Can freight balance speed and security?

Disclosure: Phillip Brink is the host of the Fraud Watch Podcast, the FreightWaves program recapped in this article. As host, Brink has a professional stake in the program’s reach and visibility. He has no commercial relationship with Malcolm Harris or What the Truck beyond their participation in this recorded conversation.

Program Recap: This article summarizes a conversation from an episode of the Fraud Watch Podcast, a FreightWaves program hosted by the author.

This morning on the Fraud Watch Podcast, I was joined by Malcolm Harris, host of What the Truck and a frequent voice in transportation media, for a conversation about freight fraud, cargo theft, and where the industry is headed next.

While the discussion touched on everything from relationships in freight to emerging technology and even a few NBA Finals predictions, the conversation ultimately centered on a much larger issue facing the transportation industry: the growing need for verification in a business that has historically rewarded speed. For decades, freight has operated on trust.

Brokers, carriers, and shippers built relationships through reputation, consistency, and the ability to move freight quickly. Many transportation professionals can remember a time when a carrier could call on a load, provide the necessary information, and be dispatched within minutes. Today, that environment has changed dramatically.

Harris pointed to identity manipulation, cargo theft, compromised credentials, and organized fraud schemes as factors that he said have forced many transportation companies to question assumptions that were once considered standard operating procedure.

FreightWaves has not independently verified Harris’s characterization of the scope or causes of these industry pressures. Similar concerns have been highlighted in recent cargo theft reporting from Verisk CargoNet, which has documented the growing use of carrier impersonation and credential-based fraud schemes.

Trust must be verified One of the strongest themes from the conversation was the industry’s transition from assumed trust to verified trust. Harris noted that transportation still runs on relationships, but those relationships increasingly require verification before freight can move safely.

According to Harris, the most successful organizations are beginning to recognize that speed alone is no longer enough. While rapid response times and operational efficiency remain important, companies are learning that accuracy and verification must come first.

Harris argued that the pressure to move freight quickly has created opportunities for bad actors to exploit weaknesses in onboarding, carrier selection, and load coverage processes. As a result, many organizations are reevaluating how they balance efficiency with risk management.

The discussion also explored how verification is evolving from a reactive activity into a dedicated business function. Rather than relying solely on technology or individual experience, leading organizations are implementing structured processes designed to produce consistent results regardless of who is reviewing a carrier.

The goal is no longer to simply identify obvious red flags. The goal is to create repeatable procedures that reduce the likelihood of fraud before a shipment is ever assigned.

The future will require both people and technology While technology remains one of the industry’s most important tools, Harris emphasized that technology alone will not solve the freight fraud problem.

Harris said artificial intelligence, automation, and advanced verification platforms will continue to improve operational efficiency, but argued that they cannot fully replace human judgment.

According to Harris, the most effective approach will likely combine technology with trained professionals who understand how to interpret risk and make informed decisions.

Harris described what he characterizes as a growing trend: organized cargo theft operations becoming more sophisticated, more structured, and more difficult to detect, though FreightWaves has not independently verified this characterization of the cargo theft landscape.

Harris said he believes some freight fraud schemes involve coordinated groups that understand transportation processes and exploit operational weaknesses, though FreightWaves has not independently verified the prevalence or structure of such schemes. Separately, Verisk CargoNet’s first-quarter 2026 cargo theft analysis highlighted related concerns.

According to the CargoNet report, impersonation-based theft has matured into what it described as a “systematic, scalable criminal methodology.”

The report found that while total supply chain crime events declined year over year, criminal networks are increasingly using credential theft, compromised business accounts, and carrier impersonation schemes to bypass traditional anti-fraud controls. CargoNet concluded that the shift toward carrier impersonation requires “robust identity verification throug