Cargo theft has moved into the handoff between brokers and carriers, where impostors pose as trucking companies, grab load details and divert shipments. Michael Caney, chief commercial officer at Highway, which sells carrier identity and vetting tools to brokers, told FreightWaves that no one vendor can fix those gaps on its own, and that the industry needs common standards for the carrier data brokers rely on.

For years, Caney said, he pictured just a broker and a carrier on every load. His count is now five, with insurance agents and insurers, factoring companies and telematics providers all in the chain. Each of them, he said, supplies data and introduces risk, yet none is accountable when a load is stolen. His insurance example: a carrier drops a truck from its scheduled auto policy, the change never travels from insurer to agent to Highway, and the broker discovers the gap only after an accident or cargo damage. As for factoring companies, the firms that purchase carriers’ invoices, many care only that the broker paying them is good for the money, he said.

At its Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 user summit in Frisco, Texas, Highway walked customers through its performance guarantee and an expansion of what it calls a shared accountability model. Its first piece, Highway Certified Insurance Agencies, launched June 1 with 10 founding agencies that promise correct insurance certificates, coverage details down to the VIN, and prompt notice when a policy changes, is canceled or is not renewed. Caney said providers were divided when Highway pitched certification, and that “not everyone welcomed that level of accountability.” He has made a similar argument about ELD data, saying there are FMCSA-certified ELD providers Highway won’t integrate with.

Fraud tactics have shifted too. Caney pointed to social engineering, such as AI voice calls asking brokers to send load details to a new email address or by text. “What is happening with fraud is a direct attack on process,” he said. Highway warns brokers that emailing a rate confirmation as an attachment sharply raises the risk of a stolen load. Caney said that in a typical broker network, roughly 6% of carriers fall in the group brokers shouldn’t be talking to, and some brokers still give them loads.

The stakes rose in May, when a unanimous Supreme Court ruled in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that a broker can be sued under state negligent-hiring law for the carrier it chooses.

Caney also cautioned brokers to be skeptical of anyone claiming to have the fix, himself included. In our view, whatever comes of the standards push, a broker’s own habits still matter: keeping rate confirmations out of email attachments, which Highway flags as a theft risk, and slowing down when a carrier’s identity or paperwork doesn’t add up.