In this episode of Meet Me For Coffee, host Samantha Jones sits down with Frank Wurst, Director of North America Logistics at Greif, a global leader in industrial packaging products and services. With more than two decades of experience across logistics, procurement, and supply chain strategy, Frank brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective to the conversation.

We dive into the modernization of supply chains, the growing role of technology in transportation, and why the truckload market often leads the charge in innovation. Frank shares insights on managing a diverse carrier network, the process of evaluating new providers, and how transportation cost pressures are shaping decision-making in today’s economy.

We also explore how broader market conditions impact logistics strategy—and how Frank uses trends within Greif as a pulse check on the economy.

If you’re interested in freight, procurement strategy, or how leading companies are adapting to a rapidly evolving logistics landscape, this episode is for you.

Please connect with Frank and Samantha on LinkedIn before the show, and feel free to start adding your questions in the comments anytime! Thanks for meeting us for coffee!

In this episode, Samantha sits down with Elizabeth Moscoso, President of Chicago-based asset provider Moscoso Express. Operating in one of the nation’s largest multi-modal freight hubs, Elizabeth brings a unique perspective on global supply chain trends and the pulse of the transportation industry.

With years of experience leading her company through multiple market cycles, Elizabeth shares how she stays ahead by closely tracking policy shifts, economic indicators, and industry risks. We will cover topics like policy uncertainty and it's impacts on freight, how insurance and risk policies are impacting fleets, and what a potential repeal of the 2027 emissions mandates could mean for fleets.

This conversation is for anyone interested in how transportation providers are adapting and staying resilient in the face of evolving economic and market conditions in 2025.

It's been too long since I had David Spencer on the show to discuss his outlook on the freight market! David oversees the creation of one of my favorite freight market newsletters each month with his team at Arrive Logistics.

They keep a close eye on economic data releases, geopolitical events and regulatory changes, freight rate data sources, and more. On this episode, David will provide his thoughts on the current state of the economy and the freight markets, and provide insights on where this market may be heading, and what data points he's keeping a close eye on.

We hope you can make the time to meet us for coffee!

I've been listening to Paul's economic outlooks and forecasts since before I started this podcast. Needless to say, I'm very excited to now have him join me on our next live Meet Me For Coffee episode! Paul is the Director, Transportation Consulting, at S&P Global Market Intelligence where he is part of the team that provides data and analysis for decision making for supply chain management, trade and freight transportation investments, planning and policy making. We plan to talk tariffs, policy uncertainty, corporate tax rates, industrial production, US GDP growth and 2025 forecasts, and more. We hope you can meet us for coffee!

It's go time! You are running out of time to plan for Manifest 2025! We can help. Join Pam Simon, Conference Chair and EVP of Programming, and Samantha Jones as they discuss Manifest very candidly. You can expect to learn, who will be attending Manifest, what themes are of high interest and focus at Manifest this year, what types of sessions, events and networking will be happening at Manifest, how you can get involved, and more!

You can still save on your registration! Use the Meet Me For Coffee link for $200 off your registration!

Manifest Feb 10-12th in Las Vegas! (discount on link!)
https://lnkd.in/gbnPwrA7

On this episode I am joined by Brett Suma, the Founder and CEO of Loadsmith. If you look back at this podcast's history, I don't have CEOs of freight brokerages on the show often. Our show has always been focused on freight markets, economics, and sustainable business growth models and innovation and technology.

I met Brett at a conference and we got to talking and I realized Brett had a lot more to share than just a "how to" for brokerage. Probably not coincidentally if you go back in the show episodes, the last Founder/CEO of a freight company we spoke with was Shannon Breen of FreightVana.

Brett and I are going to dive in on all things freight markets, innovation, assets, growth and acquisitions. Join us for the live show, we love to answer questions! Hope to meet you for coffee!

Join our host Samantha, and her guests Matthew Leffler (our industry's best known attorney) and Graham Gonzales (our industry's best known insurance guru) as they discuss the rapidly evolving legal and risk landscape for brokerages. We will cover topics like the turmoil surety bond markets are in, how 3PL insurance rates are impacted by large verdicts and what these large verdicts mean for legal risk, how fraud is changing the cargo insurance landscape, what shippers should expect of their partners from an insurance standpoint, what brokers should expect of their carrier partners, and more!

Bring all your questions to the live show, or start commenting them now in the comments!

How do brokers operate?

Most operate differently to fit their unique needs and the needs of their carriers and clients. I'm excited to bring you this two part series around how brokerages operate! We get pretty in the weeds discussing operational work flows, and different technologies and tools at play and how they are enhancing service operations. I hope if you are a brokerage leader this series will add value to your day!

On part one of this two part series, Tami Gordy from Flat World Global Solutions and Kristy Knichel from Knichel Logistics share their insights into how their brokerages are operating across intermodal, FTL and LTL sectors. The primary topics we cover in this episode are:

Receiving Orders from Clients - How are you currently receiving orders from clients?
Quoting Shipments - How are you quoting your clients and prospective clients?
Searching for Load Coverage - How do you source carriers for your loads?
Tracking - How do you have visibility on your shipments and provide tracking updates to your teams and clients?

Also, be sure to check out the TAI Software white paper that covers these topics as well! It's a free downloadable resource!