You’ve made it past the pickup, congrats. But now the load’s rolling, and the clock is ticking. This is the part where a lot of dispatchers mentally check out.

Don’t.

Because in-transit is when things can start to fall apart quietly, and if you’re not watching closely, you’ll only hear about it when it becomes a problem at delivery. Or worse, in a claim. Here’s what you need to be checking while the load is moving and before that trailer door gets cracked open on the other end.

We all know how much I hate hype when it comes to new businesses in logistics, unfortunately it can feel like there’s a shiny new “must-have” trend every week.

AI-powered TMS. Drones in warehouses. Blockchain for pallets. Digital freight marketplaces promising to “Uber-ize” trucking. Not to mention every LinkedIn guru yelling about “resilience,” “visibility,” or “hyper-automation” (whatever the F that means).

The FOMO is real, and so is the fatigue. Because when you're running a brokerage, managing a fleet, or trying to keep products moving smoothly through a supply chain, you don’t have time (or budget) to chase every trend that pops up.

Booking a truck on a load from a brand-new customer? Take a breath. Before you hit confirm, run through this checklist, because nothing kills a day faster than realizing too late that you’re missing a crucial detail and you can’t back out now.

This isn’t just a CYA move (although yes, it's that too). It's about protecting your time, your team, your drivers, and your profit. Putting in extra effort on the front end helps you avoid the possibility of an absolute dumpster fire later on. Skipping these questions is how you end up with equipment mismatches, rejected freight, or worse safety violations.

If you’ve worked in logistics for longer than five minutes, you know this industry is all about relationships, and relationships are all about trust. Building that trust doesn’t always mean being the loudest, smartest, or most experienced person in the room. Sometimes, it means reading the room and meeting people where they are.

That doesn’t mean being fake. It means being flexible.

Adapting your communication style, your behavior, and yes, even your attire, is one of the most underrated skills in logistics. Whether you’re pitching a new client, troubleshooting a warehouse delay, or talking drivers through a reroute, success often comes down to your ability to connect. And connections start with how you show up.

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), choosing the right warehousing partner isn’t just about finding a place to store your products, it’s about finding a reliable extension of your business. The wrong partner can cost you time, money, customer satisfaction, and frankly, your sanity. The right partner, on the other hand, can help you grow, scale, and operate smoothly.

Before signing any contracts or moving any inventory, here are 8 key questions SMEs should ask when deciding on potential warehousing partners.

Every time I turn on industry news, scroll through LinkedIn, or attend a conference, it’s the same faces (typically white males ones). The same CEOs running from appearance to appearance spouting the same talking points, occasionally calling each other out. 

Look, I get it. You’re the face of the company. But if you’re the only face, that’s a problem, not just for you, but for your business and the entire industry.

Let’s be honest, most logistics and supply chain knowledge can be taught. Understanding different transportation modes, hours of service regulations, pricing structures, and operational processes are all things you can learn through training, documentation, and shadowing others on the job. Good companies have procedures in place, and most of the day-to-day work can be handled by almost anyone willing to learn.

Every year, industry experts churn out predictions about where logistics and supply chains are headed. In 2025, AI will revolutionize the industry! The trucking market will stabilize! More visibility and transparency! Collaboration! Resilient supply chains!

Sound familiar? That’s because these so-called trends are often just recycled buzzwords—opinions dressed up as insights. Just like in fashion, trends come and go. Instead of chasing every flashy new idea, why not stick to classic, proven strategies while selectively investing in trends that show real staying power?

“It is what it is.” That was the response from a large retailer when I pointed out their distribution center’s terrible reputation for driver wait-times. And it wasn’t just hearsay—clear data showed they averaged 7–9 hours for unloading, with some wait-times stretching over 12 hours. The person even admitted, “We have so much freight that carriers and drivers have to work with us, so fixing our wait-time issue isn’t really a priority.” On top of that, their procedure for paying detention fees was so riddled with bureaucracy, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d asked for a DNA sample from the driver.

Reputation in this industry is critical. Shippers with this “not-my-problem” attitude risk alienating reliable carriers and drivers, leaving themselves stuck with subpar options.

As discussed in the last two posts in this series the Driver Inc. model is a hot-button topic in Canada’s trucking industry. It blurs the lines between employment and independent contracting, often at the expense of employees’ rights, government tax revenues, and fair competition. While this practice continues to generate debate, these questions remain: What is the Canadian government doing to address the issue? How are industry associations and stakeholders responding? And most importantly, how can shippers and brokers identify and avoid Driver Inc. companies?

In part two of this series on Driver Inc, we are going to look at how this scheme takes advantage of newcomers to Canada, and vulnerable drivers (eg. financial difficulties, under-educated)

Driver Inc. doesn’t just hurt compliance-minded companies or muddy labor laws—it disproportionately affects the most vulnerable drivers in the Canadian trucking industry, including newcomers to Canada and the financially disadvantaged. These drivers are often the least equipped to navigate the complexities of employment classification, making them prime targets for exploitation under the Driver Inc. model.