‘Lt Dan’ rides the storm

Welcome to the WHAT THE TRUCK?!? Newsletter presented by Nikola. In this issue, “Lt Dan” becomes Milton’s main character; Elon Musk’s bold prediction; logistics companies deliver hurricane relief; more.

Sponsored by Nikola: Clean. Quiet. Smart. Sustainability delivered today. Nikola’s Class 8 battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks are available now. Learn more about incentives in your area.

‘Lt Dan’s’ wild ride

Riders on the storm — Just as Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was telling viewers on CNN that, “I can say this without any dramatization whatsoever: If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die,” an unlikely star emerged from the storm coverage who has captivated social media for the past few days.

GCaptain’s John Konrad reports, “Joseph Malinowski, nicknamed “Lieutenant Dan” went viral after defying both a massive hurricane and authorities’ pleas to evacuate, choosing to stay aboard his tiny 22-foot sailboat SeaShell as Hurricane Milton battered Florida’s Gulf Coast.” Lt Dan also rode out Helene on his ship.

GFM

“If we can get Lieutenant Dan to go to a shelter we can get anybody to do that.” – Tampa Mayor Jane Castor

Yesterday, concerns grew that Lt Dan would die in the storm and was just remaining in his boat as a stunt for online clout and clicks. The mayor even said he was taken to a shelter. That proved to be false as NewsNation uncovered.

In fact, not only did he not go to a shelter but he completed his goal of channeling his inner Noah by riding out Hurricane Milton in his boat.

Konrad says, “We hope that when the next major hurricane hits, other boaters won’t ignore warnings and follow his dangerous example.” Read his incredible breakdown of the whole series of events here.

Not all fans – Not everyone was cheering on Lt Dan. Mena Ganey posted a video on X with over 6.4 million views calling him a grifter. The problem is, he did actually ride out the storm. As for his GoFundMe and TikToks, those were set up by content creator Tampa Terrance. That said, his problematic past has also surfaced.

An article published by WUFT claims that Lt Dan punched a police officer and urinated in his cruiser back in 2022. He served a one-year prison sentence over that incident.

Last year he was arrested for setting a park bench on fire. During the incident, a woman claimed she was splashed with some of the gasoline that he used to ignite the bench. That case was dropped.

Sound off – What do you think? Was Lt Dan an inspiration, a menace, crazy or the smartest guy in Tampa? Email me.

Logistics community delivers hurricane relief

Bat Cave – While Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton may get the press for multimillion-dollar donations, they’re not the only ones stepping up. The devastation from Helene hit especially close to home for Transflo’s Bill Vitti as his parents live there. Vitti has worked tirelessly for the past nine days.

The Transflo president assembled a crew and heavy equipment, and has raised over $47,000 via a GoFundMe.

Apex delivers the macros – Marina Ivanov and her team at Apex Transit & Logistics brought in a truckload of protein shakes and delivered 46,000 meals to Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Learning while giving – Trucksafe’s Rob Carpenter says his “Daughter, Gracyn, and son Gavin have been with me on the relief trail in Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina the past couple days.” He took the opportunity to show his kids what giving back means. He was concerned about receiving flack for keeping the kids out of school for two days but says the experience was more than worth it.

Walmart sends the convoy – Walmart’s Mike Keller and his team have spent the past week and a half organizing and sending a relief convoy to the Asheville area.

In addition, he says, “Looking to help? Walmart is matching donations to the American Red Cross 1:1, up to $2.5 million, when donations to support hurricane relief are made at the registers in stores and clubs and on Walmart.com until Oct. 13.”

To read about more logistics companies that have answered the call, go here.

To watch Operation Airdrop on the show, go here.

Prediction

No license – Tesla’s Elon Musk predicted today that all transport will be fully autonomous within 50 years.

It may have to be with the rapidly growing rate of young people forgoing the ritual of getting a license when they come of age.

Within 50 years, the pool of people who even know how to drive may be incredibly small. While this prediction may be much harder to achieve with trucks, I have little doubt a lot of passenger vehicles will be fully self-drive (and not just the kinda sorta FSD Tesla has now.)

Not everyone is buying it, and Katya brings up a great point. Who wants autonomous trucks in a situation like we have in North Carolina? One thing to also keep in mind is that Musk’s timelines for nearly everything tend to be overestimated.

What do you think? Is Elon right? Email me.

Our first documentary looks at WHAT THE TRUCK?!? is up with the SoCal ports

Now playing – The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Just a few short years ago they were ground zero for the supply chain crisis. Today, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are seeing record import levels.

Those will only grow as ports from Maine to Texas could go on strike again, leaving Los Angeles and Long Beach as two of few major ports in the country open for business.

Along with that, the ports as well as the drayage community are tasked with hitting some very real zero-emissions goals by 2030. Are we seeing an end to the freight recession in real time? Can the shipping community meet its environmental goals? Who are the players and what is the tech paving the way for this future?

We had to jump a plane from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to LAX to see what the truck is up with the gateway to the USA: the Southern California ports.

Featuring Port of Long Beach’s Noel Hacegaba; Talon’s Emmanuel Carrillo and Isaac Castaneda; Harbor Trucking Association’s Matt Schrap; Swire’s Iain Stewart; Braid Theory’s Ann Carpenter; Forum Mobility’s Ron Hunt; Long Beach Container Terminal’s Charlie Doucette and Bonnie Nixon; PortPro’s Walker Banks; Vendorflow’s Eric Rodriguez; and WHAT THE TRUCK?!?’s Dooner (aka me).

Watch it here.

Friday on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?

Truck costs, paid parking debate, AI for operations – Friday live on WHAT THE TRUCK?!?, I’m joined by freight analyst Tanner DeHart. We’re breaking down the market and how it impacts truck cost. We’ll also look at how breakeven can vary wildly between carriers.

Truck Parking Club’s Reed Loustalot gets into the paid versus free parking debate and how they’re expanding their services across the nation.

Lexmark’s Brant Nystrom shares the latest on their deployment of AI in truck operations. What are they doing with it? We’ll find out.

Plus, the latest headlines and weirdness going down in this wild industry.

Catch new shows live at noon EDT Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on FreightWaves LinkedIn, Facebook, X or YouTube, or on demand by looking up WHAT THE TRUCK?!? on your favorite podcast player and at 5 p.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Road Dog Trucking Channel 146.

Forget ‘Founder Mode’

FBM – Founder Mode has nothing on Freight Broker Mode. Wear the shirt that lets them know you grind. Head on over to WTTGear.com to get our latest merch! Use code WTTFans for 10% off.

STP x F3

Get your tickets to the logistics event of the year, F3 right here. (That’s my discount link.)

Hurricane Milton hits Florida and freight markets; Waffle House Index

Port strike ends; J.B. Hunt’s Shelley Simpson; University of Arkansas

The rest of the noise

SONAR’s data is free during the hurricane disruptions
10 ports remain closed in Hurricane Milton’s aftermath
Norfolk Southern line into Asheville to be closed at least 3 months
Disaster response: A day in the life of ALAN during a hurricane
Dave Clark launches Auger, raises $100M for the AI venture

Thanks for reading, and feel free to forward this to a friend.

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Don’t be a stranger,

Dooner

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