Motive Restricted Highway’s Data Access Over a Payment Demand

Highway notified its customers this week in an email communication, that Motive had imposed new limits on the integration between the two platforms, telling compliance leaders that the electronic logging device provider had begun restricting its application programming interface connection and had indicated Highway would need to compensate it for access to carrier data.

The change took effect immediately, according to the notice. Highway’s stated position is that it does not charge carriers for its services and does not intend to begin charging them in order to preserve an ELD connection. The company said the practical result is that Motive ELD data now refreshes less frequently inside its platform.

The downstream effects Highway described are specific. Brokers hiring carriers that run Motive hardware now have reduced visibility into those trucks. Highway said it cannot currently provide location-based Load Lock Alerts for loads hauled by those carriers, and that it can no longer back freight those carriers move under its Performance Guarantee.

The company said it would offer an alternate tracking path through its carrier-facing mobile application for Load Lock Plus customers, while acknowledging in the notice that application-based tracking is disconnected from the equipment itself.

Highway also said it would work with the more than 275 other ELD providers it integrates with to offer discounted alternatives to carriers considering a change. The Performance Guarantee is a commercial backstop under which Highway assumes financial responsibility for outcomes on loads moved by carriers verified through its platform.

The company introduced it as a differentiator, positioning itself as the first carrier vetting platform to put its own capital behind its verification work. Withdrawing it for a subset of carriers returns that risk to the broker. window. googletag = window. googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag.

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push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1709668545404-0'); }); What Has Not Been Established Motive has not publicly addressed the change. No trade publication had reported on the dispute at the time of writing, and no filing, press release or customer communication from Motive describing its reasoning has surfaced.

Highway declined to comment beyond the notice sent to its customers. The account above comes entirely from that notice, and Highway is an interested party. Neither company has disclosed the commercial terms at issue.

What Motive asked Highway to pay, what the original integration agreement provided for, and where any discussions between the two companies currently stand are all unknown. The number of affected carriers is also unpublished.

Motive serves customers across trucking, construction, oil and gas, agriculture and other sectors, and does not break out how many motor carriers have equipment connected to Highway. Any estimate of the affected population would be speculative until one of the two companies discloses it.

Several claims circulating alongside the notice are not supported by it. The notice does not describe a disconnection or a loss of data. It describes reduced refresh frequency, the removal of a specific alert product, and the withdrawal of a commercial guarantee. Carriers running Motive hardware remain visible inside Highway.

What changed is the frequency of the underlying data and the risk position Highway is willing to take on loads those carriers move. Whether brokers alter routing behavior as a result is unknown. The notice makes no claim about carrier load volume, and no data covering the period since the change has been published. window. googletag = window.

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collapseEmptyDivs(); googletag. enableServices(); }); googletag. cmd. push(function() {googletag. display('div-gpt-ad-1665767553440-0'); }); Motive throttled Highway because Highway refused to pay for the ELD connection. Small carriers using Motive will lose access to the Highway network, which powers a large share of brokerage freight.

In this climate, brokers will be reluctant to pick a carrier that Highway…— Craig Fuller (@FreightAlley) August 27, 2026 The Reach Question Highway’s public marketing states that the company is behind 80 percent of United States brokered loads and holds active certificates of insurance on more than 1