Highway pushes shared data standards as freight fraud goes after process

Highway has covered a million loads under its $100,000 theft guarantee and lost exactly one — and its chief commercial officer says that kind of performance only scales if the whole brokered-freight chain agrees to shared data standards, not just better software from a single vendor.

Michael Caney, CCO of Highway, laid out the argument at the company's user summit in Frisco, Texas, held Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. His pitch: cargo thieves now exploit the seams between brokers, carriers and the service providers around them — impersonating carriers, intercepting load data and redirecting shipments. No single vendor closes those gaps.

Highway sells carrier identity and vetting tools to freight brokers, and Caney has described it as the "Plaid for freight." The company answers to the 1,500 brokers that pay it to manage risk, and Caney says that customer base and its integrations give Highway more data than anyone on who moves North American truckload freight and how likely each load is to be stolen.

That data backs the guarantee: follow Highway's recommendations and the load is stolen anyway, and Highway pays $100,000.

Who actually touches a load?

Caney's model of brokered freight has expanded. For years he counted two parties — broker and carrier. He now counts five, adding the insurance agent and insurer, the factoring company and the telematics provider.

"All of these parties provide data and introduce risk, yet none is accountable when a theft occurs," Caney told FreightWaves. "There's no incentive alignment."

He pointed to concrete failure modes. A carrier takes a truck off its scheduled auto policy, and the change never travels from insurer to agent to Highway. The broker learns the truck wasn't covered only after an accident or cargo damage.

"How many insurance agents have come forward and said, 'I'm sorry. That's on me. Let me help you, Mr. Freight Broker'?" Caney said. "Zero."

Factoring companies, which buy carriers' freight bills, get similar treatment. "As long as the debtor is creditworthy and the factoring company can collect what it's owed, it has little incentive to care if its customer steals freight. There's no accountability," he said.

Certified providers that vouch for their data

Highway's answer is a certified network of providers that agree to stand behind their data. The first phase, Highway Certified Insurance Agencies, launched June 1 with 10 founding agencies. They commit to:

• accurate certificates of insurance
• coverage detail down to the VIN
• timely notice of policy changes, cancellations and nonrenewals

Highway plans to extend certification to other service providers in brokered freight. Caney said customers asked for the network because the data reaching brokers had accuracy problems, including bad policy dates and VIN data.

The bar extends to telematics. Caney argued in an Oct. 7 FreightWaves commentary that ELD data needs an enforceable standard, and Highway sets integration requirements beyond FMCSA registration. "There are FMCSA-certified ELD providers that we won't integrate with," he said.

The pitch split the providers Highway approached. "We heard from people who said, 'This is exactly what the industry needs. I'm tired of competing against those who cut corners,'" he said. "But not everyone welcomed that level of accountability."

Why the rules aren't enough

The standards push tracks where fraud has moved. Caney said social engineering is now a major threat, including voice AI used to call brokers and ask them to send load information to a new email address or by text.

"What is happening with fraud is a direct attack on process," he said. "It's no longer just about a set of rules."

Caney frames fraud as a choice. Highway tells brokers that emailing a rate confirmation as an attachment makes a stolen load very likely. A carrier with a limited-term CDL won't necessarily steal the load, but the broker must take two or three more steps to verify.

The risk sits in a narrow slice of the market. More than 82% of carriers moving brokered freight qualify for the performance guarantee, Highway told FreightWaves in September. In most broker networks, Caney said, 6% of carriers are ones brokers shouldn't be talking to — and some brokers load them anyway. Loads on that 6% fall outside the guarantee.

"If you're shopping on the day-old bread aisle, you shouldn't be surprised when the bread is stale," he said.

What Montgomery changed

The stakes for brokers jumped in May, when the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that brokers can face state negligent-hiring claims over the carriers they select.

Brokers should be wary of anyone claiming to have the answer, Caney said — himself included. "You're dealing with people's livelihoods, including the broker's. After Montgomery, that's a serious responsibility," he said.

He points to Visa in payments and the Buttonwood Agreement among early stock traders as the standards freight never set. The industry won't change, he said, until every participant plays by the same rules.

"We have to come together and agree on some ground rules if we want to be part of the rising tide that lifts all boats," Caney said. "Highway is trying to help set and steward those standards, but the industry has to decide what it's willing to tolerate."

With fraud now attacking process rather than paperwork, and negligent-hiring liability live after Montgomery, expect the certification net to widen well beyond the 10 founding insurance agencies.