Kevin Coomes is CRO at Chain, and his path into freight tech started with freight in China. In this episode he and Will Jenkins talk about where the market is headed, what tightening capacity could mean for brokers, and how leaders should decide where to spend and where to automate.
Kevin explains how Chain helps brokerages cut manual work across tracking, exception management, and booking, and what the company has learned from more than 3 million loads. Chain focused on tracking before it expanded into booking. Carrier data from that work now helps brokers make better booking decisions and get more from the carriers already in their network.
Will and Kevin also cover how freight tech sales change across market cycles. In a down market, a product has to prove clear ROI. When volume returns, the message shifts. Kevin's test for a product is whether brokers would feel it right away if it disappeared, and he makes the case that freight experience belongs inside product and leadership teams.
The bigger point for brokerage leaders is that adding headcount is no longer the automatic answer to growth. Getting more from the people, carriers, and systems you already have comes first. Journey's freight brokerage consulting helps teams decide where automation fits and how to scale without hiring ahead of the business.
