Freight fraud is no longer a fringe concern. It’s a systemic risk that touches every corner of the trucking industry from double-brokered loads to identity theft to cargo that simply vanishes between origin and destination. The second-order consequences of someone else’s fraud can be just as damaging for carriers as the fraud itself.

Amazon Relay, the tech giant’s free carrier-facing load board and mobile app, is a direct counter to that risk. In a conversation with FreightWaves’ Malcolm Harris on a recent episode of What the Truck?!?, Monika Joshi, product marketing at Amazon Relay, laid out how the web portal and mobile app’s layered verification systems, a new safety incentive program, and the approaching surge of Prime Day volume are converging into what she described as a compelling moment for carriers to get on board.

“Freight fraud doesn’t just hurt shippers. It can hurt honest carriers who can get caught in the middle,” Joshi said. “So we’ve built multiple layers of protection all the way from a carrier’s application to haul with Relay through to load hauling.”

Those layers start before a single mile is driven. Every carrier is screened before they’re approved to haul, and every driver undergoes identity verification and a background check before touching an Amazon load. But the protections extend well beyond onboarding.

“We have a direct relationship policy,” Joshi explained. “So this means once you’ve onboarded to Relay, you’re within the verified group of carriers that can haul Amazon loads. We don’t allow subcontracting, and there are no middlemen to put your reputation at risk.”

The direct-tender model is the structural foundation of Relay’s fraud defense. Where traditional load boards aggregate freight from countless sources (which creates opportunities for bad actors to insert themselves into the chain), Relay operates as a closed system. Every load listed on the web portal originates from Amazon or an approved third party shipper, and every booking is tendered directly to the carrier.

“No one other than Amazon is putting loads on our board,” Joshi said. “Everything booked through us is tendered to carriers directly from Amazon Relay.”

She went a step further, noting that carriers should be cautious about Amazon-branded loads appearing anywhere outside the Relay web portal. “We don’t recommend booking loads that appear to be from Amazon from anywhere other than Relay. Relay is our central source for all loads that we need hauled across our network, which again is just to help keep peace of mind for carriers that everything coming from Relay is legitimate and verified.”