In Episode 2 of the “Straight to the Points” podcast, Adam Robinson, CEO of The Robinson Agency, brings together two people who’ve built their careers solving problems many in the logistics and supply chain world never think about: What happens when a truck shows up somewhere and nobody knows about it?
Lucas Schorer and Eric Rodriguez — CEOs of Kestrel Insights and VendorFlow, respectively — share war stories and practical wisdom about connecting the dots between location data and human communication. It’s a conversation that manages to make geofences sound less like corporate jargon and more like something that can tangibly make a positive impact up and down the supply chain.
If you’ve ever tracked a package, wondered why your delivery was late, or sat behind the wheel waiting for someone to acknowledge your existence at a warehouse, this episode reveals the surprisingly human side of logistics technology that’s changing these everyday frustrations.
Key Insight 1 — Accurate Geofencing Is Not a Feature; It’s a Strategic Necessity
Schorer gets real about geofences: These digital boundaries trigger everything that happens next in your operation. When they’re off by even a little, your time stamps lie to you, your planning falls apart, and money walks out the door.
The time sink is substantial — each manually drawn geofence consumes 7.5-9 minutes. Scale that across a thousand locations, and someone’s spending weeks drawing digital circles instead of solving actual problems. But Schorer’s horror story drives it home: A poorly placed circular geofence let a driver drop a trailer outside a secure area. That night, thieves robbed the trailer clean of its dog food cargo, resulting in a straight-up $125,000 loss.
“You’re not buying geofences; you’re buying better workflows,” Schorer emphasizes. Accurate boundaries create reliable data, reliable data creates a dependable geofence database, and together, it all makes everything possible — from automation to planning to keeping regulators happy.
Key Insight 2 — Communication Is the Missing Layer in Automation
Rodriguez jumps in to explain what actually happens after those geofence alerts trigger. As a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) provider, VendorFlow acts as the connective tissue, taking signals from platforms like Samsara, Geotab, and Motive and turning them into timely messages drivers can use day to day.
His real-world example hits hard: A fleet loses $150 in cold cash every time a driver leaves a drop yard without grabbing an empty trailer. But that money stays in the company’s pocket by simply sending an automated text when a truck crosses the yard’s geofence, sometimes with a list of available empties: No dispatcher intervention needed, no forgotten trailers, just practical automation with real financial impact.
“Remind a driver five minutes too early or late, and it’s ineffective,” Rodriguez points out, though. Timing matters as much as the message itself. And he doesn’t hold back about the current state of driver communication — fleets cobbling together Slack, WhatsApp, and even Facebook Messenger create what he calls a “Wild West” where important information gets lost and security goes out the window.
Key Insight 3 — Building Your Freight Tech Stack Starts With the Right Foundations
Both guests paint a clear picture of how freight tech has evolved. The days of clunky all-in-one TMS platforms are fading fast. Smart logistics professionals now cherry-pick specialized tools that talk to each other through APIs and marketplaces.
Kestrel and VendorFlow showcase this approach in action. One handles the geofencing intelligence, the other manages communication, and together, integrated with your telematics provider, they create automation that solves real problems without creating new ones.
The ELD integration details reveal why this matters beyond just efficiency. Safety improves when texts queue while trucks are moving and deliver only when stopped. Compliance stays intact by preventing messages to off-duty drivers that might create Hours of Service violations. And productivity jumps when drivers automatically receive site-specific instructions without dispatcher intervention.
“AI won’t take your job,” Schorer says, “but someone who uses AI will.” The message is straightforward: Automation isn’t replacing humans in logistics — it’s making them more effective by handling the repetitive stuff so they can focus on what machines can’t do. The companies getting this right now are building advantages that their competitors won’t easily overcome.
Driving ROI with Data and Communication From the Yard to the Boardroom
The core message from Robinson, Schorer, and Rodriguez cuts through all the tech talk. When your systems know exactly where things are and can communicate about it automatically, money stops leaking out of your operation. It isn’t abstract efficiency — it’s trailers that don’t get looted, drivers who don’t waste time hunting for empties, and dispatchers who focus on problems that need human attention. Every dollar saved goes straight to the bottom line, whether you’re running five trucks or 500.
What makes this conversation particularly valuable is how practical it is. Kestrel’s precise polygon geofencing creates the digital boundaries that matter and helps it stand far above other geofencing platforms. Meanwhile, VendorFlow turns those triggers into timely communication. Neither guest pretends their technology will solve everything, but together they demonstrate how the right building blocks create a freight tech foundation that works in the real world, where drivers get tired, trailers go missing, and every minute of detention costs money no one wants to spend.
You can listen to the full podcast episode here. And as always, you can reach out to us to learn more about how we can help enhance your freight tech stack.
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