Michael Thomas
Michael Thomas is a circular logistics architect and the founder of Logistical Forwarding Solutions, Freight University, FreightBrokerComplaint.com and the National Transportation Attorney Network. For more than 25 years he has built, consulted for, brokered freight with and taught the small trucking companies that move America's freight.
The thesis: the small trucking company in America is dying
Michael's work starts from a hard truth. Small trucking companies are going under, and most of them don't fail because the owner can't drive, can't find freight or doesn't work hard enough. They fail because the back office was never built: compliance, cash flow, rate research, broker relationships and the discipline to run a company instead of a truck.
At the same time, much of the industry is built to make money off the carrier's wallet. Fees on every load, fees to get paid, fees to find freight, fees to stay compliant. Each one looks small. Together they bleed the small carrier dry.
Michael's mission is the opposite: build solutions that move the carrier forward instead of reaching into the carrier's wallet. Keep the trucking company alive, then help it thrive and grow. He lays out the full argument in Licensed to Fail.
That belief is the root of everything LFS does: we are a carrier-first company.
MT: the logistics brain Michael built
MT is the proprietary logistics brain Michael built from more than 25 years of his circular architect teachings. It works inside the LFS back office around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, alongside the people who run the trucking companies LFS builds and manages.
MT's job is the same as everyone else's at LFS: keep carriers and their companies alive, help them thrive, and help them grow. There is nothing else like it in the logistics industry. How MT is built and how it works stays proprietary.
- Built on 25+ years of circular logistics teaching
- Runs 24/7 inside the LFS back office
- Keeps carrier companies alive, thriving and growing
- Proprietary, built by Michael
Circular logistics architecture
Michael thinks about trucking in circles, not straight lines. In The Art of the Deal with 10 Wheels he writes, "One truck is a straight line. A business built right turns in circles."
A load doesn't end at the dock. Freight research leads to the right load; the load is dispatched, delivered, billed and collected; the cash keeps the company running; compliance stays current; and what was learned makes the next round of research better.
Out of that thinking Michael designed a circular infrastructure for the trucking industry: one connected system in which education, operations, compliance, investigation and legal support each feed the next, so a carrier is never left on its own. He believes it can change how the industry works. The details are proprietary.
What Michael has built
Logistical Forwarding Solutions
A carrier-first service company operating for more than 20 years. LFS builds and manages trucking companies and freight brokerages across America, each under its own authority, and provides dispatch, DOT compliance, back office and consulting.
Freight University
Founded so that freight education is open to anyone, with a free online course and a free library of books. Freight University also runs the PLSP (Professional Logistics Service Provider) certification.
FreightBrokerComplaint.com
A free complaint and investigation service for carriers who were scammed, double brokered or never paid.
National Transportation Attorney Network
A carrier-first directory of transportation attorneys. Michael built it to help carriers stay alive and keep moving forward.
HD-RTFA
The Heavy-Duty Repair Transparency and Fairness Act, model legislation Michael wrote to stop predatory heavy-duty repair and towing practices.
Books
Six books in the free Freight University Library, including The Art of the Deal with 10 Wheels, with more on the way.
Founder of the National Transportation Attorney Network
Michael Thomas founded the National Transportation Attorney Network. It is a carrier-first network, built for one reason: to help carriers stay alive.
When a broker doesn't pay, a load gets stolen or a fake company books a carrier's truck, most carriers don't know where to turn. Finding an attorney who understands freight is hard. Finding one on the carrier's side is harder. The network puts transportation attorneys in one place, so carriers get the help they need and keep moving forward.
- Free for carriers
- All 50 states and DC
- Powered by Freight Broker Complaint
Opens nationaltransportationattorneynetwork.com in a new tab. The network and LFS are not law firms and do not give legal advice.
Founder of Freight Broker Complaint
Michael also founded Freight Broker Complaint, a free complaint and investigation service for carriers who were scammed, double brokered or never paid. A person reviews every case, contacts the broker for its side and helps put the carrier's documents together.
Freight Broker Complaint powers the National Transportation Attorney Network. The investigation comes first, then the attorney if the case needs one.
Opens FreightBrokerComplaint.com in a new tab. Complaints are allegations until the facts are reviewed. No outcome or payment is guaranteed.
Technology and AI in logistics
Michael has worked with AI technology for more than 10 years, developing and creating products for the logistics industry. He has helped develop logistics software and has been part of three national software builds; the names stay confidential.
That experience is what MT is built on: technology in service of the carrier, never a way to take more from the carrier.
25 years in the field
Before any of it was written down, it was done. Michael has built and managed trucking companies across America, consulted with owner-operators and fleet owners, helped new freight brokerages get started, brokered freight, and taught the people who run dispatch and back office work. Brokering freight is part of his experience; LFS today is a service company, not a freight brokerage.
He still consults and teaches. If you're starting a trucking company, fixing one or opening a freight brokerage, you can work with LFS and its founder through consulting.
Where to find Michael's work
- His books, free to read in the Freight University Library.
- The PLSP certification and the free online course at Freight University.
- His thesis on why small carriers are failing: Licensed to Fail.
- Free carrier complaints at FreightBrokerComplaint.com.
- The National Transportation Attorney Network.
- The HD-RTFA model legislation.
Education behind everything
Michael built Freight University so that everything Logistical Forwarding Solutions does has education behind it. Students, interns and academics apply what they learn to real companies, and LFS manages those companies. No one else in America does this. How we work.
- Freight University and LFS working together
- Real companies, real education
- Transparency on everything
Related
National Transportation Attorney Network
The National Transportation Attorney Network is a carrier-first directory of transportation attorneys, built for one purpose: helping the carrier first.
About Logistical Forwarding Solutions
Logistical Forwarding Solutions LLC is a Utah company that has been operating for more than 20 years.
Trucking business consulting
Our founder, Michael Thomas, has spent more than 25 years in freight: brokering loads, building trucking companies and teaching the people who run them.
Heavy-Duty Repair Transparency and Fairness Act (HD-RTFA)
HD-RTFA is model legislation written by Michael Thomas, founder of LFS. It proposes rules to bring fair, open pricing to heavy-duty truck repair, parts and towing, where…
Articles for trucking company owners
Plain, carrier-first articles on running a small trucking company: compliance, cash flow, freight research, brokers and fraud.
How we work: backed by education
Everything we do at Logistical Forwarding Solutions is backed by education. Your company is managed by LFS, and behind LFS is Freight University: students, interns and…
Media, speaking and consulting
For interviews, speaking, media requests or consulting with Michael, send a note and choose the topic that fits. Someone at LFS reads every message and gets it to him.
Prefer the phone? Call 901-205-9679.