YOU’RE AUTOMATING THE WRONG DAMN THING | Brake Check

SPEAKER_2 (0:02)

Today's deep thought, trucks have big wheels.

Charles (0:23)

AI can quote a load, track it, and predict what's about to break. So trucking is buying more software to fix everything. One problem with that, the truck still has a human being in it. AI can predict a wheel-bearing failure. It can lead your people to a problem, but it can't lead your people. Today, what should the machine run, and what shouldn't it ever touch? That's what we're going to discuss. This is Brake Check, and today, we're going to rock the boat. Up first, after the pile up of the daily news, we're going to have Grace Sharkey. She helped build a brokerage past $80 million, spent years covering FreightTech, and now she's inside of it. Then Doctor V, that's right, Vernard Jenkins is in the house, Air Force Academy graduate, running 29 sites and roughly 10 million square feet for Knight-Swift Warehousing, a leading by example type of human. And he's talking about how you lead humans for a living. One gets the machine, the other gets the people. Today, we're finding out which one actually deserves your money. Automate the work, not the people. Let's go full stop. Now, if you're serious about protecting your money, well, then like, subscribe and follow FreightWaves for your top freightcast, trucking news, and the conversations that actually matter right here on FreightWaves. And if you want to know what's happening in the industry, then you want to check out F3. That's the future of Freight Festival. Use promo code TAKE20 for an additional 20% off today's current pricing. That's TAKE20 and register today. But before we get serious, it's time for our daily pile up.

Alright, let's look at the stages of a trucker as our first starting point for today's pile up.

Alright, and up next, let's check out this set of wheels.

Now, that was skill. You understand the expertise and the understanding of the machine that you're operating to operate in those caves in that close quarters. It matters. And that's why this conversation today matters. Now, we're going to go to a shout out from our sponsors. Up first, it's Apex. Better options, better solutions, and better service with Apex Factoring at apexcapitolcorp.com.

And now a message from our friends over at Hey Bubba.

SPEAKER_1 (3:28)

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Charles (3:59)

All right, love our sponsors and the support for the show, but it's time to hop into it. Up first, we got Grace Sharkey in the house.

She's been damn near every side of freight, which makes her very hard to BS. Grace Sharkey has helped build a brokerage pass. 80 million spent years inside FreightWaves, interrogating freight tech claims, and now she's the Senior Manager of Communications and PR at Orderful, working around the invisible technology that moves tenders, invoices, status updates between different companies. So Grace, you've sold the freight, you cover the freight, and now you're gonna help us get to the bottom of it. Today, we're gonna find out what's real, what's hype, and what's actually worth paying for. Grace, welcome to Brake Check.

Grace Sharkey (4:41)

Hey, happy early morning. I'm not sure exactly when this is airing, but yes, good morning, Charles.

Charles (4:48)

It is definitely morning. It is morning after a three-day weekend, which means everyone's discombobulated.

Grace Sharkey (4:55)

Exactly, totally. It's good to see you, man. It's awesome.

Charles (5:00)

It's weird because you sat in this chair for years and now the roles are reversed. It seems like every time we see each other, we flip seats and it's just weird every time I get to talk to you here.

Grace Sharkey (5:11)

Yeah. No, I like it. It's a nice change of scenery for me, a little less pressure. I say pressure, but it's different being on this side, having to maybe think about the answers instead of just like straight shooting over there in the seat that you do as well. But no, I love joining you on these different programs across Sirius and FreightWaves and I'm always happy to promote the FreightWaves team and everyone working over there. So happy to join you this wonderful morning.

Charles (5:43)

Well, since the roles have flipped and I get to ask the questions now, you're on FreightWaves, let's talk a little bit about the topic at hand. Let's talk about someone with 20 trucks. One office person who's currently doing the work of approximately seven humans in today's world, what's the first thing that they should be considering for automation? What's the one thing that they should absolutely consider when talking automation today?