The freight industry is experiencing an unprecedented surge in fraud, putting carriers, brokers, and shippers at greater risk. For NFI, a leading supply chain solutions provider with 18,000 employees and operations across transportation, warehousing, and freight brokerage, addressing this threat became a top priority. NFI needed a reliable partner to streamline its carrier onboarding process, reduce fraud exposure, and protect both its operations and customers. Highway’s advanced technology provided the right solution — automating key processes, verifying carrier identities, and mitigating fraud risks at every step.
The Challenge: Managing Fraud and Operational Inefficiencies
Before working with Highway, NFI relied on manual processes and onboarding tools that couldn’t adequately detect suspicious carriers or prevent double-brokering. With fraud cases industry-wide rising by 71.6% in late 2023 and reaching a 10-year high in early 2024, exposure to risks increased dramatically across the freight sector. These challenges underscored the need for a more comprehensive vetting solution. NFI required technology that would not only streamline carrier onboarding but also proactively guard against fraud, ensuring that every carrier in its network met rigorous compliance standards.
Solution: A Holistic Platform for Onboarding and Fraud Prevention
Highway’s platform has revolutionized NFI’s approach to carrier onboarding, enhancing efficiency while significantly reducing fraud risks and protecting its customers. Central to this transformation is Highway’s patented Identity Engine, which elevates the vetting and onboarding processes for carriers. This cutting-edge technology ensures that every carrier is rigorously verified, effectively minimizing the chances of fraud and double brokering, while bolstering overall reliability and compliance.
By harnessing advanced data analytics, Highway’s Identity Engine empowers NFI to make well-informed decisions and cultivates trust in their carrier partnerships. With verified carrier identities, NFI can confidently protect its network from fraudulent actors, creating a streamlined onboarding experience that enhances operational integrity and safety.
The key feature, Load Limit, in partnership with TriumphPay, enhances the Engine by implementing a rule designed to detect carriers that may be double brokering loads and operating beyond their capacity. This feature compares a carrier's observed power units (trucks) to the billable miles they have been paid for, assessing whether they are running more loads than their trucks can realistically cover. By identifying carriers that exceed their capacity, Load Limit enables NFI to select reliable partners and mitigate the risks associated with double brokering. Most importantly, Load Limit supports NFI in its ultimate goal of keeping customers secure.
“One of the key reasons to go on Highway is really protecting our customers,” said Ashford Brijlall, Senior Director of Operations Support at NFI. “Obviously, making the right decisions, picking the right carrier, streamlining that process is great. But, at the end of the day, if you don’t protect the customer, what’s the use of the product? Highway really helps a company protect its customers.”
Measurable Results: Faster Onboarding and Immediate ROI
The implementation of Highway brought immediate, measurable results to NFI. By automating and streamlining the carrier onboarding process, NFI significantly reduced the time and labor required to vet new carriers. They were able to onboard around 60 carriers per day with enhanced accuracy and efficiency.
The automation provided by Highway reduced delays, ensuring that carriers could be onboarded seamlessly and booked without unnecessary friction. It also allowed NFI to move a team member to a different, higher-priority role.
“Time saved is the key answer here,” said Brijlall. “When we onboarded Highway, we were able to reallocate an employee to a new position within the organization, so that’s immediate ROI.”
NFI further optimized its operations by using Highway to detect and avoid fraudulent carriers, ensuring that only the right carriers received load assignments. This boosted both operational efficiency and customer trust, reinforcing NFI’s reputation as a reliable logistics partner.
Protecting Customers and Strengthening Operations
Highway’s focus on fraud prevention goes beyond internal processes — it’s about protecting the end customer. By filtering out unreliable carriers and preventing fraudulent activity like double-brokering, NFI ensures its customers never face disruptions or risks caused by fraud.
“With Highway in place in front of our systems and processes, we are able to stop the bad actors before they ever make their way into the system and ensure the integrity of our service for both our shippers and carriers. Add in the ongoing evolution of their products and I am sure we are going to be making the world a safer to place to move freight with Highway for years to come.” Dave Broering - President, NFI Integrated Logistics.
NFI’s journey with Highway demonstrates that advanced technology is essential in today’s competitive logistics market. By making it easier to choose the right carriers and eliminating guesswork, Highway empowers brokers to focus on growth, not risk.
Building a Stronger Future With Highway
NFI’s journey with Highway has transformed its carrier onboarding process while strengthening the company’s fraud prevention strategies. By leveraging Highway’s comprehensive suite of tools, NFI has successfully reallocated resources, streamlined carrier onboarding, and enhanced protection for its customers.
Highway’s automation of key tasks and proactive fraud detection ensures that every carrier within NFI’s network is reliable and compliant. This synergy of technology and trust has not only optimized NFI’s internal operations but also strengthened its relationships with customers and carriers.
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“It’s night and day when you compare Highway to different tools out there,” Brijlall said. “In the short time that all the changes were made and all the team support you get from Highway, it’s a difference maker as far as attacking fraud and fighting fraud. Highway, I think that’s the first step.”
As NFI continues to grow, the company is confident that Highway’s solutions will support its future success. With fraud on the rise across the freight industry, tools like Highway are critical to staying competitive, efficient, and secure in today’s dynamic market.
Interested in achieving results similar to NFI’s? Request a demo today!
