Eric Pearson and his wife have run a one-truck motor carrier with authority for five years, but two weeks ago, a change made at Highway, the well-known "carrier vetting" system, crossed a line they drew in the sand between due diligence and invasion of privacy.
Pearson said that even brokers he's hauled for in the past suddenly started asking him to go through additional hoops on the Highway platform starting in September. Those hoops include uploading a driver's license and taking a few pictures of your face. Pearson objected to uploading his driver's license, instead attempting to send in a copy of his concealed carry card, another state-issued ID.
No dice, said Highway.
[Related: Owner-operators allege Highway 'overstepping' with carrier onboarding process]
Rather than go along and submit his driver's license, Pearson chose to stand on principle. He sent Overdrive the following message:
"This week every broker who uses [Highway] is forcing you to go back and resign their contract, and in order to do so, Highway is now requiring that you upload your drivers license and other biometric data," also requiring carrier consent to store that data for three years, Pearson said. That part doesn't sit right with him.
"We will never trust this inept, criminally invasive company," he said. Pearson said his distrust goes back to an incident where Highway wrongly told a broker his insurance was expired. "They make mistakes that cost us time and money," he said. "It took two hours" to sort out the mix-up on the phone.
After that, he doesn't want Highway near his driver's license, which includes his personal address and other close-to-home information. For a one truck operation with just himself and his wife, he feels he's getting "iced out of the market" over his objection to the ID requirements.
Big brokers including Allen Lund, NTG, and Circle Logistics have all asked him to revisit his Highway company profile and input the driver's license, he said.
"How does Highway have the right to be gatekeepers asking for more information then the FMCSA or DOT?" he said, noting that getting his MC authority didn't require a driver's license check, though with changes to the registration system it may for new businesses. "This new blitz needs to be exposed and confronted as they are killing small owner-operators, and most of the brokers are going to this system now, even ones we have worked with for years."
Pearson said he wouldn't do business with brokers that use Highway, but ultimately that's a double-edged sword. "It looks like" shunning Highway "might cost us our business. But we won't be bullied, and would rather close shop then comply with these people," he concluded.
Reached for comment, reps at Highway didn't deny Pearson's account of events. This isn't the first time owner-operators have taken issue with Highway's "carrier vetting" protocols. In March, the company gave Overdrive in-depth explanations of their privacy policies for carriers and the company's data requests, specifically when it comes to ELD integrations.
Now, asked about the driver's license requirements, the Highway rep admitted some things had changed.
"We have implemented a new security measure aimed at further protecting both carriers and brokers using our platform: the Identity Verification (IDV) process," the rep said. That process intends to "ensure that the entities claiming profiles on our platform are who they say they are."
Now, carriers who claim an account on Highway "will undergo IDV to confirm their identity," the rep said, leaving no wiggle room. "This step is crucial, as it helps ensure that carriers are authorized to enter into legally binding agreements with brokers."
At one point in Pearson's back-and-forth with Highway about the driver's license requirement, another Highway rep said "we want to acknowledge that this process can feel intrusive," but that ultimately it's critical to the company's efforts, which lately has included launching its own load board with the security and ID verification a main selling point.
"By verifying identities, we strengthen the security of our platform, making it safer for everyone involved in the transaction process," the rep continued, saying IDV was "designed with the best interests of both parties in mind."
In the end, for owner-operators it's Highway's way or ... nothing.
"If you do not wish to complete this verification process, we regret to inform you that you will not be able to maintain an active account on Highway," the rep concluded the exchange with owner-operator Pearson.
[Related: Highway denies selling, storing or otherwise snooping on ELD data]
Still, Pearson doesn't like it. Sometimes a shipper or receiver might ask him to show a driver's license, but he will "put my thumb over my birthday and DL number and they all accept it," he said.
With regard to the fraud-fighting cause Highway claims to take up, he's not convinced. "Amazon does it," he said of requiring driver's licenses, "and look at them. They still have freight fraud all the time."
Despite the rise of likely a dozen "carrier vetting" platforms in recent years, quarterly statistics around cargo theft incidence just climb and climb. The way Pearson sees it, Highway can't stop fraud, but they can pressure him into giving up his personal information.
[Related: Norman Camamile's weekend with the 'Iluminati' hacker: Four Amazon runs, no payment]
Asked for further info about Highway's data requests from carriers, a Highway rep referred Overdrive to the company's IDV information page, and its privacy policy that mentions biometric data storage.
What about Highway's new load board? Does it use "ELD data or any other data gleaned from onboarding carriers?" Overdrive asked.
Highway didn't directly respond to that question, instead referring to its page on ELD integrations, which as previously reported categorically denies selling, storing or sharing ELD data.
In the end, carriers and brokers will have to make their own decisions on who to load with freight or who to work with. No service, Highway included, runs a perfect operation, but the company said its privacy and security practices were state of the art.
"Highway is built on bank-grade security infrastructure, comparable to that of financial institutions, and maintains SOC 2 compliance," said Jessie Thomas, Highway's marketing VP, making reference to a security standards framework around handling customer data. "Safeguarding broker and carrier identities, as well as protecting sensitive information, remains the company’s highest priority."
As for brokers locking out Pearson in September, that part turned out to be true as well.
"Yes, several brokers have implemented Highway" since Overdrive's March article on the company's ELD integrations, said Thomas. "Our vetting processes remain unchanged. However, if brokers choose to adjust their own vetting practices based on the additional data Highway provides, that is at their discretion."
For Pearson's part, it's still barking up the wrong tree and burdening good carriers without cause. Truly bad actors flagged by Highway, he contended, will simply "start a new company. They'll do it again right away, they probably have another MC ready. They'll show up with a magnetic plastic" set of DOT numbers on the truck door while legitimate carriers with real emblazoned logos "need to verify six ways to Sunday who we are."
[Related: Highway, known for its 'carrier vetting' service, launches a load board]
