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Amazon Opens Logistics Network to All Businesses

Amazon's latest move to open its logistics network to all businesses is making waves in the trucking industry. No longer restricted to those selling on the Amazon platform, now any business can tap into Amazon's extensive logistics services. This could mean more competition for small carriers but also avenues for partnerships. By leveraging Amazon's technology and infrastructure, shippers can streamline their logistics needs.

For owner-operators and small carriers, this is a double-edged sword. While it represents increased competition, it also opens up a plethora of opportunities to access a larger network of clients if they choose to partner up with Amazon to deliver their services. Small carriers could benefit from enhanced technology offerings and potentially reduced overhead costs.

"Amazon's expansion into offering logistics services to non-marketplace businesses offers both a challenge and an opportunity for smaller carriers," said a logistics expert. "Engaging with Amazon means thinking strategically about whether the benefits outweigh the possible cut in margins."

For those interested in exploring similar logistical technology solutions that can keep you competitive, take a look at ESSE's transport management systems (TMS).

Forward Air to Sell Intermodal Business

Forward Air announced the sale of its intermodal business as well as other non-core assets. This strategic move will allow the company to focus more on its core competencies in expedited services and less on its intermodal segments, which have been under scrutiny for not aligning closely with the company’s long-term goals.

For small carriers and owner-operators, the shift by Forward Air could mean adjustments in market dynamics, potentially opening up more opportunities to fill widening service gaps in the intermodal sphere. Carriers should also keep an eye on how logistical demand might shift with Forward Air stepping away from intermodal offerings.

30 Days on the Road: April 2026 Recap

Heavy Duty Trucking's latest "30 Days on the Road" segment gives us insights into the past month of trucking. Drivers faced diverse challenges including fluctuating fuel prices and the ever-increasing focus on sustainability, regulations, and efficiency in the trucking industry.

For small carriers, understanding these trends is crucial in strategizing for the months ahead. With the spotlight on sustainability practices, for instance, investing in fuel-efficient technologies or adopting newer ECU-compliant models could be worth investigating. This transition may improve long-term profitability and align with regulatory standards.

FMCSA's Non-Domiciled CDL Ban Victory

The FMCSA scored a significant win with the non-domiciled CDL ban. This decision is aimed at curtailing safety issues posed by drivers holding non-domiciled CDLs. This mandates that all drivers operating within the United States must hold a CDL issued by their state of domicile.

This news is crucial for carriers as it underscores the need to audit current driver compliance processes. Carriers must ensure their drivers meet regulatory requirements to avoid disruptions and potential fines. Regular compliance checks and updates can safeguard operations from regulatory lapses.

Carriers looking for more information on maintaining compliance can visit ESSE's compliance resource page.

DOT Celebrates Secretary Duffy's Achievements

Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy marks one year in office with significant achievements celebrated by the Department of Transportation. His tenure has focused on enhancing infrastructure support and improving trucking regulations, both vital for truckers nationwide.

For owner-operators and small carriers, awareness of policy changes and ongoing support measures is essential. Understanding how these changes affect operational decisions will contribute to more informed strategic planning and business resilience in the coming years.

What Carriers Should Do This Week

• Evaluate the potential of partnering with Amazon's logistics network to expand your business opportunities.
• Analyze market dynamics impacted by Forward Air's selloff of its intermodal business for potential service opportunities.
• Stay informed on sustainability practices to prepare for eco-driven operational shifts.
• Conduct a compliance audit to ensure all drivers fulfill FMCSA domicile requirements.
• Stay updated on regulatory changes and infrastructure support from the DOT to align strategic goals accordingly.

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In 2022, we were running a small fleet and spending approximately $400 per truck per month on software. TMS license, ELD subscription, e-sign service, separate accounting integration. Four different logins. Four different monthly invoices. Four different support teams to call when something didn't work.

None of it talked to each other without manual data entry.

The software evaluation that changed everything

We spent three months evaluating every major TMS and fleet management system on the market. AscendTMS, McLeod, Motive, EZLogz, KeepTruckin, TruckingOffice, Axon. We signed up for demos, trials, and in two cases, paid for actual subscriptions to test them properly.

What we found was consistent across almost all of them: the software was built by people who had never dispatched a truck. You could tell immediately. The terminology was slightly wrong. The workflows assumed steps that no real dispatcher would take. The ELD and TMS were always separate systems that "integrated" — meaning they sometimes shared data, if you configured things correctly, and the configuration broke whenever either vendor pushed an update.

"The best way to evaluate trucking software is to use it under real pressure. Not in a demo. Not in a test environment. On a real load, with a real deadline, when a broker is calling every 30 minutes for an update."

The specific things that were broken

Without naming specific vendors: one major TMS required five screen transitions to update a load status. Not five clicks — five full page navigations. On a mobile browser from a truck stop, that meant 45 seconds to tell a broker the truck was loaded. Another system had beautiful analytics dashboards but couldn't tell you, in real time, how many hours of drive time your driver had remaining without navigating to a separate compliance module.

The ELD market was worse. Most ELD systems were designed to satisfy FMCSA's technical requirements — which they did — while making the user experience as painful as possible. Drivers hated them. When drivers hate their tools, they find workarounds. Workarounds create compliance risk.

The moment we decided to build

The decision was made on a Tuesday afternoon when our dispatcher spent 40 minutes re-entering data from a rate confirmation PDF that our ELD had already captured in a different system. The information existed. It was digital. It lived in three different places that didn't talk to each other, and a human was manually transferring it between systems.

That's not a technology problem. That's a lack of ambition problem. Nobody had decided to solve it because the existing systems were profitable enough without solving it.

What we decided to build instead

One platform. ELD and TMS as the same system, not integrations. AI that reads rate confirmation PDFs so dispatchers don't have to. A dispatcher — eventually an AI dispatcher — that covers nights and weekends so loads don't get missed. E-sign built in, not bolted on.

And priced at zero through 2026, because the goal was to prove the product worked before asking carriers to pay for it.

Two years in: did it work?

The Rate Con AI has a 95%+ accuracy rate on standard broker formats. ERETH ELD passed FMCSA's technical certification. Our AI dispatchers book real loads for real carriers after hours. The carrier dashboard still occasionally has a minor bug — we fix them the same day they're reported.

Would we have been better off just using an existing system and focusing on freight? Financially, in the short term, probably yes. But we would have kept paying $400 per truck per month for software that we knew was mediocre. And we would have missed the opportunity to build something that actually works the way the industry needs it to work.

We don't regret it.