Vetting platform Carrier411 is cancelling the account of a Mexico-based client in response to ongoing unrest in Los Angeles, according to CEO Darren Brewer.
Carrier411 monitors trucking companies for quality assurance and rates them on a variety of safety and performance benchmarks.
Brewer said he decided to cancel the account of a Mexico-based third-party staffing agency that uses the Carrier411 platform after watching the protests that have erupted in Los Angeles in the wake of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“I was following what was going on with the riots in Los Angeles,” Brewer said on FreightWaves’ “What the Truck?!?” podcast on Friday. “I see all these people standing above cars, waving Mexican flags, and the devastation, the destruction of Los Angeles. I said, ‘something’s not right.’”
“What the Truck?!?” is hosted by Timothy Dooner. It focuses on the transportation and logistics industry, featuring news, analysis and interviews with industry professionals.
More than 3,000 freight brokers and shippers use the Carrier411 platform, the company said on its website.
“There is a major staffing service located in Mexico that supports … a fair amount of our … big broker clients,” Brewer said. “We’re changing our policy when it comes to allowing access from Mexico. They were the only third-party staffing service that we allowed, because I know the guy who started it and runs it, he’s a solid guy, and they got good people. I let him know first thing the next morning and explained to him why.”
Protests in Los Angeles began around June 6 in response to migrant raids by ICE.
Some outlets such as Fox News have described the protests as “riots,” while The Associated Press said the unrest in Los Angeles has “mainly been peaceful.”
“More than 100 people have been arrested over the past several days of protests,” The Associated Press reported. “The vast majority of arrests were for failing to disperse, while a few others were for assault with a deadly weapon, looting, vandalism and attempted murder for tossing a Molotov cocktail.”
In addition to Los Angeles, protests against the ICE raids have spread to other cities across the country. As of Wednesday, ICE has deported more than 207,000 people since President Donald Trump began his second term on Jan. 20, according to Time Magazine.
Brewer said they have not canceled any broker’s accounts on the Carrier411 platform.
“We’re still currently allowing access for some of our broker customers who have actual employees in Mexico,” Brewer said. “And we’re still continuing to allow access for their employees in Mexico, but no more third-party staffing service.”
