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Do you become an independent contractor if you own a truck? Is APM Terminals reclassifying drivers?

Its not that simple.

With the new laws taking place in NJ on October 1st 2026. There are many questions in the trucking industry and drayage industry.

On this episode of Holding the Line: Logistics at a Crossroads. We go over the new ABC test that NJ has put in place. What it can do for your business as an independent contractor or owner operator. Why its important to know the difference between a terminals safety practices and a motor carriers control over their drivers.

From W-2's to 1099's and contracts. Were going to follow the container and what these changes may do to dispatch, terminal appointments, drayage and freight.

In this episode we will be covering.

New Jersies new laws that take effect on October 1st.

What is the ABC test.

Why owning your truck may not make you an independent contractor.

APM Terminals and their gate requirements. Who should be classifying your drivers.

Federal law and New Jersey laws on worker classification.

How this will effect you as a carrier, driver and cargo owner.

And more.

When the dust settles someone will have to pay for those boxes to move.

Theres no rumors on this podcast. Were just here to inform.

🎙️ Freight. Feelings. No filter.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not meant to give legal advice. Every situation is different if you have any questions about an audit, contract, wages or worker classification please seek the advice of a NJ labor and employment attorney.

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Demurrage.

Detention.

Two words capable of starting an argument almost anywhere in ocean freight.

These charges are supposed to encourage cargo and equipment to keep moving.

But what happens when the shipper or trucker wants to move the equipment—and physically cannot?

In this episode, Gia gets into one of the most frustrating questions in logistics:

Who actually controlled the delay?

We’re talking container availability, appointments, terminal closures, equipment returns, holds, driver detention, documentation, accountability, and why a logistics invoice can sometimes reveal a much bigger process problem.

Sometimes the fee is legitimate.

Sometimes it isn’t.

And sometimes everybody contributed to the mess.

Welcome to logistics.

This week’s question: When your freight stops moving, does your organization know who actually controlled the delay—or does the invoice decide who gets blamed?

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Logistics loves a contingency plan.

Port congested? Reroute it.

Carrier unavailable? Find another.

Shipping lane disrupted? Take another route.

Simple, right?

Not exactly.

In this episode, Gia looks at what happens when the backup option becomes expensive, congested, delayed, or risky too.

Changing one transportation route can change transit time, fuel, insurance, capacity, equipment positioning, warehouse schedules, customer promises, and every connection downstream.

A backup route is not the same thing as a contingency plan.

We’re talking global shipping disruptions, chokepoints, capacity, resilience, tradeoffs, and why planners should never meet the company’s emergency plan for the first time during the actual emergency.

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Diesel does not care about your annual budget.

It does not care what transportation quoted three months ago.

And it definitely does not care what somebody already promised the customer.

When fuel prices climb, somebody eventually pays.

In this episode, Gia breaks down how fuel costs move through transportation—from carriers and owner-operators to shippers, customers, and eventually consumers.

But this conversation is bigger than the price at the pump.

We’re talking fuel surcharges, carrier relationships, hidden transportation costs, wasted driver time, empty miles, last-minute expedites, and why the lowest freight rate is not always the lowest operational cost.

Because cheap transportation that creates five downstream problems isn't really cheap.

This week’s question: If diesel increased another dollar tomorrow, would your transportation strategy still work?

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We’ve been hearing about the truck driver shortage for years.

But maybe we’ve been asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking where all the drivers went, what if we asked what kind of transportation system we’re expecting them to work inside?

In this episode, Gia looks beyond the driver shortage headline and into training, qualification, safety, detention, parking, hours of service, appointment systems, working conditions, and one of the most overlooked forms of capacity loss:

Wasted time.

A truck sitting four hours at a dock is still technically “capacity”—but it isn’t moving freight.

Maybe the answer isn’t always adding more drivers.

Maybe part of the answer is making better use of the qualified professionals already behind the wheel.

This week’s question: Does your operation really have a driver shortage—or are you wasting the capacity of the drivers you already have?

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October 1. Park your trucks. Sit out. Don't move any freight until someone helps us.

Why do/did people think this was going to happen?

On this episode of Holding the Line: Logistics at a Crossroads we dive into why this rumor started and what's going on with the trucking industry that could lead to this type of sit out.

We discuss owner operators and small fleet carriers that are being hit with high fuel prices. Insurance, equipment cost, maintenance and not always having the freight rate to move the load.

We then look at the supply chain.

What if some drayage drivers decide not to move containers in a certain area. You may still have ports that are open. You may have cranes working and ships unloading. But you will start to see containers stacking up. Dwell time will increase, chassis will be tied up, appointment times will change, warehouses wont receive their freight. Etc.

There will be a supply chain disruption.

Just not all at once.

We also talk about how social media can spread a message. How it can create change or misinformation. What you should know about as October 1st approaches.

Maybe its not if truckers park on October 1st. But why did so many want to park their trucks.

In this episode:

October 1st Truckers parking there trucks.

What will happen if this does occur.

Owner Operator's and cost to run there trucks.

Supply Chain disruption if trucking decreases.

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“If you get stuck, just ask Dave.”

Congratulations.

You do not have a training program.

You have tribal knowledge.

In this episode, Gia digs into one of logistics’ quietest operational risks: critical knowledge that exists only inside the heads of experienced employees.

A PDF buried on a shared drive is not enough. Neither is shadowing somebody for two days and hoping for the best. When ten people perform the same task ten different ways, that isn’t flexibility—it’s unmanaged risk.

We’re talking outdated SOPs, undocumented workarounds, psychological safety, competency, hands-on training, and what happens when the employee who “just knows how to fix it” walks out the door.

Good training should show the work, explain the why, allow practice, observe performance, and confirm competency.

Because “ask somebody” is not a strategy.

This week’s question: If your most experienced employee won the lottery tomorrow

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customer promise.

Then logistics got an email asking if we could make it work by Monday.

Sound familiar?

In this episode of Holding the Line: Logistics at a Crossroads, Gia talks about the planner’s role as the human shock absorber of the supply chain. Planning, forecasting, scheduling, and reacting are not the same thing—and too often, logistics is expected to absorb the consequences of decisions made without logistics in the room.

We’re talking last-minute changes, unrealistic expectations, hidden tradeoffs, commercial decisions, and the five questions every planner should ask when the plan suddenly changes.

Planners can organize reality.

We cannot magic it away.

This week’s question: What decision reaches your desk too late—and who needs to be in the conversation earlier?

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Support the show

🎧 New episodes every week.
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📬 Want to connect?
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