The monthly payment is a cash flow number. It tells you whether you can keep the lights on week to week. It tells you almost nothing about what the truck actually costs.

What the truck actually costs is the purchase price plus every dollar of interest you pay from your first payment to your last. That number, the total cost of the loan, is what you need to know before you sign anything. On a typical owner-operator truck loan in the current market, the total interest paid over the life of a 60-month term can represent 20 to 30 percent of the purchase price on top of what you owe for the truck itself. On a longer term or at a higher rate, it can exceed 35 percent. Those are not small numbers on a $75,000 purchase.

The calculation to produce this number is not complicated. It requires the purchase price, the interest rate expressed as APR, the loan term in months, and about five minutes with a spreadsheet or an online amortization calculator. What it requires first is understanding why the interest is structured the way it is.

What Amortization Actually Means

Every standard truck loan uses a structure called amortization, which means the total debt is divided into equal monthly payments across the loan term, with each payment covering a portion of principal, the amount you borrowed, and a portion of interest, the lender’s charge for lending it to you. The payment amount stays the same every month. What changes is the split between principal and interest inside each payment.

In the early months of the loan, the outstanding balance is high. Because interest is calculated as a percentage of the outstanding balance, the interest component of each payment is large and the principal component is small. As you pay down the balance, the interest portion shrinks and the principal portion grows, until in the final months of a well-structured loan the payments are almost entirely principal.

This is what finance professionals mean when they say a loan is front-loaded with interest. It is not a trick or a deception. It is the mathematical consequence of charging interest on an outstanding balance that is large at the start and small at the end. RateGenius, which publishes educational material on loan amortization, describes it this way: payments made toward a newer loan direct more money toward interest. As the term goes on, less and less goes toward interest and more goes toward paying down the balance.

The practical implication for an owner-operator is this: if you sell the truck or trade it in two years into a five-year loan, you have paid two years of payments but reduced the principal balance by far less than two-fifths of the loan amount, because a disproportionate share of your first two years of payments went to interest. You have not built equity at the pace the payment count might suggest.

The Calculation, Worked in Plain Numbers

Walk through a specific example so the math is concrete rather than abstract.

A used 2022 Kenworth T680 priced at $75,000. Down payment of $10,000, so the financed amount is $65,000. Interest rate of 9 percent APR, a rate in the current range for an owner-operator with established authority and decent credit, as documented by our May 2026 analysis of the commercial truck financing market. Loan term of 60 months.

The monthly payment on those terms is $1,349. The dealer or lender will tell you this number confidently and move on to discussing the truck.

Here is what they will not tell you unless you ask. Over 60 payments of $1,349, you will pay a total of $80,940 to retire the loan. You borrowed $65,000. The difference, $15,940, is the total interest paid. Add your $10,000 down payment and the total cash you spent to own that truck is $90,940. The truck cost $75,000 on the sticker. It cost you $90,940 to acquire. That is a 21 percent premium over the purchase price paid purely in financing cost.

Now change one variable. Extend the term to 84 months, which some lenders offer on commercial truck loans, asCrestmont Capital’s 2026 commercial truck financing guide confirms is available. The monthly payment drops to $1,031. Dealers love this conversation because the lower payment makes the purchase feel more affordable. Here is what happens to the total cost. Over 84 payments of $1,031, you pay $86,604. Subtract the $65,000 principal and total interest paid is $21,604. The truck that cost $80,940 all-in at 60 months now costs $96,604 all-in at 84 months. You are paying $5,664 more to own the same truck and get a smaller monthly payment. That trade is sometimes the right one for cash flow management. It should be made deliberately, with the total cost in front of you, not because the monthly payment felt more comfortable.

Why the First Payment Is Almost Entirely Interest

On the $65,000 loan at 9 percent APR, the monthly interest rate is 0.75 percent (9 divided by 12). In month one, your interest charge is 0.75 percent of $65,000, which equals $487.50. Your payment is $1,349. The principal paid in month one is $1,349 minus $487.50, which equals $861.50. Your outstanding balance after the first payment is $65,000 minus $861.50, which is $64,138.50.

You made a $1,349 payment and reduced the balance by $861.50. The other $487.50 went to the lender as the cost of having borrowed the money for that month. This ratio improves over time as the balance falls. By month 30, at the midpoint of the 60-month term, your outstanding balance is approximately $35,000. The monthly interest charge at that point is 0.75 percent of $35,000, which is $262.50. The principal portion of your payment has grown to $1,086.50. In the final month, nearly all of your payment is principal and the interest component is a few dollars.

The Bankrate mortgage amortization guide documents the same structure across all amortizing loans: interest payments are front-loaded, meaning it takes a significant amount of time to reduce the principal and build equity. The math is identical whether the loan is a mortgage, a car loan, or a commercial truck loan. The lender is not doing anything improper. This is simply how amortizing loans work, and an operator who does not understand it will consistently overestimate how much equity they have built after the first year or two of payments.

APR Versus the Stated Interest Rate: The Gap That Costs Money

The annual percentage rate and the interest rate are related but not the same number, and the difference matters when comparing loan offers.

The interest rate is the cost of borrowing expressed as a percentage of the principal per year. It does not include fees. The APR includes the interest rate plus any lender fees, origination charges, and required costs of the loan expressed as an annualized percentage. By law, lenders must disclose the APR under the Truth in Lending Act, which makes it the correct comparison point between competing loan offers.

A lender advertising an 8.5 percent interest rate on a truck loan with a $1,500 origination fee and $500 in documentation charges has an effective cost higher than 8.5 percent. The APR, which includes those fees amortized over the loan term, might be 9.2 percent. Another lender advertising 9.0 percent with no fees has an APR of 9.0 percent. The first lender looks cheaper on the headline rate and is actually more expensive on a full-term comparison.

As our commercial truck financing analysis states directly: several lenders in the commercial truck space advertise an interest rate rather than an APR. Always ask for the APR and always compare offers using APR on identical loan amounts and terms, not the monthly payment or the stated interest rate.

The Credit People’s 2026 commercial truck loan guide adds the instruction to ask each lender for a full APR breakdown including all fees, then compare quotes side by side using identical down payment and term assumptions. A side-by-side APR comparison on the same loan structure eliminates the noise of different term lengths and fee structures that can make a more expensive loan appear competitive.

The Counterintuitive Truth: Bigger Loans Often Cost Less Per Dollar Borrowed

Here is the data point most owner-operators have never considered, and it changes how you think about the buy-versus-save-and-pay-cash decision.

Lenders have fixed costs to underwrite, process, and service a loan regardless of its size. An origination review, a title search, document preparation, and ongoing servicing infrastructure cost roughly the same whether the loan is $15,000 or $75,000. On a $15,000 loan, those fixed costs represent a larger percentage of the loan amount, and the lender’s margin on a smaller loan is thinner. Both factors push rates higher on smaller loan amounts.

The Credit People’s current rate analysis confirms this dynamic directly: specialty lenders charge APRs between 7 and 12 percent or higher for sub-prime credit, with rates typically lower for larger loan amounts and strong collateral. Truckers Finance’s 2026 owner-operator financing guide notes that operators in the prime bracket with two or more years in business see rates between 7 and 12 percent, while startup operations pay 15 to 22 percent, and the collateral value of the truck is a primary underwriting input.

In practical terms, an owner-operator financing a $15,000 truck at a specialty lender with limited credit history may be quoted 18 to 22 percent APR. The same operator financing a $65,000 truck with a stronger collateral position may qualify for 11 to 14 percent APR. The monthly payment on the more expensive truck is higher, but the total interest as a percentage of the loan amount is lower. The cost per dollar borrowed is less on the larger loan.

This does not mean buying a more expensive truck is always better. It means the assumption that a cheaper truck is automatically the lower-cost financial decision ignores the rate differential that financing cost creates at different loan amounts and collateral levels. Both scenarios need to be calculated on total cost, not purchase price or monthly payment.

How to Run the Calculation Yourself

Every operator who finances equipment should run this calculation before signing. It requires four inputs and five minutes.

The first input is the financed amount, which is purchase price minus down payment. The second is the APR, confirmed in writing from the lender, not the stated interest rate. The third is the loan term in months. The fourth is a free online amortization calculator, of which dozens exist. The U.S. government’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau maintains a free loan calculator and a detailed explanation of amortization schedules. Any major bank or financial education site has a comparable tool.

Plug in the four numbers and the calculator produces three outputs: the monthly payment, the total amount paid over the full term, and the total interest paid. The total amount paid minus the principal equals the total interest. That is the number to compare across loan offers, not the monthly payment.

A concrete comparison between two offers on the same truck makes the method obvious. Offer A: $65,000 financed at 9.0 percent APR for 60 months. Monthly payment $1,349. Total paid $80,940. Total interest $15,940. Offer B: $65,000 financed at 10.5 percent APR for 60 months. Monthly payment $1,397. Total paid $83,820. Total interest $18,820. Offer B costs $2,880 more in total interest over the life of the loan. The monthly payment difference is $48. An operator focused only on the monthly payment might consider both offers essentially equivalent. An operator who ran the total interest calculation knows Offer A is $2,880 cheaper and takes Offer A.

Prepayment and the Equity Question

One corollary of understanding amortization is understanding what happens when you pay extra toward principal.

Every extra dollar you pay above the required monthly payment goes directly toward principal reduction, not interest. Because future interest charges are calculated on the remaining balance, reducing the principal faster reduces every subsequent interest charge. An owner-operator who pays $200 extra per month toward principal on a 60-month loan does not just pay the loan off faster. They reduce the total interest paid across the remaining term because every future month’s interest charge is lower.

Before making extra principal payments, confirm that your loan has no prepayment penalty. Some commercial truck loans, particularly from specialty lenders and certain dealer-affiliated finance companies, carry prepayment penalties that can offset the savings from early payoff. The Nasdaq explanation of the Rule of 78, a front-loading method some lenders still use, describes specifically how this structure can result in less savings than anticipated when a loan is paid off early. Ask the lender explicitly whether the loan carries a prepayment penalty and whether the interest calculation method is standard amortization or Rule of 78. Standard amortization with no prepayment penalty is the structure you want.

The Trade-In Trap

Understanding amortization also clarifies why trading a truck in the early years of a loan frequently produces a situation called being upside down, where you owe more on the loan than the truck is worth as a trade.

A truck financed at $65,000 with $10,000 down has a loan balance of roughly $59,000 after 12 monthly payments on a 60-month term, because front-loaded amortization means the first year of payments reduced principal by only about $6,000. If that truck’s market value has depreciated from $75,000 to $60,000 in the first year, the owner-operator is essentially even. If the market has softened or the truck has accumulated significant miles, the trade value may be below the loan balance, meaning they need cash to close the gap or they roll the negative equity into a new loan at a higher balance.

ACT Research, which tracks used Class 8 equipment values, documented that same-dealer used Class 8 sales averaged $57,135 in December 2025. Values have been under pressure through the freight recession period. An operator who bought at the top of the market, financed heavily, and now wants to trade is often looking at a gap between trade value and loan payoff that requires cash or a larger new loan to close. Understanding the amortization schedule of the existing loan before entering a trade negotiation is how you know what that gap is before you sit across from the dealer.

For Fleet Owners: The Total Interest Budget Across Multiple Units

At the fleet level, the total interest calculation across all financed units is a planning input that belongs in the annual budget with the same precision as fuel cost or insurance premium.

A fleet carrying four financed trucks, each with a $65,000 loan balance at 9 percent APR on 60-month terms, has a total interest obligation of roughly $63,760 over the remaining terms of those loans. That is the cost of the capital structure, not the truck payments. Understanding it at this level allows a fleet owner to evaluate whether refinancing at a lower rate if credit has improved, making lump-sum principal payments in high-cash-flow periods to reduce future interest, or restructuring terms on renewal are financially justified decisions.

ATRI’s 2025 Operational Costs report put truck and trailer payments at 39 cents per mile in 2024, the highest ever recorded in ATRI’s dataset, up 8.3 percent from 2023. For a fleet running 120,000 miles per truck per year, that is $46,800 per truck in annual equipment payment cost. The interest component embedded in that number, which varies based on each truck’s specific loan terms, is the portion that can be reduced through better financing decisions. The payment is fixed once the loan is signed. The decision that determines how much interest is, happens before you sign.

Frequently Submitted Questions

The dealer offered me 0 percent financing on a newer used truck. Is that actually free money?

Rarely. Zero percent financing on commercial equipment is almost always either a manufacturer incentive program that applies only to new trucks from specific OEMs, a promotional rate that requires excellent credit and a short loan term, or a situation where the purchase price has been adjusted upward to offset the financing subsidy. A dealer who offers 0 percent and is not obligated to provide it by a manufacturer incentive program is recovering the foregone interest somewhere in the transaction, most commonly in the purchase price. The test is simple: ask for the purchase price and terms in writing, then ask what the purchase price would be for a cash transaction or a conventionally financed transaction at market rate. If the cash price is lower than the 0 percent financed price, the financing is not free. The interest is embedded in the purchase price. Calculate total cost paid under each scenario and compare them directly.

I’m two years into a 60-month loan. Does it make sense to refinance if I can get a lower rate?

Run the numbers before deciding. Refinancing resets the amortization clock on the remaining balance, which has two effects. First, if the new loan has a lower APR, you reduce the interest cost on the remaining principal. Second, if the new loan has a longer term than your remaining original term, you may extend the period of front-loaded interest and pay more in total even at a lower rate. The correct comparison is total interest paid over the remaining original term versus total interest paid under the new loan’s full term. If refinancing at a lower rate with the same remaining term produces meaningfully lower total interest, it is worth the cost of closing. If the new loan stretches the term to lower the monthly payment, the total interest comparison may favor staying on the original loan. Get the amortization calculation on both scenarios before making the call.

The lender is quoting me a factor rate instead of an APR. How do I convert that?

A factor rate is common in short-term commercial financing and some equipment financing structures. It is expressed as a decimal multiplier rather than a percentage. A factor rate of 1.25 on a $30,000 loan means you will repay $30,000 multiplied by 1.25, which is $37,500 total. The $7,500 difference is the total cost of the financing. To convert a factor rate to an approximate APR for comparison purposes, divide the total financing cost by the loan amount, divide by the loan term in years, and multiply by 100. A factor rate of 1.25 on a 12-month term approximates a 25 percent APR. On an 18-month term, the same factor rate approximates roughly 16.7 percent APR. Factor rates are most common in short-term working capital products and are generally more expensive than conventional amortizing truck loans when converted to APR equivalents. If a lender is quoting a factor rate on a long-term truck purchase, ask explicitly for the APR equivalent so you can compare it against conventional financing. Never accept a factor rate product without understanding what the equivalent APR is.

The post The Number the Dealer Shows You Is Not What the Truck Costs: How to Calculate the Real Price of Financing appeared first on FreightWaves.

While a booming heavy-industrial sector has shielded certain segments, the broader housing affordability crisis is actively suppressing volumes across multiple shipping modes, including dry van, flatbed, rail carload and rail intermodal.

According to a recent SONAR Sitrep report, high interest rates and tight housing turnover are starving carriers of the residential construction and retail shipment volumes that historically drive freight market recoveries.

Truckload capacity squeezed by less housing starts

U.S. Census data shows that total housing starts fell 2.8% month-over-month in April 2026 to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 1.465 million, down 0.9% year-over-year. 

Behind the headline figures, however, lies a deeper divergence that disproportionately hurts freight volume:

• Single-Family Starts Plunge: Single-family starts –which generate significantly more building materials freight per unit– plunged 9.0% MoM in April to 930,000 units.
• Multifamily Surge Masking Softness: Conversely, multifamily starts rose 14.3% MoM to 529,000 annualized units. Because multifamily buildings are far less material-intensive per unit, this surge does little to rescue lagging flatbed or rail demand.

Mode-specific squeezes

The lack of residential construction and lagging existing home sales have sent shockwaves through regional shipping corridors from open-decks to boxcars:

• Standard flatbed freight is undergoing a severe split. Traditional building materials (lumber, drywall and roofing) are incredibly soft. However, heavy industrial, data center builds and utility construction are booming. This industrial strength pushed overall flatbed tender rejections (STRIF.USA) past 40% in April 2026 and drove the Flatbed Truckload Volume Index (STVIF.USA) up an average of 48% YoY as of June 2026.
• Rail traffic for forest and lumber products is depressed. Weekly primary forest products rail carloads (RTOFP.USA) plummeted 32% year-over-year to just 788 weekly carloads as of May 23. On Q1 2026 earnings calls, Class I railroad CSX Corporation explicitly pointed out that housing affordability was “a real headwind,” with its forest products segment volumes sliding 9% year-over-year.

Macro real estate trends support the split

Broader industrial real estate developments echo the split between sluggish consumer housing and high-flying industrial infrastructure. According to Link Logistics –one of the nation’s largest industrial real estate operators managing roughly half a billion square feet of warehouse space– the oversupply correction of 2024 has run its course. 

The industrial real estate market is tightening rapidly, favoring last-mile owner-operators. National warehouse availability has also dropped for the first time since 2021 as the national construction pipeline contracted by 35%. 

Additionally, the massive artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout is fueling conventional warehouse demand and logistic spillover in the millions of square feet, according to Link Logistics executive Glenn Wylie.

Don’t get caught off guard

Discover the full ground-level logistics impact of the residential construction squeeze on dry van, open-deck flatbed, and rail volumes. Sign up for SONAR today or request a demo here to read the full Sitrep and access our library of freight intelligence reports.

[Access via SONAR] | [Access via FreightWaves Market Monitor]

Understanding the granular relationship between interest rates, regional permit pipelines and mode-specific freight demand is critical for any transportation professional aiming to capture the emerging market recovery.

The post SONAR Sitrep: Housing affordability drags down key freight sectors appeared first on FreightWaves.

According to U.S. Border Patrol Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jared Ashby, the incident began at approximately 8:36 p.m. Thursday when a tractor-trailer approached the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint in Encino, Texas. During an immigration inspection, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted the trailer.

Rather than stop for further inspection, the driver allegedly fled the checkpoint.

“Despite deflated tires, the suspect continued driving until the tractor caught fire,” Ashby said in a post on X.

Ashby said Border Patrol agents and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers were able to force open the locked trailer and rescue the suspected undocumented migrants before the tractor and trailer were consumed by flames. All occupants were medically screened for injuries before being taken into custody.

The pursuit ended near Linn, a rural community in Hidalgo County along U.S. Highway 281, about 46 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Pharr, Texas. 

The incident forced the closure of southbound lanes on the highway, one of the primary freight corridors connecting the Rio Grande Valley with the rest of Texas. Authorities later reopened the roadway.

Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra posted on social media Thursday night that the truck was involved in a human smuggling incident and was being pursued by law enforcement when it caught fire approximately six miles north of Linn. 

The blaze drew a large response from local firefighters and law enforcement agencies. The sheriff’s office provided a photograph showing the trailer heavily damaged by fire while emergency crews worked to extinguish the flames. No serious injuries have been reported.

The post Migrants rescued from burning trailer after South Texas smuggling chase  appeared first on FreightWaves.

According to a notice published in the Federal Register on May 28, the applicants are seeking exemptions from FMCSA regulations that require commercial drivers to have no established medical history or clinical diagnosis of epilepsy or any condition likely to cause a loss of consciousness or loss of vehicle control. 

If approved, the exemptions would allow the individuals to operate commercial vehicles across state lines despite having a history of seizures and, in most cases, continuing to take anti-seizure medications.
FMCSA has authority to grant medical exemptions on a case-by-case basis if it determines the applicant can maintain a level of safety equivalent to or greater than that achieved under existing regulations. Exemptions are generally issued for two years, matching the maximum duration of a driver’s medical certification.

The 11 applicants come from Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin. Several already hold commercial driver’s licenses, while others currently possess standard driver’s licenses and are seeking the ability to pursue commercial driving opportunities.

According to FMCSA, the applicants have been seizure-free for periods ranging from nearly seven years to more than two decades. Most continue to take anti-seizure medications under stable treatment plans, while one applicant has been off medication since 2022. In each case, the applicant’s treating physician expressed support for the exemption request.

FMCSA has operated an epilepsy exemption program since 2013, evaluating applicants based on medical records, driving histories, expert medical guidance and public comments. The agency said it considers recommendations from a medical expert panel, along with each driver’s individual circumstances, when determining whether an exemption should be granted.

The agency routinely grants such exemptions. In 2024, FMCSA approved epilepsy waivers for 14 drivers, noting they had remained seizure-free for extended periods while maintaining stable treatment regimens. The agency concluded those drivers were unlikely to experience seizures that would pose a risk to public safety.

Public comments on the latest applications will be accepted through June 29. FMCSA will review the submissions, medical information and safety analyses before determining whether the exemptions should be approved.

The post FMCSA reviews 11 epilepsy waiver requests from commercial drivers  appeared first on FreightWaves.

California’s attempt to impose its own meal and rest breaks on drivers–already blocked for truckers several years ago–has taken another hit, this time for bus drivers.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday said the Hours of Service (HOS) regulations of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) for bus drivers preempts the meal and rest breaks (MRB) of California. 

It’s the second time the Ninth Circuit has struck down a regulation on HOS promulgated by the Golden State. In 2021, in a case brought by the Teamsters, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued  a ruling similar to what was handed down Thursday. But that ruling impacted truck drivers, not those piloting a bus.

In the most recent case, the state of California was the petitioner to the Ninth Circuit.  

Differences between truckers and bus drivers

Federal hours of service rules for bus drivers are not identical to those of truck drivers. A “passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicle driver”–which is how the rules describe a bus driver–is limited to no more than 10 consecutive hours of driving and an on-duty limit of 15 hours.

HOS rules for trucks are that a driver can not be on duty for more than 14 hours, of which 11 can be behind the wheel. But a driver can not be behind the wheel for more than eight consecutive hours without taking a 30-minute break.

The California rest break rule for bus drivers is that “an employee working more than five hours is entitled to a meal period of not less than 30 minutes,” according to the Ninth Circuit’s summary of the rule. 

There are other provisions in the California law that mandate a second meal break and 10-minute rest periods. 

FMCSA first checked in on California in 2018

A 2018 decision by FMCSA found that California’s meal and rest period rules for truck drivers were preempted by federal regulations. The subsequent litigation with the Teamsters resulted in the Ninth Circuit ruling that “California’s MRB rules were within (FMCSA’s) preemption authority,” according to the most recent court recap of previous action. 

It’s a straight line from that decision to the ruling on bus drivers, the court said. “Our prior decision in Teamsters largely forecloses (California’s) arguments, and we otherwise reject their claims,” the Ninth Circuit said.

The court summed up, and knocked down, California’s arguments.  One was a technical argument on the definition of the preemption authority being limited to rules on safety, rather than a law of general applicability. 

‘General applicability’

The latter argument proved relevant to trucking in the state because it was the Ninth Circuit that found in 2021 that independent contractor law AB5 was a “law of general applicability” as applied to trucking, and wasn’t therefore preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act. That decision overturned an earlier injunction against AB5 being implemented against California trucking, and kicked off the process that ultimately led to AB5 being fully implemented in the state’s trucking sector.

Other arguments made by California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is likely to be the state’s next governor, but shot down by the Ninth Circuit, include an argument that California’s rule to have bus drivers take a mid-shift break can’t be found in federal regulations, so the state’s rule does not conflict with any federal standard. The court’s response: “Although it is true that federal HOS regulations do not require that drivers of passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicles take a mid-shift break, they still dictate how long a driver may remain on duty before a mandatory off-duty period.”

The court also held the California rules would create a “significant operational burden.”

“The administrative record is replete with commentary about the negative effects of California’s MRB rules upon passenger-carrying commercial motor vehicle operations,” the court wrote in its opinion. “These include comments about the disruptive and costly nature of complying with California’s MRB rules, as well as the difficulty of maintaining scheduled operations.”

More articles by John Kingston

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Carrier Nussbaum sets driver pay increase; others popping up more quietly

Amazon scores big win at NLRB over whether it’s a joint employer with DSPs

The post California’s meal break rule for bus drivers shot down by federal court appeared first on FreightWaves.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced Tuesday that it has received an exemption request from Jenifer Sanchez Vilchis seeking permission for states to issue Class B passenger-vehicle commercial driver’s licenses to DACA recipients who hold valid Employment Authorization Documents. 

The agency is accepting public comments through July 2 before deciding whether to grant or deny the request.

According to the Federal Register notice, Sanchez Vilchis is seeking an immediate temporary exemption that would allow state driver licensing agencies to issue Class B CDLs to DACA holders under the same conditions as other individuals authorized to work in the U.S.

FMCSA said it will review Sanchez Vilchis’ application, safety analyses and public comments before determining whether granting the exemption would provide a level of safety equivalent to or greater than existing regulations. The agency has authority under federal law to grant exemptions from motor carrier safety regulations on a case-by-case basis.

If approved, the exemption could provide a temporary pathway for DACA recipients seeking Class B commercial driving jobs while federal regulators continue implementing the broader overhaul of non-domiciled CDL requirements.

Related: They Grew Up Here, They Work Here – What the CDL Fight Over DACA Really Means for Trucking

The petition arrives just months after FMCSA implemented stricter eligibility standards for non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.

In February, FMCSA finalized regulations requiring states to limit non-domiciled CDL issuance to foreign nationals who can provide specific forms of lawful immigration documentation, including certain H-2A agricultural worker visas, H-2B temporary worker visas and E-2 treaty investor visas. The rule took effect March 16 and excluded most DACA recipients from obtaining or renewing non-domiciled commercial driving credentials.

Under the current rules, DACA recipients generally do not meet FMCSA’s definition of lawful immigration status for purposes of obtaining a non-domiciled CDL, despite possessing federal employment authorization documents that allow them to legally work in the U.S.

The issue has become increasingly significant as states across the country reevaluate their non-domiciled CDL programs.

Ohio officials recently announced they are reviewing approximately 5,000 commercial driver’s licenses held by non-permanent U.S. residents as part of a broader effort to verify compliance with revised federal standards. California, Washington, Colorado and Pennsylvania have also paused or reassessed portions of their non-domiciled CDL programs amid heightened federal scrutiny.

Related: Ohio reviews 5,000 nonresident CDLs amid federal compliance crackdown

Texas recently resumed issuing non-domiciled CDLs to temporary agricultural workers holding H-2A visas after receiving federal approval, but state officials said eligibility remains limited under FMCSA’s revised rules. 

Federal regulators estimate roughly 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders currently exist nationwide, with approximately 194,000 expected to become ineligible to renew as licenses expire under the new requirements.

The broader crackdown on commercial driving credentials and immigration-related compliance has coincided with intensified enforcement actions involving foreign commercial drivers. More than 3,000 Mexican truck drivers have reportedly lost authorization to enter the U.S in recent months as federal agencies increased enforcement of cabotage and visa regulations, according to industry officials in Mexico.

The debate surrounding DACA recipients and commercial driving jobs has drawn growing attention within the trucking industry.

DACA, created in 2012, provides temporary protection from deportation and work authorization to certain individuals brought to the U.S. as children. 

According to recent industry analysis, more than 500,000 people currently hold active DACA status nationwide, many of whom have spent most of their lives in the U.S. and possess valid federal employment authorization documents.

Related: Thousands of Mexican truckers lose US visas over cabotage violations

The post CDL fight reignites as DACA recipient petitions FMCSA appeared first on FreightWaves.

The big increase in truck transportation jobs reported last month reversed itself in May, leading to a level of employment that is only slightly higher than it was two months ago.

The May jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported truck transportation jobs at 1,424,800. That’s down 4,400 jobs from a slightly revised April figure.

The revision in April numbers still puts it up 4,900 jobs from March, which also was revised slightly. 

The end result is that truck transportation employment in May was just 500 jobs more than in March, after an April report–along with anecdotal and actual reports of more hiring and a tightening market for drivers–that seemed to suggest a continuing upward move in employment was possible.

But May’s employment number for truck transportation was down 2,400 jobs from where it stood at the end of last year. It’s also down almost 23,000 jobs from May 2025.

Jump in warehouse jobs

Warehouse jobs posted their fourth straight month of higher numbers. The increase of 6,400 jobs was the largest single one-month gain since May 2024, when the data showed three consecutive months with warehouse job gains in excess of 7,000 jobs.

Total warehouse jobs of 1,824,400 were still well below the 1,875,300 jobs from a year ago. The all-time high number in that category is 1,939,300 jobs in March 2022.

Trucking numbers look stronger by sectors

Mazen Danaf, the principal economist at Uber Freight (NYSE: UBER), looked under the hood at the specific sector numbers, which are on a one-month lag.

He said March totals for long-distance truckload employment was up 2,600 in March and 1,990 in April. “This growth has narrowed the year-over-year decrease to -2%, potentially signaling the onset of a recovery phase that may take several quarters,” he said.

Danaf, in an email to FreightWaves, said the recovery in trucking capacity that began after the first blast of the pandemic took “multiple quarters” in 2021 to reach its highest number. 

“Consequently, shippers should remain cautious when viewing these employment upticks, as overall levels stay critically low relative to the past decade,” he said. 

Strong numbers overall

The truck transportation decline comes against the backdrop of a strong monthly report overall. 

Aaron Terrazas, an independent economist who has worked in trucking, said the total jobs report of a gain of 172,000 in employment is the third month with such a report. And, as he said, “three months makes a trend.”

“We have now had three consecutive Job Reports that look great in the initial print, and keep looking better as time goes by,” he said in an email to FreightWaves. “Payroll gains came in well above forecasts, the unemployment rate remained stable even as new grads began entering into the job market, and payrolls for the prior two months were revised upward.”

Transportation overall was “lackluster,” Terrazas said. He noted that the trucking jobs were a reversal of April’s gains and cited the two-month high in warehouse jobs. 

Air transportation jobs were down 8,700 jobs, which Terrazas said was likely the result of the shutdown of Spirit Airlines.

“With headline job market stats this strong, there is really no compelling case for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates,” Terrazas said. “Inflation has trended higher in both top line and core categories; the job market is rebounding despite those headwinds. The Fed’s mandate looks past sector-specific payroll softness, as long as the headline numbers chug along.”

Despite the drop in truck transportation employment, David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, said fundamental conditions in the trucking sector have not changed.

“Capacity remains constrained as carriers struggle with high fuel prices and a shifting regulatory landscape,” Spencer said in an email to FreightWaves. “Increased pressure on cabotage enforcement as of late and the recent SCOTUS ruling on broker liability are the most recent examples of how the challenges continue to develop for carriers and drivers.”

Spencer also said the flat employment levels over the last few months could be a sign that employers are gun-shy. “Many businesses find it unsustainable to add staff after years of minimal rate growth and continuous increases in operating costs, especially with inflation fears casting doubt on the stability of future demand,” he said. 

In other data from the BLS report:

• Earnings and hours for production and non-supervisory employees in truck transportation continued to rise in April, setting yet another record. Wages grew to $32.41 per hour, but average hours worked fell to 40.5 from 41.1 in March. That data is on a one-month lag compared to the report of total employment.
• Hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory employees at warehouses was $25.98. That’s also a record. That figure rarely declines month-to-month, but it does occasionally happen.
• Rail employment rose slightly, to 149,600 jobs from 149,400 jobs. It still remains well below levels from a year ago, when employment totaled 155,400 jobs.

More articles by John Kingston

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Carrier Nussbaum sets driver pay increase; others popping up more quietly

Amazon scores big win at NLRB over whether it’s a joint employer with DSPs

The post Up, then down: drop in trucking jobs in May mostly wipes out gain from April  appeared first on FreightWaves.

LTL margin guidance raised

ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB) raised the margin forecast for its asset-based unit, which includes less-than-truckload subsidiary ABF Freight, by 200 bps at both ends of the range. It’s now calling for the operating ratio (inverse of operating margin) to improve by 600 to 700 basis points sequentially. That implies a 90.8% adjusted OR, which would be 200 bps better year over year.

(The unit normally sees just 350 bps of sequential margin improvement from the first to the second quarter.)

“This outlook reflects disciplined execution on pricing initiatives, the impact of recent fuel price movements, and continued progress on cost optimization, network efficiency, and technology driven productivity initiatives,” stated a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Less-than-truckload fuel surcharge mechanisms include a step function as diesel prices rise, typically resulting in margin accretion.

April slightly ahead of expectations; TL shipments push tonnage higher

Final asset-based results for April came in modestly better than expected. Revenue per day was up 10.9% y/y versus management’s preliminary call for a 9% increase. Both tonnage and yield outperformed expectations.

The update showed revenue per day in May was 9% higher y/y, with tonnage and yield each increasing 5%.

May’s tonnage growth was driven by a 9% increase in weight per shipment, which was partially offset by a 4% decline in daily shipments. ArcBest said shipment weights are up as more truckload shipments are in the network.

Higher diesel prices are driving larger fuel surcharges, positively impacting ArcBest’s revenue-based metrics. Revenue per shipment was up 13% y/y through the first two months of the quarter due to both heavier shipment weights and higher fuel prices. Yield was up 5% but closer to flat excluding fuel surcharges. (Higher shipment weights negatively impact the yield metric.)

The company said on the first-quarter call at the end of April that contractual rate increases averaged 6.3% in the period (up 10.3% on a two-year-stacked comp). It also said that TL rate increases should step up from the low- to mid-single-digit range seen in the first quarter to a low- to mid-double-digit range in the second and third quarters.

Tonnage growth accelerated on a two-year-stacked comparison. Tonnage was up 11.3% in May following a 9.7% increase in April.

Manufacturing complex signaling recovery

Industrial activity improved for a fifth consecutive month in May, according to manufacturing data released Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI registered a 54 reading for the month, which was 130 bps higher than April, and the highest reading in four years. (A reading above 50 signals expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.) The subindex for new orders—an indicator of future activity—registered a 56.8 reading, which was 270 bps higher sequentially.

Inflections in ISM data usually lead LTL volumes by a few months.

3PL unit looking up

ArcBest’s asset-light segment, which includes truck brokerage, is now forecast to record adjusted operating income of $3 million to $5 million in the second quarter. The updated guidance is $2 million higher at each end of the range.

Quarter-to-date, daily shipments are up 15% y/y (increased managed transportation demand) and revenue per shipment is up 11% (higher fuel costs and TL rates).

Shares of ARCB were up 5.5% in early trading on Friday compared to the S&P 500, which was off 0.9%. ArcBest’s stock has doubled since the beginning of the year.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Knight-Swift founder, executive chairman Kevin Knight retires
• XPO’s Q2 tonnage trending ahead of guidance
• Old Dominion’s May update shows an improving LTL market
• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp

The post ArcBest raises Q2 outlook for LTL, asset-light units appeared first on FreightWaves.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers announced Monday that its urban and rural bargaining units had approved tentative contracts initially agreed to in December, with about 87.% of the more than 50,000 membership voting in favor. The contract, which is retroactive to last year, will remain in place until Jan. 31, 2029.

“We are pleased that CUPW-represented employees have voted to ratify these new collective agreements. With the stability of new agreements in place, we look forward to working with our employees and bargaining agents to rebuild the business, restore confidence in the postal system and better serve the country,” said Canada Post CEO Doug Ettinger in a statement.

The new collective bargaining agreement ends a protracted labor dispute that included two strikes and other work slowdowns, and major disagreements over how to restructure the financially troubled national post.

In March, the Canadian government approved sweeping changes sought by Canada Post, including ending door-to-door delivery for 4 million addresses and converting to community mailboxes, closing post offices, and reducing service standards. Management will now heavily focus on growing package delivery, which has performed better than lettermail, with the goal of ending the need for taxpayer bailouts. One of the short-term goals is to convert about 136,000 addresses to community mailboxes in late 2026 and early 2027. 

 Businesses heralded the arrival of labor peace.

“After years of strikes and uncertainty, it is good that Canada Post will have some labor market certainty in the months ahead. Many small firms still depend on Canada Post as a low-cost way to send marketing material, move money between businesses and send packages to consumers in every community across the country,” the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses said in a statement. The trade group has endorsed the planned reforms.

Financial struggles continue

Revenue and volume declines hit all business lines.

The corporation’s $147.5 million loss was more than four times greater than the $29.5 million loss in the first quarter of 2025. Revenue fell 14.3% year over year. The operating loss increased 147% to $196.4 million.

Canada Post had a pre-tax loss of $1.15 billion in 2025 and has lost $4.5 billion since 2018.

With the tentative contract still not finalized, shippers continued to divert parcel shipments to alternative carriers as a hedge against potential service delays. Parcel revenue fell 17% to $380.5 million on a 17.2% drop in volume. Regular mail and direct marketing mail revenue and volume also fell by double digit amounts. Revenue loss was partly offset by a 6.9% reduction in operating cost, partly due to a decline in outbound parcel volume that resulted in lower fees paid to foreign postal administrations for delivering mail and parcels.

Parcel volume will be slow to win back, reinforcing the need to overhaul the business plan in the competitive market, Canada Post said. The national post will prepare this year to expand to weekend delivery, improve e-commerce parcel return services, enhance local next-day delivery, modernize its pricing strategy and improve small business services. Canada Post will likely have to offer discounts to businesses to attract shippers, which will hurt margins, one observer said online.

Letter mail volumes are expected to continue to erode as consumers and mailers continue to migrate to digital channels. Canada Post is pushing the legislature for more freedom to raise postal rates, which lag those in other countries.

Canada Post’s express delivery subsidiary, Purolator, recorded a pre-tax profit of $16.5 million, up from $13.6 million in the prior year.

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Canada Post, letter carriers hammer out details on final contract

Canada Post pre-tax loss nearly doubles to $1.1 billion

The post Canada Post parcel volumes decline 17.2% in Q1 appeared first on FreightWaves.

Industry experts say cargo theft has evolved into a sophisticated blend of cybercrime, identity fraud and physical theft, allowing criminals to intercept high-value shipments before they ever reach their intended destinations.

“The groundwork is being laid digitally,” Jillian Kossman, chief operating officer of IDScan.net, said during a recent interview with FreightWaves. “Most of the crime is happening in advance when they impersonate a legitimate carrier or impersonate a legitimate driver and then send one guy who completes the transaction, scams the shipper and drives off with the load.”

The growing threat mirrors findings in a recent report titled “The Blueprint for Freight Survival: Why Identity is the New Currency in Transportation” by transportation analyst Bart A. De Muynck. It describes freight fraud as a multi-billion-dollar crisis driven by organized crime rings using artificial intelligence, identity theft and cyber tactics to impersonate legitimate carriers and brokers.

According to Highway’s Freight Fraud Index, freight fraud costs the transportation industry an estimated $18 million per day, while fraudulent email attempts increased 117% year over year. Organized crime groups are increasingly using AI tools to spoof broker identities, manipulate carrier data and divert shipments.

Fictitious pickups becoming more sophisticated

Greg Haber, president of Brooklyn-based Babaco Alarm Systems, said fictitious pickups remain one of the most challenging forms of cargo theft because criminals often exploit weaknesses in verification processes rather than physically stealing freight.

In a typical scheme, criminals may monitor email communications between shippers and carriers, learn when a high-value shipment is scheduled for pickup and send an impostor driver armed with fraudulent credentials to retrieve the load.

“They can send in a driver with a fictitious license,” Haber told FreightWaves. “They show up at the gate, show the license, and next thing you know the load is gone.”

Kossman said the challenge is that many fraudulent IDs are nearly impossible to detect without technology.

“The IDs are so high quality. They are manufactured abroad. You can get a fake CDL from pretty much all 50 states for $25 or less and it will look very legitimate,” Kossman said. “There are almost no red flags that would be visible to the naked eye.”

She said organized criminal groups often maintain inventories of fraudulent documents and fake identities, allowing them to execute theft schemes quickly when opportunities arise.

Identity becoming the new currency in transportation

De Muynck”s report said that the freight industry can no longer rely on traditional trust signals such as a motor carrier number and proof of insurance.

“For years, the transportation industry operated on a ‘handshake’ digital equivalent,” De Muynck wrote. “However, the sophistication of organized crime and a rapidly shifting regulatory environment have shattered those assumptions.”

The report describes a growing movement toward “identity-assured logistics,” in which carriers, drivers and brokers undergo high-assurance digital identity verification using government-issued identification and live-photo authentication before freight is assigned.

Haber said transportation companies need multiple layers of security rather than relying on any single technology.

“There is no magic wand that solves everything,” Haber said. “You need multiple layers of technology. Having the right driver approved, having the right company approved, having the truck with tracking is important.”

Food and electronics remain top targets

While cyber-enabled theft methods are changing, the commodities most frequently targeted by thieves remain largely unchanged.

Haber and Kossman said food and beverage products continue to rank among the most stolen cargo categories because they can be quickly resold and are difficult to trace. Electronics remain another prime target because of their high value and strong resale demand.

“Food and beverage and electronics are still the No. 1 and 2 most commonly targeted shipments,” Kossman said.

The executives cited recent thefts involving seafood, produce and electronics as examples of how organized groups continue to exploit weaknesses in freight verification systems.

Prevention starts before the truck leaves the dock

Both Kossman and Haber emphasized that preventing cargo theft increasingly depends on verifying the identities of carriers and drivers before a shipment is released.

Haber said companies should focus on validating carriers, confirming driver credentials, documenting vehicle information and digitally recording shipment data from pickup through delivery. Automated alerts tied to mismatched seals, incorrect delivery locations or unauthorized drivers can provide early warning signs before a shipment disappears.

Kossman added that many companies implementing identity verification technologies discover issues with 1% to 2% of driver credentials presented at pickup locations.

“The weakest link is that nobody talks to each other,” Kossman said, noting that many theft incidents go unreported and information sharing across the industry remains fragmented.

As freight fraud continues to evolve, both executives expect identity verification to become a standard part of transportation security.

“It’s growing exponentially,” Haber said. “Technology and digital communications are being used throughout everything.”

The post Criminals target freight with fake IDs, spoofed emails and stolen identities appeared first on FreightWaves.

“We were building AI for robots to understand social intention: how a robot understands humans in a complex environment, how to navigate similarly to a human,” Zhao, ISEE AI’s CEO, said in an interview with FreightWaves at ACT Expo. “At that time we were looking at how this should be very useful for the age of physical AI.”

That “theory of mind” research would prove foundational for the company’s eventual product — autonomous yard trucks that must operate alongside human workers ranging from forklift operators to over-the-road drivers in chaotic, unstructured environments.

The Strategic Pivot: From Highway to Yard

ISEE AI’s initial bet was on the highway. By 2018, the company was hauling loads for a large e-commerce customer on the busy Dallas-Houston corridor.

“At that time we could already engage ours without any intervention between Dallas and Houston,” Zhao said. “It was very easy to do a demo.”

The problem was everything beyond the demo. Highway trucking demands fail-operational systems that can handle nearly infinite edge cases at high speeds with 45,000 pounds of kinetic energy in tow. Customers saw the capability, but they then offered a different challenge.

“Our customers said, ‘Oh, I really like your technology. Why don’t you look at my backyard?’” Zhao recalled. “Because it’s private property, there’s no regulation. There’s no random people, no teenage drivers. Everyone wears safety vests, lower speeds. We always have an option to stop.”

By late 2018, ISEE AI had pivoted entirely to yard operations. The move let the company shift from fail-operational requirements to a fail-safe, fail-stop architecture. The regulatory landscape simplified, and public-acceptance issues largely disappeared. The only remaining hurdle was proving to customers that the technology worked.

Mastering the ‘Inverted Pendulum’: Technical Challenges of Backing

Yard operations demand constant backing — coupling to trailers, parking in tight dock doors and repositioning loads. For autonomous systems, going backward is fundamentally harder than driving forward.

“Unlike other autonomous trucking companies, when they pull forward the trailer follows you,” Zhao explained. “But when you’re backing, it’s kind of like an inverted pendulum — it’s an unstable system. You push something, it’s very easy to diverge, so you have to very actively control it.”

Complicating matters: Every trailer is different. Sizes vary, tandem positions shift and weight distributions change dramatically — from 10,000 to 45,000 pounds depending on the load. Traditional autonomous systems calibrate over days or months. ISEE AI has only seconds to make a connection in a busy yard.

“We use machine learning to learn that in real time,” Zhao said. “Before we get to the parking — because usually we’ll pull out before we get to parking — we already have a very accurate understanding of the trailer and its kinematics and dynamics.”

The result: better-than-human backing performance and what Chris Baker, ISEE AI’s chief scientist, called “one-stop, one-shot parking” more than 98% of the time.

“No realignment, no pulling out, pulling back — which takes two to three minutes if you had to realign and reset your parking angle,” Baker said.

Solving Auto-Coupling: Three Paths to Connection

The “last foot” of yard automation involves physically connecting air and electric lines to trailers. This remains one of the industry’s hardest problems. ISEE AI offers three solutions depending on customer constraints.

The first is a robotic arm that uses computer vision to connect directly to trailer glad hands. It requires no permanent trailer modifications, making it ideal for customers who don’t own their fleets.

“We have deployed our robotic arm solution to customer sites and we’re learning all the edge cases — different lightings, different types of glad hands — and continuously improving the coverage and reliability of that system,” Zhao said.

The second option leverages a partnership with Electrans, which provides a cassette-style permanent trailer modification for customers who own their equipment and are willing to make the capital investment.

The third — ISEE AI’s own magnetic trailer adapter — splits the difference. The device attaches magnetically to the bottom of a trailer, standardizing the connection interface without permanent modification. Attachment and detachment take roughly 30 seconds.

“It allows temporary attachment,” Zhao said. “Before they leave the yard they can disconnect and remove it if they need to.”

Efficiency Gains and Operational Impact

Beyond backing precision, autonomous yard trucks eliminate the operational drag of human breaks. There are no lunch stops, restroom visits or smoke breaks.

“You’re gaining at least an hour per shift off of no breaks — continuous operations,” Baker said.

Customers also report dramatic reductions in damage claims and safety incidents. Zhao described one customer site where an over-the-road driver placed a trailer at the wrong dock door. A yard driver, unaware that warehouse workers had already loaded a conveyor system inside, pulled the trailer — and “the whole conveyor system fell.”

“That’s like hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage just because of that,” Zhao said. “For us, we follow the customer workflows step by step, and we make sure those things won’t happen.”

ISEE AI currently operates more than 20 autonomous vehicles at customer sites, executing thousands of moves per week with no reported safety incidents.

Safety Case Completion and Future Scaling

The company’s path to mass deployment cleared a critical milestone with completion of its safety case, validated by third-party assessor FEV against ISO 26262 and Safety of the Intended Functionality (SOTIF) standards under ISO 21448.

“Customers poked us with a thousand questions — show me this, show me that, show me the data, show me the video,” Zhao said. “Eventually they say, ‘Yeah, this is bulletproof. You basically covered everything.’”

With the Generation 7 autonomy kit now finalized and a manufacturing partnership with terminal tractor OEM TICO in place, ISEE AI is targeting serial production for 2027. The company is securing orders for hundreds of trucks in the coming year.

“The turning point is the closure of the safety case as well as the next-generation truck,” Zhao said. “Now we’re ready to really push forward to large-scale deployment.”

The post How private yards became autonomous trucking’s most promising frontier appeared first on FreightWaves.

Every one of those trucks is rolling around with a compliance problem on full display, and every single one of those problems is avoidable. The markings on the side of a commercial motor vehicle are governed by a specific federal regulation, they are checked on routine inspections, and getting them wrong is one of the easiest ways for a small carrier to draw scrutiny it did not need. A new federal filing made on June 1, 2026 is a useful occasion to get clear on what the rules actually say, because the requirements are more specific than a lot of operators realize, and the casual approaches that are everywhere on the road do not meet them.

What Actually Happened on June 1

The document itself is not a new rule, and it is important to be precise about that so nobody panics. On June 1, 2026, FMCSA published an information collection notice tied to its Commercial Motor Vehicle Marking Requirements, OMB Control Number 2126-0054. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, federal agencies have to periodically renew approval for the paperwork and recordkeeping burdens they impose, and this filing is FMCSA continuing to document the burden associated with the existing marking regulations. The public comment window on the notice runs to July 1, 2026.

In plain terms: the marking rules are not changing. FMCSA is renewing the administrative approval to keep requiring them, and in doing so it laid out exactly how broadly these rules reach and how the agency thinks about them. That is what makes the filing worth a carrier’s attention. It is a snapshot of a requirement that applies to almost everyone in the industry and that a lot of operators treat far too casually.

The numbers in the filing tell the story of scale. The marking requirements apply to an estimated 938,861 total respondents, including roughly 900,043 freight-carrying motor carriers, about 20,878 intrastate hazardous materials carriers, around 16,409 passenger-carrying carriers, and 1,531 intermodal equipment providers. FMCSA estimates the task at about 26 minutes per response, broken down as 12 minutes to affix the USDOT number and 14 minutes to affix the carrier’s name. The total annual burden across the industry runs into the millions of hours. This is a requirement that touches essentially every carrier operating in interstate commerce.

What the Marking Rule Actually Requires

The governing regulation is 49 CFR 390.21, and it is worth knowing what it says rather than guessing, because the casual approaches common on the road tend to fail on the specifics.

Every self-propelled commercial motor vehicle operating in interstate commerce must be marked with two things: the legal name or a single trade name of the motor carrier operating the vehicle, and the USDOT number issued to that carrier, shown as “USDOT” followed by the number. Both must appear on both sides of the vehicle. The marking has to be in letters that contrast sharply in color with the background they are placed on, so they are readable. They have to be readily legible during daylight hours from a distance of 50 feet while the vehicle is stationary. And they have to be kept legible, which means a faded, peeling, dirt-obscured, or damaged marking is not compliant even if it was applied correctly to begin with.

The rule is performance-based on the method, which is the part that trips people up. FMCSA does not require a specific application method. You can paint it, use a decal, or use a removable device. That flexibility is real, and it is where the handwritten-marker and homemade-sign approaches come from as well as perhaps change is needed. But the flexibility is about method, not about quality, and a marking that does not meet the contrast, legibility, and distance standards fails regardless of how it was applied. A USDOT number scrawled in marker that you cannot cleanly read from 50 feet does not comply just because the rule allows removable methods. The standard the marking has to meet does not get more lenient because you chose the cheapest way to apply it.

When a carrier uses a removable device, such as a magnetic sign, that device still has to meet the identification and legibility requirements the entire time the vehicle is operating. A magnetic placard is legal, but a magnetic placard that is crooked, curling, faded, or that has fallen off is not, and “it must have come off on the road” is not a defense that helps at an inspection.

Why This Is a Bigger Deal Than It Looks

It would be easy to dismiss marking as a trivial, cosmetic requirement. It is not, and understanding why it matters explains why inspectors take it seriously. It also is a way bad actors use to hide identity or attempt to divert attention to a network of bad actors.

The USDOT number is the key identifier that ties a vehicle to a carrier across FMCSA’s entire registration and safety system. It is how the agency, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the states identify a motor carrier and correctly assign responsibility for regulatory violations during inspections, investigations, and after crashes. It is the number states use in the Performance and Registration Information Systems Management program, the cooperative federal and state system that ties safety performance to a carrier’s ability to register and operate vehicles. When that number is missing, wrong, unreadable, or does not match the carrier actually operating the truck, the entire chain of accountability breaks down, which is exactly why enforcement cares about it.

There is also a fraud dimension that has made marking compliance more consequential in the current environment. As FMCSA has cracked down on chameleon carriers, operations that shut down under one identity and reopen under another to escape a safety record, and as freight fraud and carrier identity theft have grown, the markings on a truck have become part of how legitimacy gets verified. A truck whose visible identification does not cleanly match the carrier and authority behind it is exactly the kind of discrepancy that draws attention in an enforcement climate built around verifying that carriers are who they claim to be. The mismatched, improvised, or sloppy marking that used to be a minor annoyance now sits against a backdrop where identity verification is a priority.

The Common Mistakes That Cost Carriers

The marking failures that show up most often at roadside inspections follow a predictable pattern, and almost all of them come from treating the requirement casually rather than from any genuine difficulty in meeting it.

The handwritten or marker-applied number is the classic. It usually happens because a new decal has not arrived, a number changed, or a truck was put into service in a hurry. It frequently fails the contrast and legibility standard, and even when it is readable up close, it rarely holds up to the 50-foot daylight standard.

The peeling or partial decal is another. A marking that was compliant when applied degrades over time, and the rule requires it to stay legible, not just to have started that way. A number with letters flaking off, or obscured by road grime and never cleaned, is a violation that the carrier created through neglect rather than through any original error.

The missing or mismatched name is common among carriers who display the USDOT number but not the legal or single trade name, or who display a name that does not match the carrier actually operating the vehicle, a particular problem in leasing arrangements where the operating carrier and the equipment owner are different entities. The rule requires the name of the carrier operating the vehicle, and getting that relationship right matters in any lease or interchange situation.

The runaway magnetic sign rounds out the list. Magnetic placards are legal and convenient, but they fall off, they curl, and they get left behind, and a truck operating without the required marking because the magnet is sitting in a parking lot two states back is operating in violation regardless of the carrier’s intent.

What to Do Right Now

The fix for all of this is cheap, fast, and entirely within the carrier’s professional control, which is exactly why it is frustrating to see it cited at inspections.

Apply your USDOT number and your legal or single trade name to both sides of every power unit, using a method that produces clean, high-contrast, durable lettering readable from 50 feet in daylight. A professionally produced decal or quality lettering costs very little against the value of avoiding a citation, and it removes the entire category of marker-and-paint-pen problems permanently. If you use magnetic signs, inspect them as part of your daily walkaround, confirm they are present, flat, clean, and legible, and carry a backup so a lost placard never puts a truck out of compliance mid-trip.

Verify that the name displayed is the legal name or a single registered trade name of the carrier actually operating the vehicle, and that the USDOT number matches that carrier. In any lease or owner-operator arrangement, confirm whose name and number belong on the truck under the specific operating authority in use, because that is a frequent point of confusion and a frequent violation.

The rule requires the marking to remain legible for the life of its use, which means a number that was perfect when the truck went into service can drift out of compliance through fading, damage, or dirt. A quick check during the daily walkaround keeps a slow degradation from becoming a citation.

The June 1 filing does not change any of this. It is a routine renewal of a requirement that has been in place for years and that applies to nearly every carrier on the road. But it is a clean reminder that what goes on the side of a truck is a federal compliance matter governed by a specific standard, not a place to improvise. 

The post Black Marker, Magnetic Signs, and Peeling Decals: Here Is What 49 CFR 390.21 Actually Requires. appeared first on FreightWaves.

Nominations are open now, and the deadline for submissions is firmly set for 5:00 PM ET on July 10, 2026.

The award honors the innovators using artificial intelligence to transform operations, drive efficiency, improve visibility, and advance sustainability across the logistics industry. Whether the breakthrough is a predictive analytics engine that anticipates demand shifts, a visibility platform that gives shippers real-time eyes on their freight, or an internally built system that has reshaped how a carrier runs its network, this award is built to put those achievements in front of the people who are defining the future of the industry.

Two categories, one mission

This year the award is structured into two distinct categories, designed to recognize excellence across the full supply chain ecosystem. Nominees should select the track that best fits their innovation.

The first category, AI Solution Providers, honors the technology vendors, software developers, and creators building cutting-edge AI tools for the industry. It is the stage for the companies developing AI-powered platforms, software, and standalone systems designed to help logistics companies optimize their supply chains, including SaaS companies, FreightTech startups, and enterprise technology vendors.

The second category, Operational AI Integration, recognizes the logistics service providers, carriers, freight forwarders, 3PLs, and shippers who have successfully adopted, integrated, or custom-built AI into their own internal operations. This track is about real-world results: the fleet operators, warehouse managers, 3PLs, and enterprise shippers who have turned AI into measurable efficiency, smarter decision-making, and bottom-line impact.

Together, the two categories reflect the reality of how AI is actually changing the supply chain. Some companies are building the tools, and others are deploying them to transform their operations. Both are advancing the industry, and both deserve recognition.

How nominees are judged

Nominees will be evaluated by an expert panel against three core dimensions.

The first is innovation. Judges are looking for AI applications that are genuinely groundbreaking, that push the boundaries of what is possible, and that fundamentally reimagine how the supply chain works rather than incrementally improving it.

The second is effectiveness. The award rewards solutions that demonstrably improve supply chain efficiency, drive cost savings, or increase resilience. Measurable outcomes carry weight, and results matter more than ambition.

The third is impact. The panel wants to see evidence that the application has made a measurable, positive difference for clients or for internal operations. Real-world transformation sits at the heart of this award.

Eligible applications span the breadth of where AI is making a difference in logistics, including demand forecasting, real-time visibility, automated document processing, route optimization, predictive maintenance, and sustainable logistics.

Why nominate

Recognition through the AI Excellence in Supply Chain Award puts a company’s capabilities in front of industry leaders and peers at the forefront of supply chain innovation. It highlights a nominee’s role in building smarter, more resilient, and forward-thinking supply chains, and it delivers high-profile visibility at the Supply Chain AI Symposium, one of the premier gatherings for supply chain innovation. For a company building or deploying AI in this space, the award is an opportunity to have its work seen and validated at exactly the moment the industry is deciding which approaches will define the next era.

How to nominate

The nomination process is open to all companies deploying AI-driven supply chain solutions. A company may nominate its own organization or recommend a peer making waves in the industry. The nomination fee is $450, and the deadline for all submissions is 5:00 PM ET on July 10, 2026. Winners will be announced live at the Supply Chain AI Symposium in Chicago on July 15, 2026.

The Symposium itself is built to move past the hype and bring together the operators, founders, and enterprise leaders who are actually figuring out how to deploy AI in the supply chain. It is a fitting backdrop for honoring the companies turning the promise of artificial intelligence into working reality across logistics and transportation.

This award is more than a trophy. It is an affirmation of the vision shared by the companies working to redefine what is possible in logistics, in a market where AI in the supply chain has shifted from a competitive advantage to a necessity for those intent on leading. FreightWaves invites all visionaries and trailblazers across the industry to take part, whether by nominating their own organization or by recognizing a peer driving the industry forward.

Nominations are open now. Submit a nomination ahead of the July 10 deadline, and join us in Chicago on July 15 to celebrate the innovators shaping the future of the supply chain.

The post Nominate Your Company for the 2026 AI Excellence in Supply Chain Award appeared first on FreightWaves.

Knight was a founder of Knight Transportation and served as the company’s CEO from 1994 to 2014. He played a key role in the company’s 2017 merger with fellow Phoenix-based truckload carrier Swift Transportation. Knight-Swift acquired Chattanooga, Tennessee-based TL carrier U.S. Xpress in 2023.

Knight-Swift (NYSE: KNX) is one of the nation’s largest diversified freight transportation providers, generating $7.5 billion in annual revenue from its TL, less-than-truckload, logistics and intermodal offerings.

“I am humbled when I reflect on what we have built together and where our company stands today,” said Knight in a Thursday news release. … “As I have been approaching this transition in recent years, I knew this bridge would have to be crossed at some point.

“For me, our merger with Knight and Swift was our greatest collective achievement. The reunification of the Swift and Knight families, combined with timing, diligence, operational improvements, and significant financial returns, enabled us to achieve everything that followed.”

David Vander Ploeg has been appointed Knight-Swift’s chairman. He most recently served as the board’s lead independent director. Vander Ploeg spent 24 years at Schneider National (NYSE: SNDR), serving as chief financial officer from 2004 until his 2007 departure.

Knight will serve as a consultant to Knight-Swift for a two-year period.

A separate filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Knight will receive $20.3 million for his consulting services and for the forfeiture of unvested equity awards. Half of the fee is payable on June 12, with the remainder being paid in equal monthly installments over the next two years. The agreement also provides medical benefits.

“It cannot be overstated what Kevin has meant to our company, so many of our leaders, including myself, and so many more within our industry,” said Knight-Swift CEO Adam Miller. … “The culture Kevin helped instill which prioritizes safety, operational excellence, and financial discipline is deeply rooted and will continue to mark our efforts to take Knight-Swift to new heights.”

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• XPO’s Q2 tonnage trending ahead of guidance
• Old Dominion’s May update shows an improving LTL market
• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp

The post Knight-Swift founder, executive chairman Kevin Knight retires appeared first on FreightWaves.

Recently, a driver pulled into an Arizona scale house learned that an officer could reconstruct his entire multi-state trip from license plate readers and roadside cameras, matching the real timeline against paper logs that told a different story, and the account is a clear window into how independent tracking is quietly ending the era of the falsified logbook. Here is the excerpt of the driver explaining what happened:

The driver did not see it coming, and neither, apparently, have most of the veterans he has talked to since.

He was running west, through Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and into Arizona, when he got pulled in at a scale. The officer ran his plate, went back into the computer, and then laid out the driver’s entire trip back to him with timestamps. As the driver described it afterward, the officer told him he had been in Louisiana at one time, Texas at another, across New Mexico, and into Arizona at specific points along the way. The timeline the officer recited was accurate. The problem was that it did not match the driver’s logs. His logs were wrong. The officer’s reconstruction, built from cameras and plate readers the driver never thought about, was right.

When the driver asked how the match was even possible, the explanation was simple and a little unsettling. It was not a tracking device planted on his truck, and it was not something fed to enforcement by the shipper. It was the infrastructure already sitting along the highway. As he put it, whenever he crossed scales or certain parts of the highway, there were cameras. License plate readers at scale houses, at border and state-line entrances, and at what he described as random points along the road had captured his truck, and an officer at the end of the run was able to pull all of those sightings together into a single, timestamped picture of where he had actually been.

His reaction said as much as the incident itself. He had talked to a lot of drivers, he said, including “guys who had been doing this 15 and 20 years, and none of them had ever had this happen.” His takeaway, and the reason he was willing to share the story at all, was that he wanted other drivers to understand that this is what is being done now, so they could stop relying on practices that no longer hold up.

He is right to want the word out, because his experience is not a fluke. It is an early, concrete look at a structural shift that is arriving fast across the entire industry.

Why This Is Different From Anything Drivers Are Used To

For most of trucking history, the record of where a truck had been came from the truck itself. The driver’s logs, the carrier’s own systems, the paperwork generated and held by the operator. If a logbook said a truck was in one place, contradicting that claim required someone to have independently observed the truck somewhere else, and outside of a physical inspection or a witness, that rarely happened. The falsified or fudged log worked for exactly one reason: there was usually no independent record to check it against.

That assumption is what the Arizona scale-house incident demolishes. The officer did not have to take the driver’s logs at face value, and did not have to catch him in the act somewhere down the road. He had an independent, after-the-fact record of the truck’s actual movements, assembled from cameras and plate readers the driver had passed without a second thought, and he could lay that record next to the logbook and see the gap instantly.

That is a fundamentally new enforcement posture. It is not about catching a driver at a single moment. It is about reconstructing an entire trip from infrastructure the carrier does not control, cannot opt out of, and cannot edit after the fact. The driver in this case said it himself: the officer pulled him all the way back to Louisiana just by running plates and stitching together camera sightings across state lines. That capability did not exist in any practical, routine way for most of the careers of the veterans this driver spoke to. Now it does.

The Technology Behind the Curtain

License plate recognition has existed for years, but what makes this moment different is the scale and sophistication of the camera and sensor networks now blanketing the nation’s freight corridors, and the speed with which scattered sightings can be assembled into a coherent travel history.

The most prominent company building this kind of capability is GenLogs, a freight intelligence firm founded in 2023 by a team with roots in the U.S. intelligence community, including a former CIA case officer. GenLogs operates a nationwide network of roadside sensors and cameras paired with artificial intelligence, and the system captures images of commercial trucks in motion and extracts identifying details from them, including USDOT and motor carrier numbers, VINs, license plates, cab numbers, and truck logos. The company has reported capturing just under 20 million truck images a day across a network exceeding 1,000 camera locations, building a dataset the company says has surpassed 600 million truck images.

It is worth being precise here, because accuracy matters. The driver in the Arizona incident did not name the system that caught him, and described it in general terms as scales, plate readers, and cameras at various points along the highway. GenLogs is the leading commercial example of where this capability has gone, but the broader point holds regardless of which specific network produced any single sighting: the highways are now lined with infrastructure that reads commercial plates and logs truck movements, and that data can be assembled into exactly the kind of multi-state timeline the officer recited.

These systems are built with privacy controls. GenLogs, for instance, trains its AI to remove passenger vehicles from footage entirely, blur driver faces and vehicle windows, and focus strictly on commercial assets. The purpose is not to monitor the general public. It is to build what the company describes as an independent ground-truth record of where commercial trucks actually are and where they have been, which is precisely the kind of record that turns a paper log from an unverifiable claim into a checkable one.

Who Is Using This, and Why It Reaches Beyond the Scale House

Here is a point the Arizona story should not obscure. While the incident played out as a roadside enforcement encounter, the larger world of truck-tracking data is not primarily an enforcement tool. GenLogs and platforms like it are sold mainly as freight intelligence, and their core customers are freight brokers, shippers, insurance companies, logistics firms, and government agencies.

Freight brokers use the data to verify that a carrier actually operates the lanes it claims to, a direct response to the explosion in freight fraud and double brokering. Insurance companies use it to verify operations and sharpen underwriting, which is why some insurers are now repricing risk around what these networks reveal. Honest carriers benefit, too. There are tens of thousands of trucking companies that have never had a roadside inspection and are nearly invisible in traditional systems, and visual sighting data lets those carriers prove their legitimacy to brokers and insurers who would otherwise have no way to confirm they are real.

The law enforcement dimension, the one the Arizona driver ran into, is real and growing alongside all of that. The same data that lets a broker confirm a carrier’s lanes can let an investigator reconstruct a truck’s path, and the same timeline that exposes a fabricated logbook can support a serious criminal case. The practical lesson is that a truck’s physical movements are now being recorded continuously and held by multiple parties who decide whether a carrier gets paid, gets insured, gets hired, and gets scrutinized. A discrepancy between a paper log and the real record can surface through any of those channels, not only at a scale house.

The Enforcement Climate This Lands In

The timing matters. This kind of independent tracking is maturing at the exact moment federal trucking enforcement has entered one of its most aggressive phases in years. The FMCSA has been executing large-scale enforcement actions, from non-domiciled CDL crackdowns to tightened identity verification to the removal of thousands of bad actors from the system. The Supreme Court’s decision opening freight brokers to negligent selection liability has pushed brokers to scrutinize carriers more closely than ever. Insurers facing rising claims are demanding more verification and more documentation.

Every one of those forces increases the value of an independent, incorruptible record of what a carrier actually does on the road, and every one of them increases the consequences of being the carrier whose stated operations and physical footprint do not line up.

What This Means for Owner-Operators and Small Fleets

The honest takeaway from the Arizona driver’s experience is not panic. It is preparation, and a recognition that the ground has genuinely shifted under a practice many in the industry quietly assumed was low risk.

Run a compliant electronic logging setup and know your hours-of-service obligations cold. Federal rules require most commercial drivers to use ELDs that automatically record driving time, with only narrow exceptions for certain short-haul operations and limited paper-log use. If you legitimately qualify for an exception, document the basis carefully, because the old assumption that a paper log cannot be independently checked is no longer safe. Keep your records clean and consistent enough that they would match any independent sighting of your equipment, because increasingly they will be matched against exactly that.

Understand, too, that this technology is becoming part of how you get hired and insured, not just how you get inspected. Brokers and insurers are using freight intelligence data to evaluate carriers before they ever award a load or write a policy. A carrier whose physical movements consistently match its stated operations is building a verifiable, valuable track record. A carrier whose claims and real-world footprint diverge is building a problem that will eventually surface somewhere, whether at a scale, in an underwriting review, in a broker’s vetting, or, as one driver learned on his way through Arizona, in a computer an officer pulls up after running a plate.

That driver said he shared his story because guys with 20 years on the road had never seen this and needed to know it was happening. He is right. The independent record of where a truck has been now exists, it is growing by millions of images a day, and it is in the hands of the people who decide whether a carrier operates, gets paid, and stays insured. The era when a logbook was the only word on where a truck had traveled is ending, and it is not coming back.

Compliance is no longer a matter of trust. It is becoming a matter of record, and the record is being written whether the carrier takes part in it or not.

Sage Blues is a transportation and logistics professional with more than 30 years of hands-on experience across nearly every segment of the trucking industry. A Class A CDL holder, he has worked as an owner-operator, motor carrier, freight broker, and freight broker agent, and today serves as a Commercial Lines Specialist focused on trucking, helping carriers navigate insurance, safety, compliance, and risk. He contributes for The Playbook on freight markets, regulatory issues, carrier operations, and transportation economics.

The post A Driver’s Paper Logs Said He Was in One Place. A Roadside Camera Network Said Otherwise. Welcome to the New Era of Trucking Enforcement. appeared first on FreightWaves.

The cases show how tariff enforcement is increasingly moving through multiple channels: False Claims Act lawsuits, whistleblower complaints, bankruptcy claims, settlements and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) investigations under the Enforce and Protect Act.

The largest recent case involves First Brands Group, the bankrupt auto-parts supplier, which is facing a $285.5 million claim from the U.S. government in its Chapter 11 case. The government alleges First Brands undervalued goods imported from China to avoid paying higher duties.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department claim stems from a previously sealed whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2022 against First Brands, its brake parts and centric parts divisions, and a Chinese subsidiary, Longkou Haimeng Machinery. The lawsuit alleged that after First Brands acquired the division in 2020, it “systematically slashed” the prices it reported paying to the Chinese division for auto components.

The whistleblower complaint alleged First Brands cut transfer prices declared to CBP by roughly 32%, lowering tariff obligations even as manufacturing costs rose globally and the company raised prices to customers. The government is seeking repayment through the bankruptcy process while continuing to investigate the allegations.

Aluminum settlement tops $549M

In another major customs enforcement action, California-based Perfectus Aluminum Inc., Perfectus Aluminum Acquisitions LLC and four affiliated warehousing companies agreed to pay $549.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations tied to evaded antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China.

Federal prosecutors alleged the companies improperly avoided duties on more than 2.2 million aluminum extrusions by misrepresenting them as finished “pallets” not subject to duties. The Justice Department said the pallets were simply aluminum extrusions spot-welded together to appear functional, and that no customers existed for the pallets between 2011 and 2014.

Canadian steel firms settle for $19M

The Justice Department also announced a $19 million settlement with Canada-based Farjess Inc., Royal Canadian Steel Inc. and Feroz Jessani, part-owner and president of the companies.

Federal officials alleged the defendants knowingly misrepresented the country of origin of flat-rolled steel imported into the U.S. from May 2019 through January 2025. The government said the steel was manufactured in China, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey or Vietnam, but was declared to CBP as originating in Canada or the U.S.

CBP finds evasion in Greenbrier rail coupler case

CBP also issued a notice of determination as to evasion in EAPA Case 8183, filed by the Coalition of Freight Coupler Producers against The Greenbrier Companies.

CBP said substantial evidence showed Greenbrier entered Mexican-origin and Chinese-origin freight rail couplers and parts without declaring entry for merchandise subject to antidumping and countervailing duty orders. CBP said no formal entries were filed and no cash deposits were applied at the time of entry.

As part of the enforcement action, CBP said it will suspend or continue to suspend covered entries, require formal entries for freight rail couplers attached to railcars and require Greenbrier to rectify noncompliance tied to couplers that entered the U.S. during the period of investigation.

Greenbrier disputed CBP’s determination, saying it was “disconnected from the real-world functioning” of the North American rail network and could disrupt cross-border rail operations. The company said railcars routinely move across borders as mobile transportation equipment under long-standing customs practices and said it is evaluating administrative and judicial review options.

South Texas businessman pleads guilty to customs fraud

In a separate case highlighting increased customs enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border, South Texas businessman Mauro Esteban Garza Torres pleaded guilty May 28 to submitting fraudulent customs paperwork tied to exports of heavy equipment to Mexico, according to the Border Report. 

Federal prosecutors alleged Garza prepared multiple invoices showing different sales values, including lower-priced invoices submitted to U.S. and Mexican customs authorities to reduce taxes and tariffs.

According to court documents, Garza admitted participating in a conspiracy to report fraudulent sales prices, including reporting equipment sold for $145,000 as having a value of $43,500. Garza, owner of Hidalgo, Texas-based GMT Machinery, faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5.

Trump targets tariff evasion in new policy push

The cases also arrive as the administration of President Donald Trump  ramps up its crackdown on customs fraud. Trump signed an executive order Wednesday directing DHS and CBP to tighten importer requirements, increase bonding levels, establish new disclosure rules targeting duty evasion and impose a 50% minimum penalty floor for customs violations. 

The White House said the reforms are aimed at closing longstanding enforcement loopholes and ensuring importers pay all duties owed to the federal government.”

Recent tariff evasion and customs fraud cases

The post Tariff fraud enforcement targets importers over alleged duty evasion appeared first on FreightWaves.

A growing clamor over the rollout of the Motus registration system by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has led to two statements issued by the agency, with notable differences in tone and approach in the pair of missives.

Motus is a new single entry point for a wide variety of interactions with registration systems and other FMCSA tools needed by the trucking community. It launched May 14. 

But complaints and comments in social media have quickly made it clear the rollout has not been going well. And in the past week, the agency responded with its two statements.

(An email sent by FreightWaves to FMCSA had not been responded to by publication time).

One of the memos obtained by FreightWaves is a more standard sort of explanation and subtle apology that might be expected from a government agency.

“FMCSA is aware of issues affecting registrants and industry stakeholders following the launch of the Motus registration system,” the memo said. “We recognize that these issues have created challenges for members of the commercial motor vehicle industry who rely on our registration systems.”

It went on to say that “resolving these issues is an absolute priority for the agency.”

FMCSA also said it is setting priorities. The most immediate goals, according to the memo, have “focused resources on addressing issues affecting insurance filings and operating authority status.”

“Customers should begin to see improvements in these areas soon as system updates and corrective actions are implemented,” the memo said. “Changes have already been made to correct the identity verification and first-time login processes.”

Praise from Barrs

A note sent to various trucking “stakeholders” by FMCSA administrator Derek Barrs had a notably different approach.

The Barrs memo doesn’t even make reference to the difficulties being encountered by Motus users until the fourth paragraph.

Before that, Barrs hails the Motus rollout as a “major agency milestone.”

“This is a vital tool for accountability,” Barrs writes. “For too long, bad actors, scammers, and fraudulent brokers have exploited loopholes in our systems, undercutting honest American truckers and compromising safety on our highways.”

Launching Motus was “an extraordinary feat of heavy lifting that involved transferring more than three decades of data across multiple legacy systems to process millions of motor carriers into one unified powerhouse platform,” Barrs writes. “In the first week alone, the system successfully received 120,000 new user applications, processed over 10,000 regulated entity applications, and helped more than 13,000 motor carriers claim their USDOT numbers.”

‘Minor issues’

After that review of the Motus launch, Barrs addresses the industry complaints, which he describes as “minor technical issues.”

“The unprecedented, massive wave of engagement we’ve seen over the last few days proves we are winning this fight, and our engineering teams are on the ground right now, working around the clock,” Barrs said.  FMCSA personnel  are working to “crush” the minor issues,” Barrs said. 

Barrs’ note links to a web page where users can submit a ticket to request help. It appears to be the page that was online prior to Motus. There also is a link to the Motus Resources Hub, which also dates back to before the rollout and its subsequent problems.

“We are incredibly proud of this historic modernization effort and confident that Motus is delivering the secure, efficient, and powerhouse registration experience our industry has earned,” Barrs says.

P. Sean Garney, co-director at Scopelitis Transportation Consulting who has worked with clients navigating the Motus system, said FMCSA had communicated well prior to the launch in instructing users on the main steps to get into the system, such as checking a users’ login.gov credentials and updating their MCS-150 form, also known as the  Motor Carrier Identification Report.

“But there’s a second part, which is about linking your DOT number, and I just thought that communication around that was challenging,” Garney said in an interview with FreighWaves. 

“We had a lot of carriers just trying to get into a system that wouldn’t let them in, or trying to link their DOT number though the system couldn’t identify their email address as being the correct one,” Garney added. “So yeah, we’ve been trying to work with a lot of carriers to help them out. There is just not a lot that we can do.”

An end may not be coming soon

Garney did not express optimism that an end to the problems is near. “I don’t have a good sense that they’re getting any closer to fixing this,” he said. 

He added that he was concerned a break in the normal upcoming schedule for posting Compliance, Safety and Accountability (CSA) scores could mean FMCSA is shifting technical resources over to fixing the issues with Motus, impacting other FMCSA offerings. That could be a sign of the magnitude of the problems Motus is facing.

The early messaging from FMCSA, according to Garney, was “if you absolutely don’t have to interact with this system, meaning you don’t have insurance that’s expiring or you don’t have to update your MCS 150, then wait.”

Stay off it if you don’t need to be on it

But Garney said that message did not continue, which may have driven traffic to the Motus site that didn’t need to be on the system. 

Garney said some of Scopelitis Transportation Consultings’ clients have told him they’d been on the phone for hours with FMCSA. When he asks what they are trying to do in their interaction with the agency, the response is often some task that does not need to be accomplished now.

“I ask them, is there a reason you need to do that today?” Garney said. “My advice is just that if you don’t have a need to interact with it right now, I would wait. You have to  believe they’re working to fix it.”

Barrs, in his note, said something similar. “If your account is already in good standing and you don’t need to make immediate administrative changes, you can beat the rush by waiting to log in over the coming weeks as the initial excitement levels out,” he said.

More articles by John Kingston

S&P Global warns of looming problems at Odyssey as it cuts rating

Carrier Nussbaum sets driver pay increase; others popping up more quietly

Amazon scores big win at NLRB over whether it’s a joint employer with DSPs

The post FMCSA responds 2X to ongoing problems with Motus rollout appeared first on FreightWaves.

Traffic on U.S. railroads increased by 7.2% from a year ago to 492,795 carloads and intermodal units for the week ending May 30, the Association of American Railroads reported.

Commodity shipments improved by 4% to 228,346 carloads, and intermodal volume was 264,449 containers and trailers, better by 10% y/y.

Intermodal has benefited from shifts by shippers challenged by a soaring trucking market, where tender rejections, rates and fuel costs are reaching weekly highs. The environment for motor carriers has also improved amid a capacity squeeze, the result of multi-pronged enforcement by federal authorities which have weeded out non-English speaking drivers, shuttered sketchy trucking schools, and sidelined chameleon carriers that reemerge with new identities after accidents. 

The AAR said seven of 10 carload commodity groups posted y/y gains. Grain was again a leader, up 33.8%, followed by metallic ores and metals, 19.5%, and motor vehicles and parts, 9.1%.

Notably, miscellaneous unidentified ladings classified as Other were up 20.2%.

Coal led decliners, down 9%, along with petroleum and petroleum products, 3.4%, and nonmetallic minerals, 2.4%. 

For the first 21 weeks of this year, cumulative U.S. volume of 4,756,909 carloads was 3.4% better from 2025, while 5,820,002 intermodal units improved 1.8%. Total combined traffic was 10,576,911 carloads and intermodal units, ahead by 2.5%.

North American rail volume for the week on 9 reporting U.S., Canadian and Mexican railroads increased by 2.7% to 336,920 carloads from a year ago. A total of 353,702 intermodal units was up 7.2%. Total combined traffic came to 690,622 carloads and intermodal units, better by 4.9%. Year-to-date volume edged up 2.3% to 14,567,984 carloads and intermodal units.

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Related coverage:

Freight train fatalities mount as 5 killed in four incidents across US 

No hard feelings: UP-NS will see fact-based review

New COO for Norfolk Southern

How rail mega-merger moved ahead, and STB avoided making history

The post Trucking is driving double-digit growth for this rail freight category appeared first on FreightWaves.

North Carolina-based Mountain Air Cargo plans to replace its aging fleet of ATR 42 freighter aircraft with larger ATR 72 freighters, but needs relief from regulations for scheduled airlines that currently govern the aircraft because the islands of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire are beyond the 60-minute flying limit, the company said Wednesday in a petition to the Federal Aviation Administration.   

The FedEx (NYSE: FEDEX) partner airline operates its ATR 42 and ATR 72 fleets under different parts of the federal aviation regulations. The ATR 42s fall under Part 135, which contain rules for commuter and on-demand operators. The ATR 72s are regulated under Part 121, which applies to scheduled commercial airlines. Part 121 operators are subject to stricter rules because they fly more often. 

The company operates 10 ATR 42s and 13 ATR 72-200s and 72-600s supplied by FedEx, as well as Cessna 408 SkyCouriers, according to aviation database Planespotters. It provides shuttle service between smaller markets, which are uneconomical for FedEx to serve with mainline jets, and larger airports that serve as transfer hubs in the FedEx network. 

Mountain Air currently operates the ATR 42 to Caribbean destinations with a modified payload of 7,500 pounds. The aircraft was chosen when service commenced in 2024 because Part 135 regulations allow extended overwater operations of up to three hours, while following extra safety requirements, and the ATR 42’s capacity fit market demand. 

Scheduled carriers are limited to 60 minutes flying time over water unless the aircraft is rated for extended operations based on how many minutes an aircraft can fly on one engine before it needs to land at an airport. The Caribbean destinations Mountain Air serves are less than 20 miles beyond the overwater limits of Part 121 rules, but remain within the limits of Part 135.

Mountain Air said the current rules are overly burdensome and put its Caribbean service at risk. 

“Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards (ETOPS) approval would be required solely to accommodate an additional 20 miles of overwater distance to the destination. While we fully respect the regulatory framework and the safety protections it provides, the operational cost and administrative burden of maintaining a fully compliant ETOPS program is disproportionate relative to the incremental distance involved. 

Mountain Air’s fleet modernization plan calls for replacing the ATR 42s with ATR 72s, including newly acquired ATR 72-600s equipped with advanced avionics, because the 42s are aging and there are fewer of them available since ATR stopped manufacturing 42s in a cargo configuration, according to the filing. Mountain Air said it is expanding its ATR 72 fleet. Last year, FedEx ordered 10 additional ATR 72-600s that will be placed with partner carriers.

The ATR 72s will offer more cargo capacity and improved reliability for customers. Operations to Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire have historically filled 85% to 100% of ATR 42 capacity. 

The airline said that the high level of demand means that a single missed flight due to maintenance issues, adverse weather, or aircraft unavailability can create cargo backlogs that persist for several days, or even weeks, as the aircraft’s limited payload capacity and cargo hold volume constrain recovery of delayed shipments.

The ATR 72 can carry about 16,800 pounds. Mountain Air Cargo is asking the FAA to increase the 7,500-pound limit under Part 135 regulations to 10,500 pounds — a 40% increase over the current limit, but a 38% reduction from the aircraft’s maximum payload capacity. The difference between the requested payload amount and the maximum capacity will allow the airline to carry more fuel, providing greater operational flexibility and safety in case of an emergency.

“We believe this increase will provide sufficient capacity to accommodate missed or delayed freight in addition to expected daily totals, thereby ensuring a reliable continuity of service to the public in Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire and remain within the spirit of the regulations so that it does not materially encroach upon any 14 CFR Part 121 operation,” Mountain Air said in the petition.

However, with the planned reduction of the ATR 42 fleet and the concurrent expansion of the ATR 72 fleet, the continuation of this Caribbean service is at risk. Because the ATR 72 is currently operated under 14 CFR Part 121, maintaining this service would require Extended Operations (ETOPS) approval. By operating the ATR 72 under 14 CFR Part 135 with the requested payload limit, service to these countries can be sustained without interruption. 

While the foregoing material is dated and does not address our specific circumstances, it establishes the principle that certain operators face regulatory constraints that are disproportionately burdensome given their operational context. In this instance, we note that ETOPS approval would be required solely to accommodate an additional 20 miles of overwater distance to the destination. While we fully respect the regulatory framework and the safety protections it provides, the operational cost and administrative burden of maintaining a fully compliant ETOPS program is disproportionate relative to the incremental distance involved. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

RELATED STORIES:

GlobalX Airlines accuses shareholder of undermining cargo business

FedEx buys world’s first ATR 72-600 passenger-to-freighter aircraft

The post FedEx partner airline says Caribbean service at risk without FAA waiver appeared first on FreightWaves.

French carrier CMA CGM this week announced one of the biggest, a whopping $2,600 increase on 40- and 45-foot containers moving from the East Mediterranean to U.S. East Coast ports.

The world’s third-largest box carrier gave no specific reason other than a statement that the surcharge comes “[i]n a continued effort to provide our customers with reliable and efficient services.”

Demand is surging as the peak season gets underway. SONAR‘s Ocean Volume Index has risen to 65,346 from 49,032 since May 4.

The surcharge for dry cargo is effective July 1 for shipments originating in Turkey, Greece, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Egypt, Syria, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia, Albania, and Slovenia destined for U.S. East Coast ports and inland points.

Another peak season surcharge, from the West Mediterranean to U.S. East Coast ports, isn’t quite as pricey at $1,000 per container. 

FreightWaves has reached out to CMA CGM for comment.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Related coverage:

Box rates soar $1,000 in one week on peak rush

Swearing-in of commissioner returns U.S. maritime regulator to full strength

Oakland exports lead imports in April

U.S. fines Maersk $1.9 million over detention charges

The post Peak indicator: $2,600 increase on one U.S. shipping service appeared first on FreightWaves.

The initiative is designed to improve industry-wide threat intelligence sharing as cyber-enabled cargo crime and fraud schemes continue to increase across the supply chain. The portal can be accessed here.

The portal is available to carriers, brokers, third-party logistics providers and shippers, allowing organizations to share information about incidents while gaining visibility into threats reported across the transportation industry.

The launch comes as transportation companies face increasing pressure to detect and respond to sophisticated fraud schemes, including fictitious pickups, identity manipulation, cargo theft and cyber intrusions. Industry groups, law enforcement agencies and private-sector investigators have repeatedly warned that criminal organizations are adapting faster than traditional reporting and information-sharing systems.

The portal was created to address one of the industry’s most persistent challenges: limited visibility into emerging threats, according to a prepared statement from NMFTA.

Joe Ohr, NMFTA’s chief operations and technical officer, said in the statement that “threat actors are constantly adapting their tactics, and no single organization has visibility into every threat facing the industry. When organizations share what they’re experiencing, the entire industry benefits.”

Closing the industry’s intelligence gap

The portal allows users to anonymously submit reports involving ransomware attacks, phishing campaigns, network intrusions, cargo theft, fictitious pickups and other suspicious activity, according to NMFTA.

The organization, which is best known for developing less-than-truckload standards but has also taken a leading role in cybersecurity and freight security initiatives, said information submitted through the portal will be analyzed and shared to help participating organizations better understand evolving threat patterns.

Information sharing has become an increasingly important topic as fraud schemes grow more sophisticated. Criminal groups frequently target multiple organizations using similar tactics, but many incidents go unreported because companies are concerned about reputational damage, customer perception or potential legal exposure.

The result is often a fragmented view of the threat landscape, making it difficult for transportation companies to identify emerging trends before they become widespread.

While fraud schemes often impact multiple brokers, carriers and shippers, incidents are frequently handled privately, limiting visibility into emerging tactics until losses become widespread.

At the same time, many of the transportation industry’s leading vetting, onboarding and fraud prevention providers possess valuable intelligence on attempted fraud, identity manipulation and suspicious activity. Much of that information remains siloed within individual organizations, leaving the broader industry without a centralized view of developing threats even when multiple companies are encountering similar tactics.

According to NMFTA, the portal is designed to address that challenge by providing a neutral location where organizations can anonymously contribute intelligence without exposing sensitive business information. The association said the platform is intended to help create a more complete picture of the tactics being used against transportation companies.

“By combining real-time industry reporting with NMFTA’s threat analysis, the portal helps organizations stay informed, communicate emerging risks and take proactive steps to protect their operations,” Ohr said in the statement.

Industry participation will determine success

NMFTA said “the value of the portal grows with every report submitted, helping build a clearer picture of the threats facing the transportation industry.”

The association also said the portal allows companies to “share information about incidents and suspicious activity, learn from one another’s experiences, and promote information sharing.”

In a follow-up email to FreightWaves, Ohr said NMFTA envisions supporting API access for carriers seeking threat intelligence updates. He added that the association is exploring additional data sets, including information related to motor carrier authorities being marketed for sale, and is working to expand its SCAC Verify concept to include Class 8 companies and potentially drivers. According to Ohr, information submitted through the Threat Report Portal could eventually be incorporated into future vetting efforts.

The Threat Report Portal is part of NMFTA’s broader cybersecurity and freight security initiatives and complements the organization’s Freight Fraud Prevention Hub, which focuses on fraud awareness and cargo theft prevention.

Click here for more articles on cargo theft and freight fraud by Phillip Brink.

Why the safest freight brokerages are usually the most boring – FreightWaves

Inside the $10m freight fraud that rocked Chicago – FreightWaves

The post NMFTA launches anonymous threat reporting portal for freight fraud and cybercrime appeared first on FreightWaves.

The bankruptcies and layoffs reflect continuing financial challenges facing transportation providers despite significant improvements to the freight market.

The latest filings include a mix of Chapter 11 reorganizations and Chapter 7 liquidations involving trucking carriers, freight brokers, logistics consultants and transportation service providers operating in Illinois, Tennessee, Maryland, North Carolina and Michigan.

Wisconsin-based Sparhawk Trucking Inc. and Sparhawk Truck and Trailer Inc. recently issued a notice warning employees of potential layoffs or a possible closure as the companies seek a buyer through bankruptcy proceedings. 

According to FMCSA records, Sparhawk Trucking operates 178 trucks and employs 146 drivers. Company officials said no final decisions have been made but cautioned employees not to assume the business will remain open.

Park Ridge, Illinois-based SP Trans Inc., a long-haul truckload carrier that filed for protection in the Northern District of Illinois on Tuesday. The carrier reported assets and liabilities between $500,000 and $1 million and listed between one and 49 creditors. Federal records indicate the company operated with 13 drivers and remained an active motor carrier as recently as May.

Durham, North Carolina-based SB Hauling & Crane Services LLC also filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 29 in the Middle District of North Carolina. The company specializes in construction hauling, crane services and debris removal and operates primarily in the Raleigh-Durham region.

M&L Express LLC, a Hagerstown, Maryland-based long-distance trucking company, filed for Chapter 11 protection on May 29. Federal records show the carrier historically operated a fleet of nine tractors and accumulated more than 1 million annual miles.

Bankruptcy roundup chart

The week also saw several transportation companies move into liquidation proceedings under Chapter 7.

Elmwood Park, Illinois-based Boost Express Logistics Inc. filed a Chapter 7 petition in the Northern District of Illinois on May 29. Court documents list estimated assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities between $500,000 and $1 million. The company reported having between one and 49 creditors.

Saturn Trucking Inc., an Addison, Illinois-based carrier, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on May 31. The company reported assets of less than $50,000 and liabilities ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Court filings indicate no funds are expected to be available for unsecured creditors after administrative expenses are paid.

Knoxville, Tennessee-based S Line LLC, which also operated under the name Secure Parking, filed for Chapter 7 protection in the Western District of Tennessee on May 22. The company listed Knoxville as its principal place of business and Memphis as its mailing address.

While tight margins and higher costs have been affecting small and medium-sized carriers and supply chain-related businesses, freight demand has shown significant improvement during the first quarter of the year. As of Wednesday, tender volumes (STVI.USA) are 43% higher year-over-year compared to the same period in 2025.

Layoffs, warehouse closures add to industry pressures

The wave of bankruptcies comes as several transportation and logistics companies have announced facility closures and layoffs across the U.S. in recent weeks.

Meal-kit provider HelloFresh filed a WARN notice in Illinois indicating it will close a major production and fulfillment facility in Burr Ridge, resulting in 254 layoffs. The warehouse supports operations for Factor, the prepared-meal delivery business acquired by HelloFresh. The company did not provide a reason for the closure.

Third-party logistics provider GEODIS Logistics said it will shut down a distribution center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, affecting 185 employees beginning Aug. 31. Company officials said the closure is part of efforts to better align business priorities and support long-term growth initiatives.

FedEx also announced plans to close a facility in Phoenix, eliminating about 100 positions. The closure is part of the parcel carrier’s ongoing Network 2.0 initiative aimed at streamlining operations and improving efficiency across its U.S. delivery network.

Cold-storage provider Americold Logistics disclosed plans to permanently close a warehouse in Atlanta, resulting in 69 layoffs as part of a broader corporate efficiency initiative.

Layoffs and closures

The post Freight distress spreads as bankruptcies, layoffs top 600 jobs  appeared first on FreightWaves.

Odyssey Logistics has had its debt rating cut by S&P Global Ratings, but it’s a move that brings that agency in line with what its chief competitor did late last year.

But more starkly, S&P Global’s report on its rating reduction goes so far as to raise the possibility of an Odyssey default in 2027. . 

S&P Global Ratings (NYSE: SPGI) late last month cut its rating on Odyssey to CCC+ from B-. That rating will apply to its issuer credit rating–essentially the ratings agency’s overall rating for the company–as well as a senior secured first-lien debt.

S&P Global also hit Odyssey with a negative outlook, suggesting conditions are in place for a further downgrade barring a turnaround.

With its move, S&P Global now has Odyssey at a debt level that is considered equivalent to that of Moody’s (NYSE: MCO). That agency cut its rating on Odyssey in November to Caa1. That level is considered equivalent to the S&P ratings of CCC+. 

Moody’s reduced Odyssey’s debt rating twice in a three-month span in 2025. 

Closer to default grade than investment grade

Both agencies’ ratings are deep in speculative territory, seven notches under the cutoff line between investment and non-investment grade debt.

But the ratings are only five notches above the grades they would give to a company considered in default. 

Odyssey is unique among 3PLs in that it has publicly-traded debt even though it is nowhere near being among the largest brokerages, nor is its stock publicly traded. 

Privately-held Echo Global Logistics, one of the largest 3PLs, has publicly-traded debt and had been a publicly-traded stock before being bought by a private equity company. C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) and RXO (NYSE: RXO) are both publicly traded in equity and debt markets.

According to S&P, the debt burden at Odyssey continues to be a problem.

“We believe ongoing earnings weakness will impair Odyssey’s ability to refinance upcoming debt maturities,” S&P Global said in its analysis. 

Obligations upcoming

Odyssey faces maturity in a $125 million revolving credit facility in July 2027, though so far the company has only drawn $9 million on that, according to S&P. 

It also has a term loan of $490 million that matures in October 2027.

“Multiple years of soft freight demand, depressed trucking rates, and rising costs have contributed to reported operating losses over the past two years, which we expect will continue in 2026 and 2027,” S&P Global said. 

Free cash flow has been negative since 2023 and was negative $27 million last year, S&P said. The agency added that was “a trend we expect to persist through 2026.”

Given all that, S&P Global said, “we believe it’s unlikely Odyssey will be able to access capital markets at favorable terms. This poses a risk to the sustainability of its capital structure and heightens the possibility of a debt restructuring.”

A request for comment from Odyssey had not been responded to by publication time.

Revolver is limited

Although the revolving credit line has only been hit for $9 million out of $125 million, S&P Global said Odyssey can not tap all of what is remaining. 

There is a “first-lien net leverage covenant” when Odyssey’s debt to EBITDA ratio hits 6.25X. That comes into play if Odyssey were to try to draw on the line beyond about $43.7 million.

Debt coverage at the end of last year was about 6.7X, S&P Global said. 

“We project revolver utilization to rise to $31 million by Dec. 31, 2026, and close to $42 million by mid-2027, eventually exhausting all available liquidity and making a default increasingly likely,” S&P Global said

Reports from rating agencies do not break out all key financial indicators at the companies that are being rated. But in the latest report on Odyssey, S&P Global said the 3PL’s adjusted EBITDA had dropped from about $170 million in 2022 to about $95 million last year. “The decline stemmed from lower volumes and sharp declines in freight rates,” the report said.

“The company operates in specialized end markets (metals, chemicals, packaged freight, etc.) and has relatively little exposure to retail and e-commerce.” S&P Global said. Its customers have “complex regulatory and safety requirements, which we believe differentiates it from other logistics providers.”

Although freight markets are rebounding, S&P Global’s rating on Odyssey is not banking on that. The ratings agency says it “expects subdued freight demand will continue constraining pricing power and restrict any meaningful improvement in profitability in 2026.”

As a result, S&P said it expects Odyssey’s 2026 adjusted EBITDA to be up only 6% to 10% this year, “which isn’t sufficient to fully offset its interest costs and capital-spending needs.”

“We believe that a freight cycle turnaround could support Odyssey with opportunities to expand profitability and generate breakeven free cash flows in 2028,” S&P Global said. 

(Recent data suggests that turnaround is in full swing).

But the S&P Global negative outlook on Odyssey appears to be only secondarily tied to S&P Global’s view of the freight market. It’s more a function of its balance sheet.

A further downgrade, S&P Global said, could occur is “the company’s profitability and cash flows don’t improve due to continuing weak freight market conditions that cause it to draw further on its revolver, constraining liquidity; or Its debt facilities become current and the company faces significant challenges in refinancing.”

More articles by John Kingston

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Carrier Nussbaum sets driver pay increase; others popping up more quietly

Amazon scores big win at NLRB over whether it’s a joint employer with DSPs

The post S&P Global warns of looming problems at Odyssey as it cuts rating appeared first on FreightWaves.

Descartes (NASDAQ: DSGX) reported consolidated revenue of $194 million for the period ended April 30, a 15% year-over-year increase. Services revenue was also up 15% to $181 million (organic growth in services revenue was approximately 9%, excluding foreign exchange fluctuations).

The company is seeing more customers use its tools to navigate a changing trade landscape and the tariff refund process. The Supreme Court’s broker liability decision has driven inbound demand for its carrier suitability solutions.  

Earnings per share of 55 cents for the period were 14 cents higher y/y and 3 cents ahead of consensus.

“The global trade landscape remains extremely challenging as supply chain participants look to keep up with increasingly dynamic conditions,” said CEO Ed Ryan in a Wednesday news release. “Our network provides the timely, accurate and reliable data needed to fuel both AI-powered solutions and existing systems of record that are deeply embedded in logistics operations.”

Descartes reported adjusted EBITDA of $90 million in the quarter, which was 20% higher y/y. It recorded an adjusted EBITDA margin of 46.4%, which was up 190 basis points y/y.

The company generated $75 million in cash flow from operations in the period, a 40% y/y increase.

It ended the period with $377 million in cash (up $20 million from the prior quarter), no debt and an untapped $350 million line of credit.

Descartes announced a share repurchase plan in December, allowing it to buy back up to 10% of its public float (approximately 8.6 million shares). It repurchased 305,000 shares in the quarter. It also plans to use cash to fund future M&A.

The company completed the acquisition of Idelic in April for $25.3 million. Idelic is a provider of AI-powered fleet safety solutions.

Shares of DSGX were off 4.6% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• XPO’s Q2 tonnage trending ahead of guidance
• Old Dominion’s May update shows an improving LTL market
• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp

The post Descartes reports record revenue amid ‘challenging’ trade landscape appeared first on FreightWaves.

XPO’s (NYSE: XPO) tonnage per day was 0.5% higher year over year in May, as a 3.3% increase in daily shipments was partially offset by a 2.7% decline in weight per shipment. The company has been actively pursuing local shippers (SMBs), which tend to have lower shipment weights but better margins. Final results for April showed tonnage was down 1.5% y/y.  

The Wednesday update showed the carrier is outperforming typical seasonal demand trends and appears in good position to beat its tonnage guidance for the second quarter, which calls for no y/y change. June is up against an easier prior-year comp (-8.9%) than what the carrier faced in both April (-5.5%) and May (-5.7%).

The tonnage declines also continue to improve on a two-year-stacked comparison. May tonnage was down 5.2% following a 7% decline in April.

XPO doesn’t provide revenue-based metrics or market commentary in its midquarter updates. However, it noted on its first-quarter call at the end of April that it was winning share at “above-market” rates. In addition to greater penetration among SMBs, it is seeing more shippers use its premium services, which typically incur accessorial charges.  

Industrial activity improved for a fifth consecutive month in May, according to manufacturing data published on Monday.

The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI registered a 54 reading for the month, which was 130 basis points higher than April, and the highest reading in four years. (A reading above 50 signals expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.) The subindex for new orders—an indicator of future activity—registered a 56.8 reading, which was 270 bps better sequentially.

Inflections in ISM data usually lead LTL volumes by a few months.

On the pricing side, management previously said that contractual rate renewals were up by a mid- to high-single-digit percentage during the first quarter. It also forecast second-quarter yield to come in “comfortably ahead” of the mid-single-digit y/y yield increase captured in the first quarter.

XPO normally records 250 to 300 bps of sequential margin improvement in the second quarter; however, management expects to exceed the high end of that range (an 80.9% adjusted operating ratio). The guide implies at least 200 bps of y/y margin improvement.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Old Dominion’s May update shows an improving LTL market
• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp
• Transportation pricing index logs record growth rate in May

The post XPO’s Q2 tonnage trending ahead of guidance appeared first on FreightWaves.

A process moving through the National Labor Relations Board that could have found Amazon a joint employer with its Direct Service Providers (DSPs), the independently-owned companies that deliver parcels for Amazon, appears to have ended with a huge victory for the online retailer.

Late last month, G. Rebekah Ramirez, an NLRB administrative law judge, approved an agreement between the NLRB General Counsel and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) that was first revealed in April. 

The Teamsters, at that time, voiced strong opposition to the deal. The union has done so again. Its attorneys quickly filed a request to appeal what it called the ALJ’s “defective unilateral settlement” between the NLRB and Amazon.

At issue is a complaint filed in September 2024 by the regional director of the NLRB’s Region 31, a geographic area that includes the Amazon DAX8 facility in Palmdale, California. 

The complaint was over Amazon’s actions toward a DSP called Battle Tested Strategies (BTS) that operated out of DAX8. BTS is believed to be the only DSP where its rank-and-file voted to be represented by a union–the Teamsters–and where the DSP owners recognized the vote. 

BTS’ agreement to operate as an Amazon DSP was terminated in June 2023. Amazon has denied the charge that the cancellation was because of the union recognition.

Amazon said in a statement to FreightWaves that BTS’ contract was “terminated for repeated safety violations, including use of vehicles with faulty brakes and out of service vehicles, as well as failure to pay their insurance provider.”

The resulting investigation by the regional director led to the complaint that, as ALJ Ramirez said in her review of the earlier proceedings, “at all material times, Amazon and BTS have been joint employers of BTS’s employees working at the DAX8 facility.”

Given that position of joint employer, according to Judge Ramirez’ summary of the case, and because BTS had recognized the Teamsters, “Amazon was required to recognize and bargain with the Union.”

Hearings began in September and continued on and off into 2026. 

Union had been on a roll

The process had been moving in the Teamsters’ direction. A late 2025 attempt by Amazon to block the process was halted by the Ninth Federal Circuit.

Even with a change in administration, the NLRB stuck to its argument that Amazon was a joint employer with its DSPs at the start of the hearing process in September, according to reporting by Bloomberg, 

The news in April that Amazon and the NLRB General Counsel had reached an agreement that would settle the action without any precedent-setting finding about Amazon as a joint employer with a DSP marked a significant change in policy by the agency.

Teamsters seeks an appeal

Reports of that tentative settlement in April brought quick legal protest from the Teamsters. Now that the agreement has the blessing of an ALJ, the union is fighting back harder.

“Settling the instant charges on the terms unilaterally negotiated by the General Counsel is a complete affront to the National Labor Relations Act,” the Teamsters said in its request to file an appeal. 

The union argues the settlement “fails mightily under the principles set forth in Independent Stave,” a precedent that governs the NLRB’s ability to recognize private settlements between parties with a case before the board.

The union also said the deal with Amazon would “jeopardize basic…rights of not only the Palmdale employees who are deprived of any effective remedy for Amazon’s egregious violations of the Act, but of Amazon employees across the country who will receive the message that their employer is above the law.”

“The Settlement will injure the rights of all employees nationwide by broadcasting to employers that they can similarly violate the Act with impunity and eventually reach a sweetheart deal absolving them of any real responsibility,” the union said in its request.

The initial complaint, in addition to labeling Amazon a joint employer, also contained numerous allegations of unfair labor practices at DAX8, including (according to the union) “hiring security guards in response to employees’ protected concerted activity.”

DSP model an ‘existential threat’

And in a passage that Amazon might agree with, at least in terms of how important the case might end up being, the Teamsters say “without a finding—or admission—that Amazon is a joint employer of the Amazon delivery drivers necessary to its very existence, the DSP model will continue to pose an existential threat to the Act and to employees’ most basic rights.”

In a statement released to FreightWaves, an Amazon spokesman said “None of the Teamsters’ claims in this matter were found to be true, and we’re glad to put it behind us so we can focus on supporting our team, our partners – including Delivery Service Partners—and the communities we collectively serve. Judge Ramirez looked at this carefully and found the settlement reasonable, noted major gaps in the case, and rejected the Teamsters’ claims. “

The owner of BTS, Johnathon Ervin, who ultimately signed off on the decision to recognize the union, sent an email to the NLRB during the process stating his opposition to the settlement.

Under the deal, workers at BTS between April 2023 and June 2023 are entitled to two weeks pay for each driver and dispatcher employed as of May 20, 2023.

The number of individuals that meet the test is estimated at 84. 

Small tab to end the process

If the workers’ pay was $1,500 per week, or $3,000 for the two weeks, and all 84 claimed it for those two weeks, it would be a payout of about $250,000 for Amazon, a pittance for a victory in swatting back the process that at one point seemed to be headed toward a declaration that the company is a joint employer with its DSPs.

According to Judge Ramirez, May 20 is the date that BTS saw its routes reduced by Amazon, which the union alleges is because of the recognition of the Teamsters’ vote to represent the workers.

There are other provisions in the agreement. But the most important, according to Judge Ramirez, “includes a nonadmission clause specifically disclaiming Amazon’s joint employer status.”

But Judge Ramirez said in her decision that under the Independent Stave precedent, the issues raised by the Teamsters regarding joint employer status do not warrant her rejecting the settlement between the NLRB general counsel and Amazon.

More articles by John Kingston

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Carrier Nussbaum sets driver pay increase; others popping up more quietly

Intrastate delivery worker can be ruled interstate in dispute: SCOTUS

The post Amazon scores big win at NLRB over whether it’s a joint employer with DSPs appeared first on FreightWaves.

The Salt Lake City-based affiliate of alternative investment manager Apollo (NYSE: APO) said the Bridge Logistics Value Fund II is focused on buying and relocating real estate in supply-constrained U.S. markets and global gateways.

“BLV II is designed to capitalize on long-term demand drivers within the industrial sector, including supply chain modernization, e-commerce growth, and increasing tenant preference for modern, well-located distribution facilities,” a news release said.

The group will oversee leasing, asset management and capital improvements across the portfolio.

“We are incredibly proud to announce the successful close of BLV II and deeply grateful for the trust and partnership of our investors,” said CEO Jay Cornforth. “This milestone reflects the strength of our team, the durability of the logistics sector, and our conviction that disciplined investing in high-quality industrial real estate continues to present compelling long-term opportunities.”

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Old Dominion’s May update shows an improving LTL market
• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp
• Transportation pricing index logs record growth rate in May

The post Apollo affiliate raises $1.4B for logistics real estate fund appeared first on FreightWaves.

Rush Order announced on LinkedIn that it will open its fourth U.S. fulfillment center in the Dallas-Forth Worth area on July 1. The company currently has 13 B2C fulfillment centers worldwide, including in Gilroy, California; Twinsburg, Ohio, New York; Toronto; the Netherlands; United Kingdom; Sydney, Australia and five locations in Asia.

The company said it will now be able to reach 93% of the U.S. population within two days via UPS Ground, with the remaining area able to receive deliveries in three days.

The Dallas-Forth Worth expansion is important because the center sits within a day’s drive by truck of major southern distribution centers for Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Best Buy, which allows for faster inventory replenishment and faster lead times to shoppers in the Great Plains and Southeast regions, according to Rush Order. 

Meanwhile, Encore Fulfillment announced Wednesday that it has expanded into a 350,000-square foot facility in Oklahoma City, moving under one roof from an earlier location. The new location increases the company’s capacity to process orders at scale and serve more brands while maintaining high pick accuracy rates, it said 

“Our clients need a logistics partner that scales with them without sacrificing the high-touch service they rely on,” said Kyle Thompson, co-founder of Encore Fulfillment, in a news release. “This facility gives us the physical footprint to support their growth, while our technology ensures every shipment is routed for the best possible rate and delivery time.”

Brands that sell through Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce and other platforms can integrate their systems directly with Enforce. 

The facility supports pick and pack, inventory management, wholesale distribution, and omnichannel order fulfillment. Products move from dock to shelf in one-to-two days, and the company’s warehouse routing software batches and routes orders through the facility in the most efficient way possible. Outbound orders are tendered to FedEx, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service based on the cheapest option. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

RELATED STORIES:

Target debuts $367M food distribution center in Colorado

The post 2 e-commerce logistics providers expand capacity in Great Plains appeared first on FreightWaves.

A Section 301 report by the United States Trade Representative under the Trade Act of 1974 found 60 economies that failed to enforce a ban on imported goods produced with forced labor. That “burdens or restricts” U.S. commerce, it said.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable,” said USTR Jamieson Greer, in a release. “This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field. We will no longer tolerate this disparity.”

Greer said that while some trading partners have taken initial steps to prevent the importation of forced labor goods, “each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally.”  

Greer wants 10% additional duties on countries that have taken some measures against forced labor trade, and 12.5% on all others. 

A hearing is scheduled for July 7.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Related coverage:

Sen. Cotton urges DOJ investigation of China-backed parcel carriers

Startup courier Gofo acquires Cirro E-commerce for access to retailers

Independent parcel carriers continue network, tech investments

The post U.S. cites 60 countries for forced labor failures, imposes new tariffs up to 12.5% appeared first on FreightWaves.

The Thomasville, North Carolina-based company reported a 12.3% year-over-year increase in revenue per day during the month. The result outpaced a previously reported 7.6% revenue increase in April. May tonnage was down just 3.8% y/y (down 6.1% in April), with yield increasing approximately 16% during the month.

Through the first two months of the quarter, Old Dominion’s yield increased 15.6% y/y inclusive of fuel surcharges (up 5.4% excluding fuel).

The revenue-based metrics are being positively influenced by a runup in diesel fuel prices. Less-than-truckload fuel surcharge programs include a step function as diesel prices rise, typically resulting in margin accretion.

On a two-year-stacked comparison, Old Dominion’s (NASDAQ: ODFL) tonnage was off 12% in May, which was an improvement from a 15% decline in April. The carrier’s per-day tonnage appears to have troughed in the first quarter.

“Old Dominion produced solid revenue growth for the first two months of the second quarter,” said President and CEO Marty Freeman in a news release. “While our LTL tons per day declined on a year-over-year basis in both April and May, demand has continued to improve as the quarter has progressed.”

Manufacturing data released Monday showed industrial activity was positive for a fifth consecutive month in May. The Purchasing Managers’ Index registered a 54 reading for the month, which was 130 basis points higher than April. (A reading above 50 signals expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.) The May reading was the highest for the dataset in four years.

The new orders subindex—an indicator of future activity—came in at 56.8, 270 bps higher sequentially. (Inflections in PMI data usually lead LTL volumes by a few months.)

Old Dominion’s shipment weights are up approximately 1.5% y/y so far in the quarter. Heavier shipments are a sign that the market is turning and often lead to margin improvement.

The carrier previously guided to 300 to 350 bps of sequential operating margin improvement in the second quarter, which is in line with its historical margin progression. The forecast implies a 73% operating ratio (inverse of operating margin) at the midpoint of the range, which would be 160 bps better y/y and the first meaningful y/y improvement since 2022.

“We remain confident in our ability to win market share and drive profitable revenue growth over the long-term as we continue to execute on the fundamental elements of our strategic plan,” Freeman said.

The company normally outgrows the market by 9 to 10 percentage points in an upcycle.

Shares of ODFL were up 1.6% at 9:54 a.m. EDT on Wednesday compared to the S&P 500, which was off 0.5%. Shares of ODFL are up 46% year-to-date.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp
• Transportation pricing index logs record growth rate in May
• FedEx Freight embarks on journey as standalone LTL carrier

The post Old Dominion’s May update shows an improving LTL market appeared first on FreightWaves.

The accidents, which occurred between Thursday and Tuesday, involved both vehicles and pedestrians being struck by freight trains in Texas, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The most recent incident occurred Tuesday evening in southwest Bexar County, Texas, near San Antonio, when a vehicle was struck by a train on Macdona-Lacoste Road near Wisdom Road. 

Authorities said three people in the vehicle suffered critical injuries. One of the victims later died, while the two others are expected to recover, according to KSAT News. Investigators have not released details on what led to the collision.

Earlier Tuesday morning, a man was killed after being struck by a Norfolk Southern freight train in a rural area southeast of Ypsilanti, Michigan, reported The Ann Arbor News.

Officials said the victim was on foot when he was hit around 4:41 a.m. on tracks between McKean and Bunton roads in Augusta Township. The collision did not occur at a public crossing, according to local fire officials.

Two other fatal train-pedestrian accidents were reported on Thursday.

In Reidsville, North Carolina, two people were killed after a Norfolk Southern freight train struck them while they were sitting on railroad tracks, according to police. Officers responded to the scene shortly after 6 p.m. and continued to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident, according to ABC45.

Later that night in Erie, Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old boy was killed after being struck by a freight train near the intersection of Grahamville and South Lake streets, reported Erie News Now. Emergency responders were called to the scene shortly before 11 p.m., and the victim was pronounced dead early the following morning.

The post Freight train fatalities mount as 5 killed in four incidents across US  appeared first on FreightWaves.

The freight downturn that defined 2023 and 2024 has decisively reversed, and the May data clarifies the mechanism behind it: industrial production, rather than consumer spending or inventory restocking, is now driving the cycle. FreightWaves identified the inflection months ago. The latest readings from the Institute for Supply Management and the Logistics Managers’ Index, corroborated by real-time tender data, confirm it.

The ISM signal: expansion with breadth

The ISM Manufacturing PMI registered 54.0 in May, up 1.3 points from April and the highest reading since May 2022. The index has now held above the expansion threshold for five consecutive months, following a 10-month contraction. On ISM’s own regression, a 54.0 composite is consistent with roughly 2.2% annualized growth in real GDP.

The internals are stronger than the headline. The New Orders index rose to 56.8, comfortably above the 51.9 level ISM identifies as the breakeven for rising Census manufacturing orders in constant dollars. Production reached 54.3, above the 52.0 threshold associated with rising Federal Reserve industrial output. As a forward-looking series, new orders typically lead realized freight volumes by several weeks, which makes the current reading the more economically meaningful of the two.

Breadth reinforces the signal. All six of the largest manufacturing industries expanded in May — led by computer and electronic products, machinery, and transportation equipment — and 16 of 18 industries reported growth, with only wood products in contraction. Diffusion of this width is characteristic of a self-sustaining expansion rather than a narrow, sector-specific rebound.

Output, labor, and prices

The labor data points to a productivity-led expansion. The Employment index came in at 48.6 — still below the 50.3 breakeven for rising BLS manufacturing payrolls, but up 2.2 points and trending toward it. Manufacturers have expanded output for seven straight months while holding headcount roughly flat, indicating they are absorbing incremental demand through existing capacity. Payroll growth typically lags output in the early phase of an industrial recovery; the trajectory of the employment index suggests hiring is the next stage.

Price pressure remains elevated but is moderating at the margin. The Prices index held at 82.1, down 2.5 points from April but far above the 52.8 level consistent with rising producer prices for intermediate materials. Steel has appeared on ISM’s “up in price” list for seven consecutive months. Sustained input-cost expansion at this level reflects demand-pull conditions and meaningful pricing power at the producer level.

Supplier Deliveries registered 60.6, slowing for a sixth straight month. Because that index is inverted, a reading above 50 indicates slower deliveries — a standard symptom of a supply chain operating near capacity as demand recovers.

The composition of demand is structural

The character of this expansion distinguishes it from prior cycles. The orders driving manufacturing are concentrated in end markets with multi-year investment horizons rather than short-cycle consumer demand. AI data center construction is generating sustained demand for electrical equipment, computer and electronic products, and the steel and structural materials that move predominantly on flatbeds. Defense production is supporting transportation equipment and aerospace output. Domestic energy production and a broader push for industrial competitiveness — the reshoring of critical manufacturing capacity — add a further, policy-supported layer of fixed investment.

Federal tax incentives for domestic capital investment are assisting at the margin, improving the after-tax economics of building and equipping U.S. production capacity. Demand of this composition is less sensitive to the consumer cycle and more durable than the inventory- and stimulus-led surges of the post-pandemic period, which has direct implications for the persistence of the freight upcycle.

The steel intensity of that buildout is already visible in the rail data. Coke — a direct feedstock for blast-furnace steelmaking and one of the cleaner leading indicators of domestic steel output are up 28% YoY, according to the Association of American Railroads, and coke carloads have been signaling firm steel production for months. The broader metallic ores and metals group, which also captures primary metal products and iron and steel scrap, was up roughly 16% year over year by late May. Rising rail movements of steel inputs are precisely what an industrial economy gearing up to build data centers, defense hardware, and energy infrastructure produces.

The LMI confirms the transmission into freight

The Logistics Managers’ Index translates that industrial demand into the freight economy, and it corroborates the ISM read. The May LMI registered 69.5, down a marginal 0.4 points from April’s 69.9 but still the second-fastest rate of expansion since March 2022.

The transportation components are the clearest signal. Transportation Prices reached 96.0 — the highest reading for any component in the index’s near-decade history. Transportation Capacity remained in contraction at 31.7, while Transportation Utilization held at 69.5. The persistent inversion between prices and capacity is the analytically important feature: rates are rising not on speculative positioning but on a genuine scarcity of available equipment relative to demand.

Cost pressure is broad-based across the logistics complex. Inventory Costs rose to 84.1, the highest since May 2022, and aggregate logistics costs reached 250.9, also a post-2022 high. Every price and cost component of the index advanced in May.

The strength is concentrated upstream

The most economically significant detail in the LMI is the segmentation of activity by supply-chain position. The expansion is concentrated upstream, at the producer and manufacturer level — the node at which freight demand originates and propagates downstream.

Upstream transportation utilization registered 73.9, against 60.9 downstream. Upstream transportation capacity contracted at 25.7, materially tighter than the 45.3 reading downstream, and upstream warehousing capacity has been in contraction for four consecutive months. The pattern indicates producers have absorbed available capacity through elevated throughput rather than idle accumulation — a demand-driven tightening rather than a supply constraint.

The hard data is consistent. Durable-goods orders rose 7.9%, concentrated in transportation equipment and machinery — the higher-value, freight-intensive categories. The ISM Imports index returned to expansion at 53.0 as manufacturers pulled in components to support production. And the ISM Customers’ Inventories index stood at 42.7, well into “too low” territory; historically, this is among the more reliable leading indicators of future output, since understocked downstream buyers must replenish.

Taken together — order backlogs expanding at 52.2, new orders at 56.8, customers’ inventories below desired levels, and seven consecutive months of production growth — the indicators point in a single direction. Activity is concentrated at the production stage of the cycle, which is where durable freight demand is generated.

Real-time data corroborates the surveys

The ISM and LMI are survey-based diffusion indices. High-frequency transactional data confirms their direction. Tender rejections printed 16.99% today, the highest of the current cycle — meaning carriers are declining nearly one in six contracted loads in favor of better-priced freight, a condition that occurs only when demand is firm and capacity is scarce.

The pattern is most pronounced in the segment most directly tied to industrial activity. Flatbed, which carries the machinery, metals, and equipment that define manufacturing freight, is the leading edge: spot rates stand at $4.32 per mile, and flatbed tender rejections remain above 38% — more than double the all-in market rate. As long as producers continue to draw in inputs and ship finished goods, flatbed conditions will remain tight.

Implications

The May data describes a domestic manufacturing sector expanding at its fastest pace in four years, with broad sectoral participation and a concentration of strength upstream. The freight market is pricing the recovery accordingly: the LMI is near a four-year high, transportation prices are at a record, and tender rejections have reached a cycle high.

For shippers, the implication is a structural shift toward contract coverage as spot exposure becomes increasingly costly. For carriers, conditions represent the most favorable pricing environment since 2022 — and, unlike that episode, one underpinned by genuine industrial volume rather than the stimulus-driven consumption that defined the post-pandemic boom.

The post Manufacturing’s recovery broadens as industrial demand leads the freight upcycle appeared first on FreightWaves.

On Monday, FedEx Corp. spun-off its Freight division. What is left is the combined network of FedEx Express and FedEx Ground. 

It’s an opportune time to remember that FedEx (NYSE: FDX) would be a distant third-place parcel carrier in the U.S. market without the acquisition of RPS as part of the $2.4 billion deal for Caliber System in 1998. And, were it not for RPS, FedEx likely wouldn’t have acquired Caliber and its regional less-than-truckload subsidiary, Viking Freight. FedEx wasn’t looking to get into the LTL space, but had to buy Viking to get RPS. 

FedEx founder Fred Smith liked the Viking acquisition so much that in 2001, he acquired American Freightways to be able to offer full coverage across the lower 48 states. And now, FedEx shareholders will receive one share of FedEx Freight (NYSE: FDXF) for every two shares they hold in the parcel delivery company.

At the time of the deal in 1998, RPS handled 1.3 million parcels per day while FedEx Express was delivering 3 million. Since then, the parcel industry has undergone enormous change.

Carriers began to offer guaranteed on-time performance for the ground service and e-commerce exploded to the point that segmentation in the parcel market has completely reversed from 80% B2B to 75% lightweight B2C shipments. As retailers offer more free shipping, FedEx customers need the ground service and not the expensive express delivery.

Today, FedEx express volume is just 1.8 million packages per day, while FedEx Ground (formerly RPS) volume has increased to 13 million pieces per day.

RPS pioneered the low-cost ground delivery operating model based on use of independent contractors with their own vans and later use of master contractors, which has been copied by Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and smaller startups like Better Trucks, Jitsu, and OnTrac.

RPS, which opened for business in 1985, was very successful before its acquisition by FedEx. Founded by Daniel J. Sullivan, RPS rapidly grew from a Northeast regional carrier to a nationwide carrier serving all major markets within seven years. Beside insisting on great on time service, Dan intensely focused his team on constantly improving productivity that allowed RPS to compete with UPS. As a result, RPS was the low-cost producer in the small package delivery space.”

By 1996, allowed RPS to rapidly expand service to 100% of the U.S. population and capture more than 15% of the market share. Other regional carriers at the time — Spee Dee Delivery, GPS and OnTrac — collectively controlled less than 5% of the parcel market. Thirty years later, they still remain at the same level.

RPS was a cash cow, generating double digit margins. Since RPS’s rebranding as FedEx Ground in 2000, it generated cumulative revenue of $333 billion, representing a staggering growth rate of 1,585% or CAGR of 12.49%. FedEx Ground also produced $40 billion in operating income at an average operating margin of 12.9% over the past quarter century.

By contrast, during the same period, FedEx Express had cumulative revenues of $679 billion for a growth rate of 171% or CAGR of 4.24%, with cumulative operating income of $37 billion. Its average operating margin over the same period is 5.6%.

RPS’s success was not simply the result of excellent operational and financial execution. It deployed technology that FedEx’s main competitor, UPS, did not have at the time. RPS, for example, was able to bill customers based on true shipment attributes, track shipments in near-real time instead of waiting for days to get status from UPS, and aligned operations and contractors’ settlement to the shipping profile of thousands of customers to build density with much fewer parcels and generate high profit margin.

Fred Smith originally was skeptical about buying RPS. At an industry event in 1996, after being told by bankers to buy RPS, Mr. Smith asked me, in the presence of CFO Alan Graf Jr., the following question: “FedEx Express is a Cadillac and RPS is a Chevy. So why do I want to buy RPS?”  I responded, “Sir, what if Chevy generates a higher margin than Cadillac?” 

That response led to me providing a report to support the great profit generating model of RPS and the reasons to also buy Viking Freight. Using that report, in February 1997, Fred Smith called Sullivan with interest in buying Caliber System. 

Both FedEx Express and UPS (NYSE: UPS) were once startups that became great companies, but RPS is arguably an even greater success story. It not only generated great results for FedEx shareholders in a much shorter period of time, but influenced industrywide changes that created unprecedented value for parcel shippers.

At an RPS reunion in March 2023, Graf called RPS “the greatest transportation start-up,” adding, “I can’t imagine what FedEx would be today without RPS’s unique lost-cost operating model. . . I could not have predicted a revenue stream of $35 billion by 2023. No doubt, the best acquisition in the history of FedEx.”

Former UPS CFO Kurt Kuehn also tipped his hat to RPS for transforming the parcel industry. “With its focus on B2B customers that were under served and overpriced, and leveraging technology, RPS brought a new value proposition to the market and helped to wake up Big Brown,” he said at the event. “Dan and company, congratulations on the incredible long-term success of the story, the vision, and the focus on the customer that inspired the whole industry.”

Absent RPS and its low-cost operating model for ground service, FedEx would not have grown revenue as much as it has these past 28 years. It is now in position, with the integration of its two networks and using RPS’s low-cost operating mode for both express and ground services, to become the largest for-hire carrier in the domestic U.S. parcel market.

Satish Jindel is Founder/President of ShipMatrix, Inc. He was a key member of the RPS start-up team, then advised FedEx on its acquisition of RPS and Viking Freight in 1997. The full video of Alan Graf and Kurt Kuehn can be viewed at https://jindel.com/rps-

reunion/ .

The post Commentary: Why RPS is the most successful transportation startup ever appeared first on FreightWaves.

Brett Suma is joining as president and chief operating officer, bringing with him David Stemm as vice president of commercial operations and Jessica Kane as vice president of commercial finance. The trio founded TrailerHawk.ai together before Wabash acquired it in 2025. They are now reuniting to tackle one of the industry’s most complex operational challenges: turning a technological milestone into a repeatable commercial business.

“We have proven that humanless commercial truckloads are possible, but we understand that technology alone cannot drive value creation,” said Dr. Xiaodi Hou, founder and CEO of Bot Auto. “This industry is complex for good reasons, and building a scalable autonomous freight product requires humility, flexibility, and relentless creativity.”

The Knight Transportation Playbook, Rebuilt for Autonomy

Suma’s freight education started at age 19, working nights at Knight Transportation to pay for college. From the beginning, trucking had him hooked. From 1999 through the company’s explosive growth period in the early 2000s, he watched the founders build a methodical freight network to feed their growing fleet. It started by identifying corridors with the right freight density, matching them to driver populations, then constructing facilities to support 125 to 150 trucks per market.

“It was very formulaic,” Suma said. “You had to identify a corridor that fit your network that had access to a certain level of inbound and outbound freight to be able to support the driver population that you would need in order to support the actual construction of the facility.”

The difference now? Bot Auto does not need drivers.

“The one great benefit that we have at Bot Auto is that we don’t have to really worry about the driver population piece from a support perspective in order for us to scale,” Suma said. “But the freight still has to work for us and the market still has to be able to support the amount of investment in tractors.”

Purpose-Built Networks vs. Legacy Friction

Suma is blunt about what separates Bot Auto from competitors bolting autonomous tractors onto existing operations. The math, he argues, does not work.

“There are others in the space that are saying, ‘We’re going to deploy X number of autonomous tractors into our network,’” Suma said. “And I look at it and I do the math because it’s very simple math to do. And I say, ‘OK, so they’re just going to continue to run inefficient freight in an inefficient way, but with an autonomous solution.’”

The inefficiency is baked into traditional trucking. Drivers average 7 to 8 hours of actual drive time during an 11-hour shift because origins and destinations do not communicate efficiently. Deploying expensive autonomous assets into that same broken network, Suma argues, misses the point entirely.

“We’re building a native AI freight network,” he said. “Deploying physical AI as opposed to saying, ‘We already have this network that exists and now we’re going to figure out how to make AV work in it.’”

Mixed Fleet Challenges

Mixed fleets create impossible decisions. Suma illustrated with a scenario: one load, two trucks — an autonomous tractor and Johnny, a safe driver with 12 years at the company who runs Houston to Phoenix twice weekly.

“What truck do you decide to give it to? You’re going to give it to Johnny because he’s worked here for 12 years,” Suma said. “You’ve just chosen to make your autonomous truck sit because there’s no other alternative for that truck.”

The alternatives are worse: force Johnny into unfamiliar routes, or idle him entirely. “None of those are good outcomes,” Suma said. “They’re all bad outcomes.”

Large fleets are just as much at the whim of their driver pools as they are of their customers. Introducing autonomous trucks creates an added challenge because tenured drivers often have priority on preferred routes, which can leave autonomous assets idle. In this instance, that choice leads to suboptimal load pairings.

Bot Auto sidesteps the friction by starting clean. No legacy network. No driver conflicts. Every decision is optimized for autonomous deployment.

Texas First, Then Corridor by Corridor

The company is now targeting aggressive milestones for 2026: growing its autonomous fleet, increasing humanless trips, and expanding lane coverage across Texas. Suma frames it as building infrastructure methodically — lanes into corridors, corridors into networks.

“Texas is the ideal starting point, and we’re thinking corridor by corridor until we’ve built something the traditional trucking model simply can’t compete with,” Suma said.

For carriers watching the autonomous space, the technology works. The question now is whether purpose-built networks can outscale the incumbents trying to retrofit it.

The post Bot Auto names Brett Suma as president and COO to scale autonomous trucking appeared first on FreightWaves.

Stores are dedicating more space for fresh and frozen food products and Target (NYSE: TGT) is expanding its fresh supply chain network to position products closer to consumers to support that growth and improve distribution efficiency. Target has added four food DCs in three years.

Management mentioned the new Colorado facility during last month’s earnings call, but provided few details. During the first quarter, Target introduced 3,000 new food items, with sales from those items growing more than 50% over the prior assortment, Chief Merchandising Officer Cara Sylvester told analysts. 

The 529,000-square foot temperature-controlled facility will help replenish those locations up to two days faster than before. It is the largest of nine Target food distribution centers and the first with consolidation capabilities, the company said Thursday in a blog post. 

The building connects vendors and other food distribution centers with a dedicated section to combine separate shipments from different vendors into trucks that then go fully loaded to a designated destination. Consolidation reduces the volume and cost of transportation across Target’s network and streamlines arrivals at other facilities, resulting in a more efficient unload process.

The new Thornton facility, which will employ more than 350 persons, will lead to “stronger in-stock reliability, expanded assortment opportunities and faster replenishment,” said Amy Probst, senior vice president of food and beverage supply chain. 

Last month, Target named Jeff England as its new chief supply chain officer. In April, Target opened a $265 million “receive” center for imported goods that acts as a buffer between import warehouses and regional distribution centers. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

RELATED STORIES:

Target moves to elevate supply chain operations, inventory reliability

Target names former Walmart executive as chief supply chain officer

The post Target debuts $367M food distribution center in Colorado appeared first on FreightWaves.

More than 200 companies and groups, including the Association of American Railroads and BNSF Railway (NYSE: BRK-B), have signed a letter urging swift passage of HR 2853, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act. The bill passed the House last month by a 348-60 margin.

It would coordinate efforts by federal, state, local, and railroad law enforcement agencies to address organized theft operations through joint investigations. It would also improve coordination between law enforcement and the private sector, enhancing the ability of investigators and prosecutors to deal with the networks behind the thefts.

The letter – addressed to Majority Leader John Thune, Majority Whip John Barrasso, Minority Leader Charles Schumer, and Minority Whip Dick Durbin – says organized retail and supply-chain theft costs billions of dollars annually, including a cost to the trucking industry of $18 million daily. Railroads said they sustained more than $200 million in losses from cargo theft in 2025.

“In recent years, these crimes have also become more violent,” the letter says, “increasing the risks faced by workers, law enforcement, and the communities they serve. Criminal networks increasingly exploit cargo, resale channels, and financial mechanisms, including gift cards, to convert stolen goods into proceeds that fuel broader illicit activity. …

“Importantly, CORCA is narrowly focused on organized criminal conduct. It does not address routine retail theft, nor does it expand immigration or border enforcement authorities. Instead, it reflects a targeted, bipartisan effort to close persistent gaps that sophisticated criminal enterprises continue to exploit.”

Among others signing the letter are the American Trucking Associations, Retail Industry Leaders Association, the National District Attorneys Association, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The bill is currently in the hands of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it was assigned the day after its passage by the House.

Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Related coverage:

No hard feelings: UP-NS will see fact-based review

New COO for Norfolk Southern

How rail mega-merger moved ahead, and STB avoided making history

STB conditionally accepts UP-NS rail merger application, wants more data

The post Businesses urge Senate to act on cargo theft bill appeared first on FreightWaves.

Craig Fuller set the tone in the opening minutes, and the data backed it up at the close. The SONAR National Truckload Index, which tracks daily spot rates inclusive of fuel, hit 383, an all-time record. Fuller, a self-described rate nerd from a trucking asset background, did not hide his enthusiasm: after years of carriers living in the doldrums, the market has turned toward them, and this is their cycle to do better.

The more important chart for owner-operators came when Fuller stripped fuel out of the number. Looking at linehaul-only rates, the surge that began back in November becomes even clearer, because that is what carriers actually see in terms of cash flow. The rate strength is real, and it is not just a fuel-driven illusion.

The Fuel Story Underneath the Rate Story

Here is the piece that most coverage will miss and that the show spent real time on. Diesel ran up to $5.54 a gallon at the pump after the war-driven spike from $3.75, but it has been cooling off over the last couple of weeks as resolution noise calms the market. That is relief for any carrier buying diesel at the pump.

But Fuller drove at something more specific and more valuable. The wholesale rack price of diesel, what the bigger carriers pay through cost-plus relationships, has cooled off much faster than retail diesel. The spread between wholesale and retail has blown out to a record $1.78 per gallon. Carriers buying fuel on wholesale cost-plus arrangements are billing out fuel surcharges at retail prices while buying at deeply discounted wholesale, and that gap is turning into a meaningful margin gain. Fuller’s read: this is why a lot of truckload carriers are going to beat earnings this quarter, and Wall Street consistently misses the fuel surcharge story. He pegged it at roughly an 11-cent-per-mile move, about a 3% margin improvement showing up in operating ratios this season.

Webb Estes: “A Very Different Industry Than Even Three Months Ago”

The first guest was Webb Estes, president and COO of Estes Express Lines, fourth-generation leadership at one of the great privately held names in LTL. His operational read was striking. Last week was a record for Estes, with tonnage up roughly 7.5%, after the company had been essentially flat just two months earlier. His description of the shift was the line of the segment: it is a very different industry than even three months ago, and capacity is genuinely hard to find right now.

Estes pointed to the structural forces, non-domiciled CDLs being removed across states and the Supreme Court ruling, while being honest that he does not have every cause pinned down. What surprised him most was retail. He expected retail to struggle with higher prices and fuel, and instead both retail and manufacturing are running strong at the same time. Grocery, construction, and the broad consumer base are all moving.

There was also a master class in long-term thinking buried in the conversation. When Yellow went under, Estes bought 52 terminals for $490 million and roughly 7,000 trailers at an average of $5,000 each, against a $40,000 replacement cost on a new pup, a move Estes estimated saved around $230 million. The lesson for any operator listening: being debt-free and privately held let them say yes to opportunity before they technically needed it, and position for the next 95 years rather than the next quarter.

The Fraud Segment: Highway and the New Rules of the Exchange

The fraud conversation with the expert from Highway was one of the most useful segments for any carrier trying to understand why the load board feels different now. Freight fraud is hitting epidemic levels in the age of AI, and the response is changing how carriers access freight.

The core idea: Highway operates like an exchange with rules. No ghost loads, no manually posted phantom freight, and the truck has to be observed on the telematics device and on the insurance policy to even see the load. Carriers used to a world where they could log in and search and see anything are running into a model where they only see what they are actually qualified to haul, described as the same suggestion engine that sits under Netflix, but for freight matched to a carrier’s insurance, patterns, and movement.

That restriction is exactly why Highway has taken heat from small carriers, and the expert did not dodge it. The frustration is real, but the loads a qualified carrier does see are specifically for them. And the demand signal is shifting fast: shippers, including one of the largest retailers in the country, are now calling to make sure the truck showing up at their facility is the actual truck tied to the carrier. The verdict on brokers: large brokers stand to gain, chaos always favors the broker, and a lot of small brokers will likely roll into agency models.

Shelley Simpson: “He Who Has the Driver Wins”

JB Hunt president and CEO Shelley Simpson brought the perspective of one of the most powerful operators in the industry, and her framing of the current capacity environment was measured but pointed. She would not call it a crisis, but she called capacity fragile, and got specific about where it is tightest: the Ohio area and the broader Midwest, Texas tighter than it has been historically, and pockets in the Northeast and Washington.

Simpson leaned on JB Hunt’s identity as a company founded by a driver, Mr. Hunt himself, celebrating 65 years this August, and on the Kirk Thompson line that has guided the company: he who has the driver wins. As the supply side gets more fragile, she described routing guides breaking down for customers and the spot market feeling the strain, and made the case that JB Hunt does its best work for customers precisely during these crunch periods because it locks in with them rather than chasing short-term freight.

She also gave a clear window into the asset-versus-brokerage balance that defines JB Hunt’s model. The company runs five business units independently with different margin targets, and will steer freight to a contract carrier rather than its own assets when that fits the customer’s network better, sometimes quoting both an asset price and a brokerage price and letting the customer choose. Fuller’s aside, that brokers trying to bolt on assets have bled out trying, Convoy among them, while starting from the asset side is a structural advantage, landed as a real strategic point for anyone thinking about where durable freight businesses come from.

Gene Seroka: The Port View on Tariffs, Retail, and the American Consumer

Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest container port in North America for 26 consecutive years, closed the guest lineup with the global trade picture. His barometer reading: LA is down about 2% in total volume versus a very strong 2025, but up about 2% against the five-year rolling average. Translation, the American consumer and American manufacturer have held up stronger than many expected through all the volatility.

Seroka confirmed Estes’s retail surprise from the import side. People are still spending, but bargain hunting hard to stretch the family budget, with gas up nearly 30% and Southern California diesel up 50% weighing on everyone’s mind. The big question he flagged for the back half of the year is how much affordability pressure hits the all-important holiday season.

On tariffs, Seroka gave the most sober assessment of the day. Roughly $170 billion in collected tariffs sits in question after the Supreme Court’s February decision, money that could smooth the economy if redirected but has not reached consumers. He walked through the expiring Section 122 tariffs set to lapse July 24, the looming Section 301 investigations that will be far more commodity-specific than the sweeping IEEPA tariffs, and the real-world trade damage already visible: US soybeans to China down 90% year on year, with Brazil and Argentina filling the gap, almonds shifting to Australian sourcing, pistachios moving from other origins into India. His ask of policymakers was simple and quotable: tell us the ground rules so we can get to work, because the stops and starts and whipsaw are what actually impede growth.

The Bottom Line From Day One

Strip away the launch-day jitters and the picture that emerged was remarkably consistent across an LTL operator, a fraud and technology expert, the CEO of one of the largest truckload carriers in the country, and the director of the nation’s busiest port. Capacity is tightening fast. Retail is stronger than anyone expected. Fuel is cooling at the pump and cooling even faster at the wholesale rack, quietly padding carrier margins. And the structural forces of compliance enforcement and the broker liability ruling are reshaping who gets to haul freight and how.

For the small carrier and owner-operator, the message under all of it is the one Fuller kept returning to: after a long, brutal downturn, this is the cycle that finally turned toward the people who move the freight. The question now is who is positioned to make the most of it.

That is exactly the kind of state-of-the-market read the show is built to deliver, and Day One was only the start. The full premiere replay is embedded above, and the segments with Estes, Highway, Simpson, and Seroka are each worth watching in full, because the detail in those conversations is where the real value lives.

FreightWaves Today airs live at noon Eastern every weekday, with rebroadcasts on the RoadDog Network at 5 PM, plus 6 AM and 8 AM the following morning. Day Two raised the stakes with Aaron Graft, CEO of Triumph, one of the most important banks in the freight business, joining the desk, and the rest of the week brings a lineup the team is promising will not disappoint. If Day One is any indication of how fast this market is moving, you will want to be watching live. Catch the replay above, then meet us back here tomorrow at noon.

The post FreightWaves Today Debuts as Spot Rates Hit a Record appeared first on FreightWaves.

Double-Stack is an intermodal freight broker that has direct relationships with the Class I railroads. Unlike many 3PLs, it owns assets—a fleet of over 150 intermodal containers.

“We take items that typically don’t ship intermodal and work with the railroads to come up with a plan to shift and move that product from over the road to intermodal,” said Joe Kolb, Double-Stack founder and CEO.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The financial backing will allow Double-Stack to expand its service offering and North American footprint.

“We’ve done some pretty significant projects, but now it’s time to really start cementing those into steady, consistent opportunities with Open Road Ventures,” Kolb said. “Double-Stack is very much intermodal-focused, but there are a lot of other offerings we can add to our portfolio to help us grow.”

This is the first acquisition for middle-market M&A firm Open Road Ventures. The firm is focused on acquiring small- and mid-size freight brokers.

“Our goal is to bring like-minded business owners together who possess unique logistics tools so that each one of these entities can benefit from each other’s expertise,” said Mike Riccio, founding member of Open Road Ventures. “We have a series of acquisitions in the works and look forward to bringing new partners onboard in the coming months.”

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp
• Transportation pricing index logs record growth rate in May
• FedEx Freight embarks on journey as standalone LTL carrier

The post PE firm Open Road Ventures acquires intermodal 3PL Double-Stack appeared first on FreightWaves.

The move, announced Monday, allows individuals with H-2A agricultural worker visas to once again obtain commercial driving credentials in Texas, effective Monday.

The reopening comes less than three months after new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations sharply narrowed eligibility for non-domiciled CDLs, limiting them to holders of H-2A, H-2B and E-2 visas. 

Texas officials said the state currently has authorization to process only H-2A CDL and commercial learner permit applications, while guidance for H-2B and E-2 visa holders is expected later.

Applicants seeking a non-domiciled CDL must appear in person at a DPS driver’s license office and provide an unexpired foreign passport, visa documentation and proof of H-2A status. Under federal rules, the licenses cannot be valid for more than one year.

DPS also removed the Spanish language option for CDL tests following changes in federal requirements.

Related: Ohio reviews 5,000 nonresident CDLs amid federal compliance crackdown 

Texas suspended issuance of non-domiciled CDLs earlier this year while reviewing compliance with updated federal requirements. Several other states, including California, Washington, Colorado and Pennsylvania, have also paused or reassessed their non-domiciled CDL programs amid concerns over federal compliance standards and the potential loss of highway funding.

The announcement comes as federal officials intensify scrutiny of non-domiciled CDL programs nationwide. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently ordered a nationwide audit of state-issued non-domiciled CDLs, while FMCSA has tightened documentation requirements and eligibility standards for foreign-born commercial drivers.

Eight other U.S. states that have received federal approval to resume issuing non-domiciled CDLs include North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Delaware, Utah, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and New Jersey.

The scope of the change is significant. FMCSA estimates there are approximately 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders nationwide, including between 6,000 to 9,600 in Texas.

FMCSA projects that about 194,000 of them — 97% of the current total — will be unable to renew under the new rule. As existing licenses expire, the agency expects the non-domiciled CDL population to plunge from roughly 200,000 drivers today to about 6,000 in the coming years.

Related: Border Patrol arrests 36 truck drivers in immigration operation

The post Texas drops ban on commercial drivers licenses for temporary farm workers  appeared first on FreightWaves.

The bill, known as the Dashboard Cameras in Commercial Vehicles Act, cleared third reading with unanimous support in late May. It would require vehicle owners or lessees to install and maintain forward-facing cameras and require operators to keep them recording whenever the vehicle is operating.

In Canada’s parliamentary system, most laws originate as government bills introduced by cabinet ministers. A private member’s bill, by contrast, is introduced by an individual legislator who is not part of the executive branch. These bills follow the same formal process but receive limited debate time unless they gain broad support. This measure attracted unanimous backing from all parties.

The bill references British Columbia’s existing Commercial Transport Act, the province’s primary law governing commercial vehicles. That act defines which trucks, buses and vehicle combinations qualify as commercial vehicles and establishes rules for licensing, weights and highway operations.

A key feature is its use of the existing definition rather than creating a new category. The dashboard camera requirement would therefore apply to vehicles already subject to B.C. commercial transport regulations.

Path to Implementation

After clearing the legislature, the bill requires royal assent — the formal approval by the lieutenant governor, the Crown’s representative in the province. Royal assent turns the bill into law.

The legislation would not take effect immediately. It comes into force six months after royal assent, giving carriers and regulators time to prepare. During that period, the province will develop detailed regulations covering camera specifications, data handling, enforcement and compliance procedures. Until those rules are finalized, fleets lack clarity on technical standards and penalties.

The post B.C. Bill would make dashboard cameras mandatory on commercial vehicles appeared first on FreightWaves.

Drivers hauling fertilizer in 34 states will be able to transport their product for 16 hours in a 24-hour period under a waiver granted last week by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. 

Citing a squeeze on fertilizer supplies, FMCSA put the waiver in place between May 26 and August 26.

‘As part of (a) coordinated action and in response to a request from The Fertilizer Institute, FMCSA issues this waiver to provide needed relief from specified (regulations) for motor carriers and drivers transporting fertilizer products in CMVs for commercial farming and agricultural purposes in select States,” FMCSA said in its prepared statement announcing the waiver.

As FMCSA notes in its announcement, there already are loopholes in the Hours of Service regulations for some agricultural transportation. Those breaks affect various types of transportation, such as the movement of farm supplies within a 150-mile radius from various source locations.

But the waiver announced last week is more sweeping. It waives current Hours of Service regulations with its various restrictions around the base provision of limiting driving to 11 hours in a 14-hours on-duty window within a 24-hour period.

16-hour day

Under the waiver, a driver hauling fertilizer in any one of the 34 states can drive for 16 hours in a 24-hour period.  The driver is required to take a 6-hour break in the sleeper berth for those other hours in the 24-hour period.

If the sleeper berth is not available, the driver must take an 8-hour break in some other accommodation in those 24 hours.

The states where the waiver will be in place are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington,  West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The waiver is also eliminating the ELD requirement, though it does require drivers without an ELD to use paper logs. 

Trade group pushed for the change

The waiver announcement cited the support of The Fertilizer Institute, the industry’s Washington-based trade group.

In its own statement released alongside the waiver, the institute said farmers are “well into spring planting and the window farmers have to get their fertilizer applied is small.”

“Expanding transportation flexibility can help alleviate strain within the system and help avoid any potential bottlenecks in the fertilizer supply chain, especially as we transition to summer and fall fill,” it added.

The Institute said it is “not uncommon” for states to grant their own waivers for moving fertilizer around peak times for planting or harvesting. “Waiving HOS regulations for fertilizer deliveries was a potential policy solution (the institute) shared with the White House…earlier this month,” it said.

In the institute’s statement, CEO Corey Rosenbusch said fertilizer “moves in a variety of ways, but all fertilizer touches a truck at least once on its way to farmers’ fields and that is often the last part of the trip.”

More articles by John Kingston

Texas court nixes shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner case

Carrier Nussbaum sets driver pay increase; others popping up more quietly

Intrastate delivery worker can be ruled interstate in dispute: SCOTUS

The post More than ⅔ of states granted HOS waiver for hauling fertilizer appeared first on FreightWaves.

Trucking insurance is expensive and getting more so. According to ATRI’s 2025 Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking, insurance premiums hit a record 10.2 cents per mile in 2024, following a 12.5 percent increase in 2023 and an additional 3 percent rise in 2024. For an owner-operator running 120,000 miles per year, that is $12,240 in insurance cost before cargo, physical damage, or bobtail coverage is added. The driver behind rising premiums is not primarily your safety record. It is a nuclear verdict. In 2024, there were 135 nuclear verdicts exceeding $10 million against corporations, a 52 percent increase over 2023, totaling $31.3 billion, according to Marathon Strategies. The median nuclear verdict climbed to $51 million in 2024. Insurers are pricing that litigation environment into every renewal, and that pressure is not going away.

What can actually move your premium in the other direction is demonstrable risk reduction. Advanced driver-assistance systems, the features collectively called ADAS, are one of the few things underwriters have begun to price with measurable discounts, because the crash data behind them is substantial and documented by independent research organizations. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety examined data from 62 carriers operating trucks weighing at least 33,000 pounds and found that trucks equipped with forward collision warning had 22 percent fewer total crashes and 44 percent fewer rear-end crashes compared to unequipped trucks. Trucks equipped with automatic emergency braking had 41 percent fewer rear-end crashes. Eric Teoh, the IIHS director of statistical services who conducted the study, noted that for the specific crash type these systems are designed to prevent, the reduction is dramatic.

For an insurer pricing a single owner-operator, those numbers translate into a meaningful conversation at renewal. But only if you understand which systems you have, what they actually do, and how to document them.

Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB): The One That Moves the Needle Most

AEB is the system that braking researchers, regulators, and insurers have focused on more than any other ADAS feature, and for good reason. It is the only system that intervenes physically without driver action. Every other feature on this list is a warning. AEB is a response.

The system works through a combination of forward-facing radar and cameras that continuously monitor the road ahead for obstacles, closing speeds, and collision trajectories. When the system calculates that a collision is imminent and the driver has not applied the brakes, it applies them automatically, either to prevent the impact entirely or to reduce speed before impact. The IIHS found that in rear-end crashes where AEB intervened, speed was reduced by more than 50 percent on average between intervention and impact. That speed reduction is the difference between a property damage claim and a bodily injury claim, and in the litigation environment trucking now operates in, that distinction is worth real money.

As of 2026, AEB is standard on the Freightliner Cascadia through the Detroit Assurance 5.0 suite, according to Greg Treinen, vice president of on-highway market development at Daimler Truck North America. It is available as part of ADAS packages on the Kenworth T680 and Peterbilt 579, and is included in the Volvo Active Driver Assist platform on Volvo VNL models. On the regulatory front, FMCSA and NHTSA have been working toward a mandate for AEB on all new Class 7 and 8 trucks. The rule has gone through multiple rounds of proposed rulemaking and has been reissued for supplemental comment as of early 2026, with compliance potentially required on all new heavy trucks by 2027 or 2028. The mandate is not yet final, but the regulatory direction is clear. AEB on a new truck purchased today is not just a safety feature. It is positioning ahead of a requirement that is coming regardless.

For a solo operator, the insurance argument for AEB is straightforward. It is the feature that underwriters specifically ask about. It has the strongest independent crash data behind it. And it is the one most likely to prevent the kind of serious rear-end collision that triggers a nuclear verdict.

Forward Collision Warning (FCW): The Lookout You Cannot Turn Off

FCW is the system that precedes AEB in the intervention chain. Where AEB brakes the truck, FCW warns the driver. Forward-facing radar tracks the distance and closing speed between your truck and the vehicle ahead, and when the system calculates that a collision is possible based on your current speed, following distance, and the behavior of the vehicle ahead, it alerts the driver through an audible warning, a visual alert on the dash, or both.

FCW does not touch the brakes. It informs. The driver is still responsible for the response. This distinction matters for operators who are wary of systems that intervene physically, because FCW gives the warning and leaves the braking to you. Most AEB systems include FCW as a component, so if your truck has AEB, it almost certainly has FCW as well.

The IIHS large-truck study found FCW alone reduced overall crash rates by 22 percent and rear-end crashes by 44 percent. The reason FCW shows strong crash reduction even without automatic braking is that the warnings are consistent, calibrated, and do not fatigue. A driver who has been running for eight hours may be slightly slower to recognize a closing situation than the radar system watching the road ahead 24 times per second.

For insurance purposes, FCW is meaningful but secondary to AEB. An underwriter who sees FCW on a vehicle spec without AEB will note it, but the conversation about premium discount centers on AEB.

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and Lane Keep Assist (LKA): Two Different Jobs

Lane departure warning and lane keep assist are related but distinct systems, and the difference matters in real-world operation.

LDW uses forward-facing cameras to monitor lane markings. When the truck crosses a lane marking without a corresponding turn signal activation, it alerts the driver. It does not steer. It tells you that you have drifted. The alert is typically a visual signal on the dash combined with an audible tone, a vibration in the seat, or a haptic steering wheel signal depending on the OEM implementation.

LKA goes further. When the truck begins to drift without a signal, LKA applies gentle steering inputs or differential braking to guide the truck back toward center lane. The intervention is typically subtle, more of a correction than a jerk, and most systems are designed to be overridden immediately by deliberate driver input. On Volvo’s VADA Plus package, lane-keep support is available as an upgrade to the standard lane departure warning included in the base Volvo Active Driver Assist platform. Kenworth’s optional ADAS packages for the T680 include lane-keeping assist as part of the configurable safety bundle.

The insurance relevance of lane departure systems is real but more modest than AEB. Lane departure crashes, including sideswipes and roadway departure events, account for a significant share of serious truck accidents, but the crash data specifically attributing reductions to LDW and LKA in heavy trucks is less robust than the rear-end crash data for AEB and FCW. Insurers credit these systems, but they are typically part of a broader safety technology conversation rather than the anchor of a premium negotiation.

Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC): Not Just Cruise Control

Standard cruise control holds a set speed and maintains it regardless of what is in front of the truck. Adaptive cruise control adds a following distance component. Using the same forward-facing radar that powers FCW and AEB, ACC monitors the gap between your truck and the vehicle ahead and automatically adjusts speed to maintain a set following distance. If traffic slows, ACC slows with it, within the system’s speed range. If traffic clears, it accelerates back to the set speed.

The fuel economy benefit of ACC on flat terrain has been documented at 7 to 14 percent compared to manual throttle management, according to research cited by NACFE, because it eliminates the micro-accelerations a driver’s foot makes when holding speed manually. The safety benefit is that it maintains consistent following distance without the gradual creep that happens when a driver sets a speed but unconsciously closes on slower traffic.

ACC is available on every major 2026 Class 8 lineup, either as standard equipment or as part of configurable ADAS packages. On the Peterbilt 579, the updated ADAS package for 2026 includes side object detection alongside ACC and lane-keeping assist. The Freightliner Cascadia’s Detroit Assurance suite integrates ACC with AEB in a single system rather than treating them as separate options.

Underwriters view ACC favorably as part of a comprehensive safety technology profile. In isolation, it is not the feature that drives a specific premium conversation. As part of a documented package that includes AEB, FCW, and lane systems, it contributes to the overall risk profile that justifies a discount.

Blind Spot Warning (BSW): The Mirror Problem That Never Goes Away

A loaded tractor-trailer has substantial blind zones on both sides and directly behind the trailer. Blind spot warning systems use radar sensors mounted on the tractor to monitor those zones and alert the driver when a vehicle is present in the area adjacent to and behind the cab that is not visible in standard mirrors.

The alert is typically a visual indicator in or near the corresponding mirror, activated whenever a vehicle enters the monitored zone, with an escalated alert (often an audible warning) if the turn signal is activated while a vehicle is present. Some systems extend the monitored zone significantly behind the trailer using additional sensors.

The IIHS Highway Loss Data Institute found that blind spot monitoring as a standalone system reduced property damage liability claim frequency by nearly 10 percent and bodily injury liability claim frequency by 13 percent, based on data from Mazda’s systems analyzed in a 2026 study. While that data is from passenger vehicles, the underlying principle holds for commercial applications: lane-change and merge crashes are a material share of serious truck accidents, and BSW directly addresses the most common contributing factor in those crashes, which is the driver’s inability to see adjacent vehicles without a mirror check.

Kenworth’s DigitalVision Mirrors, available on the T680, replace traditional mirrors with HD cameras and in-cab displays that provide a wider field of view and eliminate the optical distortion of conventional glass mirrors. Peterbilt’s digital mirror system offers similar functionality on the 579. These camera-mirror systems are a more comprehensive approach to the blind zone problem than radar-only BSW, and they are becoming more common on 2026 spec sheets as the technology matures.

Intelligent Headlights and Driver Monitoring: The Quieter Features

Two additional systems are worth mentioning even though they do not generate the same insurance conversation as AEB and FCW.

Adaptive or intelligent headlights adjust their aim and intensity based on vehicle speed, steering angle, and whether opposing traffic is present. They are not a radar-based ADAS system in the same sense as the collision and lane systems, but they improve visibility in low-light and curve conditions in ways that reduce nighttime crash risk. Peterbilt announced expanded LED headlight availability across its 2026 lineup, noting improved range, increased beam spread, and lower power consumption compared to halogen. For a driver who runs night miles or early morning lanes, better forward lighting is a meaningful safety upgrade even if it is not specifically credited at insurance renewal.

Driver monitoring systems, which use in-cab cameras to detect signs of drowsiness, distraction, or inattention, are a separate category. These systems are more commonly associated with fleet telematics and coaching programs than with individual owner-operator insurance discussions, but they are worth knowing about as insurers increasingly distinguish between operators who can demonstrate behavioral data and those who cannot. Some carriers are beginning to offer telematics-linked premium programs that tie renewals to actual driving behavior data rather than just historical loss runs.

What Actually Gets Credited at Renewal

Here is the honest version of the insurance discount conversation. The premium reduction available through ADAS documentation is real but not uniform across carriers and not automatic. The industry publication SoCal Trucking Insurance’s 2026 insurance planning guide notes that ADAS adoption has been proven to reduce crash frequency by up to 40 percent, but adds that underwriters require documentation before they adjust pricing. Listing features on a renewal application without substantiation does not move a premium.

What moves a premium: a spec sheet from the OEM or dealer confirming the systems installed on your specific VIN, a clear record of those systems functioning without disablement or override, and a claims history that reflects the risk reduction the technology is supposed to provide.

The features that insurers most consistently credit are, in rough order of impact: AEB as the anchor feature, FCW as a secondary factor, lane departure systems as a contributing element, and blind spot warning as part of a comprehensive profile. Adaptive cruise control and headlight systems are noted but do not typically carry standalone premium weight.

Dan Murray, senior vice president of ATRI, noted in a Transport Topics feature on ADAS evaluation that AEB is the most contested technology among truck drivers because of false activation concerns, while simultaneously being the most credible feature to underwriters because of its crash data record. That tension is worth understanding. A system that drivers sometimes disable because it activates in low-bridge situations or tight construction zones is a system that your insurer may ask about at renewal. A documented history of disabling safety systems can undercut the premium argument you are trying to make.

Documenting What You Have

The practical step some owner-operators skip is creating a safety technology file before renewal, not scrambling to explain what the truck has after the underwriter asks.

The file should contain three things. First, the truck’s original build sheet or the dealer’s delivery documentation showing which ADAS packages were ordered and installed by VIN. Second, the OEM’s published description of what each system does and the crash data supporting it. Most OEMs have publicly available materials on their safety technology suites, and a two-page summary of the IIHS large-truck crash data behind AEB and FCW is worth printing and including in your renewal package. Third, any telematics reports from your ELD or fleet management system that show system activation history and, critically, that show the systems are active rather than disabled.

Bring that file to your insurance agent 60 to 90 days before renewal, not at renewal. The agent’s job at renewal is to market your risk to underwriters. A well-documented safety technology profile gives the agent something concrete to present rather than a verbal description of features you think the truck has. Does this guarantee anything, no. However, it can certainly help your case in the long run.

The conversation is not complicated. It’s: here is the truck’s VIN, here are the ADAS systems installed from the factory, here is the independent data on how those systems reduce the specific crashes that generate the claims your, markets are pricing, and I would like that risk reduction reflected in my premium. Some carriers will respond and some will not, but you cannot have the conversation without the documentation…

For Fleet Owners: Where the Leverage Actually Lives

At the fleet level, the insurance conversation around ADAS is more developed than at the single-truck level, and the data that moves underwriters is more granular. A fleet that can show system activation rates, event frequency trends, and coaching outcomes tied to ADAS data is presenting a fundamentally different risk profile than one that says “our trucks have AEB.”

Greg Treinen of DTNA noted in a Transport Topics interview that insurance companies are playing a significant role in promoting ADAS adoption by offering reduced premiums for fleets that implement and document these systems. The operative word is document. The technology in the truck is necessary but not sufficient. The documentation of its performance over time is what produces the pricing conversation.

For small fleets in the 3 to 20 truck range, the most practical starting point is an audit of what each truck actually has installed, cross-referenced against each truck’s current insurance file. It is common for fleet operators to discover that some units were spec’d with full ADAS packages and others were not, and that the insurance file does not reflect the distinction. Correcting that discrepancy across the fleet can produce premium savings on the well-equipped units that more than offset the administrative work of documenting them properly.

The post The Alphabet Behind the Wheel: What ADAS Features Actually Do, and Which Ones Your Insurer Will Actually Credit appeared first on FreightWaves.

Agents assigned to the Yuma Sector arrested 52 individuals during Operation Checkmate, conducted May 11-15, for being in the U.S. illegally. Of those arrested, 36 were operating semi-trucks, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Border Patrol officials said Operation Checkmate was designed to identify and apprehend individuals unlawfully present in the country who were operating commercial motor vehicles.

Of the 36 truck drivers arrested, 29 possessed commercial driver’s licenses issued by California, New York, Washington and Virginia, according to a news release. Thirty of the drivers were citizens of India, while the remaining six were from Mexico, El Salvador and Russia. 

The operation comes as federal and state officials increase oversight of commercial driver’s license programs for non-U.S. citizens.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s revised rules governing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses took effect March 16, limiting eligibility to certain visa classifications and requiring states to strengthen verification procedures. 

Several states, including California, Washington, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Ohio, have recently paused, reviewed or modified their non-domiciled CDL programs while determining compliance with updated federal guidance.

The Arizona arrests come as other states have launched similar enforcement initiatives targeting commercial drivers. In Oklahoma, the Highway Patrol recently reported that its yearlong “Operation Guardian” identified more than 600 truck drivers who were allegedly unlicensed, improperly trained or in the country illegally, according to .

Oklahoma Department of Public Safety Commissioner Tim Tipton said investigators also uncovered drivers with criminal warrants and what he described as “pop-up” trucking schools improperly issuing commercial driver’s licenses, calling it “a well-organized criminal network that’s done this to the trucking industry,” he said to News on 6.

An analysis by Overdrive found Texas has been one of the largest issuers of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses in the nation. The state has issued more than 51,000 non-domiciled CDLs over the past decade.

The post Border Patrol arrests 36 truck drivers in immigration operation appeared first on FreightWaves.

The ongoing closure to most global shipping of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran has kept container rates elevated but below spiking level, said analyst Freightos (NASDAQ: CRGO), through fuel cost increases. 

“But the addition of early peak season demand is now pushing rates up sharply from that elevated baseline as space gets tight,” the Barcelona-based company said in a weekly update.

The resolution of the conflict in the Persian Gulf is from certain after President Donald Trump this week said he “couldn’t care less” about stalled ceasefire negotiations. 

Mediterranean Shipping Co., the world’s largest liner operator, in a release Tuesday confirmed one of its vessels was hit by two projectiles as it exited the Port of Um-Qasr in Iran. No injuries were reported aboard the 3,000-TEU Sariska V, which suffered hull damage in the incident in the northern portion of the Persian Gulf. MSC cited Iranian media reports that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed responsibility in retaliation for a U.S. attack on one of its vessels.

At the same time, with crop planting season in full swing U.S. regulators loosened restrictions on how many hours truck drivers hauling fertilizer can be on the road. The Iran war has throttled global supplies moving by ship out of the region.

Approaching 100 days since the start of the war, “[f]or the container market, the closure has primarily meant upward pressure on freight rates via carriers passing on war-elevated fuel costs, which manifested in different ways on different lanes during the low demand months of March, April and most of May this year,” said Freightos analyst Judah Levine.

An early start to the peak season rush – when retailers bring in goods for end-of-year holiday sales – already has been whipsawed by premium charges and reductions in space allocations for contracted shippers.

“[S]pot rates climbed moderately – about 15% – across the ex-Asia lanes through mid-May GRIs [general rate increases] to levels around 20% higher than a year ago, and are starting to spike this week,” Levine said. 

At approximately $3,200 per FEU to the West Coast and $5,000 to the East Coast, Levine noted, last week’s averages were about level for May, as were Asia-Europe prices at $3,000 North Europe and $4,400 to the Mediterranean.

“But June 1 GRIs and PSS (peak season surcharges) introductions have daily rates spiking from $1,000 per FEU to $1,800 per FEU so far this week on these trades, he said, with additional significant increases announced by CMA CGM, Maersk (OTC: AMKBY) and other lines planned for mid-month, too.

Levine said daily rates for Asia-Europe earlier surpassed peak season highs from last June-July. But the trans-Pacific remains about $1,000 per FEU short of the frontloading highs as importers raced to beat tariffs in 2025.

This article was updated June 2 to correct that Freightos is based in Barcelona.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

Related coverage:

Swearing-in of commissioner returns U.S. maritime regulator to full strength

Oakland exports lead imports in April

U.S. fines Maersk $1.9 million over detention charges

Maersk denies report its vessel transited dangerous Mideast route

The post Box rates soar $1,000 in one week on peak rush appeared first on FreightWaves.

The Johns Creek, Georgia-based less-than-truckload carrier reported May tonnage growth of 8.4% y/y as shipments grew 3.7% and weight per shipment increased 4.5%. That compared to final results for April, showing a 6.9% tonnage increase as shipments and weight per shipment were up 5.6% and 1.3%, respectively. (April was up against a prior-year comp that was 480 basis points higher than May’s.)

Two-year-stacked comps show Saia’s (NASDAQ: SAIA) tonnage growth has slowed from a recent high of 15% in March to 8% in May. However, Saia’s prior-year comps range from mostly negative to slightly positive for the rest of the year.

Higher shipment weights are a sign of an improving LTL market, typically driving revenue per shipment and margins higher. Saia’s weight per shipment averaged 8% on a two-year-stacked comp in both April and May.

Manufacturing data released Monday showed industrial activity was positive for a fifth consecutive month in May. The Purchasing Managers’ Index registered a 54 reading for the month, which was 130 bps higher than April. (A reading above 50 signals expansion while one below 50 indicates contraction.) The May reading was the highest for the dataset in four years.

The new orders subindex—an indicator of future activity—came in at 56.8, 270 bps higher sequentially. (Inflections in PMI data usually lead LTL volumes by a few months.)

Saia doesn’t provide any revenue-based metrics in its intra-quarter updates. It previously disclosed that contractual rate renewals averaged 6.7% in the first quarter (up 12.8% on a two-year-stacked comp).

The company previously guided to 400 to 450 bps of sequential operating margin improvement in the second quarter. (Its margin normally improves 250 to 300 bps from the first to the second quarter.) Higher tonnage and a weaker first-quarter operating result formed the outlook.

The guide implies an 87.5% operating ratio (inverse of operating margin) at the midpoint of the range, which would mark a y/y improvement for the first time in over two years. Saia’s massive terminal expansion has been a drag on results. However, margin pressure is easing as the carrier’s approximately 40 new locations operated profitably during the first quarter.

Shares of SAIA were off 1.3% at 12:29 p.m. EDT on Tuesday compared to the S&P 500, which was up 0.1%.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

• Transportation pricing index logs record growth rate in May
• FedEx Freight embarks on journey as standalone LTL carrier
• Hub Group CFO, COO depart following accounting error

The post Saia’s tonnage growth accelerates in May on easier comp appeared first on FreightWaves.

On May 15, 2026, the Texas Supreme Court issued an important decision in In re Home Depot
U.S.A., Inc. The court ruled that Home Depot cannot be held liable for a fatal motorcycle crash
involving a Werner Enterprises tractor-trailer that was hauling Home Depot’s freight. The court
ordered the claims against Home Depot to be dismissed.

What Happened
A young man died when his motorcycle collided with a Werner tractor-trailer. The driver
allegedly ran a red light. At the time, Werner was transporting ordinary goods for Home Depot
under a routine shipping contract. The victim’s family sued Werner, the driver, and Home Depot.
They claimed Home Depot was negligent for choosing to do business with Werner, a large
federally regulated carrier with a history of safety violations and crashes. Home Depot filed a
motion to dismiss the claims early in the case, arguing it owed no legal duty to the public. When
the trial court denied the motion, Home Depot sought emergency relief from the Texas Supreme
Court.

Why the Court Dismissed the Claims
Writing for the court, Justice John P. Devine explained that Texas law does not impose a duty of
care on a “passive shipper” like Home Depot in this situation. Home Depot did not own or
control the truck, employ or supervise the driver, or create any special hazard with its cargo. The
shipment involved routine freight moved by an independent, federally regulated motor carrier.
The court relied on two basic rules of Texas law: One party generally has no duty to control the
conduct of another, and a company that hires an independent contractor is not usually liable for
the contractor’s negligence.

Simply hiring a trucking company to haul normal goods does not create liability for accidents
caused by the carrier’s driver. The court noted that federal safety regulations already govern
carriers like Werner, and shippers should not be required to duplicate that oversight for every
routine shipment.

Distinguishing Other Cases
The opinion made clear that this ruling does not apply when a shipper’s own actions create a
danger. For example, in United Rentals North America, Inc. v. Evans, the shipper loaded
oversized equipment improperly and failed to correct the mistake, which led to an accident. In
that case, the shipper’s direct conduct created the risk. No such facts existed in the Home Depot
case.

Context: Broker Liability and the Montgomery Case
This decision comes one day after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Montgomery v. Caribe
Transport II on May 14, 2026. In Montgomery, the Court held that freight brokers can face state-
law negligent selection claims when they arrange transportation with unsafe carriers. The Federal
Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) does not preempt these safety-related
lawsuits against brokers.

The two rulings draw an important line: In Texas, direct shippers (like Home Depot) using
routine shipments generally do not owe a broad duty to the public for a carrier’s negligence.
Freight brokers, however, now face greater exposure nationwide after Montgomery.

What This Means for the Industry
For shippers in Texas, the decision provides welcome clarity and protection. Companies that hire
federally licensed carriers for ordinary freight shipments are less likely to face “negligent hiring”
lawsuits based only on the carrier’s safety record. Brokers, on the other hand, should review and
strengthen their carrier vetting programs. Plaintiffs’ attorneys are expected to test the limits of
the Montgomery decision in courts across the country.

Bottom Line
The Texas Supreme Court’s decision helps prevent ordinary shipping contracts from turning into
open-ended tort liability. It keeps the focus of liability on the parties who actually control the
trucks and the roads. Together with the Montgomery ruling, these cases bring greater clarity to an
area of law that has created uncertainty and costly litigation for the freight industry. But there
remains considerable ambiguity into carrier vetting. Should be expect 50 different standards of
care for each state in the union? And if so, is that really what we want?

The post Texas Supreme Court Limits Shipper Liability in Trucking Crash Case appeared first on FreightWaves.

FreightWaves’ Freight Brokerage Rate Report — sponsored by Truckstop.com and Blue Book Services— provides a review of the previous quarter and a forecast for the coming months.

Featuring responses from a freight brokerage survey alongside SONAR data, the report is designed to provide intelligence that brokers can use to inform their strategies in the months ahead.

Key areas of exploration include:

• Key themes to watch in Q2 2026
• FreightWaves broker survey insights
• Key takeaways for brokers in 2026

Complete the form below to download your complimentary copy.

The post White Paper: Q2 2026 Freight Brokerage Rate Report appeared first on FreightWaves.

The Shipper Rate Report — presented in partnership with Trimble — is a quarterly publication using SONAR datasets to create the most in-depth rate and demand outlook for shippers.

The insights within this paper are curated by the market experts at FreightWaves and backed by the proprietary data and analytics housed in SONAR’s platform.

Key areas of exploration include:

• Key themes to watch in Q2 2026
• FreightWaves shipper survey insights
• Key takeaways for shippers in 2026

Complete the form below to download your complimentary copy.

The post White Paper: Q2 2026 Shipper Rate Report appeared first on FreightWaves.

FreightWaves’ Carrier Rate Report — sponsored by Trimble and Cargowise Landside — provides a review of the previous quarter and a forecast for the coming months.

Featuring responses from a carrier survey alongside SONAR data, the report is designed to provide intelligence that carriers can use to inform their strategies in the months ahead.

Key areas of exploration include:

• Key Themes to Watch in Q2 2026
• FreightWaves Carrier Survey Insights
• Key Takeaways for carriers in 2026

Complete the form below to download your complimentary copy.

The post White Paper: Q2 2026 Carrier Rate Report appeared first on FreightWaves.

In this report, you will find: 

• Freight market remains volatile and capacity-sensitive: Disruptions like Roadcheck quickly drove tender rejections and spot rates higher, highlighting an unstable, supply-constrained environment. 
• Spot rates are outpacing contract rates: A widening gap is pulling capacity into the spot market, increasing rejection rates and signaling upward pricing pressure for shippers. 
• Demand is stable but not strong: Freight demand remains flat overall, with limited import activity and cautious shipper ordering due to inflation concerns. 
• Inflation continues to impact transportation costs: Elevated fuel and broader input costs (PPI ~6%) are contributing to higher freight rates and economic uncertainty. 
• Capacity tightening persists: Ongoing carrier exits and stricter broker vetting are reducing available capacity, creating longer-term upward rate pressure. 
• Modal shifts and cost strategies emerging: Shippers are leveraging intermodal and LTL to secure capacity, even at higher unit costs, as truckload tightens. 
• Growth pockets offset broader softness: Data center construction is driving strong flatbed demand, while housing remains weak and consumer sentiment continues to decline.

Download the complimentary report today to access the full insights.

The post White Paper: State of the Industry – June 2026 appeared first on FreightWaves.