Carrier costing has evolved well beyond a purely accounting function to become a strategic driver of pricing, operations, and sustainability. As margins tighten and demand for better data grows, carriers are reexamining how costing informs daily decision-making across bids, yield management, and emissions reporting. In this Jump Start 2026 Q&A, SMC³’s Justin Springer discusses how costing is becoming a source of real-time intelligence that shapes how carriers compete and collaborate.

As TA Services expanded its managed transportation and consolidated freight offerings, the team encountered a familiar scaling problem: The LTL operations that worked at one size began to strain at the next. Rating and routing had grown increasingly complex. Visibility gaps crept in. Interlining risk became harder to manage. And the shipper experience was getting harder to keep consistent.

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.

At first, it seemed like a massive winter storm might derail SMC3’s Jump Start 2026. But, undeterred, hundreds of attendees, navigating flight delays and cancellations, arrived January 26 at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly hotel, ready to talk LTL. 

If you’ve been in supply chain for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed how many people have an alphabet soup of letters after their names: CLTL, CSCP, CPIM, CLTD, CSSBB, and more. Certifications are everywhere. But here’s the thing: not all of them make a real difference.
There are over a million credentials out there in the U.S. alone, yet research shows only about 12%* lead to meaningful pay increases. That means most professionals are spending time and money on credentials that don’t move the needle. The real question isn’t “Should I get certified?” it’s “Which certification is actually worth it?”

The final day of SMC³’s Connections 2025 conference wrapped up three days’ worth of conversations around LTL, AI, and the evolving pressures reshaping global logistics. From evolving shipper strategies to the ethical use of AI and the implications of NMFC reclassifications, Day 3 offered attendees a mix of boots-on-the-ground insight and forward-thinking predictions. A shifting […]