FreightWaves Today | November 13

Malcolm Harris (0:30)

Sending you off into the weekend. This is another episode of FreightWaves Today. I am Malcolm Harris, of course, joined by my partner in crime, Julie VanDickdale. Hi, Julie.

Julie VanDickdale (0:39)

Hello, how are you today?

Malcolm Harris (0:40)

Good, how are you? Look at our color palette. It's not matching, but it's a blend. It's a nice blend.

Julie VanDickdale (0:46)

Yeah, it is. Fall, late fall colors.

Malcolm Harris (0:49)

Warm.

Julie VanDickdale (0:50)

It was cold today.

Malcolm Harris (0:51)

Freezing in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Absolutely freezing, but beautiful.

Julie VanDickdale (0:54)

For us, yes.

Malcolm Harris (0:55)

Beautiful, beautiful.

Julie VanDickdale (0:56)

Relative, right? We think it's freezing, but it's nothing compared to other parts of the country.

Malcolm Harris (1:02)

No, no, no.

Julie VanDickdale (1:02)

Where they're expecting snow. We might even get flurries here.

Malcolm Harris (1:06)

Are we really? That's how you know. I have not looked at the weather forecast at all because-

Julie VanDickdale (1:10)

I mean, it'll be on the mountains. Like it won't be anything.

Malcolm Harris (1:12)

So it's not going to be like in her. Okay.

Well, it's going to be cold this weekend. You doing anything fun this weekend at all?

Julie VanDickdale (1:19)

Soccer. All weekend with the kids.

Malcolm Harris (1:21)

Championships to be won.

Julie VanDickdale (1:23)

We'll see. We will see. We're towards the end of the fall season, which.

You look thrilled, Julie. No, it's so fun when we were there. I'm looking forward to at some point having a weekend off.

Malcolm Harris (1:39)

I get that. Well, it's going to be a big time performance for the kids. They're going to show up and show out. So I'm rooting from afar.

Julie VanDickdale (1:47)

Hopefully, we'll see.

Elle, our daughter, went to the Olivia Rodrigo concert last night. She's going to come home tired, I'm sure, but she was super jazzed and it was fun.

Malcolm Harris (1:57)

That's a big show.

Julie VanDickdale (1:58)

Yeah.

Malcolm Harris (1:58)

It's a huge show. We got a big show here today as well. Of course, we have Humble Robotics. They just raised 51 million for a truck design without a cab.

Founder Eyal Cohen is joining us on what automation does for freight. Then Centerline Insurance's own Andy Kuchar on insurance gaps for trailers as well as cargo crossings into Mexico. He will be in studio. Then the armchair attorney, the Red Blazer himself, Mr. Matt Leffler, is joining us to talk all about this racketeering case against two of the biggest brokerages that won't reach a jury until 2028 So Matt Leffler, Andy Kuchar, and Eyal Cohen are going to be today's guests. But before we get to our wonderful guests, and they are going to be fantastic, let's get to some headlines.

Julie VanDickdale (2:53)

We kick things off with a troubling blind spot in AI dash cam technology that's handing plaintiff attorneys new ammunition in the courtroom. Trucking defense attorney Doug Marcello warns that AI-only dash cams are creating a major liability risk by recording dangerous driving behavior that the artificial intelligence never flags for review. According to Sean Ritchie, a vice president at Solera Fleet Solutions, analysis of AI triggered videos found up to 30 percent held other risks the AI didn't label, with drowsy driving being the most common miss. The panel came just days after a Dallas County judge upheld a massive $604 million jury verdict against CH. Robinson, stemming from a 2021 crash in Jackson, Mississippi that killed three people and the truck's driver. Marcello emphasized that fleets will be held responsible for any footage they hold, warning that saying the AI didn't pick up the risk and risk the behavior won't be an acceptable defense in court. Over in the ocean shipping sector, German container carrier Hapag-Lloyd is riding a wave of robust spot freight rates to sharply higher earnings. The shipping giant reported third quarter group profit of $999 million, compared with just $172 million a year earlier, driven primarily by higher freight rates rather than increased cargo volumes. The company's average freight rate rose to $1,808 per 20-foot equivalent unit, up from $1,413 a year earlier, while volumes remained broadly unchanged at 3.38 million 20-foot equivalent units. Based on continued strength in spot freight rates, Hapag-Lloyd raised its full year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization outlook to $4.6 billion to $5.0 billion, up from its previous forecast of $3.9 billion to $4.4 billion.

Chief Executive Rolf Haben Janssen said geopolitical tensions and operational disruptions continued to put pressure on unit costs, even as the company delivered a strong quarter. Finally, fresh political uncertainty is complicating the trade landscape as container imports cool after an unusually long peak season. The democratic sweep of both houses of Congress and last week's US midterm elections has introduced new uncertainty for trade and logistics, according to rate platform Freidos.