The search for quality transportation-related news is never-ending. If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time scrolling through news feeds looking for fresh insights and the latest news. I’m constantly looking for the information and opinions on the latest technological innovations, government guidelines, and the general pulse of the industry.
Yet it seems like we’re drowning in shallow content. After a certain point, mainstream news outlets just don’t get deep enough into a story. Put another way, when it comes to a topic as big as “transportation,” we need to diversify our portfolio.
When it comes to the news you read, think breadth but also depth.
For deeper analysis and more transportation-niche-intensive content, you’re better served getting closer to the source: transportation blogs.
With so many transportation blogs out there, today I’ve decided to share a distilled list of my favorite transportation blogs and what type of content I look for on each site.
Here’s the list, in no particular order:
Believe me, I get it. We’re all busy. With limited time for important reading during our work day, we really don’t have time to search Google looking for every transportation blog. But knowledge is power, so let’s cut to the chase and dive in!
Freight Waves is a transportation blog that offers a ton of quality content. Freight Waves breaks down their content by industry sector to help you find what you’re looking for. I jump on their site and hit their trucking page, quickly scanning headlines until an article catches my eye. It typically doesn’t take long to find a good article on Freight Waves.
That said, when I have time, I also like to scan headlines that fall under their other topics, starting with their business page and intermodal content.
Freight Waves also has a podcast titled What The Truck?!?, which provides a solid, insider’s take on the industry.
Transportation Topics is one of my go-to blogs for transportation news. Scan their top five trending articles and take a deeper dive into the transportation aspects of government, business, and tech.
When you’re on the road, doing yard work, or out running errands, check out their podcast Road Signs. The Road Signs podcast typically features content centered on tech and trending topics related to the transportation and logistics industry.
The Cerasis transportation blog has been around for a long time and is a respected source of news in our industry. Cerasis is a Globaltranz company, and they provide content that’s a little different than other sites on this list.
Cerasis is more mixed-media heavy, meaning they feature a lot of white papers, ebooks, podcasts, videos, and webinars throughout the site. And, of course, all their content is related to transportation and logistics. It’s probably a blog to hit when you have more time available to really dig in, but I’ve found some enlightening content on Cerasis.
Vector is an imaging software technology business with a blog providing a deeper layer of transportation industry content. After years of dealing with ugly TMS integrations and back-office bottlenecks, I’m a tech-believer. But the move to the cloud and a paperless office can be daunting. As such, I like the Vector blog as a way to build and maintain a more complete understanding of what that next technological transition will entail.
In my corner of the logistics industry, Vector’s imaging software is a game-changer. I hit up the Vector blog to help understand the inventive ways technology will make life easier in the logistics industry. To put it another way, I prefer to remain in know.
Business Insider is a great source of business-related content that is a good source of general news. But the Business Insider Transportation blog specifically curates content centered on the economics of the transportation industry in a nice, clean package.
This may not matter to you, but I like that Business Insider delivers their news stories on a site that is clean, professional, and clutter-free. No pop-up ads, no chat-boxes. Plus, Business Insider lists the age of an article to the hour, so you can be certain you’re never reading old news.
I also appreciate their editorial pieces and some of the videos they blend into the mix of content.
Next Gen Transport is a transportation blog dedicated to alternative fuel technologies. They cover everything from EV to CNG and LNG to hydrogen, propane, and biofuels.
Our goal should be to create a holistic understanding of the transportation environment. Accordingly, I like to continually scan the horizon to try to see what’s coming next. As we know, one potential game changer is alternate fuel. Fossil fuel might not be going away tomorrow, but alternate fuels are staking their claim.
For example, just look at the automotive consumer market. The alternate fuel revolution is probably coming.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has a blog that I like to check from time to time. In truth, it’s a best practice for anyone in the transportation and logistics industry to maintain at least a baseline of familiarity with the ever-evolving FMCSA guidelines. For instance, is your company compliant with the FMCSA’s new ELD policy?
The Overdrive blog provides a unique spin on the transportation landscape. In my opinion, even if (or especially if) you’re the CFO of a 3PL, it’s a good idea to get the perspective of a truck driver before you finalize your opinion. The Overdrive blog provides that voice.
Said another way, the driver is the end-user and a key cog in the wheel of our entire industry. Even as the landscape evolves and new technology brings increased efficiencies, drivers need to buy-in to the change or else it’s a moot point.
More Than Shipping covers transportation using writers based internationally. Even though my corner of the logistics world doesn’t involve much cargo and international shipping, I like to maintain a baseline level of knowledge on world transportation news and perspectives.
My rationale is simple: Being that the world supply chain is only getting more and more interconnected, even if I’m not moving international freight, my customers probably are. That’s logistics!
Each of us are in charge of our own continuing education. Knowledge is power. Our livelihoods depend on it.
If you get one takeaway from this list of blogs to bookmark, I hope it’s this: Stay curious, keep your eyes on the horizon, gather as much intel as you can from as many sources as possible, and make informed decisions. Keep trucking.
This post was written by Brian Deines. Brian believes that every day is a referendum on a brand’s relevance, and he’s excited to bring that kind of thinking to the world of modern manufacturing and logistics. He deploys a full-stack of business development, sales, and marketing tools built through years of work in the logistics, packaging, and tier-1 part supply industries serving a customer base comprised of Fortune 1000 OEMs.
Digital workflows across the supply chain.
