The Logistics of Logistics

In "Rethinking the Shipper-Carrier Dynamic: How Polyglass Built an Automated Execution Engine", Joe Lynch speaks with the Transportation Manager at Polyglass U.S.A., Eddie Ramirez, about how Polyglass modernized its supply chain by leveraging Trimble's automated slot scheduling, paperless tendering, real-time freight visibility, and AI-driven spot market sourcing. 
About Eddie Ramirez
Eddie Ramirez is the Transportation Manager at Polyglass U.S.A., Inc., where he leads transportation and logistics operations supporting multiple manufacturing facilities across the United States. With nearly a decade of experience at Polyglass, Eddie has progressed through several roles within Transportation, developing expertise in freight operations, carrier management, logistics technology, and supply chain optimization. He holds a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership, a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology Management, and is a Certified in Logistics, Transportation and Distribution (CLTD) professional through ASCM. Eddie is passionate about leveraging technology, automation, and data-driven strategies to improve transportation efficiency, strengthen shipper-carrier partnerships, and enhance the customer experience. His leadership philosophy emphasizes continuous improvement, collaboration, and accountability, guided by the principles of being a Shipper of Choice and maintaining a Standard of Excellence.
About Polyglass
Polyglass U.S.A., Inc., a member of the MAPEI Group, is a leading manufacturer of innovative roofing, waterproofing, and building envelope solutions. Headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida, Polyglass has served the North American market since 1992, delivering high-performance products and technologies designed to meet the evolving needs of the construction industry. Known for its patented ADESO® self-adhered technology, Polyglass continues to advance product innovation, manufacturing excellence, and customer service through its nationwide operations. Beyond manufacturing, Polyglass is committed to continuously improving its supply chain and transportation processes through strategic carrier partnerships, technology integration, automation, and data-driven decision-making. These initiatives support the company's focus on operational efficiency, reliable deliveries, and an exceptional customer experience. As part of the global MAPEI Group, Polyglass benefits from extensive industry expertise, research capabilities, and a shared commitment to quality and innovation.
Key Takeaways: Rethinking the Shipper-Carrier Dynamic: How Polyglass Built an Automated Execution Engine
In "Rethinking the Shipper-Carrier Dynamic: How Polyglass Built an Automated Execution Engine", Joe Lynch speaks with the Transportation Manager at Polyglass U.S.A., Eddie Ramirez, about how Polyglass modernized its supply chain by leveraging Trimble's automated slot scheduling, paperless tendering, real-time freight visibility, and AI-driven spot market sourcing. 
Polyglass U.S.A., Inc. (a member of the MAPEI Group) is a leading North American manufacturer of innovative roofing, waterproofing, and building envelope solutions headquartered in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Operating out of their Winter Haven facility, the company manages around 300 full truckload shipments per week—primarily using flatbed trailers—making continuous supply chain efficiency and reliable customer delivery critical priorities.
Eliminating Yard Chaos with Smart Slot Scheduling: Moving away from a traditional "first-come, first-served" model, Polyglass implemented Trimble's Dock & Yard Management tools to streamline truck flows. Dynamically matching truck arrivals to actual dock loading capacity helps reduce yard congestion, lower accident risks, and cut driver wait times by up to 40%.
Process Optimization Before Automation: Automating supply chain tasks requires a solid underlying process. Partnering with Trimble helped Polyglass evaluate and refine their operational workflows prior to digitizing them, ensuring software enabled actual business rules rather than automating flawed manual practices.
Hands-Free Tendering and Paperless Operations: By implementing Trimble Transport Execution, Polyglass replaced manual order processing and physical stacks of paperwork with automated order entry and TMS transmission. Rule-based, hands-free load matching cuts administrative processing costs by up to 30% while freeing up back-office bandwidth.
Proactive Visibility to Eliminate "Where's My Truck?" Noise: Transitioning to Trimble Road Visibility gives Polyglass real-time predictive tracking (combining GPS, traffic, and weather data). Instead of waiting for angry calls or making reactive check calls, Polyglass can proactively notify customers about unexpected delays before issues escalate, cutting check calls by up to 80%.
Taming Spot Market Volatility with AI Sourcing: To replace manual rate negotiations and stop lowballing spot market carriers, Polyglass piloted Trimble Autonomous Procurement. By utilizing behavioral science and historical carrier pricing data, the tool matches over 90% of spot loads in under two hours at realistic market rates without manual back-and-forth.
Prioritizing Long-Term Partner Value over Lowest-Cost Sourcing: Chasing the lowest rate often leads to hidden costs, service breakdowns, and severe operational delays. Polyglass emphasizes strong, transparent relationships with tech providers like Trimble and core carrier partners to drive accountability, build resilience, and establish a world-class transportation network.
Learn More About Rethinking the Shipper-Carrier Dynamic: How Polyglass Built an Automated Execution Engine
Eddie Ramirez | LinkedIn
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In " 4 Massive Fleet Problems Wex Solves for Trucking Companies", Joe Lynch speaks with the Vice President of Sales for WEX's OTR business, Noel Glasgow, about how WEX helps fleets control fuel costs, stop fraud, optimize spending, and manage cash flow.
About Noel Glasgow
Noel Glasgow is the Vice President of Sales for WEX's OTR business. He began his career in journalism as a sports reporter for various TV stations before moving into leadership positions in the business world. He has been with WEX for over 13 years, working in the mobility sector, and now oversees WEX OTR including the EFS and Fleet One EDGE Programs. He leads the sales division, including inside and outside sales and client success, supporting the full sales cycle from lead to close, along with client retention and educating customers on the value of the business. He currently lives in Nashville with his wife and daughter. He is a diehard Vols fan and a music lover.
About WEX
WEX (NYSE: WEX) is the global commerce platform that simplifies the business of running a business. WEX has created a powerful ecosystem that offers seamlessly embedded, personalized solutions for its customers around the world. Through its rich data and specialized expertise in simplifying benefits, reimagining mobility, and paying and getting paid, WEX aims to make it easy for companies to overcome complexity and reach their full potential. For more information, please visit www.wexinc.com.
Key Takeaways: 4 Massive Fleet Problems Wex Solves for Trucking Companies
In " 4 Massive Fleet Problems Wex Solves for Trucking Companies", Joe Lynch speaks with the Vice President of Sales for WEX's OTR business, Noel Glasgow, about how WEX helps fleets control fuel costs, stop fraud, optimize spending, and manage cash flow.
WEX Powers Fleets of All Sizes across Over-the-Road Transportation: As a global commerce platform, WEX serves the full spectrum of trucking, from single owner-operators to massive fleets with 60,000+ Class 8 vehicles. They offer specialized tools like the Fleet One Edge card and 10-4 mobile app to give smaller carriers competitive buying power.
Controlling the "Fuel Money Pit" via Dynamic Rules: Because fuel represents one of the single largest expenses for a fleet—averaging over $700 per fill-up—WEX empowers fleet managers to eliminate leaky margins. Fleet managers can set granular, dynamic card controls by gallon limits, fuel grade, time of day, and designated pump locations, while unlocking average savings of 26–27 cents per gallon.
Cutting-Edge Interception of Fuel Theft & Skimming: To combat pump skimmers and unauthorized swipes, WEX utilizes GPS-geofenced "SecureFuel" technology developed alongside partners like Trimble. By cross-referencing card swipes with the vehicle's real-time ELD position, WEX blocks transactions instantly if the truck and pump locations do not match.
Next-Gen Security Features (Cardless Fueling & Freeze/Thaw): WEX continues to innovate its fraud prevention stack beyond dynamic prompting. New solutions include single-use "flow codes" for cardless fueling and a mobile "freeze and thaw" toggle that automatically re-locks fuel cards immediately after a authorized transaction is complete.
Eliminating Blind Spots with Real-Time TMS & ELD Integration: Direct integration into ELDs and Transportation Management Systems (TMS) delivers instant visibility into driver spending behavior. Automatically matching drivers, routes, and cards in real time allows fleets to monitor compliance, track negotiated discounts, and optimize fuel stop choices.
Solving the Freight Cash Crunch via WEX Capital: Carriers often face delayed invoice payments from shippers and brokers (taking anywhere from 15 to 180 days) while incurring immediate daily expenses like fuel and payroll. WEX Capital provides instant freight factoring, converting outstanding bills into liquid working capital to eliminate cash flow bottlenecks.
Expanded Ecosystem through the Verified Vendors Program: Beyond core payment and fuel controls, WEX offers a Verified Vendors marketplace to simplify fleet operations. Partners like Engine (discounted lodging), BestPass (toll management), and TFG (vehicle financing) allow fleets to reduce overhead costs across their entire operational footprint.
Learn More About 4 Massive Fleet Problems Wex Solves for Trucking Companies
Noel Glasgow | Linkedin
WEX | Linkedin
WEX
WEX | OTR
WEX | Fraud Protection
Fraud whitepaper: OTR solutions: Fraud protection, fuel card data, and cardless payments
Fraud blog: Fuel card protection: 6 actions to kick fraudsters to the curb
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In " The Zero Distraction Cockpit: Making In-Cab Navigation Safer and Smarter", Joe Lynch speaks with Product Manager at Trimble, Dave Morris, about how AI voice control, truck-specific navigation, and precision gate-to-dock routing eliminate in-cab distractions and keep drivers safe. 
About Dave Morris
Dave Morris is a Product Manager at Trimble with 10+ years focused on mobile experiences, including CoPilot. His background spans partner management, sales engineering, and product management, bringing a wealth of experience to mobile product development.
About Trimble
Trimble Transportation provides fleets with solutions to create a fully integrated supply chain. With an intelligent ecosystem of products and services, Trimble Transportation enables customers to embrace the rapid technological evolution of the industry and connect all aspects of transportation and logistics — trucks, drivers, back office, freight and assets. Trimble Transportation delivers an open, scalable platform to help customers make more informed decisions and maximize performance, visibility and safety.
Key Takeaways: The Zero Distraction Cockpit: Making In-Cab Navigation Safer and Smarter
In " The Zero Distraction Cockpit: Making In-Cab Navigation Safer and Smarter", Joe Lynch speaks with Product Manager at Trimble, Dave Morris, about how AI voice control, truck-specific navigation, and precision gate-to-dock routing eliminate in-cab distractions and keep drivers safe. 
Elimination of Catastrophic Routing Errors: Unlike consumer GPS applications that treat heavy vehicles like passenger cars, Trimble CoPilot uses PC*MILER commercial navigation data tailored to specific vehicle dimensions, axle weight limits, and hazardous material restrictions—preventing bridge strikes, illegal detours, and reducing out-of-route mileage by up to 10%.
Hands-Free In-Cab Voice Control: The CoPilot Driver Assistant utilizes AI-powered natural language voice commands, allowing drivers to search for amenities, adjust routes, or check live weather and traffic without taking their hands off the wheel or eyes off the road.
Enhanced Driving Safety with Motion Lock: To eliminate distracted driving and keep drivers focused, physical touch interactions on the dashboard or tablet are locked while the vehicle is in motion.
Precision Gate-to-Dock Guidance: By using precise, geofenced commercial location data for over 6 million places, CoPilot guides drivers past generic street addresses directly through truck-specific entry gates and straight to exact dock doors, eliminating the delays that account for up to 80% of last-mile friction.
Single Source of Truth Between Cab and Back Office: Because CoPilot shares the same routing engine and data as back-office dispatch systems (PC*MILER), the exact miles planned by dispatch match the miles driven in the cab, resolving discrepancies in billing, fuel tax calculations, and driver pay.
Predictive Parking and Hours-of-Service Management: CoPilot leverages machine learning and real-time integrations to predict parking availability and alert drivers to safe rest options before their hours-of-service limits expire—or with a single tap of an emergency coffee cup button.
Hyperlocal Weather and Hazard Mitigation: The platform provides proactive alerts for upcoming traffic slowdowns, road closures, and severe weather conditions like high winds and low visibility, giving drivers and dispatchers the intelligence needed to re-plan routes safely.
Learn More About  The Zero Distraction Cockpit: Making In-Cab Navigation Safer and Smarter
Dave Morris | Linkedin
Trimble Transportation | Linkedin
Trimble Transportation
 The High Cost of Wrong Turns: How Location Data Protects Freight Margins with Rishi Mehra
Reinventing Fleet Efficiency: Cutting Friction in Maintenance, Routing, and Dispatch with Michael Kornhauser
The Logistics of Logistics Podcast
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In " The High Cost of Wrong Turns: How Location Data Protects Freight Margins", Joe Lynch speaks with the VP, Product & Engineering of Trimble, Rishi Mehra, about how precision location data, commercial routing, and connected AI ecosystems protect fleet profitability and driver safety. 
About Rishi Mehra
Rishi Mehra is the VP, Product & Engineering of Trimble. As VP, product and engineering, Rishi Mehra is primarily responsible for overseeing the company's technology, products and engineering in North America. Mehra has been with Trimble since 2014, and previously served as a senior product manager and director of web products for ALK Technologies (now a part of the Trimble family). In that role, he led the product management and go-to-market activity for all web solutions globally and helped establish the commercial transportation-focused web digital platform within the organization.
About Trimble
Trimble Transportation provides fleets with solutions to create a fully integrated supply chain. With an intelligent ecosystem of products and services, Trimble Transportation enables customers to embrace the rapid technological evolution of the industry and connect all aspects of transportation and logistics — trucks, drivers, back office, freight and assets. Trimble Transportation delivers an open, scalable platform to help customers make more informed decisions and maximize performance, visibility and safety.
Key Takeaways:  The High Cost of Wrong Turns: How Location Data Protects Freight Margins
In " The High Cost of Wrong Turns: How Location Data Protects Freight Margins", Joe Lynch speaks with the VP, Product & Engineering of Trimble, Rishi Mehra, about how precision location data, commercial routing, and connected AI ecosystems protect fleet profitability and driver safety. 
Consumer GPS vs. Commercial Reality Creates Costly Risks: Standard consumer navigation apps lack commercial vehicle intelligence—such as bridge clearances, weight restrictions, hazmat regulations, and turn-radius constraints. Using non-commercial apps leads to expensive bridge strikes, fines, off-route detours, and severe brand liability for shippers, carriers, and brokers.
PC*Miler Serves as the Industry's Financial Currency: Celebrating its 40th annual release, PC*Miler acts as the foundational standard for contracting freight, billing, and driver settlements. It provides precise baseline mileage that ensures carriers, shippers, and brokers operate on agreed-upon data so that no party suffers financial loss.
Precision Routing Prevents Margin Leakage: In a tight freight economy with razor-thin margins, small deviations—such as a 10-mile detour or unapproved toll roads—rapidly destroy fleet profitability. Precise commercial mileage and batch processing allow fleets to balance the shortest versus cheapest routes, control driver fuel stops, and eliminate hidden costs.
Solving the "Final 500 Feet" and Dock-Level Navigation: Standard GPS stops at the street address, but Trimble Places covers over 6 million locations with precise dock-level navigation. Directing drivers to exact gate entrances and specialized docks (e.g., distinguishing refrigerated from general-purpose doors) eliminates facility delays, yard congestion, and accidents where they occur most.
Transitioning from Static Maps to an AI Mapping Engine: Mapping is evolving from passive screen graphics into an active, intelligent engine. Integrating mapping data with conversational AI (such as CoPilot Driver Assistant) enables hands-free voice assistance that calculates rest breaks in real time without distracting the driver.
Connected Ecosystems Drive Intelligent Automation: Purpose-built AI tools like Trimble's ArcAgent rely on a connected platform to eliminate administrative friction—such as pulling missing cost or delivery facts for incomplete loads. By restricting AI to verifiable network data with human oversight, systems operate with zero hallucination and strict safety guardrails.
End-to-End Visibility and Vetted Parking Protect Drivers and Assets: Combining in-cab navigation with low-level trailer and pallet tracking provides back-office visibility and immediate alerts for route deviations to combat cargo theft. Furthermore, integrations with networks like Truck Parking Club and Engine give drivers safe, pre-vetted parking and lodging reservations with a single click.
Learn More About  The High Cost of Wrong Turns: How Location Data Protects Freight Margins
Rishi Mehra | Linkedin
Trimble Transportation | Linkedin
Trimble Transportation
Smart Routes, Safer Stops: How Mapping Tech is Transforming Trucking with Rishi Mehra
The Transformative Power of Mapping with Rishi Mehra
The Logistics of Logistics Podcast
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In "The TRAFFIX Report: The Strategic Forecast for North American Freight" Joe Lynch and Alex Fuller, Sr. Director of Revenue Management & Solutions at TRAFFIX, discuss the end of the freight recession and how rising rates, nearshoring, and market volatility are reshaping North American supply chains.
About Alex Fuller
Alex Fuller, Sr. Director of Revenue Management & Solutions at TRAFFIX, focuses on understanding market trends and helping customers grow through customized supply chain solutions, technology, and AI integration. Passionate about supply chains and business growth, Alex earned his undergraduate degree in Supply Chain Management from BYU before beginning his career with a CPG company managing imports from China and distribution across the United States. He later completed his MBA at the University of Virginia and went on to build extensive industry experience with UPS and UPS Supply Chain Solutions prior to joining TRAFFIX. Outside of work, Alex is a former professional triathlete and recently completed the Boston Marathon, reflecting the same discipline and endurance he brings to his professional career.
About TRAFFIX
TRAFFIX is a leading North American 3PL that has been delivering customized supply chain solutions since 1979. With a customer-first approach, TRAFFIX partners with shippers to create flexible, scalable logistics strategies tailored to their unique business needs. The company offers a full suite of services, including truckload, flatbed, intermodal, drayage, expedited, LTL, managed transportation, and specialized government solutions. Backed by experienced logistics experts, TRAFFIX provides real-time visibility, optimized freight management, and agile solutions that help customers adapt to changing market demands. With U.S. headquarters in Chicago, IL, TRAFFIX employs more than 840 logistics professionals across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, helping businesses improve supply chain performance through customized supply chain optimization.
Key Takeaways: The TRAFFIX Report: The Strategic Forecast for North American Freight
In "The TRAFFIX Report: The Strategic Forecast for North American Freight" Joe Lynch and Alex Fuller, Sr. Director of Revenue Management & Solutions at TRAFFIX, discuss the end of the freight recession and how rising rates, nearshoring, and market volatility are reshaping North American supply chains.
The 2026 Market Inflection: Following a brutal, multi-year freight recession post-COVID, the North American freight market has officially turned. As of mid-2026, contract rates have climbed 10% year-over-year, while spot rates have exploded by 40%.
The Tariff & Pull-Ahead Wrench: Volatility in 2025 trade policies forced shippers to radically alter inventory strategies. Many pulled massive volumes ahead to beat tariffs, briefly spiking intermodal demand, before aggressively pivoting back to lean, just-in-time supply chains.
Fuel Cracking the Budget Dam: Skyrocketing diesel rates in early 2026 acted as a major catalyst for rate hikes. Unlike previous years where carriers absorbed fuel spikes, tight capacity means these costs are hitting shippers directly, forcing corporate CFOs to expand logistics budgets.
The Nearshoring Reality: Shorter, responsive supply chains are replacing long-distance sourcing. A massive wave of nearshoring to Mexico is underway, trading complex ocean freight for direct, highly automated cross-border trucking networks.
Immediate Capacity Threats (Q2 2026): Roadside inspection events like DOT Week, combined with driver pullbacks over Memorial Day weekend, are actively squeezing summer capacity. Spot rates are projected to remain highly elevated for the next 9 to 12 months as a result of these seasonal disruptions.
The Death of the Annual RFQ: High market volatility means annual freight bids are breaking down. Savvy shippers are shifting to agile 3-month and 6-month mini-bids, allowing 3PLs to price lanes accurately without adding heavy risk premiums to the rates.
TRAFFIX Corporate Profile: Established in 1979, TRAFFIX is a premier North American 3PL operating across the US, Canada, and Mexico. As an asset-light partner, they leverage mid-market agility, cross-border expertise, and on-demand warehousing to protect shipper capacity in volatile cycles.
Learn More About The TRAFFIX Report: The Strategic Forecast for North American Freight
Alex Fuller | Linkedin
TRAFFIX | Linkedin
TRAFFIX | Facebook
TRAFFIX | Instagram
TRAFFIX | X
TRAFFIX | YouTube
TRAFFIX
TRAFFIX Trends Q2 2026
TRAFFIX Bi-Weekly Market Update
The Logistics of Logistics Podcast
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