canal and a lot of their drought issues that they've faced, you know, in the last couple years they are, they have alleviated that, I believe they're putting in, you know, some redundancies in order to help, you know, fix their their water flow issues in that region. But still, that's enough to probably shake, you know, somebody else shake another country to say, like, hey, we need to develop another solution for this. And so the idea is that they're going to have this Megaport on the west coast of South America in Peru, and then they can build some train lines, and then they can also build some roads to go through to connect Peru and Brazil from an infrastructure perspective. But you have a little problem with the Andes Mountains in the way. China apparently has a lot of experience in building these train corridors, especially through mountainous areas. I think they've done it a lot in their own country. And so they're helping Peru. And as part of their Belt and Road Initiative is to help not only, you know, South American countries, but also African countries as well. You know, there's, you know, I could also get into a little bit of, like, there's a little, I don't want to say, shadiness going on, but essentially, what China does is they offer the money to start these projects, and if the country can't pay those bills back, then China is able to seize those infrastructure assets. And so that's yeah, win, win for them, they can get additional trade routes, or they can just take your take your stuff,
Grace Sharkey:very capital, very capitalistic of that.
Blythe Brumleve:So this is a photo of the rail lines in Argentina. So this is just a very small sample size. And so in 1990 you can see all of these rail lines that existed in the country. And then you fast forward to 2014 which is obviously 10 years ago, but it's drastically decreased. Um, I What would you say? Maybe 10% of the existing rail lines that were around in 1990 existed in 2014 The reason and from, you know, kind of reading and trying to understand what's going on with, you know, why would these rail lines decrease so much in such a short amount of time? And the reason for that is for, you know, Argentina, just itself as a country, has had a lot of issues, changing of governments, changing anytime you have a change of government, you have change of priorities. So these industries, especially for transportation, have gone through several phases of being regulated versus being unregulated or deregulated. And so when you have that situation take place, then something. It's like the rail lines, which were government controlled. So they regulate them, and then they unregulate them. Well, they fall into ruin, and the the maintenance of them, you can't keep up with them, and that there's no money to keep up with them. Yeah, there's also an issue of new construction costs, uh, Mother Nature is a big barrier. So that in Bolivia, which is the country to the east of Peru, has a lot of very similar geographic concerns. And so let's see the road of death. I'm going to bring up the road. It's road of death time. What like a great also road of death time phrase,
Grace Sharkey:Oh, Happy Thanksgiving. It's the road of death. Oh, or shook about I
Blythe Brumleve:just hold on. Oh, the video is not available anymore. No, no, no sugar. Oh, you talk. I'm gonna find it, because this is not gonna get around me. So, so what are
Grace Sharkey:the you're not getting through. In this one China, we're finding the video. Yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:we're, we're going to find the road of death, free documentary, road of death. And I'm sure it was here. We have found it. Nice
Grace Sharkey:try. Nice try, China. Nice try. You try it again. You try it again. But we're going to figure it out.
Unknown:Alright, let's they thought they could hold us back.
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, no, this is a land of the free content over here China.
Blythe Brumleve:It's kind of ironic talking about YouTube, and I think they just took down a bunch of other posts recently, but that's, that's a story for another time. Um, all right, let me bring up this video. And this comes from free documentary. And they, basically, they, they have a bunch of people that they're following in Bolivia. One of them is a truck driver, and so to sort of set the scene, like truck driving, obviously, is a very dangerous job here in the United States, significantly more dangerous in South America because of all the issues that they're dealing with. So all that to say, I've talked enough about this. I'm going to hit play on this video, and it's going to play for a couple minutes because it's really interesting stuff.
Unknown:There's now, there is hardly a single road in Bolivia that he hasn't traveled. Oh, yikes. The road to La Paz is his home route. He transports timber from the jungle. His load weighs 25 tons without any incidents, the journey takes him three days. It's still his dry season at the end of October, so the road is quite dusty. In a few weeks, it'll start raining. The road will be drowned in mud and morass, and there is hardly any kind of movement possible. But for now, the drivers are fighting the stifling heat and the dusty air. Omad is driving quite fast. He's using the opportunity to make kilometers. His co driver hardly knows the road. He wants to learn about its pitfalls from Umar. It's
Grace Sharkey:like death gripping the side.
Unknown:Yeah. There are dangers everywhere. You must not make mistakes. The truck could break down. There's a lot to be sorry about when you're on the road, anything can happen you the truck is stuck. The wheels are spinning. It's deep, really deep. Put it in there, in there. So
Blythe Brumleve:I'm gonna, I'm gonna pause the video just for a second here, because these are the kind of things that they have to deal with on a regular basis. They can only do these routes.
Grace Sharkey:The American driver is so spoiled. American driver I never
Blythe Brumleve:let me tell you. In another video I was watching this morning about Peru's dangerous roads, there's literally an impasse of you know, when you're going, when you're going around a mountain, especially a curve, you can't see what's coming, you know, around the corner. And so for a lot of the trucks when they're ascending up the mountain, they don't stop. The people that are coming down the mountain are supposed to be the ones that are stopping. And so this one truck that was trying to get around one of these circles, it's not it's not wide enough for the truck to get across. And so with the it's almost like a U shape. They literally took logs and they they cornered the the circle to kind of like, add another, like, part of the road that was just connected so the truck. Just get around it. And they said, Oh, this happens all the time. In the video that we're watching right now, they're going through a giant mud pit, yeah, and they have to put rocks underneath the wheels and then shove a bunch of debris in order to get just around this one piece. There's other drivers too, that when they're driving on these mountains, they're not these mountain roads are not paved, and so that, because they're not paved, they kick the tires, kick up a lot of dust, and so then they can't see the damn road. And so it's just these different things that they're that they're being faced with, and it's just, and we're just talking about the regular roads in the mountains, for God's sake, let
Grace Sharkey:alone like bringing the tools to build onto them, right, like, and then
Blythe Brumleve:there's this, this other really fun part where I think, Oh, guess who is. And there's another fun part, because the Amazon River obviously has all these different, you know, sort of this, the main river, and then they have all these sort of offshoots, the inland waterways, which I'll get into in just a second, for South America, is incredible. And, you know, we all know I think about North American waterways, but with the Amazon in particular, these trucks also, obviously, there's very few bridges in the country, because if they don't necessarily have a lot of roads that are under construction or have been constructed, then they don't necessarily have a lot of the bridge infrastructure either. And so for a lot of these drivers here, I will bring up stop that bridge this point where they have to get on pontoon boats in order to take their truck from one side of the Amazon river to the other pontoon boats. And a lot of these pontoon boats can fit a max of two trucks at a time. So let me play it from here,
Unknown:we're na buki lies on the banks of the Rio baby on the inflows of the Amazon River. Trucks are waiting to cross the river here. The ferry consists of a simple wooden pontoon, the Ponte narrow instructs the truck drivers. The Crossing takes half an hour, and only two trucks can go on at a time. Oh,
Grace Sharkey:that one's barely on there too.
Blythe Brumleve:Can we just stop and appreciate and then half of this truck, half of Omar's truck, is hanging off of the back of this pontoon.
Grace Sharkey:Talking about insurance on loans. Hope you guys insured. Yay.
Unknown:Ferryman guanerrias is responsible for bringing trucks and people to the other side safely. He's been shipping the Rio beanie for many years now. He also knows when operations should come to a halt. This river needs a certain level. You can't always cross at high tide. The current will carry floods, wood and junk and everything that destroys the engines of the boats as soon as the ferry lands on the bank, juaner RIAs must anchor it tightly. Iron chains will make sure the pontoon doesn't break loose when the trucks Embark. The ramp consists of only two logs. They have to carry the weight of 90 tons. It takes expertise and good judgment to position them properly.
Blythe Brumleve:I'm gonna stop the clip right here, because I love this guy, because he goes on it to further explain in the video of anytime something goes wrong, he blames the driver, which I think is like universal across all countries. He's like drivers that you know, that they let the wheels spin, or they, you know, they don't, you know, get onto the the boards properly. And if you're just listening, basically, what we're seeing is a giant pontoon boat that has a bunch of, like, two by two by fours or two by eight,
Grace Sharkey:even though term pontoon is like stretching it, or we're talking about a slab on, like, floating devices, yes,
Blythe Brumleve:yes. And so then they arrive up to they cross the river, they get onto like there's no this is this area is not paved. And then there's two giant pieces of wood that the truck driver is then supposed to drive off of the pontoon boat onto these two giant pieces of wood in order to continue their route, and that's just part of the route. And so, you know, going back a little bit to with Omar, the truck driver that we just saw, I said, not only in this video, do they show all of the different types of geography that he's having to deal with, but they show along the route. He stops over to have a break to eat some lunch. There's somebody in the in the the restaurant that says, Oh, I have to get this monkey up to this town. Can you take it with you? So he literally has a monkey to bring it off and drop it off while he's on the lunch break. That's just one, um. He also does preventative maintenance. Picked up an
Grace Sharkey:LTL on the way, and
Blythe Brumleve:it's like, I hope this is because it was a cute monkey. And I was like, I'm not gonna ask about,
Grace Sharkey:you know, how I feel about monkeys and humans illegal trade, you know, wildlife
Blythe Brumleve:trade, no, no shade to Omar. But maybe, maybe be a little curious about where these monkeys are going to before you agree? Yeah, the next one is he does preventative maintenance on a tire that takes about 30 minutes, but it ends up saving him hours in the future, in case a tire mishap happens when he's like, hundreds of miles away from a town that can actually help him. So he does preventative maintenance while on the route. Um, he also choose coca leaves to de stress and to stay awake. I don't know if you've ever heard of coca leaves. Yep, yeah. So I everything. I'm a huge coffee drinker. Yes, when I went to Peru, I didn't drink any coffee coca leaves all day, every day, it was they served him in which, for folks who don't know, coca leaves are a derivative, or are one of the base ingredients of cocaine? Yeah, obviously there's a bunch of other shit, including like gasoline and stuff that's also added to the production process, but the coca leaf in general, is very medicinal, like it's everywhere in the country. I really wanted to bring some back. I couldn't. Obviously, it's illegal. There's only actually one company in the world that can export coca leaves from Peru, and that's Coca Cola. Fun fact, there's still a derivative of a cocaine in Coca Cola. Love that.
Grace Sharkey:I love it so much. But coca
Blythe Brumleve:leaves, like when you walk into hotels, the dried coca leaves are literally sitting in a bowl next to hot water and lemon and you just and very similar to like making a glass of water making a cup of coffee in a hotel lobby, they have coca leaves right there next to it. They also help with like elevation sickness. They help to keep you awake. Omar talks about how he uses it to de stress. So very I love that the coca lease like, why can't we export these to other countries? I would be a number one buyer of it because it
Grace Sharkey:was and I know a lot of guys who would you know, brokers all over the country. Just like booking the most you're trying
Blythe Brumleve:to get more revenue, to get more loads, open up an offshoring office in Peru and allow them to forget Columbia, just go straight to Peru.
Grace Sharkey:Oh, my God, I love it. Next
Blythe Brumleve:one that Omar does is he even he passes a wreck that happened on the side of the mountain, and the driver survived, but the truck falls down because he's literally, he's driving on the road of death, and he comes across like a bunch of belongings that are on the side of the road, so he knows something has happened. And because safety is obviously hugely important, and you can only can't drive very fast with a lot of the stuff that you're transporting because of all of the geographical situations that you're dealing with. And so they come up on the sky that his truck has just fallen off of the road. He survived, thankfully, got all of the stuff out of the road, and it's just a bunch of drivers, just like, looking around and trying to gage, like, what happened and how they can prevent it in the future. Because even though these roads exist, there's still a lot of like, literally crumbling of the side of the road where it's not all the way solidified. And as far as, like, the, I guess, the construction of the road itself. So there's pieces of the road that are falling down like a landslide because of it. Um, then another, you know, I guess really cool thing that happened after he discovered that wreckage, which, as a driver, like when you come up on something like that, I imagine it has to be insanely stressful, a very strong reminder of, you know, keep being safe, of while you're on the road. But then another part that really stood out to me is, right after this in the documentary, they stopped over at like, this gorgeous waterfall on the side of the road, and they're like, oh, great, it's time to take a shower. And so they literally, like, stop over and hang out in this waterfall and de stress. And the Omar talks about how this is the first shower that they've kind of had in like, a day and a half. And it's also a great reminder to him that after they just solved. This wreckage of a truck driver who, thank God he survived, yeah, but it could have been very, very different story. So that kind of scares him as that part of the job. But then, on the flip side, being able to stop off at this gorgeous waterfall and be able to take a shower in a gorgeous waterfall is another like, you know, just a reminder of why he loves his job so much. There was also, you know, really, I guess, an interesting parallel for truck drivers in these, you know, Bolivia Peru, Brazil, is that they're seen as celebrities. And Omar in particular, has two wives. And so he, when he travels to other cities, he goes and visits his wife. And you know, children with this with this one has his other, you know, wife and children with this one. And the woman who kind of knows that the second wife kind of knows about her situation, but she says whenever Omar comes to visit her, that all of the women come up and talk to him, and that he's like a mini celebrity, because he's a truck driver and he makes good money relative to, you know, the areas that they're living in. So these other women are all trying to, like, vie to be that next wife. And the woman was like, I see it all the time, and it makes me very jealous. It makes me very angry. And she knows she's the second one. So Omar is over here, just living life. And so really, really interesting documentary. It's the channel is called free documentary, and so if you just look it up on YouTube, you can find it very easily. I'll also link to it in the show notes. But any I feel like I've been talking for a while and I can continue talking. But any thoughts so far,
Grace Sharkey:I mean, it's, I think this is actually, like my favorite part of logistics topics. It's like, you know, I think we're so, I don't want to say sheltered here in the United States, but like, our issues with infrastructure here are nothing compared to something like this. And I even think about like, often, just areas, whether it's South America or even Africa, right, that are developing like, truly developing like, from the Amazon to like, having a cement road there, right? Like, not only the it's like, it's, it almost feels like what came first, chicken or the egg like, in order to even build the infrastructure out there, you have to be able to drive out there and, and how do you drive somewhere that has, like, no past, like GPS, Google Maps, like car that's like, driven around and figured out that location. So it's like, I just, I do find it fascinating these areas where, when we talk about, like, visibility products, like, imagine visibility into, like, where that truck is, or where the other trucks are, and being able to actually know that there is a truck on the other side of that, that curve, you know, like, that's where those tools could really make, like, a Worldwide difference. When I talk to a lot of, maybe the founders of those companies, you know, sometimes that's like, where their brain goes, big picture wise, where, like, we're sitting here in the United States, like, I don't care, like, where, where's the palette, you know, but like, just the fact that that tech could just, like, save, quite literally, save drivers, lives right on, like, those mountains, I think is really cool. So I think sometimes when we maybe have these, like, big picture ideas for technology United States, and we can't figure out a way to, like, apply it, I think it's fascinating to kind of, like, put your mindset in a different country where it's like, oh, this could be really advantageous for them. And that's how I think sometimes we see founding groups come out of these countries, right? I think of like people like the founders behind load smart, right? They're from, I believe, Latin America, salveto and their founders, right? I come from
Blythe Brumleve:rapido too. Rapido solutions? Yeah,
Grace Sharkey:well, I will say Roberto has been the United States for some time, and someone went to Michigan down the road. But, yes, but still, like, it's, it's, I think it's maybe these problems that we have across the globe, right? How do those influence the technology that also, like, comes out here in the United States. And I think, like, I again, like a United States driver couldn't even, like, we're over here discussing whether or not parking should have a price on it, where, like, these guys are like, Oh, you want showers. Like, here's a here's a shower, you know, like,
Blythe Brumleve:and then I would much rather take a waterfall today here,
Grace Sharkey:right? But I just like, it's fascinating to me that, like, those two cultures, like, exist at the same time, and I need drivers to say, I'm not saying that your problems aren't valid. Yes, please. So like, Calm the fuck down. But like, it. It's, it is just interesting to me to be like, you know, there's always someone worse off, right?
Blythe Brumleve:Well, watch. So I missed the the intro of this video, and I want to play it now because it shows the actual like, road of death, so you can kind of see what these drivers are dealing with. So, so let me play the intro for this same video.
Unknown:You it's regarded as one of the most dangerous roads of the world, la cara, Tierra de la muerte, the road of death. Year. After year, many people die here. Some go looking for adventure. Others depend on this road. For all of them, it's a risky ride.
Blythe Brumleve:The Road, the video is called Hot roads, the road to death in the Andes, which is, it is so I guess to your point, US drivers have to deal with their own set of problems. These are completely different set of problems with these roads. And if you notice, and if you are watching the video version of this, what I think is is so interesting is that a lot of these roads that exist in South America were created by the Incas, which the Incas are ancient human civilization comparable to like the Mayans or the Egyptians. And they developed the the Incas developed a road system 24,000 miles long, all within South America. So for a lot of these roads, not necessarily the the road that we just saw in that video, but for a lot of the roads in South America, especially on the west, west coast side of the the continent, they were all created 1000s of years in the 15th century. So I have this little, like, short video that I wanted to play, because I just think it's so it really is like just speaks to exactly what they're trying to deal with. Infrastructure wise. How do you even widen roads that were made in the 15th century. They were made for people walking, not for trucks. And so I think that's also something that we got to keep in mind as well. So let me play this really quick, um, I guess a historical perspective on what these roads in South America are. I guess what the baseline level is, in order to enhance what is going on from a construction infrastructure investment today
Unknown:Inca road system, stretching over 24,000 miles connected the vast Inca Empire, which spanned present day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile, built without the wheel or horses, it allowed for efficient movement of armies, goods and messages across mountainous terrain. Bridges and staircases were constructed using advanced engineering techniques. The road network was crucial for the Empire's cohesion and trade. Parts of it are still used today, a testament to the Incas remarkable engineering skills the ink. Did you know that most of the Canada no
Blythe Brumleve:not gonna play that video? I was gonna play that next video because they were really good at suggesting, like all the Inka road shorts yesterday, when I was finding out exactly what video to use. But I thought that that was just such a good, I guess, giving a background of because I think sometimes, especially as Americans, we can see the current infrastructure that exists in another country and think that they are, you know, third world, or like, you know, the proper phrase to call them now is, you Know, emerging countries, instead of, you know, third world countries, and so we, we kind of, I think, try to compare our country to theirs, and just see it as like a lesser but the Incas were one of the most fascinating civilizations that have ever graced this planet, and their innovations and their construction techniques, and even like their stone Work is some of the best we have ever seen in the history of human civilization. A lot of their construction methods we can't replicate to this day, very similar to, like the the Roman cement that we can't replicate to this day. And so when you have infrastructure that has stood the test of time. Um, for a lot of like Roman roads versus Inca roads, I think the Inca road should be right up there with it, because it with these road systems. They used it as you see Lord of the Rings. You know the the beacons of of ministers. You know that messaging system of you know, you light one beacon and the next, Gondor calls for aid, you know, all of those things.
Grace Sharkey:What a job. How do I sign up for that? Yes,
Blythe Brumleve:exactly. You just, you know, gotta play a hobbit. And then you have to, you know, go against the rules, and then light the beacon on fire. And then, you know, once your eternity, yeah, if I could light a beacon to summon Aragorn, I Well, I can't say that now. I'm a married woman, but I would have done it in the past, which I think any woman now is like growing up, is realizing that Aragorn was the hot one, not Legolas.
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, I don't want to admit that I was a big Orlean fan dude. I go back to my, like, childhood home, and my whole closet, I has, like, just photos of him, like, lying. Oh, my God. What? We were inseparable in my mind. So
Blythe Brumleve:Well, yeah, that now we have to admit it, you're right. You're right. As adults,
Grace Sharkey:you know you're right. Sam wise was the real hero. Oh,
Blythe Brumleve:should bring up the photo. I just met him recently. I
Grace Sharkey:know, I know that's fine. You would touch you.
Blythe Brumleve:I'm not gonna, don't make me cry. I'm not gonna cry back to South America. Okay? So I hinted earlier about the, you know, the the rail line ecosystem. Then we've also talked about, you know, some of the pontoon boats and for a lot of the geographical challenges we just saw with the road of death, there is another way that we could be, or that South Americans can, you know, I guess, enhance their logistics profile in order to help the flow of goods, not just between Peru and Brazil, but throughout the entire country. Most of us have seen that US inland waterways map, but have you ever seen a South American inland waterways map? And so right now, on the screen, we're showing the vast network of navigable rivers and also rail lines that exist within the country right now. And so this actually comes from Science Direct. And so this image on the screen is showcasing, showcasing, which is side note or sidebar. I can't believe that, like this level of research actually exists, and I'm thankful for it, because you just you're looking at this graphic, they're talking about all of the different commodities that are being moved throughout the country, iron ore, which South America is rich in, just natural resources, even like magnesium, petroleum, obviously petroleum, especially for Venezuela and Guyana, cement, wheat, sugar, there's all of these different commodities that are just flooded into the country. Problem is, is that they can't transport the damn goods. And so this research, you know, went through a lot of the planning of what take, or what it would take in order to develop these different infrastructure projects all across the continent. And if you're, if you're just, I guess listening, I'm sorry, but there's really no way to kind of explain this. Go to the YouTube version of the show and be sure to to watch that version, because a lot of these images are just really incredible. And so just, you know, to talk about how, I guess, you plan a waterway system, distribution within another continent is so like, sort of step one is the waterway path proposal. Then they try to find all of the basins, then they identify the major cities and choke points. Then they talk about the technical challenges. Then they talk about land cover, road versus waterway management, the road versus waterway impact, you know, all of these different variables. I'm not going to go through all of them, because that would be super boring. Um, super boring. But, you know, topographical data. So it's all of these different things of there are people in this world who are trying to plan, you know, just these massive infrastructure projects. And I think that that is another really interesting point about just South American logistics, is that there are people actively trying to plan these things out. And so in the next image, they also talk about some of the other rivers, not just the Amazon River, but other rivers that could be navigable as well, where they're planning and proposing to put different stop points. There was one gentleman in that video that was talking about how his family grew coca leaves. They grew pineapples and also Yuccas, or yucca plants, and they would use a mule to take the mule into town in order to sell the yucca. But Yucca cost like 50 cents per product, but it. Costing them 50 cents just to take the damn things there. And so they just stopped taking them there. But then there was a transportation road that was put in place between that town and their town. And so you see all these little dots on the map. And so once his dot got connected to another.it reduced the transportation cost significantly for them. So this family is now able to sell the goods that they have on their own property and be able to go into town, and it's worth it for them, and they get a little bit of extra money in order to do that, and we're talking like, you know, an extra couple 100 bucks a month, but that couple 100 bucks relative to where they're living goes so much further than say it would, you know, in in the US. And so there's a lot of just this really cool research that's being done. You know, I'm just kind of scrolling through all the slides here, and I'll link it in the show notes, in case you want to check it out more. But there's just so much stuff that goes into, you know, not just recognizing, hey, we have a road of death. How can we make it less death and more life and more, you know, supplying those, I guess, roads of like life savers, not theoretically, but, you know, for a lot of these, like farmers, who, you know, have now a pathway to make money, and it's just, it's part of a, probably a, you know, a projects, or projects that are going to take dozens, maybe hundreds of years to fully flesh out all of these infrastructure issues. But there is, there's a lot of stuff going on in South America it, but a lot of it is starting at very much the ground level and connecting these small towns that you know, are small villages that you know, you don't even have an address. And I remember asking, you know, one of the the people that we were on, uh, tour with, because we were driving through these towns, and I'm like, you know, is delivery even possible out here? Like, do you have addresses? Like, you know, just simple things like that that we take for granted. And he said, No, we don't have addresses, but we do have GPS locations, and so they just enter in the GPS coordinates of where they want the packages to be delivered. And it's just such a a different perspective. And I think a lot of things we take for granted, but then also a lot of things, it's like, dang, I kind of wish it was. Kind of wish I could stop off on the side of the road and have a waterfall shower and, yeah, be able to take away from civilization that you need GPS coordinates to find me
Grace Sharkey:100% and it's like, I can't even imagine memorizing my GPS coordinates, you know, like, but it is, I think what's interesting about it is, I don't know if you're going to get into it at all, but did you? Did you read anything about the the central bio oceanic railway that they're building at all?
Unknown:No, tell us about it.
Grace Sharkey:So let me see if I can find a picture I can send to you. So I will say this has been in talks since about 2013 so there's kind of like this back and forth. If this would like ever happen, I'll, I'll throw it in the chat for you.
Blythe Brumleve:Okay? Cuz that's, I think while, while you're bringing that up there, we kind of hinted at it earlier, talking about the Argentina railways that have been essentially just left, yeah, and so that exists, not just in Argentina, but for a lot of countries throughout the continent, is that they've had these rail lines. They had massive investments, you know, and they were really when rail was at its peak, especially in the United States. Um, that you know this, these problems have been recognized for a while, but for a lot of these rail lines, they've just fallen into disarray because no one has maintained them, and because no one has maintained them or not, no one, but very few of them have been maintained. And so it makes projects, I'm assuming, about what you're about to talk about, you know, challenging to take on, unless you just, unless you're just not worried about revamping the current infrastructure and just you want to start new
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, and as as you'll see here, this so this is something, if I remember correctly, I'm trying to see if I still have it up. This is something that has been just on and off talks for a while now, but I think, again, it's one of those things where, if they could make a reality, China could have a whole different kind of play here on this side of the world in particular. But basically, they've been talking for years of about doing and China would essentially pay for it, going back to kind of the statement you would say of building this railroad across so that when they come in through that port, they can easily transport it across. Again, this is like, all part of a plan to avoid the Panama Canal in particular. And I think it's interesting again, it's like it sounds like, really what the issue is? Who's paying for it, who owns it? And they've recently just started doing, like, the environmental studies on it too. Because, I mean, you're talking about earlier, big part of this is probably throwing some pretty big dynamite into some pretty big mountains. I mean, look at just how small the Panama Canal is, and the work that went into that, honestly, the lives that went into that as well, and now things have updated. So I don't think we're talking about human lives like we're talking that big of an issue. But again, it is a Chinese project, so who knows. But you know, it's, it is interesting to just like, see how something like this, right? And again, like, everything is logistics, like, to point back to your brand, like, like the talks that we're having terrifies right now, like, how things would change if there was a different way for China to reroute itself and to avoid some of the areas that the United States has a huge grasp on, right and to be able to ship around, not to have to use the Panama Canal, and to be able to not only, what would be interesting about this too is, like you were talking about earlier, is China would own this, so if we wanted to use it as well, or certain countries, right? Like, what? How? How does that reflect onto China's overall power and strength when it comes to global trade. And I think again, like, if this will be built, is, is still up in question, up until today. I think clearly, my thing is, is, I think it would do wonders, probably for the economies along the line, right? Like, depending on how much China fucks them, right? I guess on the deal, that's a big part of this. But I it goes back to, like, the Arctic discussion, where, you know, today we can discuss Chinese politics and just global trade in one nature, but something like this being built, or, you know, the Arctic being used at the to to the extent that people have discussed it. Like, how does that change politics globally? How does that change what the United States is producing? How does that change what we even can get our hands on as consumers? And I just find it fascinating. Like, I was diving into this project for a while too. And like, what's the biggest thing it sounds like, of course, is just, right now, it sounds like they're doing a lot of environmental studies still on it, try and make sure that's fine, because there is, I mean, they would do some damage. Look how big this thing is. But again, it kind of, I think United States, in these discussions, lives in a world of like, this stuff not ever happening, and what happens in a world where this stuff does start to really grow and actually come to fruition? So, yeah, I, like you said when you discussed, or you put in an email for something to talk about today, so I was like, diving into just this aspect alone, and it's, I mean, it's, it's fascinating to think, just like, how this, I mean, we're not done evolving in terms of, like global trade, and I think people are going to find different ways around it. I mean, another big thing too. It's like, you know, sustainability initiatives, like, how, how do we view those in regards to things like this, right, and if we do start to throw aside sustainability issues or, like, our just the ethics behind it, right? And like, what does that leave open to in other countries? Like, if we're not going to, if we're not going to hold ourselves to a certain standard sustainability wise, like, why even does do these countries have to do environmental studies, right? Like, and so it's, and if they don't have to, I can guarantee this thing will be built much faster than it is being looked at now. And so, yeah, I will say
Blythe Brumleve:when we were, because we did so much driving around in Peru. And so when you're what's what, I guess, spawned the the question of like, well, how do these people even get like stuff delivered? Is that even possible? Is that something that they even want? And so these towns are so small, these indigenous communities, and a lot of them are not being consulted when these big projects are, you know, taking place, or they're being bribed with a bunch of money in order to give up their land, not realizing they're giving it up for pennies on the dollar, when they could be earning significantly more, and they're just being short changed and being sort of like robbed of their natural resources. And so there was another on that same road trip, because I will say that we drove by another town, and I'm so mad at myself to this day that I did not get a photo of it, because it was the cutest thing I've ever seen. But it was a class of kids, and it was a very small town. I'm talking like 10 buildings in this small town, and it. Be homes. It could be schools, but it was very clearly like these school children were on the side of the road holding up posters that were talking about like, save the planet and Save Our Towns and things like, so it's they care. And it was really inspiring to see that on on the drive, because for a country like this, tourism is especially for Peru, as is becoming a very serious industry for them, a very good money maker. Think they were also just voted like the the top culinary spot in the entire world. Like some of the food that they grow is because they have such high elevations that it's such a unique growing climate, like it the best fruit, the best juice I've ever had in my life, the best ceviche I've ever had in my life. A lot of the best meals I've ever had in my life came from this country. And so as you as like these big, mega projects are being considered, yes, it's definitely good from a trade relationship, you know, geopolitical standpoint, typically, when you have trade with a country, you don't go to war with them. And so that is all good and well, but I hope that these indigenous communities are and they probably aren't, but I would hope that there's somebody fighting for them to have a voice and a say in all of this. And so that they, you know, if they are interested in making a little bit of extra money, that they're not short changed, or that their land isn't seized, and you know, they have an opportunity to to cash in on this, as I'm sure that the Chinese are going to be able to cash in on this, and they don't even live in the damn country. And so, you know, it's very interesting to see a map like this of a giant rail line, and then see an image like this of where all of the other existing rail lines and waterways that could really revolutionize trade throughout this entire country, but yet they are still dealing with roads like this. Yeah, exactly. So it's just, it's an incredible set of circumstances that I think is unique to the country of what they're what they're dealing with. You mentioned earlier about how you know what the US is doing, and I had asked, you know, I was doing a lot of research. I took all my notes and I loaded it into chatgpt, and I said, What am I missing from this? Is there any gaps of of my notes that you think would would be interesting to add? And one of the things that chat, G, P, T, recommended to add was what the US, how the US is reacting. And so a couple different points, is that they're reacting to this. Because I kind of feel like asleep at the wheel, almost like I don't but outside of Guyana, who just had a major oil discovery, who's neighbors to Venezuela, which is obviously an enemy of the US, our current enemy, and it feels like it changes every 10 years, but that is a country that they are helping to invest in. But outside of that, I don't know of anything else that's going on, but chatgpt said that number one trade policies, that's how they're reacting to a lot of this investment that China has made with their Belt and Road Initiative, where they're putting tariffs on Chinese goods. I think they mentioned Peru specifically when it comes to those shipments, because the way that Sal explained it in his you know, what's going on with shipping channel is that China can take these massive boats that can't fit through the Panama Canal. They take these massive ships, send it over to the Megaport in Peru, and then transload it to everywhere else throughout the country, and then also transload those shipments directly into Central America, and then that's obviously a pathway right into the United States. So I believe that they have been threatened with tariffs as well. And then there's also competing investments. So there's the program like the Americas partnership for economic prosperity, and that aims to counter China, but it's lacking in comparable funding. So China's throwing a bunch of money at this us is trying to, you know, form more trade deals, trade policies through those deals or through tariffs one way. They're one way or another. They're, you know, they're, they're going to try to address this. But I feel like they're kind of addressing this way too late, and it creates a set of challenging problems that these countries know that they're dealing with, but now, who do they trust to help them through it? It's not the US. They're just in China. And so I think it's just a very, very fascinating of how all of this is taking shape and how it's all unfolding, and I from the very tops of like the geopolitical strategy of developing new trade lanes and trade routes. It still comes down to the nitty gritty of, can you get a ship on a pontoon boat to go across the Amazon River? Can you survive the road of death?
Grace Sharkey:Yeah. Like, it
Blythe Brumleve:still boils down to, like, these very simple things. And if you can't get over there, can you get a mule to take you? You and your family to go sell some goods. And so it's just all of these different things that that folks are dealing with in South America and
Grace Sharkey:trying to, like, build again, like, like, chicken egg situation, like building that railroad with that infrastructure supporting it, right? It's like, God, how long would this take to even finish, right? So it's, it's interesting. And again, though, like one to consider when you, when you look at tariffs today and and just the political power across the world, right? Yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:it feels like the United States is doing more like short term things, and China is thinking long term, oh yeah, real. And that's, I think that's probably a good place to anything else you want to mention? You know, the think we covered a lot, yeah,
Grace Sharkey:no, no, I think it's interesting. Yeah,
Blythe Brumleve:awesome. So all right, well, we will close out that part of the show, and moving on to our final segment, Grace Sharkey with freightwaves. Blythe Milligan here, and we are getting into the source to porch segment, favorite part of the full length show. So if you're new here, what we do is we record a full show and then we release the full show, and then for folks who maybe have a shorter attention span, we take segments like this and we isolate those into shorter segments to kind of be like that. I like to call it like a content drug dealer, where we hook you with the smaller stuff, the entry level stuff, and then we hook you into the the longer attention span. So hopefully you're you're watching us for longer periods of time. So let's kick it off with source to porch, where each of us pick an item, a service, a commodity, where it comes from, where it goes to, and what, what do you got for us? Grace? So
Grace Sharkey:my source of porch is almost, it's a little bit of a almost, you could say, a conspiracy theory that I would love to see play out during the holiday season. And I'll get I'm going to start in a weird place, and I'm going to get to my final position at the end. The first thing I have to shout out, though, is is Blythe outfit today. As you can tell, she's in her wicked mood. She could not pick out what side, so she's decided I'll wear green earrings and the pink top to represent both sides. So now clearly, anyone who's been probably, quite literally anywhere, if you've been to Starbucks, you've been to target, if you've turned on your TV, if you still pay for YouTube ads like I do, because I don't mind just skipping after 30 seconds because I'm not giving more money to a subscription. Like you probably realize, hey, wicked out.
Unknown:We know. We know. And
Grace Sharkey:I will say, as someone who recently saw the movie. It is, it is amazing. They are lying. It's great. You should go see it, no matter how you feel about Ariana Grande or or any relationship business that came down overall, if you're a theater kid, if you've seen wicked, honestly, if you just like the Wizard of Oz. This is just quick background on wicked. Wicked is a fan fiction novel from The Wizard of Oz lore. So it's like as someone who also enjoys a little bit of Harry Potter fan lore, every once in a while in fan fiction like this might be something fun for you, and maybe potentially see it before you take your kids, depending on what your your ethics are. But so as one thing that came out of this, clearly, the merch being everywhere is recently it came to fruition that the website that was put on the box for the wicked dolls, so the Mattel Barbie dolls came with a a website on the back that did not go to the movie. It unfortunately went to a pornographic website. I think it's, I'm not going to say it out loud for all you weirdos and Frank, but you could Google it to figure out what it is, but it was not the correct website, and which, as parents, slowly figured, I mean, I love to be the mom who, like, actually pulled up the website for the first time. There's red flags. Your mom's gonna drive you nuts until eternity, if she's googling websites in the back of a Barbie box. But, or dad, who knows, but, so because of that, a lot the dolls are recalled. They've taken off the shelves, and they're popular dolls. They're very popular dolls, and they aren't selling right now. So, like, they're not on shelves. They took them all off, and there is, though, potentially one seller Now again, this the, I think it came out an article last or earlier this week, which would be probably a week before you're seeing this, that the merch is already outsold anything Barbie even tried to touch and and if you know, wicked is going to be part two coming out next Thanksgiving, because they want a whole another year, a whole another Christmas season to to take your money, had to
Blythe Brumleve:do another year of these God. Impressed, yes, yes, yes,
Grace Sharkey:yes, you will. And I will say, though, I think it's, it is like a Lord of the Rings situation where they're filmed already. It's just like, okay, editing and putting them out so you won't have to, like, deal with, probably, like, all the behind the scenes gossip, you know, or any more, like marriages being burnt to the ground, whatever.
Blythe Brumleve:Yeah, nothing, just leaving your childhood sweetheart and a newborn baby at home for Ariana Grande, who has a history of stealing men from other marriages. But go on, yes,
Grace Sharkey:exactly. People are like, it wasn't just Pete Davidson, yeah, no. It goes on forever.
Blythe Brumleve:It was everyone, everyone she's ever had a relationship with, yeah,
Grace Sharkey:and so it's going to be the gift. It's going to be the gift of the it's going to be the, that's the ELMO of the year. It's going to be the
Unknown:I'm trying to I thought they took them off the shelf, so they so they took
Grace Sharkey:them off the shelf, but there is one person who's got them back on their shelf, and that is our favorite, Jeff freaking Bezos. Amazon does is selling all the moms out there panic. You can get them now back on amazon.com or you can buy them off eBay for hundreds of dollars to everyone who did get one already. And is is eBay in them for loads of money, but they are with fixed addresses on amazon.com now this is what's what gets to our Uh oh, my theory for Christmas is, Will Amazon be able to get them to you? So it came out just yesterday, if not two days ago, that there is talks of Amazon employees striking over this Black Friday weekend across multiple countries as well. You can go to freightwaves.com I think Wall Street Journal was the first to break the story, but it is pretty huge. I was so I was talking to a good friend of mine who who works high up at Amazon warehouse, and the person is scheduled for multiple 12 hours, six days shifts over the next period. So I can confirm that they are just pounding the work out of their employees. It's
Blythe Brumleve:interesting that the Wall Street Journal released this
Unknown:also owned by, it might
Grace Sharkey:have been New York Times. It was a big one, but you're right. And now that I'm thinking about it, it might have been, yeah, interest, yeah. What an interesting situation. That is, right. I wonder. Interesting editorial decision,
Blythe Brumleve:yes, had to be made. Yeah, right, because you don't know Bezos owns Wall Street Journal and Amazon, but
Grace Sharkey:yeah, so my my search support is that that source might not get to your porch this upcoming season. So anyone who's relying on Amazon, I would, just as you're like last minute, go buy things. I would be cautious of of what those times are going to look like, be cautious of of what those employees and what your local centers might be doing, because, again, Amazon doesn't have a union, so if they were to strike, it's not going to be like likely every business and clearly every country. But again, you know the fact that there's countries involved with this also makes me nervous for clearly, their supply chain, in general, and what that will look like. So decided, I, you know, I'm going to ride this nice, little wicked train into a conspiracy theory that says you might not get that doll, that that's a beautiful elvid doll might not get to you on time. So maybe best bet, though, Target, had some awful earnings this last quarter. So if you want to save target, they've got tons of wicked merch that they are personally selling. Have like special merch releases through target specifically as well. But if you want to get your hands on that doll, might not happen. And if you do get, if you do get to purchase one, we'll just get that two day shipping, because technically, if you buy today, might get to you before they strike. But yeah, interested, because it is the shortest period that we've had in a while between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's only 20 business days, 21 business days, which means we have 21 business days to get that to you. And will that doll make it? I don't know, but your kid might be sad, and you might have to head over to eBay and spend a couple 100 bucks or go Etsy. We're going to, I'll do, yes,
Blythe Brumleve:I just pulled up Etsy. Did a search for wicked, so much stuff, so much merchants on your butt. Etsy, check the origin country, make sure that because, speaking of shipping times Etsy items fame, I am still I ordered a bunch of items in June, and I am still waiting on one of those items for my wedding. I ordered it I was thinking in. June, it would be fine. So lesson learned here is that, if you want something from Etsy, you you order it quick.
Grace Sharkey:I was gonna say at this point, is it even coming? Blythe, like
Blythe Brumleve:I well, I was trying to be, you know, polite with the with the seller. And she said, Oh, you know, the the post office said, you know, you work home or something. And I was like, well, and the problem is, is that I did one massive Etsy order. And so it was tough to, like, shame on me. It was tough to remember everything that I ordered, because I was ordering a bunch of, like, jewelry and accessories and things like that for the wedding. And so when I was thinking of, you know, my hair, and I was like, Oh, that thing for my hair, it hasn't come in yet, so I remembered about it, but it was, like, two months later, because that's my thought process. And so it was very interesting return window, but I never received the product. And I tried to work it out with the seller. She was very nice, but ultimately, I'm like, I didn't get the item. So I literally, I think it was last week, I just opened a case, but got instant refund for the item. It doesn't take it out of the seller's pocket too, which I was concerned about. So Etsy, you know, a lot of times we'll be good about that and like, help cover it for you. And then also, you know, not make the seller have to pay those charges as well. So, but if you marching options for wicked, I'm sure is going to be insane just looking at this, maybe I can just, I'll share this tab really quick of all of the merch that is available for wicked. And if you don't want to support, you know, target or Amazon, maybe, maybe go try to,
Grace Sharkey:I want to get you that Glinda shirt. Let
Blythe Brumleve:me get that Glinda shirt. Oh, my God, burn it. But like that stained glass, like the stained glass is really cute. The earrings are cute. You know, a lot of this other stuff is, is really cute. So if you have a wicked fan in your life, or you are one, then you know, maybe you could search it up on Etsy. And, you know, shop small, because it is, you know, we are talking about Black Friday and all that. Shop small is important too. Because, you know, unlike Amazon, which you're dropping the bucket, there you shop with a small business. It means the world to them if you make a purchase from them, especially during this time when it can really make or break their business. So, yeah, that was a good find. I was curious why they wouldn't. Why can't they just put a disclaimer out there and say, like, don't go to this website. Like, why would they have to take all the merchants off the shelves?
Grace Sharkey:It's crazy to me. I agree. I, you know, cancel culture. I don't know it's crazy that someone even realized it to begin with, but I feel bad for all those kids. I want that cute little doll, it's
Blythe Brumleve:like, but also, when you first brought up Amazon, I thought you were what you where you were going with it is that Amazon bought all of that returned merch. It was gonna sell it on their site. But I guess that's not happening at all. They're facing the same exact issues. And so I guess whoever did buy it, you know, maybe have a little bit of a collector's item on your hand. Yeah,
Grace Sharkey:they are selling. Well, it's so it's funny, because my reason I was thinking about this is because my friend her, she has a daughter who's obsessed with it, and both grandmas bought the same doll so, and they're like, the first round one, so now they're considering, one of the grandmas considering flipping it for some good money. Yeah, hell yeah. Exactly. Choose
Unknown:some Christmas money.
Grace Sharkey:Yeah. I was saying, like, yeah, take it and then, like, but then the other grandma is, like, nervous about giving her the doll with a bad website. So it's like some grandma actually going on. But
Unknown:I have never done that
Blythe Brumleve:in my life, where I've never seen a web address on the back of a bot. I mean, unless you're
Grace Sharkey:a collector, which actually I think would make this item worth more like the box is going straight into the trash, like
Blythe Brumleve:I was checking that. I wonder if this website is legit or not. Yeah, not
Grace Sharkey:a the kid's not. I can guarantee that. Oh, imagine you get a kid who's like, where, where can I learn?
Blythe Brumleve:They like, love the gift, and then they look on the back of the box and like, yeah, it's a questionable website. I hate it. I don't want the gift anymore. Like, that's not going to happen. So
Grace Sharkey:what you have to go to the website to even know about it. So it's like,
Unknown:I do wonder what
Grace Sharkey:that was like. Wicked movie.com, huh? I love to learn more about this movie.
Unknown:Like, why don't you just Google it like a normal person? Use psychopaths.
Blythe Brumleve:But I do wonder how they're going to what that logistics process looks like. Are you taking the dolls out of the box and destroying the box and then repackaging them? Are you putting, like, I don't know the tape on it.
Grace Sharkey:I because they're like, lacking and redoing I just wonder if they, like, burn them and, like, I don't know if Amazon is just, like, sending them for, like, a worst case scenario, I almost want to buy one from Amazon to see what's on the box. Yeah. But you're that's exactly what I and that's what I was trying. Define originally, when I was doing this, was like, what's the plan with these things? Because in my head, it's like, I would assume that they're like, it seemed like so much work, because, you know, Barbies, they have all those, like, hooks and shit, you gotta, yeah, untie them and stuff like, that's got to be human capital that you're spending doing that. That's not a robot that's doing that. So I would almost assume it's probably cheaper to burn them and reproduce them, right? Like,
Blythe Brumleve:just don't burn them and just put, like a warning out having, like a giant warehouse sale or something, for God's sakes, it's like when, what is it? Burberry, like, was caught, like, burning all of their merchandise because they couldn't stand the fact that it might end up at, like a discount store. Poor people might wear it, God forbid, like, let's just burn it and put it all to waste. It's so like, I'm, I'm a compassionate capitalist, but when those types of motives are happening, I'm like, what the thinking? Yes, donate it. Give it to people who would actually use it instead of wasting it, you and there's other like luxury bag companies that if that item is returned and it's or if they don't sell, then they'll just, like, cut it with a knife with scissors, like a Louis Vuitton bag, they're sliced open with a box cutter. That's like, eat what?
Grace Sharkey:Yeah, you see, I'm sure you see those tick tocks with the dumpster divers all the time. I'm like, No, all that makeup, like, squeeze out the bottles and stuff, like, let us steal it from your dumpster.
Blythe Brumleve:They actually, they, that's the reason why they they'll burn it or they destroy it, is because they don't want, like, their complaint is, like, we don't want the homeless, like, dumpster diving. And then it's like a legal liability. I'm like, I'm pretty sure it's that was a myth, or that was signed into law a long time ago, that business is not held liable if somebody gets something out of your trash, yeah. So save it. It's almost like the the banquet food, or like a buffet food, that you can legally donate it without having to worry about legal ramifications of like food poisoning or something like that. That used to be the case, but since, like the mid 90s, that was signed into law that businesses are protected from that. So it's just, I do, maybe we'll do a follow up story here in a few months, if we can figure out, you know, what happened to those dolls and if they put them back in circulation, that'll be an interesting follow up topic. But I guess kind of keeping in similar vein with Amazon or Amazon adjacent companies, or maybe origin stories, is maybe the better way to put this. But I wanted to talk about the books that you can buy for the holidays that are supply chain related, supply chain adjacent. We've we've already mentioned a book earlier in the show, camera Cara Smith Brown's revenue engine that just dropped about marketing and logistics, especially at a very high level. But there are some other books that were released, and we've talked about one of them is hopefully a soon to be favorite of mine, where it was this, this photographer that I followed for a while. He has a new book that was just released called Feed the Planet. And so let me bring up his Instagram page, because it is so for 10 years, he has been documenting how food makes it from the production to our plates. So very much, like source to porch, like perfect encapsulation of this process. And so he's literally photographed these countries from all over the world. I bring up this one where the this photo is an image of all of the people. Like the overwhelming majority of red peppers in the world are grown by folks who live in India. And so in that photo in particular, I was trying to find the other description of it. But they're sorting through all of the red peppers. Think they provide something to the extent of, like, 70% of the world's supply of, like, chili peppers. And so they're sorting them by hand. And so he's doing this, like, really great, like, aerial photography of where all of our food comes from. And so it's just, if you don't have any idea of where our food comes from, go buy this guy's book. His name is,
Unknown:what is it? Hold on just a second.
Blythe Brumleve:His name is George stimmetz. So here is a little just like a brief description of and let me just put, like a better photo on the screen, so we're not looking at that one. This is, like a good one. Um. It says, Do you know where your food comes from? To find out, photographer George steimitz spent a decade documenting food production in more than 36 countries on six continents, 24 states and five oceans and striking aerial images, he captures the massive scale of 21st century agriculture that has sculpted 40% of the Earth's surface. He explores the farming of staples like wheat and rice, the cultivation of vegetables and fruit, fishing and aquaculture and meat production. He surveys traditional farming. In diverse cultures and penetrates vast agribusinesses that fuel international trade, from Canvas wheat fields to shrimp cocktails, origins in India to cattle stations in Australia, larger than some countries. Steinmetz tracks the food that we eat back to the land and sea, field and factory. Like that phrase field and factory, he takes us places that most of us never see although our lives depend on them. And so this book just dropped. It's called Feed the Planet. I ordered a copy of it, so I haven't gotten it in yet, but it was kind of like a Christmas present to myself, especially considering, you know how much stuff that you know, we cover on this show related to this topic. So I'm I'm pumped. I hope it's not just photos. I hope there's like explanations too, of like where this stuff comes from. So that is the first book on the list. Next book on the list is, I have it sitting right here. Yeah, it's called the box. And so that was written by Mark Levinson about how containerization changed the global economy and lifted most generations out of poverty that we have ever seen across the globe. And so let me, I'll share, I'll share these, like, you know, these purchase pages of what you obviously, you can find most books on Amazon that feed the planet book. I think you do have to buy it from that gentleman's Instagram page. You can also find the Instagram account at feed the planet. So look for him up on Instagram, and there's purchase links right in his bio. So this then there's this other book that really changed how I thought about just sort of the system, systematizing logistics and where you can systematize it and where you can't. So the box is a great book. Then there's also a, just like a personal fan favorite of Lori and loracco, who also covers trade over at freight waves. And so she has several books. Her best rated book is called trade war, and it's containers, don't lie, navigating the blusters. And so that really goes back to, I guess, like container get in that we folks in logistics may have still have PTSD from where containers went for like $15,000 so they shot up from like two grand to 15,000 so that is a great book. She also has other books, same author.
Grace Sharkey:She just that third book right there. I just interviewed her. No to the left. One more. To the left.
Blythe Brumleve:Oh, the Yeah, the Yeah, because she wrote it with her daughter.
Grace Sharkey:Yes. Mm hmm, yep. And every if you buy that book, it actually go goes towards minority scholarships as well. So that's if you're looking to make a purchase for a good cause. That's what that goes to. Heck
Blythe Brumleve:yeah. Lori and La Rocco. So she has several books, obviously, that one, of course. But then I think her other four books are all supply chain related, but not unlike a boring, like, if you ask chat GPT, like, what are the best supply chain books? So boring,
Grace Sharkey:I will say, even though this is not a supply chain book, though there are some stories in there that go into especially like in Alabama, like a couple of families that that have historical stories that touch on, kind of like the development of the South in regards to segregation, Right? So like, there's she, one of her stories touches on like how Birmingham was formed and and how a lot of the thriving black communities were stores, shops, etcetera, were destroyed while they built, like the the bridges systems and stuff like that. So while it's not directly related, a lot of it is, like infrastructure focus, too. So cool stories, if you want to get into
Blythe Brumleve:that, heck yeah. I mean, Lori is obviously a very talented creator in this industry. And I I mean, using creator almost like downplays, I think her significance of the the work that she does for sure. So yeah, she's such a brilliant follow, brilliant author, broadcaster, just professional in general. Next book on this list you actually brought up in a previous episode because we had covered the friendly floaties story. So bringing up the next book on the list of gifts that you can buy for a supply chain fan in your life. And this is called Moby duck, and it's the true story of how 28,800 bath toys lost at sea, and the Beachcombers, oceanographers, environmentalists and fools, including the author who went in search of them. So if you might remember, on a previous episode, these friendly floaties and all of the you know, the little ducks and all you know, they had different animals that were all very much like a floating duck, but they were other animal shapes too. But the container went overboard, and all of these floating ducks ended up coming out of the container and then teaching us about ocean shipping, ocean currents. Much. Much more than we had ever learned previously. I mean, these ducks ended up hundreds of 1000s of miles away. And so that's a, that's a book about the journey in a very similar vein, and one that I've also brought up previously on the show is a children's version of the book, and it's called Ducky, and it's so if you're looking to, you know, I guess get a get your child interested in it. I got it for my niece, and I don't know if she actually still has it, because it's actually kind of like paperback, and she is a toddler, so I don't know how actually survived. Just keep that in mind, though, that it's a paperback version. So if you want to buy it for a child, maybe just make sure that they're old enough to read a book properly, because two year olds don't really know how to do that. Yeah. In a very similar vein, there is another book that was dropped called a drift, and it covers the Legos that were lost at sea. We also covered that on a previous episode where a container went overboard and all the Legos and started washing up on shore. They still wash up on shore in the UK region to this day. So that was, that's another book to add to your list, and it's called a drift. And then, I guess, kind of keeping it with a similar vein of the ducky story. Everyone's favorite, I guess Twitter. Follow is our ex. Follow is Ryan Peterson, CEO of Flexport. And so we also have his book that he dropped about the container that got stuck in the Suez Canal, but the little digger, that is called the big ship. And the little digger, a story from the Suez Canal. And it's by Ryan Peterson, CEO of flex sport. But it, you know, I'm sure, haven't read it, but I'm sure it covers like, you know, conquering big things, even if you're small. Yeah, I'm sure that's kind of like the premise of the book. So that is a little bit of like a book guide, a book buying guide for the supply chain or logistics fan in your life, or maybe they're just, you know, kind of a casual fan or child, and you want to teach them more about it. Maybe you want to avoid teaching them about wicked and teach them about diggers instead,
Grace Sharkey:totally give her totally just give her money to Ryan Pearson instead of this, instead of this cast and crew, because that's who needs that, you know,
Unknown:yeah, yeah, I would. But I will say a very related I
Grace Sharkey:hope you let him know that, like, don't worry. I didn't give wicked my money. I gave it to you.
Blythe Brumleve:No, I haven't actually bought that book. I
Grace Sharkey:like it out last manifest, oh, that's cool. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't get an opportunity to grab one, but I'm pretty sure that they had that, but
Blythe Brumleve:I didn't know that I would have grabbed one if I knew about that. Speaking of conference, you were
Grace Sharkey:the poppies during the time.
Unknown:Yeah, you were distracted. No regrets whatsoever, but I won't make up for that this year. Um, I
Blythe Brumleve:think that about does it for this show we have been recording for a long time? Yeah, I'm hungry. I've got to go take a pee break. It's TMI, I know, but my ears hurt from the headphones being in for so long. Think
Grace Sharkey:of all the pee breaks people talk listening to this episode. Well, I hope we
Blythe Brumleve:just went into the bathroom with them. Yeah, exactly, especially if you're listening to the full episode, which we are clocking in at two hours and 46 minutes right now, which is also a big reason why I've started releasing these shows as individual segments. It works. Love it. Get, give the people what they want. You know, we'll be the content drug dealer for all of their dreams. But grace. What are you working on? What do you got planned? Where can I send folks?
Grace Sharkey:It's funny enough, I go into my inbox and there is Flexport, as we speak, working on an interview with Flexport, actually, on the stock out. So hopefully that will be out in December. But go ahead and check out. Go join fraud watch. So I'll share that link with with Blythe, so you guys can go and join that newsletter, also looking for fraud stories too. So if you have stories to share, I want to highlight those and the lessons you learned for others, of course, in those so reach out to me that way. Find me, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, follow me, whatever, wherever you want to reach out to me if you have some fun stories. But I will say, especially as this airs, you might already know about some of them, there's going to be some really interesting M A stories, I think, as we wrap up the year, and then I think 2025, is me year of that too. So unfortunately, might be seeing my name too much on top of your articles. But no, we're going to, yeah, we're going to be busy. That's for sure. Heck, yeah.
Blythe Brumleve:Well, maybe as a you know history of this, you know series that that we've been doing together, a freight friends, we used to have a cargo. Prime segment of the show, and so maybe we need to bring that back, and we can, you know, use your freight fraud stories, or the fraud watch stories as you know, they love the cornerstone of that. So be on the lookout, especially because the audience likes it so much, and obviously they love you. So it makes a whole heck of a lot of sense. But that about does it for this episode. Thank you all for tuning. In hope you'll join us on the next one, but we don't see at any conferences or anything anytime sooner. Have a good holiday. Be safe. Shop small, and I think that's all the lessons that I have for this episode. So thank you again, grace for coming on.
Grace Sharkey:Thank you, Blythe. You on.
Blythe Brumleve:I hope you enjoyed this episode of everything is logistics, a podcast for the thinkers in freight, telling the stories behind how your favorite stuff and people get from point A to B. Subscribe to the show. Sign up for our newsletter and follow our socials over at everything is logistics.com and in addition to the podcast, I also wanted to let you all know about another company I operate, and that's digital dispatch, where we help you build a better website. Now, a lot of the times, we hand this task of building a new website or refreshing a current one off to a coworker's child, a neighbor down the street or a stranger around the world, where you probably spend more time explaining the freight industry than it takes to actually build the dang website. Well, that doesn't happen at Digital dispatch. We've been building online since 2009 but we're also early adopters of AI automation and other website tactics that help your company to be a central place, to pull in all of your social media posts, recruit new employees and give potential customers a glimpse into how you operate your business. Our new website builds start as low as$1,500 along with ongoing website management, maintenance and updates starting at $90 a month, plus some bonus freight marketing and sales content similar to what you hear on the podcast. You can watch a quick explainer video over on digital dispatch.io, just check out the pricing page once you arrive, and you can see how we can build your digital ecosystem on a strong foundation. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I'll see you all real soon and go jags. You.
