3 min read
Building Ethical Leaders in Freight: Inside TIA’s Freight Leadership Lab
Kelly Barner : April 2, 2026
“If you don’t figure out a way to treat your carriers ethically and help them make money, you’re not going to have them.” - Michael Riccio, former TIA Chairman and founder of More Than Miles Consulting
In this episode of Art of Supply, I am joined by two members of the Transportation Intermediaries Association. Michael Riccio is the former chairman of TIA, and he's also a founding member of Open Road Ventures and the owner of More Than Miles Consulting. David Abell is a TIA board member and the CEO of AM Transport Services.
They are two of the freight industry leaders taking part in TIA’s new Freight Leadership Lab, a certification program designed to help mid-level brokerage managers grow into confident, high-performing - and ethical - leaders.
From Negative Perception to Professional Pride
Freight brokerage is a challenging, fast paced business. Margins are thin, competition can be tough, and with the highly decentralized, fragmented nature of the market, there are a million decisions that have to be made under pressure every day.
While some brokers take a lot of pride in their work, there are also unscrupulous operators, leading to fraud and theft that may not be detected until it is too late to do anything about it. For an example of this, refer back to the Art of Supply episode about the December 2025 theft of $400K worth of seafood.
But it doesn’t have to… it shouldn’t … be that way.
“Honestly, depending on the circle you run in, freight brokerage can have a negative connotation,” David told me. “I didn't even realize this for several years. We were kind of oblivious to this being in a small town. We just wanted to create a really good company, create really good jobs for folks. Once I started getting enlightened about the industry and realizing other folks don't think like we do, I had an issue with that. I love being a freight broker.”
Perhaps because of the challenges good brokers face, and maybe, too, because of the less than honest players out there, ethics is an essential value for TIA.
“The TIA has always had an ethics component,” Mike explained. “When brokerage really became prominent in the late 70s, early 80s, there was, and there still can be, a negative connotation of somebody trying to take advantage of somebody else versus creating a service to put two people together and then taking a margin for creating that service and that value.”
In fact, the TIA asks members to sign an ethics policy, and they have an ethics committee that meets regularly to advise on difficult situations. In addition to that, education and advocacy have always been part of their focus, ultimately leading to the creation of the Freight Leadership Lab.
Building the Next Generation of Freight Leaders
The TIA felt that there was an opportunity to take the emerging leaders at their member companies and provide them with training that would benefit the whole freight industry.
The Freight Leadership Lab includes an introduction and six modules on topics like how brokers make money, effective communication, problem solving, and decision-making. David and Mike will be teaching a module on ethical leadership specifically tailored to the freight brokerage space. All of the instructors have either run a brokerage, participated in teaching a brokerage, or have coached or consulted brokerages.
We wanted people who have lived it, who understand it, that could relate to our students,” Mike explained. “There's going to be a capstone project. We're probably going to break everybody up into small groups, give them a problem to solve, and then have them present to the committee on how they would solve that problem.”
The Role of Relationships in Ethical Decision-Making
Freight brokerage is ultimately a people business, and so relationships matter. The strength of those relationships, whether with other brokers or with customers, contributes to profitability, but it can also be a guard against some of the ethical issues that might otherwise crop up.
“I'm a big believer in relationships,” David said. “You have to have relationships in all facets of your life, and especially in freight brokerage. The fastest way to build a relationship or erode a relationship is whenever you're booking a load with a carrier. In some circles you always go for the cheapest rate. You don't value the relationship.”
Temptations do exist, of course, and it is easier to fall prey to them if maintaining relationships isn’t a priority. Michael agreed with the idea that relationships and reputations matter, and he pointed out that freight brokerage really isn’t different from any other professional service.
“Basically, it's no different than being a real estate agent or, before the computer, being a travel agent,” he explained. “You're taking two parties that need each other, putting them together, and creating a service. We're trying to provide people with tools on how to do that correctly, and how to do that ethically.”
By teaching leaders how trucks make money, offering that context about the freight system as a whole, Mike and David hope ethical guidelines will become more real, and easier to abide by, than platitudes about partnerships and mutually beneficial relationships.
Programs like the Freight Leadership Lab signal an important shift for the freight brokerage industry—one that prioritizes ethics, relationships, and leadership development alongside performance. By investing in people and giving them the tools to navigate real-world challenges, TIA and its members are helping reshape both perception and practice. Over time, that commitment has the potential to elevate not just individual companies, but the industry as a whole.
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