Highway
Case Study — Highway

From Day One to the #1 FreightTech Company in Carrier Identity

When Michael Caney joined Highway on day one, he brought The Robinson Agency with him. Over two years, TRA built the marketing engine that helped a startup nobody had heard of become the most recognized name in carrier identity verification — the company the entire freight industry now trusts to answer the question: who’s really hauling your freight?

160K+
Peak Monthly Sessions
6.5K
Organic Keywords
$106K
Monthly Traffic Value
700+
Broker Customers

The Company That Made the Freight Industry Care About Identity

Highway is a freight technology company built on a single, powerful premise: before anything moves, you should know who’s hauling it. Founded by Jordan and Brittany Graft, Highway built a carrier identity verification platform that solved the freight industry’s most dangerous blind spot — the gap between who a carrier says they are and who they actually are.

In an industry plagued by double brokering, cargo theft, load phishing, and identity fraud, Highway created the infrastructure that lets brokers verify carriers in real time, secure every load, and build trust into a system that had been running on handshakes and hope. With more than 700 brokerage customers, 280,000+ verified carrier users, and 15,000 connections processed daily, Highway became the standard.

But none of that existed on day one. When Michael Caney joined the company on February 8, 2023, Highway was a startup with a product, a vision, and exactly zero market awareness. His first call was to The Robinson Agency.

Build a Category From Scratch — While the Product Is Still Being Built

Highway didn’t just need marketing. They needed to create a category that didn’t exist yet. “Carrier identity verification” wasn’t a budget line item at freight brokerages. Nobody was searching for it. Nobody was talking about it. The industry knew cargo theft was a problem — but nobody had framed the solution the way Highway was about to.

No Brand Awareness

A startup with no website traffic, no content, no SEO presence, and no name recognition in an industry dominated by incumbents and skepticism toward new technology.

A Category to Create

Carrier identity verification didn’t exist as a recognized market segment. TRA had to educate the industry on why the problem mattered before they could sell the solution.

Competing for Attention

Freight brokers are inundated with tech vendors promising to solve everything. Highway needed messaging that cut through the noise — not another generic logistics pitch.

Product Evolving in Real Time

New features launched constantly — Load Lock, Highway for Email, carrier onboarding tools, integrations. Marketing had to keep pace with a product roadmap that moved weekly.

Industry Education Required

Before Highway could sell, the market had to understand the scale of the problem: how double brokering works, why carrier identity matters, what load phishing actually costs. TRA became the educators.

Building Trust at Scale

Brokers don’t adopt new technology because of a slick website. They adopt it because their peers vouch for it. TRA had to build a credibility engine — webinars, case studies, partnerships — that created social proof fast.

The Content Machine That Built a Category

TRA didn’t just write blog posts for Highway. They built the entire content infrastructure — from keyword strategy and editorial calendars to thought leadership, social media, and sales enablement — all managed through a Monday.com production pipeline that published at startup speed.

Thought Leadership

Deep-dive articles on carrier identity, double brokering, cargo theft, and fraud prevention — positioning Highway as the authority the industry turned to when the conversation about freight security finally started happening.

SEO-First Publishing

Every piece of content built from keyword research: “cargo theft,” “freight fraud,” “double brokering,” “carrier identity,” “phishing scams.” The content didn’t just exist — it ranked.

Customer Storytelling

Case studies and customer success stories featuring real brokerages using Highway — giving prospects proof that the platform worked, not just a promise that it would.

Sales Enablement

One-pagers, collateral, sell sheets, and demo materials that armed the sales team with credibility at every stage of the conversation — from first touch to contract.

Social Media Strategy

LinkedIn content strategy for company page and executive profiles. TIA conference campaigns, product launch posts, partnership announcements, and industry commentary that built a consistent digital voice.

Email Campaigns

Nurture sequences, product announcements, and partner communications. Email drove a 70.7% increase in sessions — the fastest-growing channel by percentage.

From Zero to 160,000 Monthly Sessions

When TRA started, highway.com had no organic search presence. No content. No keyword strategy. No blog. By the end of the engagement, the site was generating over 160,000 sessions per month — driven by a content architecture built from the ground up to capture every stage of the buyer journey.

14,390
Sessions — Feb 2024
160,833
Sessions — Oct 2024 (Peak)
11x
Traffic Growth
6,500+
Organic Keywords
$106K
Monthly Traffic Value
42
Domain Authority Score

The organic search channel alone drove 77,137 sessions in the last reporting period — a 13% increase year-over-year. But the real story is what that traffic did: the “Book a Demo” page generated 6,742 views per month. The “Products” page hit 5,254. This wasn’t vanity traffic — it was pipeline fuel.

The Marketing Site: marketing.gohighway.com

TRA built a dedicated marketing site alongside the main platform — 85 keywords ranking, many at position 2, capturing branded search queries like “go highway,” “highway setup,” “highway carrier login,” and “highway support” with volumes ranging from 90 to 1,900 monthly searches. This gave Highway search coverage on both the product and the brand.

AI Visibility

Highway achieved 230 AI mentions across ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, AI Mode, and Gemini — with 74 cited pages and 124 citations. The content TRA built didn’t just rank in traditional search; it became the source material that AI platforms reference when the industry asks about carrier identity and freight security.

Turning Expertise Into Industry Conversations

TRA didn’t just produce content — they built a webinar program that put Highway’s people at the center of the industry’s most important conversations. Michael Caney became a regular thought leader, and TRA produced multiple webinars featuring Highway alongside industry partners.

Carrier Onboarding & Trust Tech

A flagship webinar featuring Jordan Graft (Highway CEO), Will Kerr (Edge Logistics CEO), and John Stauffer (ISO Co-Founder) — covering carrier identity verification, technology integration, and collaborative risk management. TRA produced the full brief, talking points, and promotional campaign.

Modern Day Tech Stack

An education-focused webinar concept featuring Jordan Graft alongside Daniel Powell and Rick Larkin from BCB — positioning Highway as a core piece of the modern freight brokerage technology stack alongside companies like Optimal Dynamics.

TIA Capital Ideas Conference

TRA coordinated Highway’s presence at the industry’s most prestigious conference — four learning lab sessions featuring Jordan Graft, Brittany Graft, Michael Caney, and partners. Topics: “Who’s Really Hauling Your Freight?” and “Why Data Sources Matter for Carrier Identity.”

Customer-Led Storytelling

The webinar strategy was built on a philosophy: let customers and partners tell the story. Every webinar featured real people using Highway in real operations — not sales pitches, but proof of transformation.

“The strategy was to tell the story of customers and people using Highway — and to finally start getting the industry thinking about carrier theft and cargo fraud for the first time.”

Adam Robinson, Founder — The Robinson Agency

Every Partnership Announcement Became a Growth Event

TRA produced press releases for every major Highway partnership — turning each integration into a marketing moment that drove backlinks, media coverage, and market credibility. In the freight tech space, your integration partners define your ecosystem. TRA made sure the market saw every one.

TriumphPay Integration

Payment platform integration combining carrier identity with payment verification — connecting fraud prevention across the transaction lifecycle.

Press ReleaseSocial Campaign

3PL Systems Partnership

TMS integration bringing Highway’s carrier verification directly into the booking workflow — reducing friction and increasing adoption.

Press ReleaseBlog Post

Turvo Integration

Cloud-based TMS partnership embedding identity verification into collaborative logistics workflows for enterprise shippers and brokers.

Press ReleaseJoint Webinar

Transfix Partnership

Digital freight marketplace integration bringing Highway’s identity layer to one of the industry’s fastest-growing platforms.

Press Release

Ally Logistics

Partnership announcement showcasing Highway’s value for mid-market brokerages looking to enhance operational efficiency and secure their carrier network.

Press ReleaseCase Study

Front Integration

Email platform integration bringing Highway’s fraud detection directly into the inbox — the Highway for Email product that reduced fraud 97% across brokerages.

Press ReleaseDemo Video

Additional partnerships announced: TAI, Bluewire LLC, Greenscreens AI, and Carrier1. Each press release was produced by TRA — drafted, approved, distributed, and amplified through social and email channels. The backlink profile grew to 17,600+ referring links from 1,005 domains.

Launching Products the Market Didn’t Know It Needed

Highway’s product roadmap moved fast. TRA kept pace — producing messaging, launch campaigns, and go-to-market materials for every major product release.

Load Lock

Highway’s defense against load phishing and strategic cargo theft. TRA produced the launch campaign including a CEO video featuring Jordan Graft explaining the threat landscape, LinkedIn native video strategy, and supporting blog content. The campaign introduced the industry to a threat most brokers didn’t know they had.

Highway for Email

Outlook plugin, Gmail plugin, and Front integration that brought carrier identity verification directly into the inbox. TRA wrote the blog content (“Eliminate Fraud in the Inbox”), produced user testimonials, and highlighted the 97% fraud reduction statistic across Highway brokerages.

Carrier Onboarding Platform

The core product that processed 15,000 carrier connections daily. TRA built the messaging architecture — “Know Who’s Hauling Your Freight” — and produced content explaining why traditional onboarding processes left brokers exposed.

Highway for Carriers

The carrier-facing side of the platform with 280,000+ verified users. TRA produced content addressing the carrier experience — positioning Highway as beneficial for carriers, not just a gatekeeping tool for brokers.

Building the Visual Identity of a Category Leader

From the company’s distinctive yellow-and-dark brand palette to presentation decks, social carousels, one-pagers, case study designs, icons, and video production — TRA built the visual system that made Highway instantly recognizable in a sea of blue-and-white freight tech logos.

Brand Identity System

Logo usage, typography, color system (Highway yellow #F8C617 on dark blue #090D1D), icon library, and brand guidelines that gave every touchpoint a consistent, premium feel.

Sales Collateral & One-Pagers

Product one-pagers, case study templates, and leave-behind materials designed to move deals forward — not just look good in a folder.

Video Production

CEO Jordan Graft featured in professionally produced videos explaining Load Lock, load phishing, and the carrier identity threat. Captions, branding, and native LinkedIn optimization for maximum engagement.

Conference & Event Creative

TIA Capital Ideas conference materials, learning lab presentations, speaker promotional content, and LinkedIn carousel campaigns for the industry’s most important events.

Website Messaging

TRA developed the homepage messaging framework: “Know Who’s Hauling Your Freight” — with sections on carrier identity verification, onboarding, secure digital access, and monitoring. Key proof points: 700+ brokers, 15,000 connections daily, 280,000+ verified carrier users, 97% certificates on file. A website redesign project was initiated and scoped by TRA before Highway transitioned to an in-house team to complete it.

Two Years Building a Category Leader

February 8, 2023
Day One
Michael Caney joins Highway and brings in The Robinson Agency from day one. The partnership begins before the company has a marketing function.
February – March 2023
Foundation
B2B content marketing intake, messaging framework, persona development, and content pillars established. Editorial calendar built targeting carrier identity, fraud prevention, and double brokering keywords.
April 2023
TIA Capital Ideas Conference
Four learning lab sessions at the industry’s premier conference. Jordan Graft, Brittany Graft, and Michael Caney take the stage. Highway’s message reaches the industry’s decision makers.
Summer 2023
Content Machine Activated
Blog publishing cadence established. Social media calendar running. Press releases for major partnerships: TriumphPay, 3PL Systems, Turvo, Transfix. The market starts hearing Highway’s name.
August 2023
Load Lock Launch
Product launch campaign for Highway’s cargo theft defense tool. CEO video produced, LinkedIn native video strategy deployed, and the industry starts paying attention to load phishing.
Fall 2023
Webinar Program & Partnerships
Webinar series launches with industry partners — ISO, Edge Logistics, BCB. Highway becomes a fixture in the freight security conversation. More partnership announcements: TAI, Bluewire, Greenscreens AI, Front.
2024
Growth Acceleration
Traffic explodes from 14,390 sessions in February to 160,833 in October — an 11x increase. Organic search becomes the #2 channel. Highway for Email launches with 97% fraud reduction stat. Content production runs at full scale through Monday.com pipeline.
Late 2024 – Early 2025
In-House Transition
Highway has grown large enough to justify building an internal marketing team. The ultimate sign of success — TRA built the engine, proved the model, and the company invested in making it permanent.

The Numbers Behind a Category-Defining Brand

Every number below was built from zero. No inherited traffic. No existing brand. No content archive. Just strategy, execution, and the relentless belief that if you educate the market, the market will come to you.

160K+
Peak Monthly Sessions
6,500+
Organic Keywords
$106K
Monthly Traffic Value
77K
Monthly Organic Sessions
17.6K
Backlinks Built
230
AI Platform Mentions
MetricDay 1 (Feb 2023)End of Engagement
Monthly Sessions0160,833
Organic Keywords06,500+
Traffic Value$0$105,600/mo
Domain Authority042
Backlinks017,633
Referring Domains01,005
Content LibraryNothingBlog, case studies, webinars, PR
Social PresenceNoneExecutive + company strategy
Brand RecognitionUnknown startup#1 FreightTech in carrier identity
Traffic Growth — 0 to 160K+ sessions
160,833 peak sessions
Organic Keywords — 6,500+ from zero
6,500+ keywords
Organic Search Sessions — 77,137 monthly
77,137 organic sessions

The Ultimate Measure of Success

Highway eventually brought marketing in-house. That’s not a loss — it’s the highest compliment. TRA built the marketing engine from day one, proved the model, established the brand, and created a growth trajectory so compelling that Highway invested in making it a permanent, internal function. The foundation TRA built continues to drive the company’s organic traffic, search authority, and brand recognition today.

See the Work for Yourself

SemRush Domain Overview

Live organic keyword positions, traffic estimates, and domain authority.

SemRush Rankings

Full organic keyword ranking positions for highway.com.

AI Visibility

Highway’s presence across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overview, and AI Mode.

Content Production Board

Monday.com board tracking all content, press releases, case studies, and webinars.

Social Media Board

Monday.com board managing social content and executive positioning strategy.

The People Behind the Category

This was an embedded partnership from day one — TRA operated as Highway’s marketing department, moving at startup speed, shipping content weekly, and building the brand that the freight industry now trusts.

Adam Robinson — Strategy & Demand Gen Clayten Gouws — Strategic Oversight Taylor — Creative & Social Calendar Meagan Cole — Event Coordination Rohan Nair — Video Production Brittany Mayo — Content Bobby Samuels — Content

On the Highway side: Jordan Graft (CEO), Brittany Graft (Co-Founder), and Michael Caney — the person who believed in the partnership from day one and made sure TRA had what they needed to build a category.

© 2024 The Robinson Agency
Follow us on LinkedIn