The fastest way for Amazon to add a premium expedited tier to its new national LTL network is to buy the one carrier already built for it — and already on the auction block Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) opened its less-than-truckload network to all businesses this week, and the market reaction was muted. Shares of the […]

One week ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous 9-0 decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that is already reshaping the $800-billion-plus truckload brokerage sector. The Court ruled that the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA) does not preempt state-law negligent hiring claims against brokers. In plain English: brokers can now be […]

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Derek Barrs sat down with me and Matt Leffler in our Chattanooga studio this week for a live taping of Freight Expectations. What I came away with — beyond the hour of substantive policy conversation — was the clearest articulation yet of why this administration is having a measurable, […]

Spot rates hit $3.55 a mile yesterday — a clear signal that capacity is not flowing in to relieve the tightness we saw during road check week. And we’re heading into Memorial Day, which historically creates a surge as shippers push product out ahead of the holiday and carriers take time off with their families. […]

Autopilot helps project44 customers build and deploy their own AI agents.

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U.S. freight railroads delivered one of their strongest performances in years during March 2026, signaling that the goods-producing economy is regaining meaningful momentum across multiple sectors. According to the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) latest Rail Industry Overview, total U.S. rail carloads averaged 230,401 per week in March — the strongest March result since 2019 […]

The Dalilah Law, the Senate bill introduced by Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) following President Trump’s call during the State of the Union, would trigger a sharp, immediate contraction in trucking capacity if enacted, potentially igniting a trucking super cycle with overnight rate surges amid severely tight supply. Much higher trucking rates could become permanent, giving […]

The freight market has been sending mixed signals for months, but one trend stands out clearly as we move deeper into 2026: trucking spot rates have staged a meaningful recovery, while intermodal rates remain stubbornly anchored near cycle lows. Look at the data. Truckload spot rates (inclusive of fuel) are holding elevated around $2.80 per […]

The U.S. trucking industry continues to face a harsh economic reality: spot rates have failed to keep pace with inflation, squeezing carrier margins and contributing to significant financial pressure on truckers nationwide. Here’s a clear visual of the disconnect — spot trucking rates (via the SONAR National Truckload Index) overlaid against the Consumer Price Index […]

Staying warm and off the road is better than Ezra As Winter Storm Ezra intensifies across the central and eastern United States, the freight industry faces a severe threat from high winds that could blow over trailers, disrupting operations and endangering drivers. The storm, which began escalating on Sunday, is unleashing gusts of 50+ mph […]

Over the weekend, two Minnesota-based carriers under the True North Equity Partners umbrella ceased operations overnight, putting approximately 200 drivers out of work. MinStar Transport and Transport Design Inc., each operating fleets of around 100 trucks, announced their immediate closures in communications to employees and partners, according to multiple reports circulating in trucking communities on […]

Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with hundreds of senior executives at America’s largest trucking companies. Nearly all say they only recently discovered the massive influx of foreign drivers and motor carriers. Most assumed the trend was gradual; none realized it was exponential. Few had ever heard the term “non-domiciled CDL” until this summer […]

The closure of James R. Smith Trucking, Inc., a family-owned operation based in Cullman, Alabama, that marked its 70th year in 2025, underscores the dire state of the freight market. Detailed in a Cullman Daily article, the shutdown of this 1955-founded carrier signals another casualty in a wave of trucking bankruptcies sweeping the industry. A […]

ATLANTA – Transportation Insight Holdings, LLC (together with its affiliates, the “Company”), a leading provider of non-asset, tech-enabled logistics and brokerage solutions in North America servicing more than 14,000 shippers and over 80,000 carriers through Transportation Insight (“TI”), Nolan Transportation Group (“NTG”), and its proprietary Beon™ Digital Logistics Platform (“Beon”), on Thursday announced that Alan […]

I screwed up. Yesterday, the FreightWaves team was informed by a source we considered credible that CRST was shutting down a significant portion of its operations—what we understood to be its entire over-the-road (OTR) division. Unfortunately, the article was written in a way that made it easy to misinterpret as the entire company closing. That’s […]

Department of Homeland Security agents are conducting aggressive workplace audits across Northern and Central California trucking companies, with a heavy focus on Punjabi-owned carriers, according to a detailed account aired November 28 on Punjab Radio USA. Harpreet Thera, owner of a mid-sized fleet operating since 1997, told the station that DHS served him with a […]

The Administration has announced a major new initiative targeting the financial channels used by undocumented immigrants, marking a strategic and powerful shift in enforcement priorities. Moving beyond traditional border security measures, this action focuses on financial institutions and money transmitters that facilitate the transfer of funds from undocumented workers to their home countries, effectively targeting […]

As truckers celebrate the Thanksgiving holidays, the U.S. trucking industry stands on the brink of another tradition: the annual capacity purge.  The annual capacity purge happens between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, each year and involves a significant increase in motor carriers leaving the industry compared to other times in the year. This seasonal trend, clearly […]