The Playbook

The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges posted its second consecutive small decline.

The trucking industry’s decade-long push for hair follicle drug testing is reaching a critical inflection point as the Trump administration prepares to address guidelines that have been delayed repeatedly since 2015. Major carriers say hair testing catches 10 times more drug users than urine screens, but face fierce opposition from minority groups and independent truckers who claim the methods are discriminatory.

Motive Technologies closed a $150 million funding round led by Kleiner Perkins this week, positioning the AI-powered platform for aggressive expansion beyond its dashcam origins. What started as fleet management in 2015 has evolved into an integrated operations platform spanning driver safety, fuel cards, workforce management, and fraud detection, serving nearly 100,000 customers with AI capabilities that achieve up to 80% collision reductions.

Let’s be clear—manual dispatch boards, whiteboards in the shop, and scribbled notes on the back of receipts don’t cut it anymore. Not if you’re serious about running a field-based operation that’s efficient, accountable, and scalable. Whether you’re managing roadside service trucks, mobile technicians, or heavy equipment repairs, the right field service management (FSM) software will […]

Let’s set the record straight—bookkeeping is not some behind-the-scenes admin task you push off until tax season. In trucking, your books are your compass. Without clean, organized, and trucking-specific financials, you’re not just driving blind—you’re making decisions that could sink your business. I’ve seen too many good carriers fall apart not because of bad freight, […]

When revenue stalls, most small carriers think: “I need another truck.” That logic is broken. Adding trucks before dialing in your business model just multiplies your problems—fuel, repairs, insurance, compliance, and payroll. A small operation with 1 to 3 trucks should be profitable before it ever considers scaling up. Let’s make this clear: if you’re […]

Let’s clear this up: your back office isn’t an office. It’s the system you build to make decisions, protect your money, and stay on the road legally. It doesn’t need to be big—but it does need to be tight. The three main roles of your back office are: If your current setup involves a legal […]

When you’re out running loads in the dead of night, your dash cam doesn’t get to sleep. It’s still working. Still recording. Still protecting your business. And if you’re relying on a camera that can’t see clearly after sunset, you’ve got a weak link in your operation. Accidents don’t check the clock. Most incidents—whether it’s […]

Diesel has raced ahead of crude in recent months, and the causes don’t appear to be short term.

Introduction: The Gearshift That Sparked a Divide There’s an unspoken line drawn in the dirt at every truck stop in America: those who drive automatics, and those who swear by a stick. It sounds like a preference—but it runs deeper. One side sees convenience, consistency, and progress. The other sees lost skill, lazy entry, and […]

You started as an owner-operator, grinding out miles, chasing loads, and wearing every hat—dispatcher, accountant, mechanic. Now you’re running a small fleet, maybe two to five trucks, and the hustle that got you here is starting to choke you. The phone’s ringing off the hook, paperwork’s piling up, and you’re still doing it all yourself. […]

Running a small fleet means you’re stretched thin—dispatching loads, chasing payments, and keeping trucks rolling. Then ELD reports hit you like a brick wall, piling on data you barely have time to read, let alone understand. Hours of service rules aren’t optional, but you don’t need to drown in reports to stay compliant. If you’re […]

Some small carriers chase new freight like it’s a numbers game. They blast emails, cold call every logistics contact they can find on LinkedIn, and undercut rates just to get a shot at the next load. It’s a hustle. And while it might land you a load here and there, it doesn’t build staying power. […]

You don’t need more meetings. You need better habits. Many carriers hear the word “safety review” and immediately think of three-hour meetings, binders collecting dust, and a compliance officer nobody wants to talk to. That kind of thinking is exactly why safety becomes a scramble—something you deal with after a violation, not before it. But […]

Many carriers look at detention as a nuisance. Time sucks. A fight for pennies after hours of wasted time. And on the surface, they’re not wrong—detention is frustrating. But if you know how to track it, document it, and use it in negotiations, detention becomes more than a delay. It becomes leverage. This isn’t about […]

Too many small carriers run their maintenance programs off hope and memory. And let’s be honest—that’s not a strategy. That’s a liability. Waiting until something breaks costs more than just money. It costs downtime, lost loads, and sometimes even your reputation. The worst part? Most of it’s avoidable. The problem isn’t that fleets don’t believe […]

Let’s not sugarcoat it—your first DOT audit is a test, and most small carriers walk in unprepared. Not because they don’t care, but because they don’t know what to expect. They assume having insurance, a truck, and a few loads under their belt means they’re good. But when FMCSA comes knocking, it’s not about how […]

Too many carriers are chasing the wrong scoreboard. They measure success by the number of miles they run, the number of loads they book, or how many trucks they have on the road. But here’s the truth: more miles don’t mean more money—and more loads can sometimes mean more losses. Real growth in this business […]

If you’ve been watching the freight headlines lately—or reading the comments on socials—they all seem to circle back to the same loaded question: Should drivers who can’t speak or read English be allowed behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound truck? It’s a fair question. But the deeper you dig, the more complicated the answer becomes. […]

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The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges rose for the fifth time in six weeks.

When dispatch handoffs get sloppy, mistakes multiply and money slips through the cracks. Drivers get left in the dark, loads fall through the cracks, and your business starts to bleed in places you can’t afford. Whether you’re running two trucks or twenty, this article will show you how to build a clean, repeatable dispatch handoff […]

If you’re operating trucks without a complete, organized, and regularly updated safety binder, you’re playing a dangerous game — one that ends with audits, violations, or worse, lawsuits. Too many new carriers treat compliance like an afterthought. They get their DOT number, get insurance, start moving freight, and figure they’ll “clean it up later.” That’s […]

When you bring up broker transparency at a truck stop or in an owner-op Facebook group, you’ll see two things happen fast: tension and division. Some drivers will shout, “Show me the money!” Others will tell you it doesn’t matter — that chasing rate details is just noise. What started as a call for fairness […]

In this business, your dispatcher can either be your biggest asset or your biggest liability. Period. They’re not just booking freight — they’re controlling cash flow, driver morale, and your company’s reputation with every call they make. And if you hire the wrong one, you’re not just dealing with inefficiency. You’re setting your whole operation […]

Not all GPS apps are built for trucking—if you’re an owner-operator or small fleet driver, using the wrong one could cost you time, fuel, and money. In this guide, we break down the best truck route apps that are built to keep you compliant, efficient, and profitable on every mile.

If you’re running loads without a formal review process in place, you’re running blind. Every missed appointment, every unpaid detention, every “I thought we agreed on that” moment — it all comes back to one thing: a lack of structure. And in this industry, mistakes don’t just cost time — they cost money, relationships, and […]

If your load intake process looks like scribbled notes, missed emails, and “I’ll remember it later” — you’ve already lost. Not to the load board, not to rates — but to disorganization. And disorganization is the silent killer in this industry. It’s what clogs your cash flow, confuses your drivers, and burns you out before […]

Let’s set the record straight—brokers aren’t the enemy. They serve a purpose. They connect capacity to freight when a shipper doesn’t have time to build direct relationships. But if you’re a small fleet trying to grow your business and secure long-term, profitable freight, depending on brokers will keep you running in circles. Shippers want more […]

If your maintenance budget feels like a moving target, you’re not alone. Most small fleet owners and owner-operators either guess at their maintenance costs—or worse, react to them only after something breaks. That’s not a strategy. That’s survival. And in this industry, running your business in survival mode will kill your margins faster than a […]

If you are running a moderate sized fleet with more than 15-20 trucks, measuring your drivers is important. Let’s cut through the fluff—most driver scorecards fail not because the data isn’t there, but because the leadership behind them doesn’t know how to use them. Slapping together a spreadsheet with a few red, yellow, and green […]

Let’s get one thing straight—hitting seven figures in revenue with a small fleet isn’t a fantasy. It’s a formula. But it’s a formula most small carriers never get close to cracking, not because they lack hustle, but because they lack the strategy and discipline required to operate like a high-performing business with low overhead and […]

The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges rose this week for the fourth time in five weeks.

Let’s say this upfront: if your dispatcher doesn’t have a one-page SOP taped to the wall, you’re already behind. I’ve walked into hundreds of dispatch offices—some as clean as a cockpit, others looking like a paperwork tornado touched down. But there’s one thing that separates a dispatcher who owns the day from one who reacts […]

If you’re the one still booking loads at midnight, chasing down PODs on your lunch break, and jumping under a truck on Saturday morning—this one’s for you. Every small fleet owner hits the same wall: you built the company, you know every lane, every customer, every truck. And now that it’s growing, you’re afraid to […]

Everyone in trucking talks about cost per mile. And yes, it matters. But if that’s the only metric you’re tracking, you’re missing a major part of the profitability picture. Because time—not just distance—is what really determines if you’re winning or bleeding in this business. Cost per hour gives you a real-world, down-to-the-minute view of how […]

If your trucking operation feels like organized chaos, you’re not alone. One truck becomes two, then three, and before you know it, your phone’s ringing nonstop, your drivers are texting about breakdowns, and you’re booking loads with no strategy—just survival. Sound familiar? That’s exactly why small carriers hit a wall when they try to grow. […]

As a carrier with enough units that you hire an internal dispatch team, understanding how to measure their performance is critical. If your dispatcher is only focused on picking loads and calling drivers, you’ve got a major blind spot in your operation. Because in today’s market, dispatch isn’t just about movement—it’s about measurement. And if […]

Everybody wants to scale. Get more trucks. Add more drivers. Land bigger contracts. But here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud—if you can’t make one truck profitable on one lane for one year, you’ve got no business growing. Expansion doesn’t fix broken math. It magnifies it. It’s why so many small fleets go […]

July didn’t pull any punches. Volatile rates. Tightening capacity. Diesel spikes that tested everyone’s cash flow. For small carriers, it was either a month of smart moves—or hard lessons. What separated those who protected margins from those who scrambled to survive? Discipline. Strategy. Execution. In this recap, we break down what small carriers got right, […]

Many small fleets don’t have a safety problem—they have a communication problem. Unsafe driving, HOS violations, maintenance issues—those don’t happen in a vacuum. They happen when expectations aren’t clear, coaching is inconsistent, and drivers feel like they’re being scolded, not supported. If you want to improve your CSA scores, it’s not about throwing another training […]

Let’s get something straight—many shippers don’t just buy capacity anymore. They buy consistency. They buy professionalism. And most of all, they buy risk reduction. You can have the cleanest trucks, the most reliable drivers, and the best on-time percentage in your market, but if you can’t sell your safety record in a way that builds […]

If you’ve been in the game long enough, you’ve seen this coming. Quiet acquisitions. Big-name brokerages merging. The same five players showing up on every load board. Broker consolidation isn’t a trend—it’s a tidal wave. And like every major shift in this industry, it’s the small carriers who feel the hit first. But this ain’t […]

If you’ve ever wondered how a company with trucks falling apart and drivers dodging scales can stay in business—don’t blame the carrier. Blame the system that let them in and never bothered to check if they belonged. The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) is supposed to be the gatekeeper of safety in our industry. […]

Time is your most valuable resource when you’re running a small fleet. You’re chasing rate cons, handling maintenance issues, answering driver calls at all hours, and still expected to grow the business. It never stops. But here’s the truth—most of the stress isn’t coming from the hard stuff. It’s coming from the repetitive stuff. The […]

For a lot of new owner operators stepping into the industry, nobody hands them a guidebook. There’s no checklist stapled to the rate confirmation that says, “Hey, here’s what to look for before you take this load.” And too many carriers assume drivers just know what makes a run worth it—or worse, they shame folks […]

Many carriers skim through setup packets just to get the load—especially when they’re scrambling to fill backhaul miles or respond to a hot reload alert on a load board. That urgency makes it easy to treat all brokers like they’re the same, assuming the terms must be standard. But buried in that rush is where […]

The idea of “niching down” sounds good in theory—until you’ve got bills due, a driver asking where the next load is, and your load board options are thin. For small fleet owners, it can feel risky to specialize. What if the niche dries up? What if you’re limiting your options? But here’s the truth most […]

When most people shop for a truck, they focus on the big stuff: engine size, make and model, maybe even the sleeper setup. But one of the most overlooked specs on a truck—and one of the most important when it comes to long-term profitability—is your rear differential gear ratio. This single number can decide how […]

For the first time in decades, the federal government is shifting its attention from policy roundtables to the actual drivers and fleets keeping the country moving.

Load boards are one of the most misunderstood tools in trucking. Too many carriers treat them like their main source of business instead of what they really are—a tactical tool to bridge the gap, not build the whole strategy. If you rely on the wrong load board or use the right one the wrong way, […]

Let’s get this straight—adding a driver isn’t just about filling a seat. It’s about knowing exactly when your business can sustain it, when it needs it, and when waiting is the smarter move. Too many small carriers hire too early, chasing growth without the freight to back it up or the systems to support it. […]

How Intentional Planning and a Lean Operation Can Beat Market Volatility There’s this belief floating around that 10 trucks is the magic number. That once you hit double digits, you’ve made it. That it somehow guarantees seven figures, financial freedom, or a smooth operation. But the truth is—and I say this as someone who’s coached […]

Inconsistent freight isn’t just a market trend—it’s a reality every small fleet owner has to face head-on. One week you’re running $3.20/mile on solid round trips. The next, you’re fighting for $2.10/mile spot market loads and dealing with detention that doesn’t pay. But your bills? They don’t care. Driver pay, insurance, maintenance, truck payments, and […]

You don’t need to be a freight analyst to know that profit in trucking is made—or lost—between the loads. It’s not just about what you haul. It’s about how you move between hauls. That’s where fuel gets wasted, hours get chewed up, and your driver’s clock gets burned with nothing to show for it. Bad […]

Let’s get one thing straight—your business credit is not separate from your personal credit, especially when you’re just starting out. If you’re running a small fleet or even one truck, every lender, leasing company, and equipment finance company is going to look at your personal FICO score first. They’re not just betting on your business. […]

As your trucking business starts to scale beyond that first truck, this question shows up fast—should you stay running under your own authority, or lease onto someone else’s? It’s tempting to chase what looks easier. It’s tempting to let someone else handle the backend while you just drive or manage. But the truth is, how […]

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is intensifying enforcement of English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards, signaling major operational changes for the trucking industry. As of today, June 25, 2025, drivers who fail to meet these requirements face immediate grounding, potentially straining trucking capacity, increasing tender rejections, and driving up national truckload rates. FreightWaves estimates […]

The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges rose to its highest level in almost a year.

The trucking world keeps pushing a narrative of a driver shortage. Reality says the problem is more nuanced than that.

Starting June 2025, the FMCSA will enforce long-delayed rules on driver medical certification and English proficiency, with direct implications for fleets, intrastate drivers and licensing agencies. From MVR downgrades to out-of-service roadside inspection orders, these rules shift from paper compliance to real-world enforcement. Fleets that fail to adapt may face costly violations or sidelined equipment.

The 2025 Texas Trucking Show might showcase the best trucks in the country, but it’s also a living, breathing example of why trucking still runs on relationships. From 7-Eleven’s Slurpee truck to Scania’s U.S. road debut with Bruce Wilson, remote-controlled semis, and hundreds of vendors, this year’s event served equal business opportunities, industry education, and community connections.

If you’re still saying yes to every load just to “keep the wheels turning,” you’re not running a business—you’re gambling with your profit and praying it works out. The hustle mindset might have gotten you your first truck, but it won’t keep you in the game. The carriers who last know that saying no is […]

If you’re a small fleet owner wearing ten hats, let me hit you with something hard: just because you can do everything, doesn’t mean you should. That mentality will trap you in one truck. It’ll keep your business crawling when it should be scaling. And the longer you delay outsourcing the low-dollar, high-time tasks, the […]

Let’s get one thing straight up front—this isn’t about politics, and it’s not about opinion. This is about operational reality. The FMCSA’s renewed enforcement of English proficiency rules isn’t new, but it is hitting harder now, and if you’re not paying attention, it can cost you. Small fleets and owner-operators need to stop treating this […]

There’s a new threat moving faster than enforcement can keep up with—and it’s not just hitting the mega carriers. It’s hitting the small fleets. It’s hitting the owner-operators. And it’s hitting the guys who thought, “That would never happen to me.” Freight theft isn’t just a big city problem or a warehouse security issue anymore. […]

Let’s get one thing straight—branding is not a logo. It’s not your color scheme, it’s not your slogan, and it sure as hell isn’t your Instagram page with four truck selfies and a motivational quote. Branding is how the market remembers you when you’re not in the room. It’s what brokers, shippers, and even other […]

Everyone wants to scale. Until they do. That’s when the problems start. Invoices get missed. Drivers start calling dispatch for payroll issues. You’re chasing paperwork, and no one can find the load confirmation for that Tuesday drop in Birmingham. Adding trucks too fast without fixing your back office is like building a house on wet […]

Most carriers don’t realize how much empty miles are quietly killing their bottom line. You can have the best rates in the world, but if your truck runs 150 miles empty between loads, you’re bleeding profit—and most of the time, you don’t even notice it until it’s too late. Deadhead doesn’t show up on a […]

It’s one thing to want funding—it’s another to actually qualify for it. Plenty of carriers talk about adding trucks or expanding into new markets, but when it comes time to sit down with a lender, the story on paper doesn’t match the ambition. Lenders aren’t interested in how many loads you ran last week or […]

The benchmark diesel price used for most fuel surcharges rose for just the second time in nine weeks.

If you think you know where new trucking companies are planting roots, think again. Yes, Texas and California still lead the nation in raw numbers of new MCs granted. But something very different is happening when you zoom in. Quiet ZIP codes like 93722 (Fresno, CA) and 78045 (Laredo, TX) are quietly leading the nation […]

The Texas Department of Public Safety does not enforce the federal English language proficiency requirement for intrastate CDL drivers. This aligns with state law but may conflict with the FMCSA’s updated ELP enforcement policy, raising questions about federal funding under the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program.

Everybody talks about scaling. More trucks, more drivers, more freight. But here’s the uncomfortable truth nobody wants to say out loud: Not every carrier is built to scale — and not every carrier should. Because growth isn’t always about adding trucks. Sometimes growth looks like refining your lanes, raising your rates, tightening your operations, and […]

Government freight isn’t the secret shortcut social media makes it out to be—but for small fleets that are tired of chasing the spot market and ready to build something more stable, it’s a lane worth learning. Over the past year, more owner-operators and small-carriers have started asking how to bid on government loads, especially as […]

Still Foggy at the Top – What the New Logistics Report Means for the Rest of Us For all the hope around trucking bouncing back, the new CSCMP “State of Logistics Report” just affirmed what most small carriers already feel: Things are still off. Freight isn’t booming, costs haven’t come down, and the people at […]

The FMCSA is quietly revamping its National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB), aiming to transform it from a bureaucratic black hole into a real-time system for identifying unsafe carriers, shady brokers, coercive shippers and repeat fraud offenders.

NHTSA’s proposal to require drunk and impaired driving prevention technology in all new passenger vehicles has sat in limbo since early 2024. Now, with a new White House, fleets, OEMs and safety advocates are asking: Will the FMVSS become reality or is this another safety initiative lost to election-year politics?

With over 12% of trucks sidelined during last year’s CVSA Brake Safety Week, the 2025 focus on rotors and brake drums puts heavy-duty and vocational trucks in the crosshairs. This guide breaks down what inspectors look for and how clean, well-maintained rigs are more likely to pass or avoid inspection altogether.

California Court Stirs the Pot on Lease-On Model If you’re leased on under someone else’s authority and operating in or around California — or even just watching the legal landscape — pay attention. A ruling from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals just gave California’s AB5 law a major boost, making it even harder […]

Freight fraud and cargo theft have reached crisis levels, but recent FMCSA identity verification measures are chipping away at fraudulent registrations. Proactive enforcement and innovative tech solutions are starting to protect our supply chains.

After 1 increase, latest weekly price picks up earlier trend of declines.

What the 2025 FMCSA rule blitz really changes: a side-by-side breakdown of old rules, new language, and what fleets, drivers and compliance teams need to know. FMCSA dropped 18 proposed and two final rules into the Federal Register. We’re giving you the practical play-by-play.

Every week, thousands of loads move across the country before a single rate hits the load board. That’s because most freight—especially high-volume freight—starts with a contract. Shippers send out tenders to their core carriers, usually the same ones every week. But when those carriers say no? That’s when things start to shift—and it’s also when […]

The entire market shifts when carriers start saying “no” to contracted freight. Rising tender rejection rates signal tightening capacity and often precede spot rate hikes, while falling rates point to softening demand.

Recap hours and sleeper berth splits are two of the most misunderstood parts of hours-of-service regulations. Whether you’re a new CDL holder or a seasoned fleet operator, knowing how to use these tools can extend your driving day without risking an HOS violation.

Let’s set the record straight: There is no widespread truck driver shortage in 2025. There. I said it. If you’ve been anywhere near the supply chain over the past four years, you know exactly why that sentence deserves to be said. Again. Louder. Yet here we are. This week, a headline on The Street screamed […]

English Proficiency Enforcement Is Back — Here’s Why It Matters More Than You Think The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is officially turning up the heat again on something that’s been quietly enforced for years: English language proficiency behind the wheel. This week, Sean Duffy, confirmed that the agency will be fully restoring enforcement of […]

Small carriers should check out this SONAR data to learn what the market did this week.

With 1 in 3 drivers only medically qualified for short-term certification, and FMCSA policy updates arriving next month, fleets must treat driver fitness like the operational risk it is. A house in New Jersey hit by a truck might have been spared. The next one might not.

What is detention pay and how do you know when its time to collect?

Key Performance Indicators are must-tracks for small carriers.

FMCSA audits shape your safety rating, impact your ability to haul freight and determine if your company stays on the road. In 2025, with scrutiny rising and technology advancing, understanding how these reviews unfold is mission-critical.

According to reports, nearly 4% of drivers on U.S. highways don’t have valid CDLs, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With licensing standards fractured across states and risky drivers slipping through the cracks, here is how fleets can get ahead of driver risk before it costs them a verdict, a fatality or the whole business.

With CVSA reinstating English proficiency violations as out-of-service offenses, FMCSA’s new guidance puts front-line carriers and drivers on high alert and raises deeper questions: What about drivers who are deaf, mute or communicate differently? Who gets left behind, and what can fleets do now to stay compliant?

This article breaks down how to spot a fraudulent rate confirmation, how to verify a broker before you roll, and the systems every small fleet needs in place to avoid being scammed.  The mentions of Landstar, CH Robinson, and other large brokerages in this article are solely for illustrative purposes.  The rate confirmation shown below is an […]

From truck parking to preventative maintenance, many small fleets think big-fleet strategies don’t apply to them. Here’s what the big guys are doing, and how you can steal their playbook.

From nuclear verdicts to unqualified drivers behind the wheel, this article dives into the latest Texas bill that could restrict what juries hear after a crash and what that means for fleets, families and front-line accountability in trucking.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is gearing up to formally request a big change: a federal time cap on personal conveyance use by truck drivers

Too many carriers treat the rate con like a formality, but buried in those few pages are the traps that can cost you detention pay, shift liability, or delay your check for weeks. In this guide, we walk through how to break down a rate confirmation like a fleet manager, flagging sneaky clauses, protecting your rights, and building a system to manage paperwork at scale. In trucking, reading the fine print is financial survival.