Ward Transport & Logistics built its reputation on what the company calls “Ship the Ward Way”—decades of operational discipline, service and consistency that have helped establish the company a widely respected LTL carrier. For nearly 30 years, Ward relied on its own internally developed costing system, an activity-based model that provided an accurate, detailed understanding of costs across the business.

Day 2 of Connections 2026 kept the momentum going with a new crop of thoughtful conversations and productive Q&As.

Day 2 of SMC3’s Jump Start 2026 built on the energy of day 1’s opening keynote, turning from mindset to mechanics. AI dominated the agenda, but not as a buzzword. Speakers discussed invoice automation, resolving exceptions at 3 a.m., freight moving without drivers behind the wheel and beyond.

In our recent LTL 203 Session 3 “Reduce Invoice Surprises” discussion with Karl Manrodt, CLTL Instructor, and Scooter Sayers, director business development at Cubiscan, we unpacked the practical reasons these surprises persist—and, more importantly, how to eliminate them. Today’s post distills that conversation into four action‑oriented lessons you can apply before your next shipment leaves the dock.

Back when I managed my first dock, I assumed every piece of freight rolling through the doors would look like a glamour shot in a packaging catalog. Then the forklift dropped off a single tractor tire—no pallet, no wrap, just attitude—and my pricing world tilted. That experience is exactly why Karl Manrodt (Professor of Logistics, Georgia […]

One-click orders and doorstep convenience have caused a new problem for logistics. It’s no longer only about getting things to consumers, but it’s also about getting them back.