California’s latest high-risk audit reads like a warning label for the freight industry. As the state struggles with data integrity, benefit administration, and mounting fiscal pressure, the consequences may extend beyond Sacramento, into CHP staffing, roadside inspections, and federally funded enforcement programs that trucking depends on.
California delays cancellation of 17,000 non-domiciled CDLs until March despite Secretary Duffy’s January 5 deadline. With $160 million in federal funding and potential decertification of the state’s entire CDL program on the line, the standoff could reshape federal-state authority over commercial licensing for years.
The latest benchmark diesel price closed out 2025 pretty much where it finished up 2024.
When you got your CDL and started hauling freight on public highways, you traded some constitutional protections for the privilege of operating in a closely regulated industry. Here’s what that actually means when a badge knocks on your sleeper berth door.
The end of the year sneaks up on small carriers faster than most people realize. One minute you’re grinding through the end of the season, chasing loads and keeping wheels moving. The next thing you know, it’s late December and everyone is talking about filings, renewals, and “stuff you’re supposed to do.” Year-end actions are […]
The 10 Playbook Stories That Defined Trucking in 2025 — And Why They All Point to the Same Truth If 2025 taught the trucking industry anything, it’s that the pressure wasn’t coming from just one direction. It wasn’t only rates. It wasn’t only regulation. It wasn’t only technology or labor or compliance. It was all […]
A class-action lawsuit filed in Alameda County seeks to block California’s Jan. 5 cancellation of nearly 20,000 commercial driver’s licenses. The plaintiffs argue the DMV is punishing immigrant drivers for the agency’s own administrative failures while refusing to let them reapply for corrected credentials, violating state law and due process.
Another decline in the benchmark price of diesel has sent that number down by the biggest amount in a five-week period in two years..
At Playbook, we’ve recently partnered with ATBS, one of the most trusted accounting and advisory firms in trucking, to help owner-operators and small carriers get clearer on something that has quietly become a competitive advantage in today’s market: understanding profitability at a granular level. Not estimates. Not averages. Not what worked last year. Real numbers, built […]
The order directs expedited rescheduling to Schedule III, but the same agency that’s held up oral fluid testing for two years now holds the keys to marijuana testing’s future.
A new FMCSA research initiative to evaluate warning triangles and flares is really about building the regulatory foundation for autonomous truck operations. With Waymo and Aurora knocking on the door with exemption requests, the agency needs data to either justify current requirements or clear a path for alternatives.
Health insurance has never been simple in trucking. For owner-operators and small carriers, it’s often one of the most confusing, expensive, and emotionally loaded parts of running the business. And in 2026, that pressure could increase — not because of a new law, but because a temporary one may quietly run out. Several provisions tied […]
With 2025 almost in the books, the smartest thing a small carrier can do right now isn’t chase one more load — it’s slow down just enough to decide what 2026 actually needs to look like. If you’re reading this with less than two weeks left in the year, you’re right on time. Not late. […]
There’s a moment in every trucking journey where two operators standing in the same parking lot, pulling similar freight, and running similar equipment quietly drift onto completely different paths. On the surface, nothing looks different. Both trucks are running. Both drivers are working. Both businesses are technically “operating.” But underneath, one is being held together […]
Going from a straight truck to a semi doesn’t end when you get the keys. That’s when the real differences start to show. In Part One, we talked about the decision to move from a box truck into a semi — the systems, discipline, and readiness required before you ever sign paperwork. Part Two is […]
Some carriers are taught to think in cost per mile. It’s familiar. It’s easy to explain. And it’s only part of the picture. Cost per mile tells you how expensive it is to move the truck down the road. It does not tell you how expensive it is to run a business. That’s where cost […]
Winter doesn’t usually just put trucking companies out of business overnight. It exposes the cracks that were already there. That’s the core idea behind the Winter Readiness Masterclass we recently held inside Playbook. Not winter as a weather problem—but winter as a stress test on your equipment, your drivers, your cash flow, your dispatch decisions, […]
That story feels familiar to small carriers for a reason. Spot rates don’t move on a schedule, and they don’t follow clean rules. For years, the industry has tried to predict them with confidence — the turn is coming, capacity is tightening, just wait a few more weeks. After enough missed calls, you stop reacting. […]
California is expected to reissue approximately 17,000 non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses it planned to revoke after federal enforcement pressure, setting up what may become the most significant federal-state confrontation over CDL authority in decades.
Your truck isn’t just a piece of equipment. It’s your office. Your income. Your schedule. Your leverage. And the moment a DPF light or engine fault shows up on the dash, all of that can grind to a halt. That reality is exactly why this recent episode of The Long Haul hit home for so […]
When new trucks became impossible to source, fleets had to push assets past a million miles. The ones that survived did one thing right: they greased.
Trump’s marijuana rescheduling could strip DOT of testing authority for 4 million CDL drivers. Without a safety carve-out, the agency that’s kept impaired operators off highways for 34 years loses its legal teeth. Here’s what carriers need to do before the rules change.
One owner who hired an unqualified driver got 60 days. Other owner offered no time plea deal. The driver who killed seven was acquitted. The system that enabled them both remains largely unchanged.
The benchmark used for most fuel surcharges fell for the fourth consecutive week.
Discover why 9,500 drivers out of service doesn’t mean what you think it means and what that really means for the industry.
The conversation around non-domiciled CDLs has become one of the loudest and most emotionally charged debates trucking has seen in years. Depending on where you get your information, HR 5688 is either a long-overdue fix to a broken system — or a Trojan horse that could reopen the very loopholes drivers believe flooded the industry […]
Over the past several days, screenshots like the one circulating below have spread rapidly across trucking social media. The letter, issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), notifies a driver that their non-domiciled Commercial Learner’s Permit or CDL has been cancelled effective immediately, citing non-compliance with federal regulations. Naturally, that has triggered a […]
When a November 2025 draft memo from the Department of Transportation surfaced promising a groundbreaking “data-driven severity matrix” to catch chameleon carriers, it raised uncomfortable questions about ARCHI (Application Review and Chameleon Investigation), built with $3.5 million in congressional funding in 2012-2013. Is this bureaucratic amnesia, rebranding of an underperforming system, or evidence that FMCSA’s chameleon detection infrastructure has been quietly abandoned?
Drawing parallels to COVID-era passenger carriers that either collapsed or strategically positioned for recovery, this analysis examines how predictive financial management, disciplined cost control, and forward-thinking strategy determine which carriers survive brutal market downturns, and why the industry’s broken pricing structure punishes operators doing everything right.
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges has plummeted over the last two weeks.
The debate over non-domiciled CDL holders — and immigrant CDL drivers who entered the workforce after 2019 — has exploded across social media. One viral crash video turns into a sweeping accusation. One fraudulent licensing scandal becomes proof of a national crisis. One politician posts a clip, and suddenly the internet decides an entire segment […]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is rolling out Motus, a new registration system designed to replace the agency’s decades-old platform, offering what it calls “a more intuitive, user-friendly experience.”
Inspectors issued 6,455 English-language proficiency violations through October 2025 while placing only 1,816 drivers out of service, reflecting a notable enforcement gap stemming from legitimate regulatory exemptions rather than inconsistent application.
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges is down 11 cents/gallon in two weeks.
For years, drivers rolling through North Carolina have been dealing with a problem that never should’ve been part of their workday—a growing number of private parking-lot companies slapping boots on tractor-trailers and box trucks the second a driver stepped away from the vehicle. Some operators waited in the shadows for truckers to leave the cab. […]
After 25 years of documented CDL fraud schemes producing 6,000+ fraudulent licenses and at least 13 deaths, FMCSA finally removed 3,000 training providers from the federal registry. The problem? Another 36,000 providers remain unvalidated, operating on the same honor system that enabled Operation Safe Road, Larex Incorporated, and the Massachusetts golden handshake scheme.
Edison Motors’ diesel-electric hybrid trucks prove EVs can work in trucking when you build around operational realities rather than regulatory fantasies. That’s the kind of practical engineering that deserves attention.
The FMCSA announced Monday a “complete overhaul” of the ELD approval process, implementing pre-publication vetting. This comes after the agency has revoked 308 devices from the approved list.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found FMCSA likely violated federal law when it attempted to eliminate approximately 200,000 commercial driver licenses without following standard procedures. The November 13 emergency stay revealed failures that leave 200,000 drivers in legal limbo while courts define the boundaries of administrative power during claimed emergencies.
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges declined after four weeks of increases.
For the last 48 hours, a single inspection report has been blowing up timelines across trucking social media. Not because of a brake issue. Not because of a weight violation. Not even because of an ELD malfunction. It’s blowing up because of one line buried inside the violation notes — a line many drivers never […]
A newly surfaced draft memo from inside the U.S. Department of Transportation signals one of the strongest federal moves yet to identify and shut down “chameleon carriers” — companies that repeatedly shut down, reopen under new names, and dodge enforcement. For years, these operators have quietly slipped through the cracks, hurting small legitimate carriers and […]
Some small carriers believe direct shippers only care about price, capacity, and service. But in 2025, that’s not the full picture anymore. The companies you’re trying to do business with — whether it’s a local manufacturer, a regional distributor, or a national retailer — are vetting carriers differently. They’re pulling up Google. They’re checking your […]
When news broke that an Uzbek terror-suspect was arrested in Kansas while holding a Pennsylvania-issued commercial driver’s license, the trucking world felt the shockwave immediately. The man’s name was Akhror Bozorov, and federal officials now say his case exposed a breakdown inside Pennsylvania’s CDL verification system that has been building for years. That one license […]
When Home Depot reported earnings early this week, it gave us the first real signal about how freight could shape up heading into Q1. They told us the consumer wasn’t collapsing, but they also weren’t opening their wallets like they used to. Big home projects were getting delayed. DIY was soft. And inventory levels were […]
The used truck market has been on a roller coaster for the last five years. First came the COVID boom, when prices exploded and used tractors were selling for more than brand-new models did prior it felt like. Then came the freight recession, which sent prices tumbling and flooded the market with equipment nobody wanted […]
For months, the trucking industry has been waiting to see whether EPA would bend, pause, or extend the 2027 NOx emissions deadline. Industry groups filed petitions. Manufacturers warned about rushed timelines. Trucking associations argued the rollout was too fast and too expensive. But none of it moved the agency. EPA said no. The deadline remains. […]
The first real cold snap of the season is when a lot of truckers remember something they already knew: winter doesn’t care how busy you are, how many miles you need this week, or how tight freight already feels. Winter finds every shortcut you’ve taken. It finds every part you ignored. It finds every ounce […]
A lot of people start trucking behind the wheel of a box truck. It makes sense. It’s cheaper to enter, easier to insure, simpler to operate, and gives you a way to learn without jumping straight into the deep end. A box truck feels like the starter home of trucking — a stepping stone toward […]
For the past year, there’s been a steady belief floating around the industry that once enough capacity leaves the market, rates will finally rise. It sounds reassuring. It sounds straightforward. But it’s also dangerously incomplete. Because the reality small carriers deal with every single day tells a different story: capacity exits are temporary, but demand […]
When you’re a one-truck owner-operator or a small 3–5 truck fleet, your morning rhythm is clockwork: coffee, pre-trip, open the load board, refresh, refresh again, stare at the rates, call brokers, negotiate, roll. But all it takes is one outage—DAT glitches, Truckstop freezes, the phone app crashes, or the entire system goes offline—and you’re stuck. […]
The moment Home Depot dropped its Q3-2025 earnings (along with updated guidance), it wasn’t just Wall Street that took notice. If you’re running a one-truck or five-truck fleet, you should’ve been watching too. Because what Home Depot does in its stores and warehouses eventually shows up on the load board, in your balance sheet, and […]
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges has risen for four straight weeks.
By the time December rolls around, trucking looks different. Freight slows down. Parking fills up earlier. Drivers feel the cold creeping into their bones. But there’s one thing winter does that no other season can: it slows the world down just enough for us to remember what matters. And that’s when the Escort to Arlington […]
The industry has a serious love/hate relationship between motor carriers and brokers. That relationship can be even more volatile with dispatch services in between the brokers and the carriers. The reality is that in today’s market, carriers are looking for every edge they can find to get the best rates possible to secure the future […]
The first real winter as an owner-operator feels a lot like your first year running your own business — the weather just exposes what you didn’t prepare for. Cold doesn’t care how motivated you are, how nice your truck is, or how solid your dispatcher sounds on the phone. When the temps fall below freezing, […]
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges is at its highest price since July 2024.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has officially put the brakes on the FMCSA’s interim final rule governing non-domiciled CDLs, issuing an administrative stay on November 10, 2025. The decision, filed under Case No. 25-1215 (Jorge Rivera Lujan et al. v. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), temporarily halts enforcement of […]
When Trucker’s Paradise opened its doors in late 2024, the company’s promise was bold enough to turn heads across the industry. The Gainesville, Texas-based travel center billed itself as “America’s biggest truck stop,” a sprawling complex built to redefine what life on the road could look like for professional drivers. The concept was ambitious: convert […]
Sen. Thom Tillis secured a multi-million earmark for a North Carolina truck driver training expansion included in the spending package to reopen the government.
The political shorthand you see on social platforms—maybe misleading if you don’t take the time to sit-down and unpack it. What this bill really does is change how non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) are issued in the U.S. It’s not about nationality; it’s about eligibility, record-keeping and compliance. Whether you’re an owner-operator running your own […]
A federal lawsuit is now underway challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new interim final rule that limits the issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs). The lawsuit, filed on October 20, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the D.C. Circuit, argues that FMCSA’s decision to enforce the rule immediately—without going through […]
The heavy hitters in trucking just finished their Q3 calls, and what they’re saying is loud enough for small carriers to hear: things are messy, but there’s a glimmer of opportunity if you play tight. From the Covenant Logistics team seeing “all‑time high” contract bids, to Old Dominion Freight Line eyeballing shrinking tonnage, the message […]
You’ve seen thousands of them by now. The broker emails the rate confirmation, you glance at the pay, the pickup, the drop — maybe the weight if you’re paying attention — and then hit “Sign.” But that one-page piece of paper you treat like a formality? It’s the contract. Not a suggestion. Not a handshake. […]
When you’re staring at that lease-on contract, it’s easy to get tunnel vision. You see the logo, the promise of steady freight, maybe a fuel card or a shiny dispatch app — and you start thinking this might finally be the break you need. But that signature can change everything. Whether you lease your truck […]
Trucking’s pain is spreading beyond freight rates and diesel prices — it’s now hitting the banks. In its third-quarter earnings release, Midland States Bancorp revealed that trucking industry woes triggered $5 million in equipment finance charge-offs for the quarter, prompting the Illinois-based lender to walk away from equipment financing altogether. That decision wasn’t made lightly. […]
Most small trucking company owner wants to save on fuel — but some don’t actually know how. They’ll pull into the first truck stop they see, top off the tank, and gripe about diesel prices on the CB. But here’s the truth that separates profitable operators from the ones barely scraping by: your fuel cost […]
Most owner-operators know how to figure out what it costs to run their truck — that’s your breakeven point. But there’s another number that rarely gets enough attention in this industry. It’s the one that lenders care about, the one that successful fleets track religiously, and the one that separates guesswork from control: Your Operating […]
Some drivers roll right past flashing lights, not considering those lights belong to someone’s son or daughter, wrenching under the weight of a steer axle in a live lane of traffic. Others pull over in the breakdown lane, unaware that on the other side of that phone call to roadside is a technician rushing into […]
The diesel price used for most fuel surcharges rose for a second consecutive week.
You want your stuff unloaded? Pay somebody to do it. Small carriers should not have to worry about having to pay someone to unload at a receiver.
AI is only as good as what you ask it to do.
Starting January 16, 2026, freight brokers will face stricter financial standards that could thin the herd—and for small carriers, that shift might finally level the playing field.
The weekly diesel price used for most fuel surcharges rose the most it has increased since June.
When you disrespect the skill it takes to drive a truck, you’re not just wrong — you’re dangerously uninformed.
There comes a time when legacy institutions must step aside — not out of disrespect, but because they’ve simply lost touch. And in the case of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), that time is now.
Let’s keep this simple: lumber and steel are two of the biggest drivers of flatbed freight in this country. If people are building houses, warehouses, retail centers, data centers, transmission lines, and factories, you’re hauling the stuff — framing lumber, coils, plate, beams, structural steel, rebar. When that demand is hot, you feel it right […]
When used the right way, AI can handle all of the processes that you wished you had, but you just couldn’t find the bandwidth to build them out.
The latest generation of steer tires, like the Firestone FS592, isn’t just rubber and tread—it’s engineered safety, longer life, and better ROI for small fleet owners who can’t afford guesswork.
California just wrapped up a record 1.5 billion pound pistachio harvest, but cargo theft hit record highs in 2024 and nuts remain prime targets. We’ve documented sophisticated nut theft since 2006, $10 million stolen between 2013 and 2017 alone. Will it continue in 2025?
If you’re an owner-operator or small fleet owner staring down the barrel of an engine problem, you already know the feeling—an uneasy mix of fear, frustration, and that sinking question in your gut:
What happens when brokers start choosing capacity not by safety, but by who’s $500 cheaper? Welcome to the underbelly of the non-domiciled CDL crisis.
Inspectors pulled 2,296 commercial vehicles off the road during the 2025 Brake Safety Week, a 15.1% out-of-service rate virtually identical to 2024’s 15% failure rate. With next year’s enforcement already scheduled for Aug. 23-29, 2026, the question isn’t whether we’ll see similar results
It should’ve just been another Tuesday. But in the early hours on I-10 in California, three lives were lost — violently, unnecessarily — when a big rig, reportedly driven by an unauthorized immigrant under the influence, plowed into traffic. The impact was immediate. So was the outrage. This wasn’t just a crash. It was another […]
In today’s market, a check engine light can be more than an inconvenience — it can be a trap. Here’s why code clearing without real diagnosis is one of the most dangerous shortcuts a shop can take on your equipment.
When the Department of Transportation (DOT) finalized its rule on non-domiciled commercial drivers, it likely knew pushback was coming — but maybe not this quick. A coalition of immigrants and advocacy groups has now filed a formal legal challenge against FMCSA, arguing that the federal government’s move to deauthorize nearly 200,000 lawfully present drivers is […]
In a market defined by high fuel prices, flat freight rates, and relentless pressure, simply staying alive as a small carrier is a mark of discipline—not defeat.
The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges dropped in excess of 4 cents/gallon for the third consecutive week, with the price at the pump catching up to significant declines in futures prices from several weeks ago. The Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration average weekly retail diesel price fell 4.5 cts/g to $4.62/g, effective […]
You don’t wait until the house is on fire to learn how to use an extinguisher. The same goes for load claims. If you’re running a trucking business — whether it’s one truck or ten — load claims aren’t a matter of “if.” It’s a matter of “when.” When that day comes, your driver will […]
It’s one thing to debate rules in Washington — it’s another when 6,000 drivers are removed from the roads.. That’s what’s happening across the country as federal regulators begin enforcing a rule that’s been on the books for decades but rarely taken seriously — the requirement that every commercial driver operating an 80,000‑pound truck in […]
For many small carriers and owner-operators, factoring can feel like a lifeline. You deliver a load today, and instead of waiting 30 to 45 days to get paid, your factoring company cuts you a check within 24 hours. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? But what many don’t realize is that the contract you sign with […]
There was a time when folks laughed at the idea of ELDs becoming mandatory. A time when faxing rate cons felt like standard procedure. And when you could run a whole dispatch board with nothing but a yellow pad and a flip phone. That time ain’t now. We’re living in the age of automation. And […]
There’s a quiet, ugly truth behind many of the owner-operator breakdowns you see these days: DPF systems and emissions enforcement have bled carriers dry for years. The semiconductor chips, the sensors, the regeneration cycles—they’re not just technical burdens. They’re capital killers. Now, a new bill—the “Diesel Truck Liberation Act”—is pushing back against the EPA’s reach, […]
Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it would withhold approximately $40.7 million in federal grant funding from the state of California, citing that it failed to enforce the federal English Language Proficiency (ELP) requirement for commercial drivers. That move is deeper than headline politics. For the trucking industry — especially small carriers and […]
When I first stepped into CDL school more than two decades ago, there was one thing that stuck with me—not just for the test, not just for the road exam—but something that still rides with me every single mile: the Smith System. They didn’t just teach it. They drilled it. Burned it into our brains […]
Contributed Content If you’ve ever thought about hauling FEMA loads, now’s the time to get your paperwork in order. FEMA’s Transportation Service Provider (TSP) program opens registration once a year — and if you miss it, you’ll be sitting on the sidelines when emergency freight starts moving. Getting approved isn’t complicated, but it does take […]
Futures market in ULSD weakening on projections of significant oversupply.
For small fleets and owner-operators running on thin margins, idling is one of those hidden costs that can sneak up and eat thousands off your bottom line. But here’s the truth: not all idling is bad. Sometimes it protects your engine, your driver, and even your revenue. The key is knowing when idling makes sense […]
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a waiver on October 9, 2025, extending the deadline for full implementation of the National Registry II electronic medical certification system to January 10, 2026.
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s 2025 International Roadcheck brought more than 56,000 inspections to highways across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, revealing that the same familiar culprits, brake systems, tires, and logbook falsifications, continue to drive out-of-service violations.
