The FreightCaviar Podcast: Can Freight Brokerage Be Automated? With Anthony Fecarotta, Founder of linehaul.ai

In this week’s episode, we sat down with Anthony Fecarotta, Founder & President of linehaul.ai. Anthony brings us through his road to success, starting at XPO Logistics as an Account Manager, later The Grane Companies, Schneider National, Covenant, and Everest. He unveils his future plans for linehaul.ai, shares his thoughts on the future of AI, the importance of the human element in freight, and why he thinks it's too soon for an AI revolution in logistics.

Career Beginnings

Like many, Anthony didn’t plan on working in logistics. At the time, he was working at Video Jet, a tech company, selling toner for industrial printing machines. At 24, tired of spending almost five hours a day commuting, he decided to try his luck in the industry, after a friend convinced him to apply for a position at XPO, run by Brad Jacobs.

Transition to Entrepreneurship

After working for multiple companies and getting his commission cut one day, Anthony put his foot down and quit. “The truth is, I just always wanted to work for myself. While I've been doing all this, I've been in real estate, flipped houses, been a landlord. It was something to do on the side. At one point in 2021, I was bringing in more money in real estate than I was in freight.” While waiting to hear back from a job interview, he had his LLC ready and realized he wasn’t even interested in the position. What he was interested in, was opening his own company.

Insights on Technology in Freight

Anthony also touched on the subject of tech and what the industry gets wrong about it. “You see all these tech guys come in the industry with everything they learned in business school. Why they all come here, is because it's done on paper, it all should work, you know? And it's like a baseball game. This is the best team ever. And they lose somehow. They're like, “Oh”. On paper, it should have worked. But that's how freight is. The human element is just way too much of an X factor in our industry.”

Future of AI and Automation in Logistics

When asked about the future of AI and automation, Anthony’s stance on the subject is firm: “I don't think our industry will be the utopia, in the sense that, we're not going to revolutionize freight until the human element's gone.”