How to Run LTL and Cross-Border Freight Without Losing Money

LLM search is only about 1% of the total search market. Google still controls roughly 88%. So why do so many marketer's content strategy sound like it was written by someone in a panic about AI overviews? This week we're resurfacing a conversation with Grace Sharkey of Orderful to reset what SEO actually looks like for logistics in 2026, with a new intro reacting to Google's recent guidance on what does and does not matter.Included in this conversation is a fresh take on what Google just clarified, including what they're saying about llms.txt files, FAQ pages, and schema. Then we roll into the conversation where Grace asks the questions and Blythe walks through Google Search Console, long-tail keywords, the FAQ-page rebuild, and why your recorded sales calls are the most underused content gold mine in your stack.In this episode:Why Google Search Console beats Ahrefs and SEMrush for figuring out what to fix firstHow to sort your queries for the fastest click-through-rate winsThe long-tail paragraph queries LLMs are actually answeringWhy the FAQ page is the easiest piece of SEO work you can ship this quarterWhat Google just said about llms.txt files (spoiler: you do not need one)How to turn recorded sales and onboarding calls into a content engineWhy YouTube case studies beat gated PDF whitepapers for shippersThe "how did you hear about us" form field every high-intent page should haveWatch this episode on YouTubeLinks and resources:Grace Sharkey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-sharkey-31940765/Orderful: https://www.orderful.comGoogle Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-consoleAdam Robinson's Air Cover newsletter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/air-cover-7450924377958912000/ SEO expert Gaetanao DiNardi: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7368964829673390084/More logistics marketing and sales content over on Everything is Logistics -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Most conversations about nearshoring assume you're moving away from Chinese manufacturing. Kerim Kfuri, president and CEO of The Atlas Network, has a harder truth: a lot of "nearshoring" is just Chinese foreign direct investment building factories in Vietnam and Mexico. The geography changes. The supply chain dependencies don't necessarily change with it.In this episode, recorded live on the expo floor at the Logistics World Summit in Mexico City, Kerim breaks down what 20 years of building end-to-end supply chains for small and mid-sized businesses has taught him — and what most operators still get wrong.In this episode:How The Atlas Network manages the full supply chain lifecycle for SMBs, from product idea to inventory management, across a network of 2,000 vetted factoriesWhy "nearshoring" in Vietnam and Mexico often means Chinese-owned factories with Chinese standardization — and why that matters for your tariff and sourcing strategyThe US manufacturing reality: why technology (not policy) is the actual leveler, and why we can't snap our fingers and rebuild a workforce we stopped training decades agoKerim's keynote framework from Logistics World: people, process, and innovation — and why "people" is the most undervalued of the threeWhat Kerim (MIT degree in AI and Strategy) says you actually give up when you hand too much to AI: creativity, human factor, and the interpersonal relationships that drive real businessThe signal-versus-noise framework for entrepreneurs: how to identify the three things that must get done today and stop letting everything else winWhy the most common thing Atlas Network hears from new clients is: "I wish we knew about you sooner"A bonus live interview with the founder of Logistics World Summit, who walked up mid-recording on the expo floorWatch this episode on YoutubeLinks & Resources:The Atlas NetworkKerim's book and speaking websiteBlythe's Logistics World + Mexico City Recap -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Robert Kowton left a decade at Coca-Cola, walked into freight brokering in 2008 with zero customers, and built a reputation around two things most brokers avoid: LTL and US-Canada cross-border freight. In this conversation, he breaks down exactly why those shipments trip people up and what it takes to get them right.In this episode, you'll learn:Why LTL freight pricing works like a la carte dining, where every carrier action from inside delivery to lift gates is a separate feeThe cross-border documentation mistakes that route your freight to a bonded warehouse in 2026How Robert's "quote to execute" method means he never quotes a load without a carrier plan already in placeWhy he went broad on commodities instead of niching down, and how that protected him through every market downturnThe cold calling approach that still works: research the commodity, trace the supply chain, follow up on the day you said you wouldReal advice for people thinking about becoming a freight agent with no experienceWatch this episode on YouTubeLinks and Resources:Robert Kowton on LinkedInCDN Freight Broker on YouTubeSPI Logistics Freight Agent Program: https://success.spi3pl.com/SPI Logistics Freight Agent Podcast Series: https://digitaldispatch.io/freight-agent-guide/Robert's fav business tools:Nozbe: https://nozbe.com/File Center: https://www.filecenter.com/Evernote: https://evernote.com/RingCentral: https://www.ringcentral.com/ -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

CMPC moves pulp, lumber, plywood, and industrial and consumer packaging from 16 manufacturing sites across South America into North America. Roughly 10,000 TEUs and 300,000 tons of breakbulk annually, touching every Incoterm. Charlie sat down to break down what it actually feels like to run that supply chain through live tariff uncertainty, legacy system inertia, and a Manifest conference floor full of vendors asking for 25 minutes to understand how he procures freight.This conversation was originally recorded on March 11th 2026Connect with Charlie and CMPCCharlie's LinkedInCMPC WebsiteCMPC LinkedInWatch this episode on YouTubeOther episodes mentioned: Charlie's visibility panel at Manifest, which Blythe moderatedEiL's Shipper POV series Happy Robot Series B Raise and their founder Pablo Falafox on EiL -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Most US logistics pros in the US talk about Mexico from a very surface-level approach. But most have never been on the ground to take in and appreciate the nuance that exists with our number one trading partner.I just got back from 8 days in Mexico City: four doing some hosting on the main stage at The Logistics World Summit and Expo, four wandering the Roma Norte neighborhood with my husband Badr. What I saw on the conference floor and in the streets gave me a different read on this industry's relationship with Mexico than any analyst report has and this episode talks about it all.Inside:The 26,583-person conference and 650+ booths most US freight pros have never heard ofWhy the driver shortage myth is spreading south of the border, and the pay arbitrage making it worseCargo crime realities: a transport vehicle is stolen every 38 minutes, 86% involving violenceThe USMCA July 1, 2026 deadline and why the rules of origin fight mattersHow the National Museum of Anthropology was built in 19 months with a 168-ton monolith moved 29 milesSupply chain anthropology, cacao as currency, and what ancient Mesoamerica still teaches modern freightWatch this episode on YouTubeResources:Everything is Logistics: https://everythingislogistics.comCargoRex: https://cargorex.ioInstagram: https://instagram.com/blythebrum -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

A 3PL moving 5,000 containers a year can bleed about $120,000 in avoidable detention and demurrage. Tyler Hughes says the fix is not another pretty dashboard. It is cleaner data, better reconciliation, and fewer blind spots when the container hits drayage.In this episodeWhy ocean visibility still breaks even when everyone says they have dataHow Vizion cleans carrier, vessel, terminal, rail, and truck events into something usableWhy standards matter less than the ugly backend work of mapping bad source dataThe real cost of dirty ETA data, including avoidable detention and demurrageWhat Tyler sees in the 2026 container trade outlook, from China to Southeast AsiaWhy drayage is still the biggest black box in end-to-end visibilityHow predictive ETA helps teams move from reactive updates to proactive planningWatch the episode on YouTubeLinksLearn more about Vizion: https://www.vizionapi.com/Follow Tyler Hughes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerlh/ -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Most warehouse operators have no idea what's actually happening on their floor right now. Not a rough estimate. No idea. The WMS says one thing. Ground truth is something else entirely. And the workers running the operation walk 12 to 15 miles a day on concrete trying to close that gap.In this episode, Blythe talks with Sankalp Arora, CEO and Co-Founder of Gather AI, live at Manifest 2026. Gather AI uses drones and cameras on forklifts to give warehouse operators real-time inventory visibility with no power drops, no new infrastructure, and a facility map completed in one to two weeks. Average customer payback: 4.5 months.In this episode:How drones and forklift cameras work together to turn a warehouse into real-time inventory intelligence -- no power drops ($15,000 each to install), no Wi-Fi constraintsWhy half of every warehouse's total cost is people and equipment traveling, and what that means for where automation investment actually pays offThe "Amazon Go store" analogy: what a fully instrumented warehouse looks like in practiceWhy the average warehouse worker walks 12 to 15 miles a day on concrete -- and why fixing that is as much a retention play as a productivity oneWhat the software stack looks like on a day-to-day basis and why workers end up living in Gather AI's dashboard instead of the legacy WMSThe 3-step buying framework for operators who've been burned by big capex automation projects beforeWhat Gather AI's $40M Series B is funding and what end-to-end warehouse orchestration looks like in practiceWatch this episode on YouTubeLinks and resources:• Gather AI website: gather.ai• Email Sankalp directly: [email protected]• Gather AI on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/gather-space-ai• Everything is Logistics: everythingislogistics.com• Freight tech vendor research: cargorex.io -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Most people see a Ryder truck on the highway and think "trucking company." That's not wrong — but it's missing 100 million square feet of warehouse space and 2,000 autonomous robots.Gary Allen is the VP of Supply Chain Excellence at Ryder, and he stopped by the Everything is Logistics podcast booth at Manifest to talk tech selection, the build vs. buy debate, and what it actually takes to navigate a market with thousands of freight tech vendors when you're operating at this scale.Spoiler: it takes a team of 90 data engineers, a VC fund, and a willingness to evaluate 400+ companies before you commit to anything.——————————————IN THIS EPISODE——————————————□ Why asset ownership doesn't change the fundamental tech questions you need to answer first□ How Ryder evaluated 400+ warehouse automation companies in 3 years (and what makes the cut)□ Why Ryder runs ~30 different WMS systems across its network — and why that's a problem they're actively solving□ The Baton acquisition, Ryder Ventures VC fund, and why they decided to build what the market couldn't provide□ The "product mindset vs. project mindset" shift that changes everything about how you deploy tech□ Agentic AI real talk: what's actually working (call centers, document extraction, labor planning) vs. what's still early□ The warehouse automation ladder: AMRs → autonomous forklifts → storage/retrieval systems → humanoids□ What the timeline on lights-out warehouses might actually look likeWatch this episode on YouTube——————————————LINKS & RESOURCES——————————————□ Connect with Gary Allen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grallen1/□ Learn more about Ryder: ryder.com□ Ryder Ventures: https://www.ryder.com/en-us/ryderventuresPrevious Ryder episodes: □ VP of Supply Chain Ops Kristy Killingbeck□ Baton's Nate Robert -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Supply chain storytelling isn't a nice-to-have skill. It's the reason deals fall apart before the demo starts.Sofia Rivas Herrera has spent years building one of the most recognizable personal brands in freight, from a full-time role in supply chain at HP, with her sister running the creative side. We recorded this conversation live at Manifest 2026.In this episode:▪ Why your freight tech pitch fails before it even starts (your sales team probably can't explain your own product)▪ The avocado supply chain from Mexico: why it's called "the green gold," how organized crime is embedded in it, and why Super Bowl season triggers a demand spike in December and January▪ Career minimalism: the Gen Z trend quietly reshaping who stays in logistics and who walks out▪ How to pass the "gardening neighbor test" for any supply chain message▪ Why blue is the most overused color in logistics branding, and what that means for companies willing to try something different▪ How Sofia and her sister built a brand from scratch after her sister told her "your branding sucks"Links & resources:Follow Sofia Rivas Herrera: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-rivas-herrera/Watch this episode on YouTube -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers. 

Freight fraud has moved way past the old stereotype of random cargo theft.Barry Conlon, CEO of Overhaul, joins Blythe from Manifest to break down what’s actually happening in the market: more sophisticated criminal networks, more pressure on shippers to own the problem, and a growing gap between how fast freight moves and how well it gets verified. He argues that prevention matters more than recovery, because by the time you’re chasing freight down, the damage is already done. A few standout points from the conversation:Barry says the last 24 to 36 months have brought a level of volume and sophistication he has never seen before. He ties part of the shift back to post-COVID buyer behavior and the ease of moving stolen goods back into gray markets. He says Overhaul protects about $1.4 trillion in cargo value on its platform and focuses on identifying non-compliance before it becomes a loss. He explains how fraud varies by geography, with North American fraud tactics spreading abroad while markets like Mexico and Brazil often involve more overt hijacking risk. He makes the case that cargo risk is now a boardroom issue because lost product often cannot be replaced fast enough, which turns a theft problem into a market share problem.Links from the show: Overhaul's latest insight on cargo crimeConnect with Barry on LinkedInWatch this episode on YouTube -----------------------------------------THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers.