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.
