AI Saves Trucking Company $53,000 Annually

Third-generation trucking owner Pam Polyak reveals how she uses AI to dramatically cut costs and boost efficiency. Learn how understanding your numbers and leveraging technology can transform your trucking business, especially for small owner-operators navigating volatile markets.

A Wisconsin trucking company recovered $53,000 in labor costs after its owner used Claude AI to audit telematics data and identify a driver whose on-duty, not-driving time in the yard averaged more than 110 minutes per shift — far beyond any reasonable pre-trip or post-trip inspection window. The finding, surfaced in roughly three minutes, underscores how small carriers can use readily available AI tools to perform analysis that would otherwise require dedicated back-office staff.

Pam Polyak, third-generation owner of Polyak Trucking and a consultant to owner-operators, said the exercise was straightforward: she fed Samsara fleet data into Claude and asked it to flag any driver spending more than 30 minutes on duty without driving while at the terminal. The pattern that emerged was unambiguous. “It was very clear that somebody’s behavior was theft-related in terms of time,” Polyak said. “They were taking anywhere between 2, 2.5, 3 hours” per shift sitting in the yard.

Because Polyak pays drivers hourly — a structure she adopted to simplify operations given her company’s proximity to Chicago — the idle time translated directly into payroll loss. The $53,000 figure represents the cumulative cost of that behavior before AI flagged it.

“That right there easily saved me $53,000 worth of time and money because of him getting paid hourly. And being a small local company, I tend to pay my drivers hourly,” Polyak said.

Beyond time-theft detection, Polyak described using Claude to compare toll costs across drivers running identical lanes. The tool identified a $50-per-load toll discrepancy between two drivers hauling the same freight in opposite routing directions — the kind of cost leak that rarely surfaces without systematic data review. She noted the analysis can run passively, without requiring the owner-operator to be at a desk, making it practical for carriers who are also behind the wheel.

Polyak, who holds a master’s degree but built most of her operational knowledge on the job after taking over the business from her father in 2020, said small fleets — particularly one- and two-truck operations — remain hesitant to adopt AI. Many formed their skepticism based on early experiences with ChatGPT. Her consulting work focuses on teaching operators to use AI for data analysis rather than content generation, which she views as the lowest-value application of the technology.

On diesel cost management, Polyak urged small carriers to govern truck speeds down — even to 63 or 65 mph in a 70 mph zone — monitor fuel expenses continuously, and build fuel surcharges into all customer contracts. She noted that tender cycles of 30 to 45 days, combined with equivalent payment terms, are creating cash flow gaps that will pressure small operators through the fourth quarter. “You’re going to continue to see trucking companies suffer,” she said, adding that holiday bonuses could be casualties of the squeeze — not from lack of will, but from lack of liquidity.

• Claude AI analyzed Samsara telematics data in under 3 minutes, identifying a driver averaging 110-plus minutes of idle yard time per shift and saving Polyak Trucking $53,000.
• AI also caught a $50-per-load toll discrepancy between two drivers running the same lane in different directions, with no back-office staff required.
• Polyak warns small carriers face cash flow stress through Q4 due to 30-to-45-day tender and payment cycles colliding with volatile diesel prices.

This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above.