Most people see a Ryder truck on the highway and think "trucking company." That's not wrong — but it's missing 100 million square feet of warehouse space and 2,000 autonomous robots.

Gary Allen is the VP of Supply Chain Excellence at Ryder, and he stopped by the Everything is Logistics podcast booth at Manifest to talk tech selection, the build vs. buy debate, and what it actually takes to navigate a market with thousands of freight tech vendors when you're operating at this scale.

Spoiler: it takes a team of 90 data engineers, a VC fund, and a willingness to evaluate 400+ companies before you commit to anything.

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IN THIS EPISODE
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□ Why asset ownership doesn't change the fundamental tech questions you need to answer first
□ How Ryder evaluated 400+ warehouse automation companies in 3 years (and what makes the cut)
□ Why Ryder runs ~30 different WMS systems across its network — and why that's a problem they're actively solving
□ The Baton acquisition, Ryder Ventures VC fund, and why they decided to build what the market couldn't provide
□ The "product mindset vs. project mindset" shift that changes everything about how you deploy tech
□ Agentic AI real talk: what's actually working (call centers, document extraction, labor planning) vs. what's still early
□ The warehouse automation ladder: AMRs → autonomous forklifts → storage/retrieval systems → humanoids
□ What the timeline on lights-out warehouses might actually look like

Watch this episode on YouTube

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LINKS & RESOURCES
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□ Connect with Gary Allen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grallen1/
□ Learn more about Ryder: ryder.com
□ Ryder Ventures: https://www.ryder.com/en-us/ryderventures

Previous Ryder episodes:

□ VP of Supply Chain Ops Kristy Killingbeck

□ Baton's Nate Robert

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

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THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers.

Supply chain storytelling isn't a nice-to-have skill. It's the reason deals fall apart before the demo starts.

Sofia Rivas Herrera has spent years building one of the most recognizable personal brands in freight, from a full-time role in supply chain at HP, with her sister running the creative side. We recorded this conversation live at Manifest 2026.

In this episode:

▪ Why your freight tech pitch fails before it even starts (your sales team probably can't explain your own product)

▪ The avocado supply chain from Mexico: why it's called "the green gold," how organized crime is embedded in it, and why Super Bowl season triggers a demand spike in December and January

▪ Career minimalism: the Gen Z trend quietly reshaping who stays in logistics and who walks out

▪ How to pass the "gardening neighbor test" for any supply chain message

▪ Why blue is the most overused color in logistics branding, and what that means for companies willing to try something different

▪ How Sofia and her sister built a brand from scratch after her sister told her "your branding sucks"

Links & resources:

• Follow Sofia Rivas Herrera: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-rivas-herrera/
• Watch this episode on YouTube

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers.

Freight fraud has moved way past the old stereotype of random cargo theft.

Barry Conlon, CEO of Overhaul, joins Blythe from Manifest to break down what’s actually happening in the market: more sophisticated criminal networks, more pressure on shippers to own the problem, and a growing gap between how fast freight moves and how well it gets verified. He argues that prevention matters more than recovery, because by the time you’re chasing freight down, the damage is already done.

A few standout points from the conversation:

• Barry says the last 24 to 36 months have brought a level of volume and sophistication he has never seen before.
• He ties part of the shift back to post-COVID buyer behavior and the ease of moving stolen goods back into gray markets.
• He says Overhaul protects about $1.4 trillion in cargo value on its platform and focuses on identifying non-compliance before it becomes a loss.
• He explains how fraud varies by geography, with North American fraud tactics spreading abroad while markets like Mexico and Brazil often involve more overt hijacking risk.
• He makes the case that cargo risk is now a boardroom issue because lost product often cannot be replaced fast enough, which turns a theft problem into a market share problem.

Links from the show:

• Overhaul's latest insight on cargo crime
• Connect with Barry on LinkedIn
• Watch this episode on YouTube

Feedback? Ideas for a future episode? Shoot us a text here to let us know.

-----------------------------------------

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!

SPI Logistics has been a Day 1 supporter of this podcast which is why we're proud to promote them in every episode. During that time, we've gotten to know the team and their agents to confidently say they are the best home for freight agents in North America for 40 years and counting. Listen to past episodes to hear why.

CargoRex is the search engine for the logistics industry—connecting LSPs with the right tools, services, events, and creators to explore, discover, and evolve.

Digital Dispatch maximizes and manages your #1 sales tool with a website that establishes trust and builds rock-solid relationships with your leads and customers.