Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
How is AI actually being used on the ground in drayage operations — and what could it mean for the future of intermodal freight?
In this episode of The Freight Table, host David Garofalo sits down with Chris O'Hea, Vice President of Maintenance and Operational Finance at Medlog USA and Chair of IANA's Maintenance & Repair Committee, for a candid conversation about AI in the real world of drayage. From back-office data mining to AI agents handling routine tasks, Chris shares how Medlog is already putting AI to work — and what a broader, supply-chain-wide framework could look like.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How Medlog is using AI today to cut hours of data work down to minutes — and what that means for cost visibility across terminals
- Why efficiency is the single biggest driver of AI adoption in drayage right now, especially with rates at near pre-COVID levels and expenses still rising
- How AI is helping drayage operators manage container planning, chassis decisions, customs holds, and driver capacity more effectively
- Why developing AI agents for routine, high-volume tasks frees up people to handle the problems that actually need a human
- What IANA's four pillars of AI framework is designed to do — and why the goal is a practical guidebook, not a mandate
- Why the interchange point between modes is where AI could have its biggest supply-chain impact
- What it would take to move from internal efficiency gains to true cross-partner visibility across the intermodal network
Embrace it or get left behind — AI isn't coming to intermodal, it's already here.
About The Freight Table
A monthly podcast from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), connecting data, policy, and industry voices to give you a clear view of what's changing now — and what's coming next. Where intermodal comes together.
How is AI actually being used on the ground in drayage operations — and what could it mean for the future of intermodal freight?
In this episode of The Freight Table, host David Garofalo sits down with Chris O'Hea, Vice President of Maintenance and Operational Finance at Medlog USA and Chair of IANA's Maintenance & Repair Committee, for a candid conversation about AI in the real world of drayage. From back-office data mining to AI agents handling routine tasks, Chris shares how Medlog is already putting AI to work — and what a broader, supply-chain-wide framework could look like.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How Medlog is using AI today to cut hours of data work down to minutes — and what that means for cost visibility across terminals
- Why efficiency is the single biggest driver of AI adoption in drayage right now, especially with rates at near pre-COVID levels and expenses still rising
- How AI is helping drayage operators manage container planning, chassis decisions, customs holds, and driver capacity more effectively
- Why developing AI agents for routine, high-volume tasks frees up people to handle the problems that actually need a human
- What IANA's four pillars of AI framework is designed to do — and why the goal is a practical guidebook, not a mandate
- Why the interchange point between modes is where AI could have its biggest supply-chain impact
- What it would take to move from internal efficiency gains to true cross-partner visibility across the intermodal network
Embrace it or get left behind — AI isn't coming to intermodal, it's already here.
About The Freight Table
A monthly podcast from the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), connecting data, policy, and industry voices to give you a clear view of what's changing now — and what's coming next. Where intermodal comes together.
