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From Box Truck to Big Rig – What It Really Takes to Make the Jump Into A Semi. (Part One)

A white box truck at a Prologis facility

A lot of people start trucking behind the wheel of a box truck. It makes sense. It’s cheaper to enter, easier to insure, simpler to operate, and gives you a way to learn without jumping straight into the deep end. A box truck feels like the starter home of trucking — a stepping stone toward what most owners eventually want: a semi, a trailer, bigger freight, bigger opportunities, and bigger revenue.

Many box truck owners have the same vision: “Let me get started here, then I’ll expand into semis.”

But here’s the part nobody really says out loud: a semi truck is not the next size up. It’s the next level up. And the rules change instantly. What works in the box truck world don’t all carry over into semi-truck territory. In fact, some of the habits that keep you alive in a box truck will bankrupt you in a semi.

Before you start scrolling through Truck Paper with excitement, let’s slow this down and break it into real-world terms. This is the truth you need before you go from the 26-footer grind to running a real tractor-trailer operation.

The Trap Most Box Truck Owners Fall Into

Most people don’t fail because semis are harder. They fail because they never built a trucking company. They built a hustle. A grind. A “grab a load and go” routine.

A box truck may let you get away with that. A semi will not.

A semi requires real systems. Maintenance schedules. Financial review. Cash reserves. Safety processes. Fuel strategies. Broker strategies. Compliance. Insurance management. These things matter whether you have one semi or ten.

If your current box truck operation is held together with text messages, gut decisions, and “I’ll figure it out later,” a semi will expose every crack in your foundation.

Another common mistake is underestimating the cost gap. A semi truck is not expensive because of the payment. It’s expensive because of everything around it—fuel, tires, aftertreatment failures, breakdowns, roadside calls, insurance premiums, and the sheer scale of what goes wrong when a semi has a bad day. Box truck repairs sting. Semi truck repairs knock you flat.

And probably the biggest misconception is assuming a semi automatically earns “big money.” Not in today’s freight market. Not without relationships. Not without strategy. Rates rise and fall with demand, retail cycles, and national freight patterns. If you don’t understand how freight actually moves, your semi will be busy, but your bank account won’t.

You’re Not Buying a Bigger Truck — You’re Entering a Bigger World

Box trucks sit on the outer edge of the industry. Semis sit at the center of it. Once you step into that world, everything becomes more intense. You’re dealing with federal oversight, higher insurance thresholds, stricter safety standards, mega-carriers as competitors, and freight cycles you cannot control.

This is why the jump must be intentional. You’re not just increasing capacity. You’re changing your business model.

Maintenance Will Make or Break You

A semi requires discipline. Real maintenance planning. Not “fix it when it breaks,” because the cost of a breakdown is at a completely different level.

You need to be thinking in terms of:

  • PM intervals

  • Oil sampling

  • Aftertreatment monitoring

  • Tire strategy

  • Brake timeline

  • Coolant cycles

  • Fuel filters and air dryer maintenance

If you’ve never kept a maintenance spreadsheet or don’t check your truck’s vitals regularly, you are not ready for a semi. One breakdown can wipe out a month. Two could take you out of business.

Fuel Strategy Becomes Your Lifeline

Fuel is the number one variable cost in a semi. Not insurance. Not truck payments. Not tires. Fuel.

You need to master two things:

First, station selection. The posted price on the sign is not your price. You need to understand discounts, networks, IFTA implications, and the difference between saving ten cents at the pump versus saving fifty dollars at the settlement.

Second, fuel consumption. Your driving habits matter more than you realize. Idle time, speed control, torque management, cruise control discipline — all of these decide whether your week is profitable or barely breaking even.

A semi exposes every bad driving habit you got away with in a box truck.

Load Boards Become Easier But Don’t Rely On Them

Box truck freight is heavily load-board-dependent unless you are doing final mile with Amazon or Wayfair. Semi freight is better when it is relationship-dependent. You will need a book of brokers — people who trust you, call you, and want your truck back. You need brokers who understand your lanes, your availability, and your reliability.

If your entire freight strategy right now is refreshing load boards until something pops up, you’re not running a semi business. You’re surviving. And semis don’t survive long on survival alone.

Cash Reserves Are Not Optional

A box truck can disrupt your bank account. A semi will bankrupt you if you don’t have reserves. One electrical issue, one injector failure, one DPF problem, one set of steer tires — any of these can set you back thousands.

A semi demands that you keep cash on hand. A maintenance reserve. A tire reserve. An emergency fund. If you don’t have money put away, the semi will force you into low-paying freight just to cash flow repairs. That’s a fast way to fail.

Fix the Foundation Before You Scale

If your box truck operation is barely holding together — if your paperwork is scattered, your revenue is unstable, your compliance is shaky, and your maintenance plan is “hope” — adding a semi is not a step up. It’s stepping into a storm.

A semi magnifies whatever business structure you have. If your structure is weak, the semi breaks it apart.

But if your foundation is strong — if your numbers make sense, your systems are tight, and you understand freight — then a semi truck can absolutely transform your business.

The Right Leap at the Right Time Can Change Everything

Let’s be clear: a semi is not a bad move. It’s a big move. And if you do it right, it opens doors you will never get in a box truck. More consistent freight. Better-paying lanes. Bigger seasonal opportunities. More options for your future.

But it only works if you build the business first and buy the semi second.

If you jump too early, you’ll struggle. If you jump prepared, you’ll thrive.

Final Thought – Don’t Chase the Truck. Build the Business.

The jump from a box truck to a semi is not about going bigger. It’s about getting ready. A semi demands that you think like a business owner, not a hustler. It demands discipline, structure, and strategy.

If you build your company properly, your first semi becomes the tool that changes your life. If you skip that step, the semi becomes the tool that closes your business.

Don’t chase horsepower. Chase preparation. Because once you step into a semi, you’re not just running a truck anymore — you’re running a trucking company.

Crackdown on foreign truckers threatens US farm labor

truck hauling farm equipment

WASHINGTON — An agricultural group is warning federal regulators that the Trump administration’s crackdown on foreign truck drivers is causing confusion at state agencies that could threaten the flow of essential farm workers needed to harvest the nation’s crops.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s interim final rule (IFR) aimed at non-domiciled commercial drivers includes a critical exemption for H-2A farm workers who need commercial driver’s licenses.

But U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. (USCHI), an association of professional harvesters that serve American farmers, told FMCSA that states “may be confused” regarding the issuance of non-domiciled CDLs and the H-2A visa holder exemption since the IFR went into effect in September.

“Although H-2A workers are exempt from the policies that will be enacted under the IFR, many states have inadvertently begun pausing the issuance of CDLs to H-2A visa holders as they assess the impacts of the IFR,” wrote USCHI President Paul Paplow, in a letter filed with FMCSA on Wednesday.

“We are asking FMCSA to clarify to states that the H-2A program is exempt under the IFR, which will permit officials to issue CDLs to those individuals.”

USCHI, established in 1983, serves farmers by providing grain, forage [grasses harvested for livestock feed] and cotton harvesting services across multiple states.

“Our workforce must be able to safely operate heavy duty harvesting equipment and drive commercial trucks as we move the equipment along an itinerary, typically over the course of a nine-month period of time,” Paplow told FMCSA.

The group estimates that about 30% of its employer members use the H-2A program, which it said accounts for over 75% of the total harvesting workforce.

USCHI cited data from the Department of Labor estimating that over 5,600 H-2A visas were issued to heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers in fiscal year 2024, and that more than 391,000 H-2A workers were certified that year.

“This speaks directly to the important role H-2A workers play for the domestic and agricultural sectors,” Paplow noted. “We therefore encourage FMCSA to ensure that the exemption for H-2A visa holders remains in the IFR.”

USCHI is also pushing FMCSA to recognize another critical labor force not exempted in the IFR: the growing J-1 Visa Exchange Program, which is designed to “promote the interchange of persons, knowledge, and skills, in the fields of education, arts, and science,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

“While not as prevalent as H-2A workers, J-1 visa holders support critical functions across the custom harvesting industry,” Paplow asserted. USCHI estimates close to 100 J-1 workers are currently sponsored by its members.

“We are respectfully requesting that FMCSA include J-1 visas as an exempted category for CDLs within the IFR, similar to those granted to the H-2A program.

“J-1 visas play an important role for USCHI members and the entire agricultural industry and it is important that FMCSA consider the potential impact this IFR would have on the labor supply chain if they are not exempted from the promulgation of rules proceeding the IFR. We greatly appreciate your attention to this matter.”

Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.

Airbus nabs five orders for A350 freighter at Dubai Air Show

Two men shake hands at a desk with a model airplane that says Silk Way West Airlines to complete an aircraft purchase transaction.

Airbus has added five positions to its order book for the all-new A350 freighter during the Dubai Air Show this week.

On Wednesday, the manufacturer announced that Azerbaijan-based Silk Way West Airlines committed to buy two A350 cargo jets, doubling its previous order for a total of four aircraft. Earlier, Etihad Airways agreed to purchase three additional A350 freighters, bringing its total order to 10 aircraft.

FreightWaves reported last November that Etihad Airways intended to buy three more aircraft for its cargo division.

The purchases are aimed at supporting fleet modernization and growth at both carriers. 

Earlier this month, Air China agreed to buy six A350Fs. Airbus has now registered 85 orders from 13 customers compared to Boeing, which has more than 50 orders for its next-generation 777-8 freighter. 

Airbus touts an extra-large main deck cargo door and a lighter airframe largely made from composite materials as selling points over the Boeing product. 

Airbus is assembling the test aircraft at its plant in Toulouse, France. Commercial deliveries are expected to begin in late 2027. 

The A350F can carry a payload of up to 111 metric tons and will fly up to 4,700 nautical miles. Powered by the latest Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, the aircraft will reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions of up to 40% when compared to previous generation aircraft with a similar payload-range capability, according to Airbus.

Click here for more FreightWaves stories by Eric Kulisch.

Sign up for the biweekly PostalMag newsletter The Delivery here. 

Air China Cargo to order six A350 freighters from Airbus

Airbus widens lead over Boeing for next-gen freighter jets

UPS compensates for lost use of grounded MD-11 cargo jets

A blue-tailed Cargojet with Canadian maple leaf logo lands on a runway.

UPS is turning to an alternate playbook for when freight operations don’t go according to plan, leaning on partner airlines and its ground network during the year’s busiest shipping period to make up for lost capacity from the mandatory grounding of its MD-11 freighter fleet following the deadly crash of a sister aircraft this month.

The integrated parcel logistics giant has secured additional lift by wet leasing several aircraft, consolidated flight routes to maximize air capacity, and reconfigured truck routes to move more packages through its ground network, spokeswoman Michelle Polk told FreightWaves.

It is UPS (NYSE: UPS) policy not to identify vendors that are under contract. But analysis of aircraft trips on tracking site Flightradar24 shows that Canada-based Cargojet is operating four Boeing 757-200 freighters between UPS’s global air hub in Louisville, Kentucky, and its base at the Hamilton International Airport near Toronto. The initial aircraft was deployed on Thursday and Cargojet has since assigned three additional freighters to shuttle parcels and freight between the U.S. and Canada.

Aviation news site Cargo Facts first reported that UPS had booked dedicated charter capacity with Cargojet for an undetermined period of time, with initial reporting that two aircraft were involved. 

Amerijet, a smaller all-cargo operator based in Miami, is flying one Boeing 767 freighter in the UPS network through December to support UPS’s domestic air network, Amerijet CEO Joe Mozzali confirmed in an email. The aircraft is currently shutting each day between Louisville and Houston.

UPS has also engaged Wilmington, Ohio-based ABX Air and Air Transport International to provide peak season support, with three or four Boeing 767 aircraft, a source at parent company Air Transport Services Group said. He characterized the flying as a routine event that occurs each year for about a three-week period when parcel shipping demand spikes for the holidays. But Flightradar 24 data shows an ABX Air freighter began operating between Louisville and Miami on Nov. 13 and an ATI jet shuttling between Louisville and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport since Nov. 14, suggesting the short-term contract was pulled forward in response to the MD-11 capacity gap. 

Cargo Facts previously reported on the dedicated transportation arrangement between UPS and ABX/ATI. 

UPS is the primary air cargo operator for the U.S. Postal Service, which is experiencing disruptions in mail and parcel delivery due to the deactivation of UPS’s MD-11 fleet, Postmaster General David Steiner said at a board of governors’ meeting on Friday. He said First-Class mail deliveries will be slower this quarter because of grounding and the cancellation of some commercial flights during the government shutdown, but that the impact is expected to be temporary. 

The UPS moves are similar to contingency plans implemented by FedEx (NYSE: FDX) to replace the MD-11 cargo aircraft that were pulled from service until inspections of the entire fleet are conducted. FedEx CFO John Dietrich last week said the carrier has activated spare aircraft, postponed scheduled maintenance on certain aircraft that still have green time before they are due for checks, and transferring some cargo to other commercial carriers and its ground network. 

FedEx and UPS routinely add air capacity from partner airlines during the peak shipping season leading up to the holidays. Amerijet, for example, provided supplemental lift to UPS last year as well. 

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a flight stoppage and inspections for all tri-engine MD-11 aircraft following the Nov. 4 crash of Flight 2976. The UPS MD-11 slammed into an industrial area immediately after clearing the runway at Louisville Mohammad Ali International Airport, killing 14 people. A major focus of the investigation is why the engine and engine pylon separated from the left wing as the plane moved down the runway. 

UPS had about 27 MD-11s in active service at the time and FedEx operated 25 MD-11s. 

“UPS MD-11 aircraft will not return to service until each one has passed an FAA-approved inspection process, and any necessary corrective actions are completed. We will take the time needed to ensure that every aircraft is safe. There is no rush to return the fleet to service,” Polk said. 

Dietrich said FedEx will reactivate aircraft one by one after they successfully complete inspections, meaning there is no requirement for all inspections to be completed before any can start flying again. He suggested that inspections could be completed relatively quickly.

UPS Supply Chain Solutions outage

Meanwhile, a large UPS Supply Chain Solutions warehouse located in the crash zone remains closed, along with other businesses in the area. The left main landing gear of the UPS freighter aircraft tore through part of the building’s roof, leaving a large gash, before hitting the ground on the other side of the street, according to satellite images of the scene. 

The National Transportation Safety Board is still collecting evidence for its investigation and recovery efforts are still underway. The utility company and various agencies are controlling access to the area until electric and gas power are fully hooked up, roads are repaired, environmental hazards have been eliminated and buildings are deemed safe for occupancy, according to local officials and media reports. 

Ceva Logistics operates a small ground and rail facility near the Louisville airport, but it didn’t experience any damage, spokeswoman Alison Jahn said. Red Bull also operates a distribution center near the UPS building. 

“We are having conversations with the customers that have product in there. We are being as transparent as possible about the process, but we can’t tell them anything about timing” because authorities haven’t notified UPS when the industrial park will reopen for business, said Polk. 

(Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly stated that the wing of the plane struck the UPS warehouse.)

Click here for more FreightWaves/PostalMag stories by Eric Kulisch.

FedEx plugs transport hole caused by MD-11 groundings

Weekly rail freight lower but still ahead of 2024 for year

Domestic U.S. rail freight was 493,880 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending Nov. 15, down 4.5% from the same week a year ago.

Freight totaled 223,101 carloads, the Association of American Railroads reported, a decline of 0.2%, while intermodal volume of 270,779 containers and trailers was weaker by 7.7%.

Four of 10 carload groups gained in the latest week: Nonmetallic minerals, 10.2%; grain, 8.5%; nonmetallic minerals, 0.3% and miscellaneous freight, 15.3%.

Decreases were seen in motor vehicles and parts, 14%; petroleum and petroleum products, 11.3% and forest products, 6.8%.

Analysts have speculated on a verging oversupply among auto dealers, while a slow housing market has damped demand for lumber and building materials.

But year-to-date U.S. volume remained above 2024 as freight reached 10.2 million carloads, up 1.8%, and intermodal notched 12.5 million units, ahead by 2.2%. Total combined traffic of 22.7 million carloads and intermodal units was better by 2%.

North American rail volume on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads totaled 328,748 carloads, weaker by 0.9% from the year-ago week, Intermodal gained 2.1% to 354,081 units. Total combined weekly traffic was 682,829 carloads and intermodal units, up 0.6% percent; combined volume for the first 46 weeks of this year was 31.2 million carloads and intermodal units, up 1.8%.

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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UPDATE: Maersk relocates North American HQ to Charlotte

A.P. Moller-Maersk announced that it has selected Charlotte as the new location for its North America headquarters.

The Copenhagen-based parent of container carrier Maersk said it will eventually add 500 jobs to bring its Charlotte workforce total to 1,300.

“North Carolina has been a key partner in our growth for more than two decades, “ said Charles van der Steene, president of  North America Region at Maersk, in a release. “Designating Charlotte as our North American headquarters location reinforces our confidence in the state’s business climate and workforce. We’re investing in North Carolina’s future because it’s a place where innovation and opportunity come together.”

The move could also earn Maersk a state grant of almost $8 million spread over 12 years, contingent on its meeting job creation and investment targets, the office of Gov. Josh Stein said in a release.

The move comes just months after Maersk (MAERSK-B.CO) signed a lease extension on its offices in Florham Park, N.J., where it had been an anchor tenant since 2014. Previous to that it was based in neighboring Madison for the better part of three decades.

“While we strongly believe establishing a headquarters for our North American region is the right thing for our customers and our colleagues, we realize our decision to centralize the majority of our office-based roles in Charlotte presents a big personal decision for many of our colleagues,” a Maersk spokesperson said in an email to FreightWaves. “This is not a decision driven by a desire or with the expectation that we will reduce overall headcount. We are working directly with all impacted colleagues on what this means for them including relocation support. While we’re not in a position to share anticipated employee counts at our other offices or publicly comment on specific plans for individual colleagues or teams, we will continue to have branch offices across our network.”
Maersk said it has had a corporate presence in Charlotte for more than two decades; it purchased its current space in south Charlotte in 2006.

Maersk in the announcement said it chose Charlotte because of the market’s affordability, growing talent pool, and high quality of life. The headquarters will house key corporate functions including finance, human resources, commercial strategy, and technology.

Stein’s office said Maersk will invest $16 million in Mecklenburg County.

“Maersk’s decision to bring its North American headquarters to Charlotte speaks to North Carolina’s reputation as a top destination for global business,” said Stein. “We are home to a world-class workforce, and we’re proud to welcome Maersk to North Carolina, the top state for business in the country.”

The governor’s office said that the average annual salary is expected to be $100,962, higher than the Mecklenburg County average of $86,830. The new jobs could create a potential annual payroll impact of more than $52.5 million to the local economy, it added.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Truck cameras aren’t enough; they need policies to succeed: Moseley

NEW ORLEANS–The argument about whether having cameras in a driver’s cab and on the outside of the vehicle is largely over. Holdouts on the issue are dwindling in number.

But just because the cameras are in place doesn’t mean the discussion ends there. How a trucking company uses that equipment to protect itself was the subject of a presentation at the Trimble Insight (NASDAQ: TRMB) conference here by Rob Moseley, partner in the Moseley Marcinak Law Group of South Carolina that focuses almost exclusively on trucking, defending carriers and brokers. 

Moseley laid out in his discussion the do’s and don’ts of camera policy. It is a surprisingly long list of thorny questions that develop over time as companies that have equipped their trucks with cameras seek to craft policies about their use and the subsequent streams of data provided by the cameras. 

The overriding foundation of trucking law that supports the use of cameras was spelled out by Moseley. “In the world that we’re in today, you have to prove that you’re innocent, not the other side having to prove you did something wrong,” he said. 

Cameras are an important part of that. Moseley, noting that he was making his comments “carefully,” said that “sometimes drivers lie, or they might not tell you the truth about what happened.”

But it isn’t all deceit, he added. A driver might not truly understand what happened on the road. “They’ve just been through a very traumatic event,” he said. “They’re full of adrenaline. Whatever they spout out next may or may not be true.”

Moseley followed that up with what can best be described as the “value prop” for cameras.

Driver memories aren’t perfect

Videos mean a company does not need to depend on the driver’s recollection of the incident. “We don’t have to depend on a driver to tell us, because what happens is, the driver comes in and says it’s not my fault,” Moseley said. “The manager says I still stand behind you.”

The problem might come, he added, in that the trucking company and their attorneys may find “there’s 12 witnesses who say that is not the way it happened. So the video helps us get to the answer a lot quicker.”

The value prop for cameras also lies in a statistic cited by Moseley: “75% or more of the accidents that involve a commercial vehicle will be the fault of the passenger car in the vicinity of commercial vehicles.”

Moseley showed the audience several “exoneration videos,” films that clearly established it was the driver of a passenger car that caused a collision.

But with that established, there are other questions. For example, what type of equipment should go in the truck?

Cheaper cameras may create problems

Moseley discussed cameras that can be bought at a truck stop and mounted in the vehicle as one option. But those cameras, while cheaper, can have limited value in litigation, Moseley said. 

A full system of cameras that are sold by companies send the video stream back to the fleet and can record hundreds of hours before running out of capacity. 

“The biggest problem we can face is that cameras don’t record what they were supposed to record,” Moseley said, speaking of off-the-shelf equipment. They may have been installed wrong; timing settings may be off; or when capacity is reached they loop back and erase key video.

Moseley gave an example of that. As he said, after a crash where he was involved in a subsequent lawsuit, a police officer was interviewing the people involved. But the system only had an hour’s worth of capacity. So as the officer’s interviews went on, the capacity filled up, went back to the beginning and erased what really mattered: the crash itself. 

That sort of development can create significant problems with a jury. “The allegation is that, oh, you must not like what the video showed so you allowed it to be deleted,” Moseley said.

An admittedly more expensive system that sends the video feed back to the carrier’s system via telematics doesn’t have that problem, Moseley noted.

Cameras can be internal facing or external facing, or a carrier may choose to employ both. While many drivers object to internal facing cameras as an invasion of privacy, those cameras can confirm a truck company’s defenses, Moseley said. “The only real way to know your driver’s not on the phone or has both hands on the wheel is to be able to see your driver,” he said. 

Such evidence is not always positive, according to Moseley. “It can make a case more complicated when a driver’s doing something that we have to explain,” he said. But he added that the camera is more likely to exonerate a driver than be incriminating.

“If I owned a trucking company, I wouldn’t let a truck leave unless it had inward and outward facing cameras,” Moseley said.

How long does the video stick around?

But while Moseley praised the evidence that a camera system provides, it needs to come with a policy of how long those recordings are kept. 

Video of crashes should always be kept, he said, or at least until any statute of limitations expires in the state where the incident took place. 

For other recordings, parameters should be set with the vendor providing the camera services, Moseley said, “so that you don’t just have years of near-miss videos for these drivers.”

That video that could be years old of a driver making mistakes and being coached by the company while on the road can be dredged up if that driver is involved in a crash that results in litigation, Moseley said. “The idea is that we don’t want the seven videos where he almost hit the school bus,” Moseley added, even if coaching had turned that driver into one that isn’t going to make those mistakes again. 

Cameras and the coaching that comes along with them can cut down on those mistakes. Part of that, Moseley said, goes back to normal competitive juices running through the drivers.

He referred to it as the “gamification of telematics,” used in such a way that the cameras can set up some level of competition with safety as the goal. 

“You start scoring them and you know they’ll be fighting to win,” Moseley said. “There’s an opportunity to work with your drivers and squeeze a little more safety out of them in terms of how they operate.”

More articles by John Kingston

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3PLs should generate $27 in pipeline for each $1 in marketing, report says

stacked containers at a port

Logistics companies should generate nearly $27 in qualified pipeline for every marketing dollar spent, according to a quarterly report from go-to-market consulting group LeadCoverage.

The firm’s Supply Chain Growth Index (SCGI) measures go-to-market spend among logistics companies. The first-ever release of the benchmark showed an average Logistics Growth Efficiency Ratio (LGER) of $29.51 for each dollar spent, with the median company generating $26.68 in pipeline. (LGER is calculated by dividing the pipeline created by total go-to-market spend.)

“Freight and logistics companies are under immense pressure to make every GTM investment count,” said Kara Brown, CEO and co-founder of LeadCoverage, in a news release. “The SCGI and its core metric, LGER, cut through the noise of vanity metrics to deliver a clear, actionable benchmark. It answers the urgent question: ‘Are we spending our GTM resources efficiently, and is that spend generating real pipeline?’”

The middle 50% of the companies tracked were generating $8 to $55 in pipeline (per dollar spent), with the most effective campaign fetching $109.44 and the worst seeing just 39 cents.

The report advises executives to benchmark performance against the median LGER and “treat $26.68 as a floor to surpass, not a ceiling.”

“Born from SaaS, where the Growth Efficiency Ratio (GER) became the gold standard for balancing scale and profitability, we’ve adapted it for freight,” the report said.

The index defines go-to-market spend as dollars spent on media, public relations, tech, vendors and marketing headcount. Sales labor is excluded.

The evaluation encompassed a diverse group of logistics providers, including FreightTech companies, 3PLs, brokers and others. These entities span mid-market to enterprise-level operations and utilize a mix of asset-based and asset-light models.

“The SCGI gives leaders the data to invest with precision and drive real pipeline growth,” Brown said. “Our initial findings show wide performance gaps, which is exactly why this kind of benchmark is critical.”

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

Cargo theft surges 29% in Q3, as thieves target electronics, food 

Cargo theft in the U.S. jumped sharply in the third quarter, with 645 incidents recorded — up  29% year-over-year and 23% from the second quarter, according to supply chain visibility firm Overhaul’s Q3-2025 cargo theft report.

California (35%) and Texas (22%) remained the nation’s top hotspots, fueled by high volumes of electronics, food-and-beverage, home goods and auto parts moving through major freight corridors.

Overhaul officials said increasing freight volumes, higher product values and smarter criminal tactics — amplified by peak holiday season and new tariffs — are driving the spike.

“Every year, cargo theft ticks up during the holidays, but this year we’re seeing a perfect storm,” Danny Ramon, Overhaul’s director of intelligence and response, said in an email to FreightWaves. “You’ve got a record number of high-value shipments on the road, tighter delivery windows, and thinner security oversight all happening at once. Organized theft crews know the calendar as well as retailers do.”

Electronics and food-and-beverage shipments each accounted for 17% of total third quarter thefts, with thieves gravitating toward items that move quickly through secondary markets. 

Within electronics, audio/video equipment, batteries, and televisions were the most frequently stolen subcategories. Food theft was dominated by meat (31%), nuts, and shelf-stable products. 

Ramon said economic pressures — including tariff-driven price increases — are reshaping criminal incentives.

“When tariffs and inflation push prices up, it changes the economics of crime,” he said. “Thieves don’t look at tariffs as a policy issue — they see opportunity. The more expensive or scarce an item becomes, the more lucrative and easier it is to resell.” 

Auto parts thefts, especially tires, also rose sharply, making up 14% of total thefts in the third quarter, while pharmaceuticals jumped more than 400% quarter-over-quarter, heavily concentrated in California. Personal care products saw similar increases.

Pilferage (41%) remained the most common theft type, but full-truckload thefts climbed to 31%, and deceptive pickups grew rapidly as organized groups impersonated carriers and drivers to steal entire loads. 

Texas saw a surge in cargo theft cases in the quarter, with Overhaul spotlighting the Fort Worth–Dallas corridor as one of the nation’s most active hot zones.

Hotspots in the Lone Star State centered around industrial areas in Hutchins, Duncanville, Everman, Alliance, Brownlee Park, and North Dallas, with truck stops along I-20 near Hutchins posing especially high risk.

Ramon said that the fourth quarter could produce some of the highest theft volumes in years as criminal networks capitalize on peak-season pressure.

“For a lot of companies, one theft can mean hundreds of thousands in lost product and a ripple effect that touches consumers directly,” Ramon said. “Cargo theft isn’t just a logistics problem anymore — it’s a national economic one.”

Based on third quarter data, Overhaul recommends elevated security posture through the remainder of 2025. Key steps include:

1. Strengthen driver and carrier verification

2. Record and verify all shipment details

3. Increase tracking visibility

4. Improve yard, warehouse, and parking security

5. Tighten processes against deceptive pickups

6. Prepare escalation plans when theft occurs

project44 achieves cash flow breakeven, 40%+ ARR growth in Q3 2025

project44, the Decision Intelligence Platform for supply chains, announced that it achieved operational cash flow breakeven in Q3 while delivering over 40% year-over-year growth in new annual recurring revenue (ARR). This dual milestone underscores the company’s rapid recovery from post-COVID challenges and its aggressive push into intelligent automation and transportation management.

The Chicago-based company, founded by Jett McCandless, has aggressively pushed into intelligent automation. The company reported explosive growth. Today, 30% of the company’s ARR is tied to its Intelligent TMS platform.

The company reported over 40% year-over-year growth in new ARR in Q3 2025, achieving operational cash flow breakeven. This balanced contributions from new logos and expansions among existing customers. Multi-year contract bookings jumped 25% year-over-year, signaling deepening enterprise commitment to its platform. project44 added Fortune 500 customers in pharmaceuticals, streaming technology, industrial manufacturing, and consumer goods sectors. 

“This quarter, project44 accelerates as an organization,” McCandless said in the release. “We achieve operating financial independence, scale faster than ever, and deliver innovations that drive measurable results for customers.”

“This performance this quarter demonstrates how project44 accelerates as an organization,” McCandless stated in the press release. “project44 is achieving operating financial independence, scaling faster than ever, and delivering innovations that drive measurable results for our customers.

Cash flow breakeven wasn’t just a result of explosive revenue growth, but represented the fruit of a long, painful period of right-sizing and refocus. In a phone conversation with FreightWaves, McCandless said that project44 has taken $118 million of operating costs out of the business, radically shrinking headcount from more than 1,200 employees at one point to approximately 575 today. The company also fired more than $30 million worth of unprofitable business, much of it from logistics services providers whose net revenues compressed after the pandemic, and decided that it had to zero in on its ideal customer: what it calls the ‘global 2,000 shippers.’ 

It’s a remarkable transformation for a venture capital-backed tech startup that raised $760 million during the era of blitzscaling and ZIRP. Cutting headcount forced project44 to focus on the customers that truly mattered, McCandless said, and allowed the company to ship new software much faster.

The results cap a year of product momentum for project44, which has shifted from pure visibility provider to full-stack decision intelligence suite. FreightWaves covered the launch of its Intelligent TMS in August 2025, marking project44 as the first visibility player to enter the TMS space. Intelligent TMS, built atop its Movement platform, integrates procurement, planning, execution, and visibility across modes, using agentic AI to orchestrate complex workflows.

The Intelligent TMS has quickly become project44’s fastest-growing product, with over 150 customers generating more than $30 million in ARR from Intelligent TMS capabilities alone. Early adopters have seen 4.1% reductions in transportation spend and 17% gains in on-time performance, according to the company’s internal metrics.

In Q3, project44 launched a tariff simulator to help its customers navigate U.S. import duties in the middle of the Trump administration’s trade war, and collaboration workflows that shortened resolution times by more than 40%, but one of the most consequential releases was AI Agent Orchestration—project44’s agents handled more than 1 million voice calls and emails in 2025.

Q3 saw 171 customer-facing enhancements across its four product families: Intelligent TMS, Visibility, Yard Management, and eCommerce Logistics.
project44’s Disruption Navigator tool won FreightWaves’ inaugural AI Excellence in Supply Chain award earlier this year.