Blythe and Grace Sharkey (Orderful; formerly FreightWaves) break down what everyone’s been talking about coming out of Manifest: agentic AI moving into real workflows, drones/computer vision becoming more practical, freight fraud getting more coordinated, and why “end-to-end visibility” still isn’t end-to-end (spoiler: carrier adoption and execution still run the show).

The gist (what we cover):

• Agentic AI: not just demos—people are pushing it into rate negotiation and booking workflows
• The uncomfortable question: what happens to brokerage models when humans aren’t the bottleneck?
• Drones + computer vision: still early, but moving from “cool tech” to real use cases
• Freight fraud: it’s coordinated—and most companies still fail at the basics
• Visibility: we keep selling the dream, but execution (and carrier adoption) keeps punching it in the face
• Quick time-capsule: what 2016 taught us, what 2026 is repeating, and why insurance keeps winning

Timestamps / chapters (approx):

• 00:00 – Intro + Grace joins
• 04:35 – Agentic AI: what’s real vs what’s marketing
• 10:10 – What this changes for brokers and carriers
• 15:25 – Drones + computer vision
• 17:30 – Fraud: why basic controls still matter
• 25:40 – Visibility + ocean integrity
• 31:40 – 2016 vs 2026: the industry memory test
• 39:50 – Wrap-up + Manifest Europe note

Watch this episode on YouTube

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

CargoRex.io 2.0 is live and this isn’t a paint job. It’s a rebuild around how people actually research logistics tech when they don’t know what to search for yet.

In this episode, I break down what changed, why it changed, and how to use CargoRex to move from “I think we have a problem” to “here’s the shortlist and the questions we need to ask.”

What’s inside:

-- A redesigned site built for faster discovery (not endless scrolling)

-- A revamped search model: broad-match exploration + tighter category paths

-- 3 live Buying Guides (with more coming): LogTech Implementation, Buying a TMS, and Visibility

-- A stronger company listing page: integrations, associations, awards, news, white papers, case studies, and more

-- Save-and-export Lists (CSV) so your research isn’t trapped in browser tabs

-- Logged-in dashboards that separate your activity from what’s trending site-wide

-- New contributor submissions so operators, consultants, and creators can add real-world lessons to the guides

If you’ve got a logistics-adjacent business, claim your listing (free), fill it out, and make it easier for the right buyers to find you. And if you’re researching tools, use the lead form on listings so companies can see the signal that CargoRex is driving the conversation.

Watch this episode on YouTube

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

Everyone loves a shiny demo. Nobody wants to talk about the messy middle: implementation. That’s where budgets blow up, timelines slip, and teams quietly blame the software.

Nate Johnson (CEO of GLCS) joins Blythe Milligan to break down what actually makes logistics tech rollouts work.

• The first question teams skip: “Why are you buying this?”
• Why “go-live” is not the same thing as success
• The hidden costs that show up after the subscription fee
• Why training and documentation decide adoption
• Integrations, EDI, and why “it should connect” is usually a lie
• AI in logistics: what’s real, what’s marketing, and what buyers should demand

Links:

• Connect with Nate on LinkedIn (and you better tell him Blythe sent you)
• GLCS Website
• Nate's podcast, Driving Forward

Watch the video version here.

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

4.6 million podcasts exist. Only a tiny slice stay active. The difference isn’t gear or luck. It’s whether you respect the listener’s attention (and measure it).

In this episode, I’m joined by my husband (and longtime podcaster) Badr Milligan to recap what we learned at Podfest Orlando and how to apply it to your company’s show.

Takeaways:

• Track completion rate (aka average consumption). It tells you what’s working way faster than download counts.
• Fix your first minute. Say what the listener will get, then get to it.
• Stop “one recording, everywhere” thinking. Audio and video need different context and editing.
• Consistency is a moat. Most shows quit. That’s the opportunity.
• Build diehard fans you can identify and activate, not a random pile of downloads.

Fav quote from the episode: “It’s never been easier to make content, but now you have to make the editorial choice of what you’re going to produce, and why?”

Links:

• Badr's podcast, The Shortbox
• Jax Podcasters United
• Podfest website

Watch this episode on YouTube

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

Cold calls. Tight lanes. Government freight.

In this episode, I’m talking with Garrett Bowers, owner of Bowers Trucking and an SPI Logistics agency owner, about what it takes to build a steadier carrier business when the market is doing what it always does.

We get into why he swears by early-morning prospecting, how he thinks about tighter lanes and saying “no” to the wrong freight, and what changes when you stop treating sales like something you do only when you’re panicking.

Then we go into the rabbit hole most carriers ignore: government freight. Garrett breaks down how he found opportunities around Tinker Air Force Base, what the Defense Logistics Agency actually does, and the practical first steps to get started (yes, SAM.gov is involved). Plus, the kind of freight that makes for a great story later, including hauling the Air Force One staircase.

What we cover:
▪ Why early cold calls work
▪ How to choose lanes that keep trucks moving
▪ Government freight basics: where to start and what to expect
▪ The operational standard required for military shipments

Watch this episode on YouTube

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

If you’ve ever wondered how a massive industry event like Manifest manages to feel timely, relevant, and most importantly useful, this is the episode for you. I’m sitting down with Tanzil Uddin, SVP of Content and Partnerships, to peel back the curtain on how they build a world-class agenda without falling into the vendor karaoke trap.

Tanzil explains the listening tour strategy that begins almost a year in advance, where the team interviews dozens of shippers and industry leaders to identify the real world friction points in the supply chain. We discuss how they balance long term trends like AI and automation with sudden, disruptive headlines like new tariffs or geopolitical shifts. Tanzil also shares his advice for anyone looking to get on stage, emphasizing that Manifest isn't looking for product pitches. They’re looking for high level use cases and collaborative solutions.

Whether you’re a first time attendee looking to navigate the Venetian or a seasoned logistics pro curious about how the industry's biggest conversations are curated, Tanzil breaks it all down with a focus on practical value over hype.

What we cover:

• The Research Phase: How Tanzil’s team uses a listening tour to gather intel directly from shippers and manufacturers.
• Agility in Content: Why the Manifest agenda is never truly final until the weeks leading up to the show to ensure it reflects current market conditions.
• The No Sales Rule: Tanzil explains the strict vetting process that keeps product demos off the stage and puts problem-solving front and center.
• Speaker Criteria: What the content team looks for in a moderator and why diversity of thought is non negotiable for their panels.
• Mastering the Manifest App: How to use the 30 day window before the show to build a strategic battle plan and avoid the dreaded hallway FOMO.

Watch this interview on YouTube

Links:

• Connect with Tanzil at Manifest/Hive Group on Linkedin
• Purchase your Manifest 2026 ticket (save some money by using our link!)

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

In the finale of our Best of 2025 series, we’re highlighting the modes and legalities that usually stay "out of sight, out of mind." We start with Jason Aristides of Open Tug, who is bringing tech to the 12,000 miles of US inland waterways. Then, maritime law expert Lauren Beagen joins us to break down the residual effects of the 2025 port labor strikes and the new Office of Shipbuilding. We wrap up with Grace Sharkey, diving into the "Icebreaker Race" in the Arctic and the shady reality of celebrity private label brands.

Key Takeaways:

• Why barges are 85% greener than trucks (and 70% cheaper).
• The truth about the "Hub and Spoke" model in carrier alliances.
• How the US is falling behind in Arctic "chess" with only two functional icebreakers.

Timestamps:

• 03:50 – Open Tug: Standardizing the River System
• 39:51 – Port Strikes & Automation
• 1:39:51 – The Polar Silk Road & Arctic Shipping
• 2:09:49 – The Private Label Paradox

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.

It’s birthday week at Everything is Logistics! To celebrate, we’re digging into the vault to cover the heavy hitters: Janet Labuta explains why "importing is not for cowards," Kevin Lawton drops a truth bomb on why 90% of warehouses are still manual, Grace Sharkey helps us navigate the hype of delivery drones, and we take a deep dive into the booming infrastructure of South America.

• Key Takeaways:
  • Why AI is the only way to stay ahead of Customs and Border Protection.
  • The psychological and financial barriers to warehouse automation.
  • The "Great Rerouting": How China is bypassing global choke points.
• Timestamps:
  • 04:09 – Janet Labuta on Customs & Compliance
  • 1:10:29 – Kevin Lawton on Robotics Hype vs. Reality
  • 1:36:30 – Grace Sharkey on Drone Logistics
  • 2:06:17 – South American Mega Ports & Infrastructure

Watch the video versions of these episodes:

• Importing Is Not for Cowards with Maersk's Janet Labuda
• Why 90% of Warehouses Are Still Manual with Kevin Lawton of New Warehouse Podcast
• Warehouse and Delivery Drones
• South American Logistics

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

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.