What It Takes to Sell a Brokerage Peter Stefanovich is the President of Left Lane Associates, an M&A advisory firm focused on transportation, logistics, and supply chain businesses. Since 2016 Left Lane has completed 88 transactions representing more than $2 billion in enterprise value. Peter breaks down what makes a freight brokerage attractive to buyers, how acquisitions are valued and why he sees 2027 and 2028 as pivotal years for logistics M&A. (0:00) Intro (5:23) Building Left Lane Associates (7:59) What Makes a Brokerage Worth Buying? (13:35) What Drives Logistics M&A Cycles? (19:42) Why 2027 and 2028 Could Be Big for M&A (25:42) What Buyers Look for in a Brokerage (27:06) EBITDA Thresholds for Selling a Brokerage (33:14) How Logistics Companies Finance Acquisitions (38:26) How the Montgomery Case Changed M&A (43:23) Peter's Biggest Influences

🚛 The Driver Shortage Is Back on the List. ATRI’s 22nd annual industry issues survey, released Oct. 18 at ATA’s conference, put the driver shortage back in the top 10 for the first time since 2024, landing at No. 5, a ranking it has held in 17 of the last 22 yearly surveys. Fuel prices jumped 17 spots to claim the top overall spot, the first time drivers themselves have ranked it No. 1, with diesel topping $6.50 a gallon and the Energy Information Administration saying prices won’t return to 2025 levels until at least 2028. Lawsuit abuse reform held at No. 2, and the economy fell from No. 1 to No. 6. Image Source: X (Thomas Wasson) News Source: Transport Topics

Does anyone have any logistics contacts in Maui or Honolulu? We will be there next week and would like to interview someone who works in Hawaiian logistics.

The wait is over! Your first look at the @ManifestFOL Vegas 2027 agenda is here. Explore 175+ sessions with 400+ speakers, including 50 Chief Supply Chain Officers and 80 startup CEOs. Topics include AI and automation, global trade, supplier risk, and cost efficiency. Register now to get $200 off the current price, or $900 off the on-site rate: ManifestVegas.com/FreightCav… #ManifestVegas #ManifestVegas2027

Derek Zetlin, Director of Sales at @GoodShip_io, shares why shippers aren’t waiting for the annual RFP anymore and how mini-bids are changing the game. “From the past 90 days we’ve seen a 124% increase in sourcing events. 85% of those e-bids, 25 lanes or less, and the average event size has decreased by 60%. So what that tells me is that the shipper community is really living in between the gaps of the larger RFP, the network RFP, whether that be a six month cycle or a 12 month cycle, they’re using GoodShip to reallocate volume, resource capacity, create these mini-bid activities on a more frequent basis to be able to optimize for things like cost and service on a more regular cadence.” Watch the full webinar on YouTube, or listen to it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

AI could give some brokerages an advantage that grows with every new application. Mike Carter, Founder at Vooma, explains how connecting AI across quoting, load coverage, and other workflows could change the way brokerages operate. “I think that we’re going to see flywheels start to turn in businesses that figure out how to use AI because, you know, you have your agent that’s helping you with quoting. If you’re running a split model, there’s a bunch of information on the carrier side that takes various layers of human conversation, maybe to make it back and forth, but when you start to introduce AI in multiple parts of the business that becomes part of a hive mind where that information is instantly accessible to the agent that’s helping you quote, helping you cover a load, things like that. I think we’ll start to see compounding advantage, so the businesses that are thinking about deploying it in multiple places- maybe not the boldest prediction, but - It makes sense though.”   Rewatch the full episode with Mike on YouTube, or listen to it on Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, by searching 'The FreightCaviar Podcast'.

Kevin Mitchell, Director of Transportation at James Hardie, shares what it takes for carriers to earn a place on a shipper’s shortlist and how transparency changes the relationship  “Have you ever had a situation where you sit down with a provider, before GoodShip, where they maybe didn't have the access to the data? And you disagreed on service, or did you have any crazy stories when it comes to QBRs?  We absolutely had carriers that come in and they thought they were the cat's meow. And I would say, ‘You guys probably aren't even in the top ten, if I talk to my planners you never come up in conversation around, ‘Hey, these are my go to,’ and you want to be the go to. You want to be the person that that transportation coordinator is calling because they're in a pinch. If you're never on that list, you're kind of getting bottom barrel. I'm already giving out all the good freight. We absolutely disagreed in the past on a lot of things. I think it's much more visible now if we do disagree. They come to the table knowing we're not on the same terms. I think it has made the QBR process much easier.” Watch the full webinar on YouTube, or listen to it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Behind America’s freight industry is a growing dispatch workforce thousands of miles away. In Moldova, thousands of people book loads, coordinate carriers, and help keep U.S. trucks moving without ever setting foot in America. We went to Chișinău to meet the dispatchers doing the work, trace how Moldova became a hub for U.S. freight outsourcing, and examine its complicated connection to the growing conversation around freight fraud. Along the way, we heard what they want Americans to understand about their work and their country. Our Moldova documentary is out now. A FreightCaviar investigation, in cooperation with BMN Dispatch, Route One Dispatch, and Kovin Group.

✋ Sikh Coalition Pushes Back on the English Rule. FMCSA’s English Language Proficiency rule drew more than 2,200 public comments, most in support, but the Sikh Coalition filed one of the few formal objections. The Coalition’s own analysis of FMCSA data found just 0.19% of roadside inspections between 2021 and 2025 involved a driver’s inability to communicate in English, even though ELP violations made up 9.1% of out-of-service orders during this year’s Road Check Week. The group raised concerns about unclear enforcement criteria and asked FMCSA to withdraw the rule entirely. American Trucking Associations raised a separate concern, warning that proficiency “may be deemed sufficient by one officer yet insufficient by another.” Image & News Source: FreightWaves

📦 Edge Logistics Sues Rival over Stolen Customers. Chicago-based Edge Logistics is suing rival Freight Tec Management Group and four former employees, alleging they secretly built competing businesses on company time, then funneled customer accounts to Freight Tec before resigning. Edge says its expedited-freight division dropped 66.4% within weeks of the May departures, while the rest of the company grew 8.5% over the same period. The 51-page suit also alleges a customer contact demanded kickbacks funded by inflated freight charges in exchange for routing loads to Freight Tec. An attorney for the four former employees says they dispute the allegations. The suit does not specify a dollar amount in damages. Image Source: Crain's Chicago Business News Source: FreightWaves

📈 Q4 Truckload Rates Projected to Hit Four-Year High. Fourth-quarter truckload rates are projected to reach their highest level since early 2022, according to the TD Cowen/AFS Freight Index, with the rate-per-mile index forecast to climb 23.4% above the January 2018 baseline, up 14.7% year over year. The report points to regulatory enforcement removing drivers and closing training locations, limiting how quickly capacity can return. Weekly spot rates, meanwhile, were essentially flat in the week ending Oct. 9, dipping just a tenth of a cent per mile, even as diesel fell for a third straight week to $6.18 a gallon. AFS CEO Andy Dyer attributed the climb to “steady demand chasing a shrinking pool of trucks.” Image News: TD Cowen/AFS Freight News Source: Commercial Carrier Journal

How Top Brokerages Will Operate in 2027: The New Playbook for Brokers nitter.siddz.com/i/broadcasts/1qKVmyPMN…

What separates preferred transportation providers from the rest? In this conversation with Kevin Mitchell, Director of Transportation at James Hardie, and Derek Zetlin, Director of Sales at GoodShip, we take an inside look at how leading shippers evaluate providers, balance relationships with performance data, and decide who earns more freight.  Watch the full webinar on YouTube, or listen to it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Best hold music ever

Shipping managers when a new broker tells them they have the best service in the industry