The ‘ingenious strategy’ behind most truckers’ least favorite week of the year: International Roadcheck

International Roadcheck Week is hardly the sexiest topic in trucking, but it is a darn-tootin’ important one. Inspectors in the U.S. and Canada halt tens of thousands of trucks for vehicle inspections for a few days every summer or early fall. They remove thousands of trucks and drivers from the road; in 2021, 16.5% of inspected vehicles were put out of service along with 5.3% of drivers.

It’s uncommon for truck drivers to actually get their vehicles inspected at random during most of the year. To avoid International Roadcheck Week, many truckers simply don’t drive during that period of time — which, presumably, means more unsafe vehicles and drivers on the road outside of the inspection blitz. It’s a question that ate at Andrew Balthrop, a research associate at the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business.

Around 5% fewer one-person trucking companies are active during International Roadcheck Week. But Balthrop and his fellow researcher, Alex Scott of the University of Tennessee, found a major upside to the inspection blitz — even with all the folks who avoid it. According to their working paper published in March 2021, vehicles are safer a month before and after the inspection period. There’s a 1.8% reduction of vehicle violations, according to Balthrop and Scott’s analysis. Surprise inspection blitzes don’t result in the same uptick of compliance.

I caught up with Balthrop about his research last week at FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain conference, and we chatted again on the phone this week about his findings on International Roadcheck Week.

Enjoy a bonus MODES and a lightly edited transcription of our phone interview:

FREIGHTWAVES: For our readers who are not aware of what Roadcheck Week actually is, can you explain a little bit about what it and why it is important to drivers and companies?

BALTHROP: “The International Roadcheck is part of an alliance between the inspectors in Canada and the ones in Mexico and the U.S. to have a unified framework for making sure trucks are safe to operate. That should make it easier to go across borders when you have this kind of unified structure.

“In the U.S., one of these CVSA inspection blitzes is the International Roadcheck that happens for three days in the summer. Usually it’s a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. And usually it’s the first week in June.

“And in it, they focus on Level One inspections, the North American Standard Inspection where they inspect the driver records, the hours of service, the licensure and I believe medical records as well. Then they inspect the truck. It’s an in-depth inspection where the inspector will actually crawl under the truck to look at various things. And these inspections, from the data that I’ve seen, take about a half an hour on average.

“During the Roadcheck Week, they’ll do about 60,000 inspections, so 20,000 a day. They’re going to pull over a lot of trucks, and this can cause a little bit of congestion at the weigh stations and the roadside inspections localities as the inspectors are doing these inspections.”

Roadcheck Week doesn’t catch all truck drivers, but it has a long-lasting benefit to safety

FREIGHTWAVES: So, can most drivers kind of expect to be pulled over? How likely is that?

BALTHROP: “There’s 1 million or 3 million trucks on the road, somewhere around there on any given day. With 20,000 inspections, most drivers still will not get inspected, but there’s going to be a higher proportion of drivers inspected.

“You’re more likely to get inspected on these days. If you don’t have a recent inspection on your record, or if you have a bad recent inspection on your record, you’re more likely to be pulled over on these days.”

FREIGHTWAVES: Your research focused on that it’s just unusual that this inspection is announced, that it’s planned. We were talking before about how normally, if you’re trying to assure quality or compliance, you would not announce an inspection in advance. It would be more of a surprise-type situation.

Can you walk us through why that’s so unusual, or what’s the rationale that you see behind announcing it in advance?

BALTHROP: “It is unusual, and on the surface, it doesn’t make much sense, but it turns out to be kind of an ingenious strategy. So I’ll walk through it here.

“Over the course of a year, there’ll be 2 million inspections of 3 or 4 million trucks out there. The average rate of inspections is pretty low. It’s not uncommon for truckers to go years without having an inspection. With this low inspection intensity, the FMCSA has sort of a problem of, how does it get anybody to abide by the regulations?

“I’m a jaded economist, and I don’t worry or consider too much ethics and morality and all that kind of stuff. It comes down to incentives for drivers to follow these inspections. The incentives do guide behavior. So, how could the FMCSA incentivize drivers to follow these regulations more closely and adhere to the standards?

“They do this by announcing the blitz. This does two things. On one side, it allows everybody to prepare in advance. There’s a bunch of anecdotal evidence out there that people do prepare for these blitzes in advance. They will have their trucks inspected beforehand for any problems. They’ll time maintenance and upkeep in advance to make sure that their vehicles are in order. “They’ll be a little bit more cognizant of the driver-side regulations. One thing we notice in our study is that hours-of-service violations really drop during these extensions, because people see them coming. They don’t fudge the books in any way.”

Owner-operators can evade Roadcheck Week. Big carriers, not so much.

BALTHROP: “The issue with the announcement, on the flip side, is that it allows people to just dodge the inspection entirely. For a long time, people have talked about how owner-operators and smaller carriers time their vacations for this particular time. They could do this for a couple reasons. To avoid the hassle is a nice way to put it, but it also allows you to be noncompliant to avoid the high-intensity inspections.

“You have this balance here that on one side you get the behavior you want with people complying with regulations. That’s the behavior the FMCSA wants. But on the flip side, you get a bunch of people that are kind of outright dodging inspections.

“When you compare these two things on balance, the policy is actually pretty effective because you get a lot of people focused on maintaining their trucks and obeying the rules during that particular week. Especially with the vehicle maintenance stuff, that lasts a long time.

“In our research, we saw that vehicle violations, a month before and up to a month afterwards, is when you still notice your vehicle violations. That trucks are kind of better maintained around these blitzes.

“The ingenious aspect of it is that the FMCSA, by concentrating their inspection resources all at one time and announcing it, they’re making it clear that they’re serious about enforcing these regulations and everybody prepares for it. For the number of inspections that are happening, you get fewer tickets than you would have otherwise expected.

“The FMCSA, they’re putting people through a little bit of a hassle, but they’re not having to write a bunch of tickets to get people to comply. They’re not really punishing a whole bunch of people because, by making this apparent that this is going to happen, people comply and the FMCSA gets what they want essentially without having to come down on carriers too hard.”

A convenient time for a vacation, indeed

FREIGHTWAVES: OK, interesting. And how does this pattern of shutting down, how does that compare for an owner-operator versus a driver for a big fleet?

BALTHROP: “If you’re a motor carrier with thousands of power units, you can’t just pack up and not do business on a particular day. They just don’t have that option. So they get inspected at a higher intensity, and you see the larger carriers kind of more focused on making sure that they’re prepared for these inspections. With so many inspections, the larger carriers are going to be inspected at higher rates. You can really damage your reputation if your equipment isn’t in order on this particular day.

“Versus the smaller carriers, especially if you’re talking about a single-vehicle fleet, an owner-operator type, it is not that difficult to just not work for those three days. And so you see a lot about that.

“In terms of what the roadway composition looks like, if we look at inspection data and relative to a typical day with the usual inspections, on these Roadcheck days, you have about 5% fewer owner-operators on the road than you otherwise would expect.”

FREIGHTWAVES: Wow. And when you say owner-operators, you also mean just like fleets with just —

BALTHROP: “One-vehicle fleets.”

FREIGHTWAVES: OK, that’s interesting.

BALTHROP: “You know, you see a little bit of effect with the smaller fleets, below six vehicles, but it basically disappears by the time you get to a hundred vehicles.

“This effect is being driven by smaller carriers staying off the road in terms of avoidance. You see this goes also how you would expect; it’s also older vehicles that stay off the road. This is correlated with carrier size. The larger carriers use newer vehicles and owner-operators tend to use some of the older vehicles. But it’s particularly the older vehicles that are off the road.

“This makes intuitive sense. Older vehicles are more costly to keep compliant. Maintenance is more costly, and they’ve been around longer so there’s time for more stuff to have broken essentially.

How a truck driver gets stopped for inspection

FREIGHTWAVES: Can you explain a little bit more, the idea of having this inspection history and why it would benefit a larger or small carrier?

BALTHROP: “Getting flagged for inspection is sort of random, but not totally. If somebody notices something obviously wrong with your truck, that’s ground for a more in-depth inspection. Or if you get pulled over for some other reason, this can be grounds for inspection of some type.

“But there’s also the inspection selection service. The computer program that is random, that it randomly flags people in for inspection, but it’s based on your inspection history.

“So if your firm hasn’t been inspected recently, or if your carrier doesn’t have a very dense inspection history, you’ll be more likely to trigger that system to pull you in and have you inspected. If you have a dense inspection history, you’re less likely to get inspected.”

FREIGHTWAVES: So how do you get pulled over for inspection? As a person who only drives a passenger car, my main interaction with being pulled over is, I’m driving down the freeway or wherever, and I get stopped by the police. How does it work for a truck driver? How does getting pulled over or inspected work in that way?

BALTHROP: “The law is that you cannot pass a weigh station without pulling in and getting weighed. At that point they may flag you to be inspected. Now, in the past decade or two, there’s been a bunch of electronic devices that are installed in cabs. You may have heard of PrePass or Drivewise. This allows you to pass weigh stations.

“I don’t have data on how many trucks have the in-cab devices. But from a trucking perspective, they’re so convenient that you don’t have to stop every time you cross a state line. I think the vast, overwhelming majority of trucks have some sort of one of these electronic devices. The DOT inspectors at these roadside inspection points have a dial they can twist essentially about how many people they want to inspect.

“So during the roadcheck inspection week, they’ll crank that dial all the way up and pull everybody over. And if they get too backed up, they might crank it back down a little bit and so on.”

FREIGHTWAVES: OK, interesting. It reminds me of a highly sophisticated E‑ZPass.

A $10 million-plus expense to trucking companies every year … but it’s worth it if just one fatal crash is avoided

FREIGHTWAVES: Zooming out, when we hear about large truck crashes, something like a vehicle maintenance issue is not really the most sexy explanation. But just looking at the FMCSA data, in 29% of all truck crashes, a major factor is brake problems. So it seems like a lot of the truck crashes on the road are caused by vehicle maintenance, versus something like the driver using illegal drugs or some other sort of more dramatic explanation. Can you speak a little bit to why this sort of vehicle maintenance is important for safety in preventing large crashes?

BALTHROP: “We did a little bit of a back-of-the-envelope cost benefit analysis of this. Let me try and make sure I remember it clearly, but we have it in the paper that the cost of this on one side is that you have the compliance costs the firms are undertaking, and then you have to add to that the delay costs from doing this, and then the cost of the inspection itself, having to pay federal inspectors to do this.

“On the benefit side, it reduces crashes. So when we add up, just looking at the cost of what an inspection is, we don’t have a good idea of how to measure the compliance cost. It’d be fun to measure the delay cost, but I don’t have good enough price data on that to get at that cost.

“But if you look at what the cost of an inspection is, it is something like $100 or $120 is what you would pay to have one of these inspections done privately. A lot of people do this in the run-up to inspections, and have it done privately so that you can fix whatever the problems are and be sure that you would pass the FMCSA inspection.

“With that $120 figure, if you aggregate that up to 60,000 inspections or whatever, and you take that in comparison, I’m going to give you a bad figure here, it’s on the order of $10 million. That is about the value of a statistical human life. Looking at this economically, it’s worthwhile if it saves one human life. If you identify just one faulty brake system that would’ve resulted in an accident, you’re getting some value out of the program.

“When you add those other costs in there, we’re going to need to save a couple of lives, but in terms of cost benefit analysis with this kind of stuff, we’re usually looking at orders of magnitude differences in cost and benefits to say something for sure.

“If you can save just a couple lives, this program will pay for itself.”

Time to start inspecting in the winter

FREIGHTWAVES: Then one last question: Is there any rationale for this program happening in the summer?

BALTHROP: “I think part of it is that for the inspectors this gets much harder and much more miserable to do in winter conditions.”

FREIGHTWAVES: That makes sense.

BALTHROP: “Inspectors are less productive. One of the things that we talk about in the paper, that they have in addition to the International Roadcheck, is that they have Brake Week where they focus a little bit more on brake inspections. You have Operation Safe Driver a little bit later on in the summer, usually in September, where it’s a little bit more focused on passenger vehicles and how they drive around these trucks.

“But there’s not one in the winter time. There’s an unannounced brake check that usually happens in May, a surprise inspection that’s just one day. But you’re right in pointing out that it might be worthwhile having one of these in the wintertime. You have this periodic high-intensity inspection that kind of incentivizes everybody to be compliant through the summer.

“But there’s nothing in the winter, so that’s an area. But if I was managing the FMCSA, that would be one of the first questions I ask, ‘Why don’t we have one of these in the wintertime?’”

FREIGHTWAVES: That makes sense. Maybe they can do it in the South or something. Maybe a Miami January inspection …

That’s it for this special bonus MODES. Subscribe here if you’re not already receiving MODES in your inbox every Thursday. Email the reporter at rpremack@www.freightwaves.com with your own tales on International Roadcheck Week or any other trucking topics.

Why the Northeast is quietly running out of diesel

The nozzle of a diesel fuel pump is inserted into the tank of a commercial truck as its driver looks on the bankground.

The East Coast of the U.S. is reporting its lowest seasonal diesel inventory on record. And some trucking companies appear spooked.

The East Coast typically stores around 62 million barrels of diesel during the month of May, according to Department of Energy data. But as of last Friday, that region of the U.S. is reporting under 52 million barrels.

The sharp increase of diesel prices has been a major stressor in America’s $800 billion trucking industry since the beginning of 2022. According to DOE figures, the price per gallon of diesel has reached record highs — a whopping $5.62 per gallon. It’s even higher on the East Coast at $5.90, up 63% from the beginning of this year.

When relief is coming isn’t yet clear, and experts say higher prices are the only way to attract more diesel into the Northeast.

“I wish I had some good news for the Northeast, but it’s bedlam,” Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at OPIS, told FreightWaves.

2022 has seen record-setting diesel prices. (SONAR)

Everyday Americans don’t fill up their cars with diesel, but the fuel powers our nation’s agriculture, industrial and transportation networks. More expensive diesel means the price of everything is liable to increase. Trucks, trains, barges and the like consumed about 122 million gallons of diesel per day in 2020.

Patrick DeHaan, a vice president of communications at fuel price site GasBuddy, reported that retail truck stops are hauling fuel from the Great Lakes to the Northeast, calling it “extraordinary.” We’ve also seen anecdotal reports from truck drivers posting company memos:

pic.twitter.com/yFYyjzYMWE
— Craig Fuller 🛩🚛🇺🇦 (@FreightAlley) May 11, 2022

#FuelShortage #DieselShortage #SupplyChainCrisis pic.twitter.com/zVmXlshXN0
— Don Ricardo 👑 🇺🇸 🇩🇴 (@NjPier) May 5, 2022

Pilot Flying J and Love’s, two of America’s largest truck stops, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that they were not planning to restrict diesel purchases, but were monitoring low diesel inventory.

Not unlike every other supply chain crunch we’ve seen in the past few years, the cause of the Northeast’s diesel shortage is multifaceted. A yearslong degradation of refineries is rubbing against the Gulf Coast preferring to ship its oil to Europe and Latin America.

Here’s a breakdown:

1. The East Coast has lost half of its refineries.

As Bloomberg’s Javier Blas wrote on May 4 (emphasis ours):

In the past 15 years, the number of refineries on the U.S. East Coast has halved to just seven. The closures have reduced the region’s oil processing capacity to just 818,000 barrels per day, down from 1.64 million barrels per day in 2009. Regional oil demand, however, is stronger.

Rory Johnston, a managing director at Toronto-based research firm Price Street and writer of the newsletter Commodity Context, told FreightWaves that refining is a “thankless industry,” with intense regulations that have limited the opening of new refineries. The Great Recession of 2008 led to several East Coast refineries shuttering, but there have been more recent shutdowns too. One major Philadelphia refinery shuttered in 2019 after a giant fire (and it already had declared bankruptcy), and another refinery in Newfoundland shut down in 2020.

Billionaire John Catsimatidis owns a small oil refinery in the US East Coast and several hundred gas stations from Pennsylvania to New York:

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see diesel being rationed on the East Coast this summer.” #OOTT #DieselCrisis https://t.co/9g1e5UIf20
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) May 11, 2022

2. It’s a financial risk to bring diesel to the Northeast.

The Northeast has increasingly relied on diesel from the Gulf region. Much of that diesel travels to the Northeast through the famous and much-adored Colonial Pipeline. You may remember the 5,500-mile pipeline from last year, when a ransomware attack shuttered it for nearly a week!

It takes 18 days for oil to travel on the Colonial Pipeline from its source in Houston to New York City (or, more specifically, Linden, New Jersey), Kloza said.

That’s a long enough time to prioritize Colonial pipelines financially risky for traders — or, as Kloza said, “incredibly dangerous” — thanks to a concept called “backwardation.”

Backwardation refers to the market condition in which the spot price of a commodity like diesel is higher than its futures price. It’s only gotten stronger over time in the diesel market, Kloza said. So, a company could send off a shipment of diesel and find that it dropped by $1 per gallon in the time the diesel traveled from the Gulf Coast to New York — er, New Jersey. That could mean hundreds of thousands or more in lost profits, so traders often avoid such a fate.

“We’re not in an era where there are any U.S. refiners or big U.S. oil companies who would ‘take one for the team’ and bring cargo in where it’s needed,” Kloza said.

The desperation is showing in New England and the mid-Atlantic regions. New England diesel retail prices are up 75% from the beginning of 2022, per DOE data. In the mid-Atlantic, diesel is up 67%.

It’s not worth the risk, even amid ultra-high prices. As FreightWaves’ Kingston reported last week, the spread between a gallon of diesel in the Gulf Coast and its New York harbor price is usually a few cents. Last week, that swung up to 66 cents.

But that uptick still isn’t justifying moving oil to the Northeast — particularly when traders can make so much more money selling diesel abroad.

3. Of course, we can blame COVID and the crisis in Ukraine.

The catalyst for this diesel shortage, of course, is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine — particularly Europe’s desperation for diesel after weaning off Russian molecules.

As CNBC reported in March, Europe is a net importer of diesel. Europe consumed some 6.8 million barrels of diesel each day in 2019; Russia exported some 600,000 barrels per day of that. Today, Europe has only eliminated one-third of its Russian diesel, so prices are expected to continue to climb amid that transition. Latin America, too, has been clammoring for U.S. diesel.

The Gulf Coast has been happy to provide such diesel, amid “insane” prices for diesel abroad, said Johnston. Waterborne exports of diesel from the U.S. Gulf Coast hit record highs last month, according to oil analytics firm Vortexa. (The records only date back to 2016.)

Naturally, COVID is also to blame for the Northeast’s run on diesel. Those refineries still retained on the East Coast scaled back during the pandemic due to staffing issues. It takes six months to a year to reignite refineries that were previously shuttered, Kloza said.

The ‘everything shortage’ endures

It’s been a tale as old as, well, last year. An industry is quietly hampered by supply issues for years, or even decades, and COVID pulls back the curtains on its unsteady foundation. It’s particularly jarring for commodities we never thought about before, like shipping containers or pallets, but that quietly underpinned our livelihood all along.

Recall the Great Lumber Shortage of 2020? Big Lumber had unusually low stockpiles of wood by the summer of 2020, thanks to a vicious 2019 in the lumber industry shuttering sawmills and the spring of 2020 sparking staffing issues. (There was also a nasty beetle infestation.) Those in lumber expected the pandemic to slow the economy, not ignite online shopping, construction and housing mania. It meant lumber went from around $350 per thousand board feet pre-pandemic to a crushing $1,515 by the spring of 2021. The lumber price roller coaster persists today.

In diesel, there’s no beetle infestation, but there are plenty of other headaches. It all means higher fuel prices on the East Coast, particularly the Northeast, to lure molecules from the Gulf Coast. And, down the line, probably more expensive stuff for you.

Do you work in the trucking industry? Do you want to say that you hate or love MODES? Are you simply wanting to chitchat? Email the author at rpremack@www.freightwaves.com, and don’t forget to subscribe to MODES.

Updated on May 13 with the latest comments from truck stops.

Exclusive: Central Freight Lines to shut down after 96 years

Nearly, 2,100 employees will be laid off right before Christmas. Central Freight Lines is the largest trucking company to close since Celadon ceased operations in 2019.

Waco, Texas-based Central Freight Lines has notified drivers, employees and customers that the less-than-truckload carrier plans to wind down operations on Monday after 96 years, the company’s president told FreightWaves on Saturday.

“It’s just horrible,” said CFL President Bruce Kalem.

A source close to CFL told FreightWaves that CFL had “too much debt and too many unpaid bills” to continue operating, despite exploring all available options to keep its doors open.

Kalem agreed.

“Years of operating losses and struggles for many years sapped our liquidity, and we had no other place to go at this point,” Kalem told FreightWaves. “Nobody is going to make money on this closing, nobody.”

Central Freight will cease picking up new shipments effective Monday and expects to deliver substantially all freight in its system by Dec. 20, according to a company statement.

A source familiar with the company said he is unsure whether CFL will file Chapter 7 or “liquidate outside of bankruptcy,” but that the LTL carrier has no plans to reorganize.

The company reshuffled its executive team nearly a year ago in an effort to stay afloat, including adding the company’s owner, Jerry Moyes, as CFL’s interim president and chief executive officer. Moyes remained CEO after Kalem was elevated to president in July.

“I think it was surprising that there wasn’t a buyer for the entire company, but buyers were interested in certain pieces but not in the whole thing,” the source, who didn’t want to be identified, told FreightWaves. “Part of it could have been that just the network was so expansive that there was too much overlap with some of the buyers that they didn’t need locations or employees in the places where they already had strong operations.”

Third-party logistics provider GlobalTranz notified its customers that it had removed CFL as “a blanket and CSP carrier option immediately, to prevent any new bookings,” multiple sources told FreightWaves on Saturday.

CFL, which has over 2,100 employees, including 1,325 drivers, and 1,600 power units, is in discussions with “key customers and vendors and expects sufficient liquidity to complete deliveries over the next week in an orderly manner,” a CFL spokesperson said. Approximately 820 employees are based at the company headquarters in Waco.

Despite diligent efforts, CFL “was unable to gain commitments to fund ongoing operations, find a buyer of the entire business or fund a Chapter 11 reorganization,” another source familiar with the company told FreightWaves.

Kalem said the company had 65 terminals prior to its decision to shutter operations.

FreightWaves received a tip from a source nearly two weeks ago that CFL wasn’t renewing its East Coast terminal leases but was unable to confirm the information with CFL executives.

Another source told FreightWaves that some of the LTL carrier’s West Coast terminals had been sold recently, but that no reason was given for the transactions.

At that time, Kalem said the company was “working to find alternatives” and couldn’t speak because of nondisclosure agreements. He said executives at CFL, including Moyes, were trying to do everything to “save the company.”

“Jerry [Moyes] pumped a lot of money into the company, but it just wasn’t enough,” Kalem said.

Kalem said he’s aware that a large carrier is interested in hiring many of CFL’s drivers but isn’t able to name names at this point.

“Central Freight is in negotiations to sell a substantial portion of its equipment,” the company said in a statement. “Additionally, Central Freight is coordinating with other regional LTL carriers to afford its employees opportunities to apply for other LTL jobs in their area.”

As of late Saturday night, Kalem said fuel cards are working and drivers will be paid for freight they’ve hauled for the LTL carrier until all freight is delivered by the Dec. 20 target date.

“I’m going to work feverishly with the time I have left to get these good people jobs — I owe it to them,” Kalem told FreightWaves. “We are going to pay our drivers — that’s why we had to close it like we’re doing now. We are going to deliver all of the freight that’s in our system by next week, and we believe we can do that.”

During the outset of the pandemic, Central Freight Lines was one of four trucking-related companies that received the maximum award of $10 million through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). This occurred around the time that CFL drivers and employees were forced to take pay cuts, a move that didn’t go over well with drivers.

“It all went to payroll,” Kalem said about the PPP funds. “Yes, our employees and drivers did take a pay cut over the past few years, and we gave most of it back, even raised pay over the past several months, but it just wasn’t enough to attract drivers.”

FreightWaves staffers Todd Maiden, Timothy Dooner and JP Hampstead contributed to this report.

Watch: Central Freight Lines’ impact on the LTL market

FreightWaves CEO and founder Craig Fuller reacts to the Central Freight Lines news:

“With Central struggling for many years and unable to reach profitability, it makes sense that they would want to liquidate while equipment and real estate are fetching record prices.”

Central Freight Lines statement

Here is the statement given by Central Freight Lines to FreightWaves late Saturday after reports surfaced of its impending closure:

“We make this announcement with a heavy heart and extreme regret that the Company cannot continue after nearly 100 years in operation. We would like to thank our outstanding workforce for persevering and for professionally completing the wind-down while supporting each other. Additionally, we thank our customers, vendors, equipment providers, and other stakeholders for their loyalty and support.

“The Company explored all available options to keep operations going. However, operating losses sapped all remaining sources of liquidity, and the Company’s liabilities far exceed its assets, all of which are subject to liens in favor of multiple creditors. Despite diligent efforts, the Company was unable to gain commitments to fund ongoing operations, find a buyer of the entire business, or fund a Chapter 11 reorganization. Given its limited remaining resources, the Company concluded that the best alternative was a safe and orderly wind-down. As we complete the wind-down process, our primary goal will be to offer the smoothest possible transition for all stakeholders while maximizing the amount available to apply toward the Company’s obligations.

“Central Freight is in negotiations to sell a substantial portion of its equipment. Additionally, Central Freight is coordinating with other regional LTL carriers to afford its employees opportunities to apply for other LTL jobs in their area. Discussions are ongoing and no purchase of assets or offer of employment is guaranteed.”

Brief history of Central Freight Lines

1925	Founded in Waco, Texas, by Woody Callan Sr.
1927	Institutes regular routes in Texas between Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin.
1938	Dallas facility opens as world’s largest freight facility.
1991	Receives 48-state interstate operating authority, expands into Oklahoma.
1993	Joins Roadway Regional Group and begins service in Louisiana.
1994	Expands into Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi.
1995	Consolidation of Central, Coles, Spartan and Viking Freight Systems into Viking Freight Inc. is announced. Central’s Waco corporate HQ starts closure.
1996	Becomes the Southwestern Division of Viking Freight Inc.
1997	Investment group led by senior Central management purchases assets of former CFL from Viking Freight and reopens as a new Central Freight Lines.
1999	Expands into California and Nevada.
2009	CFL Network provides service to Idaho, Utah, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
2013	Acquires Circle Delivery of Tennessee.
2014	Acquires DTI, a Georgia LTL carrier.
2017	Acquires Wilson; new division created with an increase of 80 terminals.
2020	Wins Carrier of the Year from GlobalTranz. Acquires Volunteer Express Inc. of Dresden, Tennessee.

Source: Central Freight Lines

Warehouse cramming is about to begin — Freightonomics

nVision Global, is a leading Global Freight Audit, Supply Chain Management Services company offering enterprise-wide supply chain solutions. With over 4,000 global business “Partners”, nVision Global not only provides prompt, accurate Freight Audit Solutions, but also providing industry-leading Supply Chain Information Management solutions and services necessary to help its clients maximize efficiencies within their supply chain. To learn more, visit www.nvisionglobal.com

Warehouse space is at a premium right now and with peak season right around the corner, shippers are starting to scramble for space.

Zach Strickland and Anthony Smith look into what shippers are doing to prepare for the end-of-year crunch. They welcome Zac Rogers from Colorado State University to the show to talk through the industry tightness.

The three also talk about the latest Logistics Managers Index results and what they mean for the fourth quarter of 2021.

You can find more Freightonomics episodes and recaps for all our live podcasts here.

Seasonality pushing rejections and rates higher ahead of the Fourth

This week’s DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index: 75 (Carriers)

Last week’s DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index: 70 (Carriers)

Three-month DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index Outlook: 70 (Carriers)

The DHL Supply Chain Pricing Power Index uses the analytics and data in FreightWaves SONAR to analyze the market and estimate the negotiating power for rates between shippers and carriers.

The Pricing Power Index is based on the following indicators:

Load volumes: Absolute levels positive for carriers, momentum neutral

The Outbound Tender Volume Index at 15,980 is nominally higher now than basically at any point in the past 12 months with the exception of the week prior to Thanksgiving/Black Friday last year. OTVI captures all electronic tenders, including rejected ones, so when accounting for the rejection rate, we can get an even more accurate look at volumes.

OTVI rose through the back half of May into the national holiday and has risen even further since. Throughout the back half of May and into the middle of June, tender rejections declined substantially. Meaning, current volume throughput is actually understated when comparing OTVI now to OTVI in November 2020. After adjusting for rejected tenders, the accepted outbound tender volume index is just 2.2% below the 2020 peak in November. At that time, OTVI surged towards 17,000, but the rejection rate moved in-kind towards its natural ceiling of 28%. So, the total accepted freight tenders in mid-June is comparable to the peakiest of peak seasons in 2020. Incredible.

However, since the middle of June, tender rejections have begun increasing again heading into Independence Day, a time when many drivers spend time off the road with their families. The move higher in OTVI this week has been driven primarily by higher rejection rates, rather than higher freight demand.

Over the past month, the drivers of freight volumes have continued to be imports and from just about every port. The west coast continues to provide seemingly non-stop container ships, while Houston, New Orleans, Miami and Savannah are seeing very strong throughput as well.

It is van volumes that are driving freight markets higher right now. The Reefer Outbound Tender Volume index has tumbled 25% since its all-time high in the weeks after the polar vortex in February. Since Memorial Day, ROTVI has fallen another 10.5%. This is likely a factor of declining grocery demand, but I would expect the trend to reverse course in the near future as summer festivities accelerate.

Dry van volumes pushed higher in the back half of May and into June while reefer volumes have declined significantly.

SONAR: VOTVI.USA (Blue); ROTVI.USA (Green)

The congestion at our nation’s ports has spread from Los Angeles and Long Beach to Oakland, California. The California coastline is a parking lot of container ships, most of which are full to the brim with imports, awaiting berth. As detailed in the economic section, there are some signs that the reversion is underway with Americans paring back spending on pandemic superstar categories in favor of airlines, lodging and entertainment. But spending remains strong despite the moderation, and low inventory levels offset much of the decline that will occur from slowing demand. Real inventories are 3% higher now than pre-pandemic, but real sales growth is far outpacing inventory growth, leading to the lowest inventory-to-sales ratio in decades.

On the manufacturing side, the ISM Manufacturing PMI expanded in May after declining in April. We’ve been in expansionary territory for 12 consecutive months. New orders, production, imports/exports and employment are all growing. The major issues should come as no surprise: Deliveries are slowing, backlogs are growing and inventories are too low.

In all, there are many, many catalysts to keep freight demand strong for the foreseeable future. Americans are traveling and spending on services at a high clip, but the high savings rate is enabling it to occur without a massive detriment to goods spending.

SONAR: OTVI.USA (2021 – Blue; 2020 – Green; 2019 – Orange; 2018 – Purple)

Tender rejections: Absolute level and momentum positive for carriers

After declining steadily from mid-March to mid-May, the Outbound Tender Reject Index has reversed course heading into Independence Day. This is typical for a national holiday as carriers selectively choose loads to bring drivers closer to home. OTRI now sits above 25% for the first time in June.

One of our newest indices in SONAR gives us the ability to compare markets on as close to an apples-to-apples basis as possible. FreightWaves’ Carrier Trend Market Score indices are divided into two perspectives – shipper/broker and carrier. The scores are positioned on a scale from 1-100 and have values measuring van and refrigerated (reefer) capacity. The higher values represent more favorable trends for whichever perspective. For instance, a value near the high-end of the range would suggest very favorable conditions for carriers in our carrier capacity trend score index.

For the past several weeks, capacity disparities have been driven by import volumes. The markets with the tightest carrier capacity coincide with the nation’s busiest ports. Ontario, California, Savannah, Georgia, and Atlanta all have carrier capacity trend market scores of 100.

SONAR: Capacity Trend Market Score (Carriers – VAN)

By mode. Reefer rejection rates tumbled from it’s all-time high in March to under 35% in mid-June before popping higher over the past two weeks. Reefer rejections are still quite high from a historical standpoint at 38%, but are significantly lower than just three months ago when reefer carriers were rejecting half of all electronically tendered loads.

SONAR: VOTRI.USA (Blue); ROTRI.USA (Orange)

Dry van tenders make up the majority of all tenders, so the van rejection rate mirrors the aggregate index closely. Van rejections have surged from ~23% to ~26% over the past two weeks.

Yes, one-in-four loads being rejected is not ideal, but it’s better than 30%. I am unaware of any meaningful signals that capacity is being added at a rate that would change my outlook. With so many catalysts for demand, and many constraints on drivers including the Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, driver training school closures and continued government unemployment benefits, the outlook is tight throughout this year and into 2022. That’s not to say we won’t see improvement as consumers revert to pre-pandemic spending habits and drivers enter or reenter the market. But I’m not expecting any quick reversal of this environment; there are simply too many catalysts driving volume and suppressing capacity.

SONAR: OTRI.USA (2020/21 – Blue; 2020 – Green; 2019 – Orange)

Freight rates: Absolute level and momentum positive for carriers

Throughout June, spot rates have moderated while contract rates have pushed higher. The Truckstop.com dry van rate per mile (incl. fuel) has fallen from $3.21 to $3.11 since the beginning of June, while FreightWaves van contract rates have risen from $2.50 to $2.59/mile, exclusive of fuel.

I still believe the Truckstop.com dry van national average will not retest the post-vortex surge pricing that brought spot rates up to an all-time high of $3.30. But, there aren’t many catalysts to bring spot rates down anytime soon either. Demand is unwavering with continued strong consumer goods demand, humming industrial recovery and a potentially cooling, yet still sizzling, hot housing market. And carriers can’t fill enough trucks to keep up with demand.

Prior to the seasonal movements we’re seeing in tender rejections, routing guides generally had been improving through Q2. We should continue to see a convergence between spot and contract rates, but spot rates will remain historically very elevated throughout the summer as demand simply outstrips capacity.

SONAR: TSTOPVRPM.USA (Blue); VCRPM1.USA (Green)

Economic stats: Momentum and absolute level neutral

Several economic releases this week are worth noting.

Weekly jobless claims were released Thursday and give us one of the best close-to-real-time indicators of the overall economy. This week, the data was again very promising as the labor market continues on a bumpy but trajectorially stable recovery path.

First-time filings totaled 411,000 for the week ended June 19, a slight decrease from the previous total of 418,000 but worse than the 380,000 Dow Jones estimate, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Initial claims have held above 400,000 for consecutive weeks after falling to a pandemic low of 374,000 three weeks ago. As things stand, the current level of initial claims is about double where it was prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The good news on the jobs front is that continuing claims are on the decline, falling to 3.39 million, a drop of 144,000. That number runs a week behind the headline claims total.

Initial jobless claims (weekly in May 2020-May 2021)

At the time of writing, the newest weekly data for the week ending May 29 had not been updated in SONAR. This week, claims fell from 405,000 to 385,000.

SONAR: IJC.USA

Consumer. Turning to consumer spending, as measured by Bank of America weekly card (both debit and credit) spending data, total card spending (TCS) in the latest week accelerated to 22% over 2019. This is the first time in June that TCS has topped 20% over 2019, but spending has been running up 16-19% consistently on a two-year comp for months. For contect, the average pre-pandemic two-year growth rate was about 8% (from 2012 to 2019).

The Bank of America team highlighted service spending in the nation’s two largest state economies, California and New York, which are now fully reopened. Spending at restaurants is now well above 2019 in both states, and the team believes there is more capacity for spending to accelerate in the states that were slower to reopen given pent-up demand.

There was also a notable acceleration in spending on clothing this week, according to Bank of America. It could be a reversal from some softening in the early weeks of June, or an indication of people refreshing wardrobes ahead of a return to work, more travel and vacations. One tepid statement for freight markets from this week;s report: Leisure spending is on the rise and durable goods spending is flatlining.

FreightWaves’ Flatbed Outbound Tender Reject Index, both a measure of relative demand and capacity, moves directionally with the ISM PMI.

SONAR: ISM.PMI (Blue); FOTRI.USA (Green)

Manufacturing. Over the past two weeks, regional manufacturing surveys have reported generally positive readings amid logistical challenges. The New York Fed’s Empire State business conditions index declined 6.9 points to 17.4 in June, retreating from strong readings the past two months. The Empire State Index is a diffusion index with a baseline of zero; any reading above zero indicates improving or expansionary conditions.

Delivery times lengthened to a new record during the month, new orders and shipments fell, and inventories entered negative territory. The supply chain and transportation challenges are as visible upstream as downstream, but overall the manufacturing sector is handling. Growth continued throughout the second quarter in both the Empire State and Philly Fed indices.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve’s business activity index edged lower to a still robust 30.7 in June from 31.5 in the prior month. Unlike NY, the pace of shipments growth accelerated in the Philly region during June. The employment subcomponent rose to a very healthy 30.7 from 19.3 last month, the regional bank said.

Record-long lead times, wide-scale shortages of critical basic materials, rising commodities prices and difficulties in transporting products are continuing to affect all segments of the manufacturing economy, but demand remains strong.

For more information on the FreightWaves Freight Intel Group, please contact Kevin Hill at khill@www.freightwaves.com or Andrew Cox at acox@www.freightwaves.com.

Check out the newest episodes of our podcast, Great Quarter, Guys, here.

Project44 acquires ClearMetal to strengthen predictive tools

Project44, a leader in real-time visibility of the global supply chain, announced on Thursday it has acquired ClearMetal, a San Francisco-based supply chain planning software company that focuses on international freight visibility, predictive planning and overall customer experience. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

ClearMetal, founded by top software engineers and data scientists from Stanford, Google and other Silicon Valley elites, has created a “continuous delivery experience” that leverages proprietary machine learning algorithms that can forecast supply chain disruptions.

In an interview, Jason Duboe, chief growth officer at project44, explained that bringing in ClearMetal’s elite team is essential for the company’s future predictive solutions.

“Their team construct is fundamentally different. When you look at their data science, machine learning and computer science background, they are best in class,” he said. “Applying the team to solve really interesting challenges, starting with highly predictive ETA and deeper exception management to create more predictive analytics is really a key component here.”

Project44 recently acquired Ocean Insights to gain global supply chain vessel visibility and has announced it has expanded its truckload tracking services within Asia. Bringing on this new team of engineers will allow the company to capitalize on strong predictive tools, strengthening the supply chain of its customers.

“We’re going to be expanding deeper into Asia, and from a port perspective, getting data much earlier than competitors,” explained Duboe. “Our freight forwarder integrations will give us much deeper visibility from an end-to-end perspective in these regions.”

Along with the acquired skills the ClearMetal team will bring to project44, it brings a large book of customers, including large CPGs, retailers, manufacturers, distributors and chemical companies. These advanced use cases will strengthen the predictive planning tools, and project44 continues to expand into different customer markets.

“What we gain from ClearMetal is a holistic platform for anybody that joins the platform in the future,” said Duboe. “They have large customers with incredibly demanding and advanced use cases. So when it comes to order and inventory, functionality, supplier onboarding, and moving upstream into those processes, we can capture exceptions earlier on.”

Click here for more articles by Grace Sharkey.

Project44 expands real-time visibility into China

Project44 reels in Ocean Insights in ‘largest acquisition in visibility space’

‘Project44’s vision has always been global’

Truck tractors hauled 132 pounds of cocaine to Florida, sheriff says

Authorities arrested nine people after tracking 132 pounds of cocaine from Texas to Florida. Investigators said truck tractors carried the shipment between El Paso and Pinellas County. Deputies seized 60 kilograms during Operation Hall of Fame. Sheriff Bob Gualtieri valued those drugs at approximately $2.1 million.

Gualtieri announced the results July 14 alongside FDLE Special Agent in Charge Mark Dubina. Detectives had investigated Daniel Pinales and his alleged trafficking organization for about three years. Officials conducted three wiretap investigations involving people who obtained cocaine from Pinales. Those efforts revealed a supply source operating outside Florida.

By April, detectives learned that multiple kilograms traveled from El Paso inside truck tractors. One operable unit towed two disabled vehicles between Texas and Florida. Gualtieri said the trailing tractors served as props to conceal cocaine. Authorities later seized all three vehicles following the arrests.

Truck tractors provided cover

Gualtieri called this tractor arrangement “a complete facade.” He said investigators believe cocaine primarily traveled inside a black unit’s sleeper compartment. That location placed the drugs high above the roadway. A roadside canine could struggle to detect them, according to Gualtieri.

“Somebody sees this, you’re just thinking this trucker’s going about their business,” Gualtieri said. The group followed its routine every month, according to the sheriff. Gualtieri said three men arrived near Interstate 75 in Wesley Chapel before checking into a hotel. A rented SUV accompanied the tractors during each Florida trip, according to Gualtieri.

After nightfall, participants allegedly transferred cocaine-filled duffel bags to Pinales. Gualtieri said Pinales took each delivery to an empty apartment near Tampa’s Rocky Point area. Pinales allegedly distributed kilograms throughout Pinellas County while the Texas suspects waited nearby. The sheriff estimated those men received about $1 million after every trip.

Investigators track July shipment

On July 10, investigators found the convoy traveling south near Lake City. Arturo Carlos drove three tractors, while Jesus Morales and Joaquin Enriquez used a rented SUV. The group spent Saturday at its usual Wesley Chapel hotel. Around 8 p.m., Morales and Enriquez removed three duffel bags from a black tractor.

Investigators watched Pinales leave Brandon in a rented Honda minivan and travel north on Interstate 75. Both vehicles met inside a dark parking lot near Fletcher Avenue in Tampa. Detectives saw Morales and Enriquez transfer those bags into Pinales’ vehicle. Gualtieri said Pinales fled before officers apprehended him.

Deputies found three duffel bags containing 60 kilograms inside the minivan. Gualtieri converted that amount to approximately 132 pounds. “It has a street value of about $2.1 million,” he said. “This was happening every single month,” the sheriff added.

Charges follow operation

Pinales faces one cocaine-trafficking count and a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence. A judge set his bail at $2.25 million. Gualtieri said comparable monthly loads could total more than 700 kilograms annually. “The amount of cocaine that Daniel Pinales was putting on the streets of Pinellas County is just simply astronomical.”

Authorities charged Carlos with two trafficking counts and Tyler Green with four. Marice Higgins received eight cocaine-related charges, as did Brian Varner. Records list one count apiece for Morales, Enriquez, Cody Dent, plus Ryan Sturgis. Higgins also faces marijuana distribution and firearm possession allegations.

Morales and Enriquez returned to the hotel after meeting Pinales, according to Gualtieri. Officers arrested both men there, along with Carlos. The sheriff said investigators identified similar deliveries elsewhere across the country. “This investigation is ongoing, and it’s not over with,” Gualtieri said. All charges remain allegations. Prosecutors must prove every count beyond a reasonable doubt.

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

DHS, DOT partner to investigate 75 CDL training schools suspected of fraud – FreightWaves

FBI says billion-dollar criminal network included cargo theft – FreightWaves

Indiana State Police recover 12 stolen truckloads worth more than $11 million – FreightWaves

Borderlands Mexico: Cross-border trade tops $87B in May

Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week in Borderlands Mexico: Cross-border trade tops $87B in May; Germany’s Döhler Group opens $64M Mexico plant; and Otay Mesa industrial property sells for $8.8M.

Mexico remains largest U.S. trading partner in May as cross-border commerce reaches $87.2B

Mexico remained the United States’ largest overall trading partner in May, recording $87.23 billion in two-way commerce and extending its lead over Canada and China as cross-border supply chains continued to power North American trade.

Trade between the U.S. and Mexico increased 17.06% compared with May 2025, fueled by $33.05 billion in U.S. exports and $54.18 billion in imports from Mexico, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by WorldCity.

Canada ranked as the United States’ second-largest trading partner in May with $66.1 billion in two-way trade, followed by China at $32.6 billion, highlighting the continued importance of North American commerce while Taiwan’s semiconductor-driven trade relationship continues to expand.

Overall, U.S. trade with the world totaled $520.06 billion during May. Mexico accounted for 16.77% of all U.S. international commerce during the month.

Year to date through May, Mexico also retained its position as the United States’ largest trading partner with $404.57 billion in total trade, ahead of Canada, China, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The port of entry in Laredo, Texas, remained the nation’s busiest international trade gateway, handling $36.33 billion in imports and exports during May, a 19.36% increase from the same month last year.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport was the second ranked U.S. international gateway for trade in May at $32 billion. Port Houston ranked No. 3 for trade in the U.S. at $24 billion.

Port Laredo processed $12.09 billion in exports and $24.24 billion in imports, underscoring its central role in the U.S.-Mexico supply chain.

Mexico accounted for roughly 97% of Port Laredo’s international trade, with the gateway serving as the primary conduit for automotive products, electronics, machinery and industrial goods crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trade through Mexico’s top border crossings also continued to surge. Port Laredo handled $35.29 billion of Mexico-related trade during May, followed by the Ysleta-Zaragoza International Bridge in El Paso at $12.09 billion, Otay Mesa in California at $4.99 billion, Eagle Pass at $4.15 billion and the Pharr International Bridge at $3.83 billion.

Top U.S.-Mexico traded commodities in May 2026 (WorldCity)

Top U.S. exports to Mexico	Value	Top U.S. imports from Mexico	Value
Gasoline and other fuels	$3.28B	Computers	$13.52B
Computer parts	$2.30B	Passenger vehicles	$3.57B
Computers	$2.08B	Commercial vehicles	$3.50B
Motor vehicle parts	$1.85B	Motor vehicle parts	$3.22B
Low-value shipments	$851.4M	Insulated wire and cable	$1.74B
Computer chips	$837.1M	Cell phones and related equipment	$1.53B
Insulated wire and cable	$761.7M	Medical instruments	$1.00B
Digital storage devices	$705.4M	Electrical boards, panels and switches	$885.0M
Electrical supplies (<1000V)	$635.0M	Oil	$761.5M
Natural gas/LNG	$626.3M	Refrigerators and freezers*	—

Germany’s Döhler Group opens $64M Mexico plant

Germany-based Döhler Group has opened a new production facility in the State of Mexico after investing more than $64 million, expanding its manufacturing footprint in North America and boosting capacity for natural food and beverage ingredients, according to Mexico Industry.

The new facility is expected to support exports primarily to the U.S., Germany, Central America, the Caribbean and Asia.

Founded in Germany, Döhler operates in more than 160 countries and develops natural ingredients, ingredient systems and integrated solutions for beverage, dairy, nutrition, confectionery and food manufacturers.

Otay Mesa industrial property sells for $8.8M

Avison Young completed the $8.824 million sale of a 31,488-square-foot industrial property at 7577 Airway Road in San Diego’s Otay Mesa submarket, according to a news release.

The seller was a Miami-based private investor, while the buyer was not disclosed.

Located about 2.5 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border crossing, the property serves companies involved in cross-border trade, manufacturing and distribution.

“Properties that offer functional loading capabilities and immediate access to cross-border trade routes are highly sought after by both owner-users and investors,” Avison Young Associate Tanner Johnson said in a statement.

Intermodal’s historic growth

Chart of the Week: Outbound Domestic Loaded Rail Container Volume – USA SONAR : ORAILDOML.USA

Domestic loaded rail container (48’ and 53’) volumes are running well ahead of the same point in every year back through 2020, but the annual growth rate of nearly 13% in June is the story. The move isn’t a blip — volumes have been building steadily since spring and have held near the top of the range throughout the month.

Domestic intermodal demand tends to peak in the fall as retailers replenish inventories for the holiday season. This year’s summer volume surpassed last year’s peak season volumes. These containers should not be confused with the international sized (20’ and 40’) units that are more directly tied to import demand.Domestic intermodal competes more heavily with transcontinental truckload, though the rise in truckload costs and limitation of capacity on the east coast have shown that intermodal can compete in shorter haul lanes as well.

The above tree map shows annual growth rates for the seven day period ending 7/16/2026, illustrating a very even growth of domestic intermodal demand across the U.S.

The strength lines up neatly with what J.B. Hunt just told Wall Street. The Lowell, Arkansas-based intermodal and dedicated giant reported second-quarter results this week that blew past estimates, with intermodal volumes hitting a record. Loads were up 10% year over year, outpacing the 8% y/y growth logged across the Class I railroads and well ahead of the 5% y/y increase in North American container volumes overall. Darren Field, the company’s president of intermodal, said conversion activity from truck to rail is running at levels not seen in more than a decade.

That’s an unusual thing to hear in the middle of summer. Intermodal’s bid season doesn’t formally open until October, and the catalysts that typically trigger conversion — climbing truckload rates and rising diesel prices — weren’t really present when the current bid season kicked off last fall. Instead, shippers appear to be moving early, and the SONAR data on the chart backs that up: growth has been broad-based across the calendar rather than concentrated in a short pre-bid window.

Part of the story is cost. SONAR’s Intermodal Contract Savings Index currently shows domestic intermodal running about 30% cheaper than truckload on a contract basis, well beyond the 10% to 15% discount that J.B. Hunt says is typically needed to pull freight off the road. J.B. Hunt’s own container fleet was more than 90% utilized in the quarter for the first time in several quarters, and management flagged “massive opportunities” for further conversion in the East, where intermodal is more directly competitive with truckload rates and where its volumes were up 16% y/y in the quarter (31% on a two-year stack).

Rail service is part of the equation too, though not entirely in the way one might expect. Rail speeds have been slowing, but that hasn’t been enough to slow shipper demand — a sign that price is doing more of the work right now than transit time. The risk to the sector isn’t really on the rail itself; it’s in the connective tissue around it. Drayage capacity has tightened enough that J.B. Hunt flagged driver wages as a cost headwind for its intermodal unit, and transloading remains a pinch point in markets where import flows are uneven.

That points to a market where demand is genuinely running ahead of the seasonal norm rather than simply comparing favorably to a soft prior year. The rejection-rate and spot-rate data across truckload has been elevated for the past several months, and intermodal’s ability to undercut truckload contract pricing by such a wide margin gives it room to keep pulling freight.

The bigger question is whether rail networks and their surrounding drayage and transloading infrastructure can keep absorbing this pace of conversion without the service cracks that have derailed similar pushes in the past. For now, the chart says the freight is showing up regardless.

About the Chart of the Week

The FreightWaves Chart of the Week is a chart selection from SONAR that provides an interesting data point to describe the state of the freight markets. A chart is chosen from thousands of potential charts on SONAR to help participants visualize the freight market in real time. Each week a Market Expert will post a chart, along with commentary, live on the front page. After that, the Chart of the Week will be archived on FreightWaves.com for future reference.

SONAR aggregates data from hundreds of sources, presenting the data in charts and maps and providing commentary on what freight market experts want to know about the industry in real time.

The FreightWaves data science and product teams are releasing new datasets each week and enhancing the client experience.

To request a SONAR demo, click here.

SONAR Sitrep: Freight market pushes shippers toward network flexibility

Transportation programs built around single-carrier lanes, fixed modes and rigid procurement cycles are facing their costliest stress test in years, according to a new freight intelligence report examining how shippers can protect service and cost when market conditions shift.

The recent SONAR Sitrep report, arrives as key market indicators signal carrier leverage at multi-year highs. The SONAR Truckload Rejection Index climbed to 17.64% on June 21, 2026 –its highest level since March 2022– and currently sits near 16%.

The National Truckload Index reached an all-time high of $3.78 per mile on June 28, while the spot-to-contract spread widened to approximately $0.51 per mile, the highest since 2021.

Intermodal savings hit record levels

Modal conversion presents one of the clearest opportunities for cost relief in the current environment. The Intermodal Contract Savings Index stands at 31.52%, with a year-to-date average of 23.78% –more than double prior-year same-week levels.

As truckload contract rates have repriced upward, intermodal contract pricing has not kept pace. This is widening the savings available on comparable lanes to the largest differential in the index’s recent history.

For shippers with transit-tolerant, rail-eligible freight, the spread signals that lane-level conversion reviews warrant attention.

Additional modal conversion options include shifting underweight truckload moves to LTL shipments and moving lanes between spot and contract channels based on spread conditions.

With the spot-to-contract spread now positive after running negative through most of 2022-2025, lanes heavily reliant on spot markets have become candidates for contract conversion through targeted mini-bids.

Tariff frontloading exposes geographic concentration

Geographic constraints compounded market pressure during the first half of 2026.

With a temporary tariff set to expire July 24, importers pulled volume forward into a compressed window, driving a surge of containerized freight through U.S. gateways concentrated on the West Coast.

Shippers dependent on a single gateway absorbed the full impact of both the surge and subsequent pullback. Those with qualified alternatives had more options to smooth timing and inland-capacity impacts.

Six dimensions of transportation optionality

The report organizes transportation flexibility into six practical dimensions:

Carrier Optionality involves maintaining multiple qualified carriers on critical lanes with a tested tender waterfall, rather than treating every rejection as an emergency spot-market event.
Modal Optionality preserves the ability to shift freight among truckload, intermodal and LTL based on cost, service and capacity requirements.
Geographic Optionality qualifies alternate origins, destinations, ports, gateways or distribution points when one market becomes constrained.
Facility Optionality enables flexible appointment windows, drop-trailer capability, alternate shipping hours and overflow locations to preserve carrier access.
Procurement Optionality moves beyond a single annual bid decision to include trigger-based lane reviews, extension and reopener options, and preapproved recovery channels.
Network Optionality coordinates the other five dimensions into an executable response with documented decision sequences, standing owners and tested playbooks.

The SONAR Sitrep also details a 90-day implementation roadmap for building transportation flexibility. It emphasizes that optionality built before market tightening costs less than alternatives sourced under pressure –a distinction the current market has made measurable.

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

Saronic picks Texas port for $3B shipyard, betting on defense manufacturing boom

Autonomous maritime technology company Saronic announced Thursday that it has selected the Port of Brownsville, Texas, as the site for Port Alpha, a planned $3 billion-plus next-generation shipyard.

Saronic officials said the shipyard will dramatically expand U.S. shipbuilding capacity while creating up to 10,000 jobs in South Texas.

“America’s maritime future depends on our ability to build again,” Saronic co-founder and CEO Dino Mavrookas said in a news release. “Port Alpha is our commitment to that mission … It is about rebuilding the industrial capacity, workforce, and manufacturing advantage required to ensure American maritime leadership for decades to come.”

The Austin-based company said Port Alpha will serve as a software-defined shipyard focused on building autonomous maritime vessels for commercial and defense applications, marking one of the largest private investments in U.S. shipbuilding in decades.

The Port of Brownsville, founded in 1936, is a 40,000-acre deepwater seaport located along the U.S.-Mexico border. The port is connected to the Gulf of Mexico by a 17-mile-long ship channel. The types of commercial vessels regularly calling at Brownsville are bulk carriers and oil/chemical tankers. The port has 13 general cargo docks and six liquid cargo docks.

In June, the Port of Brownsville completed the $295.2 million Brazos Island Harbor Improvement Project, an infrastructure investment that deepened the Brownsville Ship Channel by 10 feet.

Construction on Port Alpha is expected to begin later this year. Saronic projects the development could generate more than $160 billion in economic impact for Cameron County and $264.5 billion statewide.

Port Alpha will initially occupy 835 acres at the port, with room to expand to nearly 4,400 acres. The shipyard will be capable of producing vessels up to 850 feet long, with future expansion allowing construction of ships exceeding 1,200 feet.

The location offers direct waterfront access, deepwater navigation, multimodal transportation connections and sufficient acreage for future manufacturing expansion.

The company pointed to recent federal initiatives, including President Donald Trump’s executive order on restoring U.S. maritime dominance, as well as proposed legislation such as the SHIPS Act and the Maritime Action Plan, all aimed at strengthening domestic commercial and naval shipbuilding.

Port Alpha will complement Saronic’s existing shipyard in Franklin, Louisiana, acquired in early 2025, where the company said it is investing $300 million to expand production capacity for its 180-foot autonomous Marauder vessel.

The announcement follows Cameron County’s approval of a tax incentive package intended to secure the project for Brownsville.

According to reporting by the Texas Tribune, county officials approved a tax break valued at approximately $211 million after Saronic pledged to invest roughly $3.2 billion and create 10,000 jobs over the next decade.

The incentives have drawn criticism from environmental groups and local residents, who raised concerns about environmental impacts, the expansion of defense manufacturing and whether the economic benefits will be broadly shared in the community.

The AI Experimentation Phase Is Over

The AI conversation in logistics has shifted. on s. In the latest installment of Lean Quarterly Dive with FreightWaves and the team at Lean Solutions Group (LSG), Thomas Wasson sat down with Alfonso Quijano, chief technology officer and co-founder at LSG, to talk about how AI and automation are actually playing out inside freight brokerages and logistics companies.

For much of 2025, frontier AI labs promised agentic workflows would remake entire job categories. Quijano said that promise didn’t land the way it was pitched, and companies without existing technology infrastructure are discovering the gap between access to AI and the ability to use it well.

“I’m seeing that the experimentation phase is mostly over,” Quijano said. “You tried it, you went into it without a lot of experience. Companies that didn’t have technology teams found themselves investing a ton of money into AI to see if it worked for them.”

Broad access to AI platforms didn’t eliminate the need for fundamentals, though.

“Even if the technology had democratized access and everybody could download OpenAI and Claude, it doesn’t mean that you’re an AI company,” Quijano said. “You actually need good project management. You need good change management. You need to have good control of your costs. Who knew?”

The rise and fallout of “vibe coding” (using AI to generate software with minimal traditional development) was a cautionary tale for the industry, according to Quijano.

“An independent publisher put out that 99% of vibe coded apps are in the garbage,” Quijano said. “[These apps] are not making any money. They get published and then get unpublished from the infrastructure platform.”

The lesson, he said, is that speed of creation doesn’t equate to business value.

“Garbage in, garbage out. Even if it’s faster to create technology, that doesn’t mean that you’re going to create more businesses,” Quijano said.

According to Quijano, applications built hastily during the height of the AI wave were often fragile once deployed. “It seems to work, but in reality it’s very brittle,” he said. “When you apply it in real life and in production, it can cause some pretty important damage within your business.”

Rather than chasing AI-first branding, Quijano argued the more mature approach treats AI as one component within a broader automation strategy, deployed only where it adds value.

“It’s better for AI to be present but not talked about than the other way around,” Quijano said. “You kind of have to make it invisible for it to be adopted as it should within organizations.”

Many companies have wrapped AI around problems that once had straightforward, rules-based solutions.

“You’re taking something that would have otherwise been pretty simple and now using AI for it, and the unpredictable nature of the outcome is causing issues,” Quijano said. “You’re kind of better off saying, ‘I’m going to bring automation into my company’ rather than being an AI-first or AI-native solution. That automation can have AI components when it’s necessary, but no more than that.”

According to Quijano, organizations should conceptually treat the technology not as software to configure, but as personnel to onboard. “I don’t think it’s a tool. I think it’s an employee,” he said. “What do you do with a junior employee that joins your company? You train them. You ensure that you give them a very defined job description so that they know exactly what they need to do.”

That means documented processes, exception handling and ongoing training.

“You need a very defined SOP,” Quijano said. “You need to ensure that your process is well-documented and that you account for potential errors in the process. Exception management. You need to have continuous training. You need to close the loop.”

Lean has been building that closed-loop infrastructure directly into its own technology stack. The company recently expanded its LeanTek platform with new AI governance, workforce intelligence and cost visibility tools, giving organizations execution-level cost tracking, workflow feedback loops and centralized governance dashboards designed to move AI deployments past experimentation and into accountable, measurable production use.

“Organizations are increasingly focused on how to manage, measure and scale AI responsibly,” Quijano said of the update. “These new capabilities give leaders the confidence to scale AI while ensuring transparency, accountability and measurable business outcomes.”

Skipping the groundwork produces the same outcome as a mismanaged hire.

“You’re eventually going to have to fire this new employee, which is another thing that I’m seeing very, very frequently now,” Quijano said. “There was a wave of AI projects that started earlier in ‘25 that companies are suddenly finding ways to get out of.”

Quijano also pushed back on the idea that AI can fix broken processes or underperforming teams. “You can actually increase the output of errors into your system, potentially,” he said.

LSG was founded when brokerages needed nearshore talent to fill roles they couldn’t staff domestically. The conditions are now such that there’s an increased demand for people who sit at the intersection of operations, business, and technology.

“You have to be able to move between knowing what the right metrics are that allow you to show that this really is providing value for the business, knowing how to implement it, and knowing what technology implementation really looks like,” Quijano said.

That shift requires rethinking existing roles, Quijano said, describing a “cross-pollination” approach borrowed from software development. “You have very strong technology teams that sometimes you want to convert into pods that have greater coverage capacity amongst other projects that are adjacent to your own,” he said.

Many companies deploying AI at scale are grappling with runaway token spend. According to leading AI companies, there are hundreds of thousands of agents deployed across various companies. Quijano says that many companies are building more than they need, and that they are quickly relying on token usage more than anticipated.

LSG is itself reliant on Claude for engineering work.

“We’re big proponents of an AI-first strategy towards coding, but every leading AI company is also saying you have to start thinking about your own AI models,” Quijano said. “I think that’s the next direction that this is going to go.”

It’s questionable whether the newest frontier models justify their added cost. “When you compare [the newest models] to what you have the capability to do today, it’s about six to seven percent better,” Quijano said. “But at the same time, it’s twice as expensive. In my eyes this seems more like a strategy to monetize and pump this AI narrative rather than actually a humongous stride in AI improvement. We’re definitely in the law of diminishing returns right now.”

That plateau raises a bigger question, he said. “Does that mean that we’re at a point where the open source community can provide me better bang for my buck for deploying AI models than what the frontier labs are going to do? It’s yet to be seen. We’re doing it, but it’s not easy. Now it requires technology knowledge, infrastructure. You require DevOps experience. Now you’re back to the basics.”

LSG’s strategy has centered from the start on augmenting people rather than displacing them. Quijano expects the rest of the industry to converge toward that model as the hype cycle settles.

“We decided to do that from the get-go,” he said. “We talk about human plus AI, or tech-powered humans. We talk about elevating the role of the human to have more responsibilities.” That elevation requires real investment in reskilling the existing workforce, he said. “New responsibilities involve training and the upskilling of these roles so that they can be more tech-focused. They can have the ability to not only use the software, but be a part of it, part of the solution.”

Click here to learn more about Lean Solutions Group.

High yields, Covid-like volumes drive 23% gain in United’s cargo revenue

A close-up view of tail section of a United Airlines 777 jet with the rear cargo door open.

United Airlines’ cargo revenue increased 22.6% to $527 million in the second quarter as the carrier benefited from a sharp rise in air cargo rates related to disruptions from the Iran war and the strongest volumes since the Covid-fueled boom in 2020.

Global cargo demand grew 4% in the first half of the year and surged 7% in June, while capacity barely changed. But shipping space on aircraft fell more than 12% in the Middle East since the U.S.-led military campaign against Iran, as passenger and cargo airlines suspended or reduced operations due to ongoing war risks, putting upward pressure on prices. Those conditions pushed spot rates up 35% to 40% year over year in the previous two months. Since the start of hostilities on Feb. 28, the combined average of spot and contract rates has increased 17%.

And rates could go higher in the coming months after the United States and Iran broke their shaky ceasefire and began waging military strikes against each other in the Persian Gulf region. Xeneta now predicts rates in 2026 could be 5% to 15% higher than last year.

United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) transported nearly 347 million pounds of cargo during the quarter ended June 30, the most for the period since the pandemic disrupted supply chains in March 2020, according to financial results issued on Wednesday. United and other airlines responded at the time by deploying idle passenger aircraft as auxiliary cargo jets to help shippers remove manufacturing backlogs as ports, rail and trucking systems slowed to a trickle.

Among the commodities United hauled during the quarter were more than 9 million pounds of medical shipments and 232,000 pounds of military equipment.

Higher yields were the main contributor to the strong cargo performance, United said.

“Most of the gains in cargo were yield related, not volume related. I expect that to continue into Q3 as well,” said Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella on a call with analysts.

Delta Air Lines last week reported second-quarter cargo revenue of $294 million, up 39% from the prior year period. For the first half, cargo revenue increased 24% to $521 million.

Overall, United raised its full-year earnings guidance after posting adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, beating consensus expectations, and a 16% gain in revenue to $17.7 billion. Net income came in at $805 million, a drop of more than 17% versus the year-ago quarter after spending an extra $2.3 billion on fuel than previously expected because of the spike in jet fuel prices tied to decreased oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

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

Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.

2026 air cargo rates could rise 15% due to Iran war impacts

EU crackdown on small parcel imports kicks in

Chargebacks in Trucking Factoring: What They Cost You

That’s where chargebacks come into play—and if not handled carefully, they can quietly erode your profits and hurt your business.

In this guide, we’ll explain what chargebacks are, how they influence your factoring costs, and what steps you can take to reduce your risk and choose a partner who truly protects you.

What Are Chargebacks in Freight Factoring?

Factoring helps trucking companies unlock working capital by converting invoices into fast payments. Here’s a quick breakdown:

You submit your invoice and documents (Proof of Delivery, Bill of Lading, rate confirmation) to your factoring company.

The factor advances a percentage of the invoice’s value.

So, where do chargebacks come in?

If the broker doesn’t pay within the agreed-upon timeframe, the factor may issue a chargeback, requiring you to repay the advance (often with a processing fee).

Chargebacks are common in recourse factoring, where the carrier assumes the risk of non-payment. But chargebacks can still occur under many non-recourse agreements, which only protect against broker bankruptcy, not documentation issues or payment delays.

Understanding what’s actually covered (and what isn’t) is essential when choosing the right factoring partner and protecting your business.

How Chargebacks Impact Your Business

At Summar, our approach to factoring is simple: Protect, not penalize. If your load is approved, your documents are clean, and your broker checks out, you’re covered.

Unfortunately, many factoring agreements in the market aren’t built that way.

Chargebacks are a significant pain point for trucking companies working with recourse factors, or with “non-recourse” providers whose fine print leaves carriers exposed. These chargebacks don’t just cause short-term financial strain—they can lead to:

Unexpected deductions from your pay
Reduced advance rates
Increased factoring fees

And it only takes a few chargebacks a year to make a big difference.

Scenario: A $3,000 Load Gone Wrong

Let’s break down a real-world example to see how a single unpaid invoice can derail your cash flow:

You haul a load and invoice the broker for $3,000. Under your non-recourse factoring agreement:

Advance Rate: 96% → You receive $2,880 upfront
Reserve: 4% → $120 held until the broker pays
Factoring Fee: 3% (or $90) is deducted from the reserve once the broker pays

If everything goes smoothly, you collect $2,880 upfront, plus $30 from the reserve ($120 – $90), totaling $2,910 in hand.

But what if the broker disappears? If the invoice goes unpaid after 90 days—and your agreement doesn’t cover ghosting or aging—your factor issues a chargeback. That means:

You must return the $2,880 advance
You’re charged a $20 processing fee
Total out-of-pocket: $2,900

You just lost nearly the full value of that load, plus the cost of fuel, time, and tolls.

And that’s just one load.

The Hidden Cost of Weak Non-Recourse Agreements

Chargebacks quietly eat into your margins. That low advertised factoring rate? It doesn’t account for chargebacks.

Let’s say a carrier with a 2.5% factoring plan invoices $150,000 a year. Based on volume, they expect to pay $3,750 in fees. But if they face two chargebacks—one for $3,000 and another for $2,000—their real cost rises to $8,750, making the effective rate 5.8%, not 2.5%.

This is what Summar Shield was designed to prevent.

✅ Coverage beyond 90 days
✅ Protection from broker ghosting
✅ No chargebacks on approved invoices
✅ When payment failure isn’t your responsibility

If your factor’s idea of “non-recourse” still leaves you footing the bill, it’s time to switch gears. Summar Shield keeps you covered—and on the move.

How to Prevent Chargebacks Before They Happen

Whether you’re with Summar or not, the best way to protect your cash flow is to stay ahead of the risk. Here’s how:

1. Vet Brokers Before You Haul

Use your factor’s credit tools to verify brokers. Summar offers unlimited free credit checks, so you can avoid hauling for risky payers.

2. Submit Clean, Accurate Paperwork

Missing or unclear documents can also delay your payment. Be sure to include:

Signed POD
Correct BOL
Rate confirmation
All relevant receipts or authorizations

3. Confirm Accessorials in Advance

Disputes over lumper fees or detention time can lead to withheld payments. Always confirm these extras in writing before delivery.

4. Monitor Aging Invoices

If a broker hasn’t paid within 60–90 days, follow up immediately. Most factoring companies—unlike Summar—don’t cover aged invoices, which can leave you exposed if you wait too long.

5. Use Technology as Proof

ELD logs, GPS timestamps, and TMS records can help you fight delivery-related disputes. Use this data to your advantage.

6. Stay in Touch with Your Factor

A good factor should feel like a partner, not just a processor. If you’re unsure about your chargeback exposure or want to improve your terms, ask. Transparency and guidance should be part of the service.

A Smarter Way to Factor: Summar Financial

If avoiding chargebacks is key to keeping your factoring costs down, the next step is choosing a partner who helps you do just that.

At Summar Financial, we go beyond fast payments. We work closely with carriers to prevent chargebacks before they happen, offering transparency, flexible tools, and real protection.

What Makes Summar Different?

We go beyond Non-Recourse Factoring with Summar Shield – We absorb the risk when brokers don’t pay for reasons beyond your responsibility.
Unlimited Free Credit Checks – Know who you’re hauling for.
Transparent Terms – No surprise fees or hidden clauses.
Real-Time Dashboards – Stay on top of payments and risk.
Bilingual Support – Human help when you need it.

Chargebacks can silently chip away at your profits. With the right strategy—and the right partner—you can protect your business.

Introducing Summar Shield

Even when everything goes right on your end, things can still go wrong. That’s why we created Summar Shield—our enhanced credit guarantee program that adds another layer of security.

With Summar Shield, eligible invoices are backed by our internal risk review before you even haul. If payment failure isn’t your responsibility, your paperwork is clean, and your broker is approved, you’re covered.

Coverage includes:

✅ Broker ghosting
✅ Invoices aging beyond 90 days
✅ Proactive support for collection efforts

We don’t believe in chargebacks as a penalty. We believe in preventing them together.

At Summar, factoring means support, transparency, and protection—so you can focus on the road ahead.

Ready to factor smarter?
Learn more about Summar Shield or contact our team today to get started.

Credit vs Factoring in Trucking: It’s About Financial Fit

If you’re a carrier operating in today’s freight market, with tight margins, rate volatility, and rising operating costs, the real issue isn’t the tool. It’s whether the financing actually fits how your trucking business runs day to day.

Because in trucking, survival comes down to one thing: keeping cash moving at the same speed as freight.

Why Financing Fit Matters More Than Financing Type

Every carrier deals with the same basic cash flow problem:

Fuel, payroll, insurance, and maintenance are immediate and unavoidable expenses.
Revenue is generated load by load.
Rates vary by lane, market cycle, and season.
Brokers and shippers pay on their own timelines

That gap between hauling freight and getting paid is part of trucking.

Any financing tool that doesn’t align with this reality will eventually create friction. That’s why the credit-versus-factoring often overlooks the operational context. Both provide capital but interact with freight cash flow in very different ways.

Credit provides liquidity independent of invoices.
Factoring converts completed freight into immediate cash flow.

Most carriers benefit from both at different stages of growth. The decisive factor is how well each tool fits the way the fleet actually operates.

Credit and Factoring Serve Different Purposes in a Fleet

Credit can be highly effective for long-term investments, such as buying equipment, expansion initiatives, working capital reserves, or acquiring technology. However, credit is still debt. It carries interest costs, repayment schedules, utilization limits, and underwriting criteria that do not always reflect freight market volatility.

Factoring works differently. When it’s structured correctly, factoring accelerates the money you’ve already earned. It scales with your volume. It doesn’t add traditional debt to your balance sheet, as borrowing does.

So the real question isn’t which tool is better. It’s whether your financing mirrors how trucking revenue is generated and collected on a day-to-day basis.

The Real Source of Skepticism Around Factoring

Skepticism around factoring rarely comes from the concept itself. It usually comes from past experiences with programs that were rigid, unclear, or poorly aligned with how fleets actually operate.

Many fleets have encountered:

Confusing pricing structures.
Long-term lock-in clauses.
Minimum volume requirements.
Slow funding timelines.
Limited support beyond funding.

Understandably, those situations shaped how factoring is viewed across the industry.

But those issues are not part of factoring itself. They’re the result of poor structuring or using the wrong partner.

At its core, factoring is simply a way to convert completed freight into working capital.

Today, carrier-focused factoring looks very different. It’s built around real trucking operations: clear pricing, fast funding, credit protection, dedicated support, and flexible terms that move with freight activity rather than restricting it.

When factoring is structured around the carrier instead of the contract, it stops feeling like a burden and starts working like a cash-flow stabilizer.

What Financial Fit Looks Like in Trucking

Now, if survival depends on fit, what does that look like in the real world for real trucking companies?

Timing. Cash flow must move at the pace of freight. If you delivered today, you should be able to access that money quickly. Financing that lags behind operations forces you to juggle bills and make reactive decisions.

Transparency. Rates, fees, and reserves should be clear from the outset. When you know the numbers, you can price loads and manage margins confidently.

Risk protection. Broker non-payment and receivable exposure are real risks in trucking. Financing that includes credit evaluation and protection helps keep your revenue predictable, not just faster.

Operational support. Trucking is not a passive industry; it is hands-on. When payment issues arise, you need access to real people who understand freight, not generic service queues.

When these elements are in place, financing supports your operation instead of getting in the way.

How the Right Factoring Partner Changes the Outcome

This is where the conversation moves from factoring as a tool to factoring as a partnership.

Two carriers can both factor and have completely different experiences. The difference is the partner behind it.

When factoring is rigid, messy, or slow, it creates operational friction.
When it is transparent, responsive, and built around your fleet activity, it removes that friction.

This is where partner quality matters.

At Summar Financial, we structure factoring specifically around carrier operations rather than generic advance models. We designed our programs to synchronize liquidity with freight movements while reducing receivable risk.

Our services include:

Clear and straightforward pricing
Fast funding tied to load completion with a 2 pm Cut-off.
Unlimited broker credit evaluation and monitoring.
Non-payment protection through Summar Shield
Dedicated account support that understands freight cycles

The point isn’t just faster pay. It’s support and a steady cash flow you can count on, with less risk hanging over your loads.

The Real Question

Cost swings, payment delays, and operational pressure define trucking. Access to capital will always matter.

But survival is not decided by whether you use a bank line or a factoring program.

It’s determined by whether the financing aligns with how freight revenue is earned, collected, and exposed to risk.

Generic financing creates friction.
Aligned financing creates resilience.

The label does not determine outcomes. The fit does.

And in trucking, the fit and structure are what keep the wheels turning.

If you’re evaluating factoring or rethinking your current financing to fit your operation, contact our team to talk it over and see how we customize factoring to your lanes, volumes, and payment cycles.

Mexico heavy-duty truck production, exports to US rebound in June

Mexico’s heavy-duty truck manufacturing sector showed renewed momentum in June, with production and exports rising year over year after more than a year of sluggish performance.

Manufacturers in Mexico assembled 15,262 heavy-duty trucks and buses during June, a 7.6% increase from the same month in 2025, according to from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) and the National Association of Bus, Truck and Tractor-Trailer Producers (Anpact).

Exports of Mexican-made trucks climbed 3.2% year over year to 12,730 units. Nearly all of Mexico’s heavy-duty vehicle exports continue to be destined for the United States, making U.S. freight demand the industry’s primary growth driver.

“June closed with clear signs of recovery,” Anpact President Rogelio Arzate said during a news conference on June 9.

The June performance also marked the first time since August 2024 that Mexico’s heavy-duty vehicle industry recorded year-over-year growth simultaneously in wholesale sales, production, exports and retail sales, according to Anpact.

The 16 members of Anpact in Mexico are Freightliner, Kenworth, Navistar, Hino, International, DINA, MAN SE, Mercedes-Benz, Isuzu, Scania, Shacman Trucks, Foton, Cummins, Detroit Diesel, Daimler Buses Mexico and Volkswagen Buses.

Freightliner was the top truck producer and exporter in Mexico in June, producing 9,379 trucks, a 9.6% year-over-year increase. The truck maker exported 8,745 units during the month, a 6% year-over-year increase.

International Trucks Inc. was the No. 2 producer and exporter during June, manufacturing 4,181 trucks, an 11.6% year-over-year increase. The truck maker’s exports rose 6.7% year-over-year to 3,685 units during the month.

Truck production, exports still lagging behind 2025

While June results improved, first-half totals remained below last year’s pace.

Between January and June, Mexican factories produced 70,876 heavy-duty vehicles, down 13% from the first six months of 2025.

Exports totaled 58,260 units, a 14.5% decline from the same period last year, while wholesale sales edged up 3.1% to 14,979 units. Retail sales remained under pressure, falling 21.8% to 16,072 units.

U.S. market remains critical

Arzate said improving conditions in the U.S. heavy-duty truck market helped support June’s rebound, while stronger domestic fleet replacement also boosted demand.

Wholesale sales surged 45.5% year over year to 3,278 units, fueled primarily by freight transportation equipment. Cargo vehicle retail sales increased nearly 15% year over year to 2,796 units, while sales of cargo trucks climbed 22.9% and tractor-trailers rose nearly 8%.

Guillermo Rosales, president of the Mexican Automobile Dealers Association (AMDA), said June represented the commercial vehicle industry’s first positive retail sales month of 2026 after 17 consecutive months of declines.

“The outlook is that during the second half of the year we could continue reducing the negative impact the industry has experienced throughout 2025 and 2026,” Rosales said during the same news conference as Arzate.

Cristina Vázquez, AMDA’s coordinator of economic studies, said during the news conference June retail sales increased 12.5% from May, suggesting the market is beginning to stabilize even though first-half totals remain below both 2025 and pre-pandemic levels.

USMCA uncertainty remains a concern

Despite the improving monthly figures, Anpact warned that long-term investment decisions remain tied to the future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Arzate urged policymakers to preserve the agreement’s existing rules of origin during the upcoming USMCA review, saying the regional trade pact has enabled North America to become one of the world’s most competitive heavy-duty truck manufacturing hubs.

“The positive results observed in wholesale sales during June confirm the industry’s ability to respond to market needs,” Arzate said. “To maintain this trend, it is essential to have a framework of certainty that strengthens North America’s productive integration.”

Anpact said its member companies already meet a regional content value of 64% and are on track to achieve the treaty’s 70% requirement by 2027, while also complying with labor, steel and aluminum content requirements.

The association also reiterated concerns over growing imports of used heavy-duty trucks from the U.S., saying that for every 100 new heavy-duty vehicles sold in Mexico, another 55 used imported trucks enter the country, often at undervalued prices that distort the domestic market.

Arzate said Anpact is working with Mexico’s Finance Ministry to establish reference pricing aimed at reducing undervaluation.

Key June heavy-duty vehicle metrics (Mexico)

Metric	June 2026	YoY Change
Production	15,262 units	+7.6%
Exports	12,730 units	+3.2%
Wholesale sales	3,278 units	+45.5%
Retail sales	3,194 units	+3.9%

First-half 2026 (January-June)

Metric	2026	YoY Change
Production	70,876 units	-13.0%
Exports	58,260 units	-14.5%
Wholesale sales	14,979 units	+3.1%
Retail sales	16,072 units	-21.8%