Week in Review: Real-Time Visibility Wins Big Amid Supply Chain Chaos

This week, Tive’s tracking tech proudly earned its crime-fighting stripes with a 2025 FreightWaves Fraud Fighters award. However, others weren’t so lucky: Landstar System reported Q1 2025 earnings festered with pricey and painful instances of fraud. Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association is warning Congress that tariffs could flatline America’s medical supply chain as the FDA finally fights back against the mysterious chemicals freeloading in our pantries for decades. And sustainability expert Saskia Van Gendt is calling out companies for carbon accounting that’s about as accurate as predictions from a Magic 8 Ball. Truth has a way of surfacing in logistics—whether you’re ready for it or not. This week proved that.

Tracking Down Thieves: Tive Nabs 2025 FreightWaves Fraud Fighters Award

Crime doesn't pay—especially when you're stealing cargo tracked by Tive. FreightWaves just named us one of 10 companies earning their 2025 Fraud Fighters award, recognizing solutions that combat the freight industry's $15-30 billion annual cargo theft  problem. Our real-time tracking tools and newly launched Security Seal earned this recognition for one simple reason: we turn cargo thieves from predators into prey.

From Steel Cables to Sweet Justice: Prevention Meets Recovery

Your first line of defense starts with our Tive Security Seal—a tamper-evident cable lock that sends instant alerts when someone tries cutting, forcing entry, or damaging the device. Pair that with our trackers, and you've got complete shipment visibility that catches trouble before it snowballs. But here's where things get interesting: when prevention fails, our tracking technology transforms into a recovery machine that would make any detective jealous. Take Potomac Metals, who watched thieves steal $175,000 worth of cargo. Within hours, Tive's tracking led them straight to their merchandise. Mexican retailer Vianney recovered stolen goods on a notorious high-theft route, while candy maker Dulces de la Rosa tracked their hijacked truck through Mexico City's twisted streets—working with police to secure a recovery that was anything but bitter.

Location Precision: Why Guesswork Gets You Robbed

Cargo thieves bank on chaos, confusion, and companies pointing fingers instead of taking action. You eliminate their advantage with crystal-clear location data that cuts through the noise. When seconds determine whether you recover $175,000 or kiss it goodbye, our trackers hand you exact coordinates instead of vague estimates. Companies like Crowley Logistics achieved a 97% reduction in unvetted carrier usage through better vetting—but even the best human systems crack under pressure. Our tracking works when everything else fails, giving you the power to spot suspicious movements instantly and direct authorities to precise locations. Thieves count on you losing track of your cargo. We make sure that never happens. 

Triple Trouble: Landstar’s Q1 Earnings Hit by Claims, Fraud & Cargo Heists

Landstar System watched its first-quarter earnings stumble under the weight of multiple financial blows, with EPS dropping to 85 cents—a painful 47 cent plunge from last year. Despite revenue holding relatively steady at $1.15 billion, the freight broker battled higher insurance claims, stolen cargo incidents, and an unexpected $4.8 million hit from supply chain fraud at a satellite office.

Money Drain: When Insurance Claims Meet Office Schemers

A devastating 31 cent-per-share hit from insurance and claims expenses crushed Landstar’s bottom line, while fraud discovered at an independent agent office added another 10 cent wound. The company traced the deception back to 2019, coinciding with an ownership change at its international freight forwarding affiliate. Executives quickly launched both civil and criminal actions against the perpetrators while ramping up technology investments—and bringing in third-party vendors to prevent future fraud attempts.

Trucks Roll On While Profits Roll Back

That said, truckloads dipped a bit over 1% year over year—far better than the drop Landstar initially predicted—while revenue per load slipped only 0.6%. Mexico cross-border business generated 11% of revenue with Canada adding another 4%—limiting direct exposure to China amid trade tensions. The company noted loads hauled by truck increased nearly 2% from Q4—the first sequential Q1 increase in 15 years—suggesting some customers pulled inventory forward ahead of tariff implementations. Owner-operator (BCO) trucks dropped 8.4% to 8,620 units, potentially marking the cycle’s low point, while total truck capacity across the platform grew by 10,000 units thanks to improved vetting processes from a new vendor partner.

Don’t Let Tariffs Become Flat Lines: AHA Pleads for Medical Supply Chain Protection

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is fighting for your life—literally. As tariffs threaten to strangle access to vital medical supplies, the AHA is demanding Congress shield healthcare supply chains before patients pay the ultimate price. And on May 14, the AHA took it to another level by warning the Senate Finance Committee that without protection from impending tariffs, they should consider America’s hospitals in critical condition.

Foreign Fixes Keep American Hearts Beating

U.S. healthcare depends on global suppliers for its lifeblood: 70% of medical devices marketed in America come exclusively from overseas sources—from basic stethoscopes to complex anesthesia equipment. Although pharmaceuticals escaped April’s 10% blanket tariffs, President Trump has promised “major” drug levies in the future. The AHA emphasized the potentially fatal consequences: “For many patients, even a temporary disruption in their access to needed medications could put them at significant risk of harm, including death.”

Wallet Wounds Already Showing Symptoms

The financial diagnosis looks grim according to a recent Becker’s Medical Review survey: 82% of healthcare experts expect tariff-related expenses to increase hospital costs by up to 15% within six months, and 94% of administrators admit they’ll postpone equipment upgrades to cope with the strain. The AHA’s prescription? First, pass two bills: the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Risk Assessment Act and Mapping America’s Pharmaceutical Supply Act. Then, do it while maintaining pharmaceutical tariff exemptions and adding exceptions for imported medical supplies. In their view, act now, or patients will flatline later.

FDA’s Chemistry Class: A Pop Quiz for Your Pantry

After years of playing food safety whack-a-mole, the FDA is launching what it calls a “stronger, more systematic review process” for chemicals that have been partying in our food supply without supervision for far too long.

The New Sheriff in Food Town

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t mince words: “No parent should ever worry about what’s in their child’s food.” Under his leadership alongside FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, the agency is rolling out a complete overhaul that includes a modernized, evidence-based prioritization scheme; a systematic post-market review process shaped by stakeholder input; and an updated hit list featuring the usual suspects like BHT, BHA, and ADA. It is also fast-tracking reviews of chemicals already under the microscope—phthalates, propylparaben, and titanium dioxide—while promising to keep everyone posted on progress through its public website.

Science Gets an Upgrade (Finally)

Gone are the days of FDA’s reactive, case-by-case approach that waited for citizen petitions or alarming studies to sound the alarm. Commissioner Makary emphasized they’re “prioritizing resources and leveraging gold standard science to create, for the first time, a systematic post-market review program that consumers can trust and rely on.” The agency believes that only through improving safety and transparency of the food supply—and helping consumers make healthier food choices—can they tackle the “long-standing trajectory of chronic diseases.”

The Carbon Trail: Why Supply Chains Can’t Hide Their Dirty Laundry Anymore

Net zero sounds great until you realize that most companies have no clue where their emissions actually come from. Saskia Van Gendt, Blue Yonder’s chief sustainability officer—who also has 18 years of sustainability expertise—puts it bluntly: your supply chain is probably bleeding carbon, and pretending otherwise won’t get you to your 2030 targets.

Your Spreadsheet Can’t Read the Future

Van Gendt’s seen enough companies fail at guessing their way to net zero. Blue Yonder’s AI actually watches what happens across supply chains—monitoring materials, catching waste before it multiplies, and showing exactly where carbon piles up. Its customers advance four UN Sustainable Development Goals (Zero Hunger, Good Health, Responsible Consumption, and Climate Action) because they replace hunches with hard data. European regulations like CSRD and CSDDD are ending the era of vague promises, demanding proof that companies know their environmental impact—all the way down to raw material sourcing.

Smart Systems Beat Good Intentions

Blue Yonder’s platform measures problems—and prevents them. The AI predicts demand swings, reroutes shipments to avoid empty trucks, and spots overproduction before it happens. Just as we do at Tive, Van Gendt builds circular economy principles into the system, making reuse and recycling more automatic and easier than ever. Companies discover that transparency cuts costs, reduces waste, and builds genuine trust with customers who really do check receipts on sustainability claims.

Visibility is the Only Cure

This week proved that whether it’s tracking down $175,000 in stolen metal, spotting $5 million in hidden fraud, protecting vulnerable medical supplies from tariff disruptions, or forcing companies to confront their actual carbon footprint, the companies that succeed have one thing in common: real-time shipment visibility that cuts through half truths, chaos, and wishful thinking.

Arm yourself with innovation: let Tive lead the way in transforming your supply chain operations. Embrace the future of logistics–get started with Tive today.