Brake Check

Before a truck gets shut down... Before the lawsuit... Before the six-figure insurance renewal... Before the FMCSA audit... The warning signs are almost always there. The problem? Most carriers don't see them until it's too late. On this episode of Brake Check, we tackle one of the biggest questions in trucking today: Why do 93% of carriers fail an FMCSA audit with at least one violation—and what...

Every trucking company is buying more technology. The question is...is it actually making your business stronger or creating new ways to lose money? In this episode of Brake Check, we tackle the two biggest technology battles every carrier faces today: Hiring qualified drivers before the competition gets them. Protecting your business from freight fraud, cyberattacks, and costly IT failures. Steve...

Some carriers are surviving 2026. Others are quietly disappearing. The difference isn't luck. It isn't fleet size. And it isn't who has the newest trucks It's who has better information. On this episode of Brake Check, we pull back the curtain on what the data is really saying about today's freight market—and the hidden operational mistakes quietly costing carriers money every single day. Joining...

There are plenty of people telling you what trucking looks like from a boardroom. We decided to ask the people actually living it. Live from Shell Rotella SuperRigs at Bristol Motor Speedway, Brake Check handed the microphone to America's truck drivers for an unfiltered reality check on freight, regulations, pay, parking, respect, technology, and where this industry is really headed. No talking po...

Is Trucking About to Repeat Its Biggest Mistake Again? Everyone is talking about the next trucking "super cycle." But who benefits  most from selling such a narrative? Higher rates. Tighter capacity. A new golden era. But haven't we heard this before? On this episode of Brake Check, we're asking the question many in trucking are afraid to ask: Is the industry chasing another hype cycle... or is th...

The most expensive truck in America isn't the one burning fuel down the highway. It's the one sitting still. On this episode of Brake Check, we're exposing the hidden costs that quietly destroy trucking profits every day: empty seats, slow hiring, breakdowns, repair delays, compliance bottlenecks, and downtime that most carriers never properly measure. First, Charles sits down with Tim Crawford, C...

Everybody says trucking is broken. Rates are soft. Insurance costs are crushing carriers. Operating expenses keep climbing. Every week another trucking company shuts its doors, another owner-operator parks the truck, and another driver wonders if it's still worth it. So here's the question: If trucking is so bad right now, how are some fleets and owner-operators still finding a way to win? On this...

What if trucking's biggest problems aren't being ignored... What if they're being protected? On this episode of Brake Check, Charles Gracey sits down with two of the most outspoken voices in trucking to tackle the issues drivers, carriers, and owner-operators are talking about across America. First, Charles Claburn joins the show. With 30 years behind the wheel, more than 3 million accident-free m...

Everyone keeps saying trucking is recovering. So why are carriers still closing their doors? Why are drivers still frustrated? Why do brokers think the sky is falling? And why does it feel like the people making money in freight are playing a completely different game than everyone else? On this episode of Brake Check, we're cutting through the noise and exposing what's really happening inside tru...

Today on Brake Check, we're tackling the two biggest threats facing trucking in 2026. First, Matt Roherty from CarrierForge breaks down what it really takes to go from company driver to business owner. From MC authority and compliance headaches to startup costs, profitability, and avoiding the mistakes that kill most new carriers in their first year, this is the roadmap every aspiring owner-operat...

The trucking industry is at a breaking point. Spot rates are crushed. Small carriers are disappearing. Brokers and carriers are battling over transparency, pricing, and survival while AI and automation are rapidly changing the game. On this episode of Brake Check, we bring together a hard-hitting roundtable discussion on the real future of trucking: Why carrier attrition is accelerating Whether th...

The trucking industry changed fast. Freight strategy changed. Liability changed. Driver expectations changed. Technology changed. But a whole lot of fleets, brokers, and logistics companies kept operating like it was still 2015. On this episode of Brake Check, Charles dives into the growing pressure reshaping trucking right now — from freight relationships and broker exposure to legal risk, carrie...

The trucking industry keeps talking about a “driver shortage”… But what if the real problem is the industry itself? On this episode of Brake Check, Charles Gracey dives headfirst into the recruiting and retention crisis ripping through trucking right now — why drivers are leaving, why some fleets can’t keep seats filled, and why the companies winning in 2026 are doing things very differently than...

The trucking industry just got hit from every direction. The Supreme Court dropped a broker liability ruling that has brokers, carriers, and insurance companies scrambling. MOTUS is officially live and already changing the compliance game. And while all of that unfolds, Washington is pushing a new Highway Bill that could reshape freight, enforcement, and trucking operations for years to come. In o...

The spreadsheets say one thing. The bank accounts say another. On Brake Check, we uncover what trucking companies really feel in 2026...fear, pressure, frustration… and in some cases, flat-out survival mode. With Jessica Dotson from Triumph, we dig into the real emotional state of freight. Then CloneOps.ai shows how voice AI may become the next big weapon against freight fraud. And if that’s not e...

Today on Brake Check, live on  FreightWaves⁠, we traded spreadsheets, pie charts, and polished boardroom opinions for something a whole lot more real… The people who actually live this industry. We went LIVE from the legendary Bristol Motor Speedway at the Large Cars & Guitars Truck Show with one mission: Get a real pulse check on trucking in 2026. Because if you really want to know what’s happeni...

In this episode of Brake Check, we're coming to you LIVE from day two of the Tenstreet User Conference, and we're tackling the massive elephant in the room: AI. Everybody is talking about it, but what does practical AI actually mean for the industry? Charles Gracey hits the showroom floor to cut through the buzzwords and sit down with the heavy hitters shaping the future of freight and driver recr...

No studio. No script. No safe answers. This episode of Brake Check went down LIVE at the Tenstreet User Conference in Las Vegas. Executives from all over freight came together to look at the latest industry trends and what is happening out on the road. The freight recession might finally be over. But as rates climb and the market shifts to benefit carriers and drivers, the real challenges are just...

No studio. No script. No safe answers. This episode of Brake Check wasn’t filmed in a quiet room...it went down LIVE at the Broker Carrier Summit in Kansas City… where brokers, carriers, regulators, and tech companies all showed up in the same place… and finally had to face each other. And when that happens? Things get REAL. We’re talking: The growing divide between brokers and carriers What the F...

We went LIVE from OOIDA headquarters in Grain Valley with Lewie Pugh for one of the realest trucking conversations you’ll hear all year. How did OOIDA get started? Why are Hours of Service still broken? Have ELDs helped… or made things worse? Why are drivers still underpaid? And was the so-called “driver shortage” ever real… or was it used to flood the market and suppress wages? This episode pulls...

Most small fleets and owner-operators won’t fail because they can’t drive… they’ll fail because they’re operating 2026 trucking with 2016 tools. In this special Brake Check episode from the Freightwaves Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit 2026, we expose how smart carriers are fighting back with AI, better freight strategy, faster operations, and real-world survival tactics. If your truck is movin...

Today on Brake Check, we’re tackling one of the most talked-about and most misunderstood issues in trucking: Driver recruiting. Some say it’s never been harder. Others say the industry just hasn’t adapted. But here’s the real question… - Are we actually short on drivers… -Or are we just failing to recruit and retain, the right way? Because while companies scramble to hire, the headlines tell a dif...

Today on Brake Check, we’re ripping the cover off one of the most controversial topics in trucking—lease purchase programs. They promise: $10,000  in 6 weeks $2,000 take-home pay A brand-new truck The American Dream Is that $2K net actually guaranteed… or just a projection? Who really controls the truck and the insurance payout? Where does the maintenance and tire money go? What happens when the t...

Today’s Brake Check is pulling no punches. After the 60 Minutes trucking exposé where SuperEgo got super busted, we’re digging deeper into what’s really happening behind the scenes and why so many drivers and carriers are getting crushed while still running hard. This episode breaks down: The schemes and bad actors hurting the entire industry Why “doing it right” matters more than ever with the Be...

Most truckers don’t go broke because they can’t find freight…they go broke because of one decision—and it can cost you $100,000 or more. On this episode of Brake Check, we break down the $100K mistake truckers keep making—and how to beat it. We kick things off with Purple Wave Auctions to talk about how smart operators are buying trucks the RIGHT way—without getting buried in payments or upside do...