Relay Payments now has the travel center trio after TA deal

In ice hockey, a hat trick is when a player scores three goals in a game. (Same thing in soccer).

Relay Payments now can declare a hat trick at the big three travel centers, as an announcement of a deal this week puts the digital payments provider into Travel Centers of America (TA) and its affiliates, the last of the big three that did not accept Relay’s services.

The deal with TA comes a little more than a year after Relay Payments signed up Love’s Travel Centers. It already had Pilot Flying J (NYSE: BRK-B) in the fold as an outlet that accepts the Relay Payments digital payment network.

Relay CEO Ryan Droege, in an interview with FreightWaves, did not use the term “virtuous circle” to describe what happens as the Relay Payments network grows. But what he said would fall under that definition.

With the larger number of outlets, Droege said, “we now have a bigger nationwide fueling network and can support fleets of any size that are looking for a more modern digital and fraud free payment experience.”

How much of the diesel market can Relay serve?

Droege said internal estimates at Relay Payments is that the company covers about 85% of high flow diesel sales following the TA deal, with a “handful of more announcements” coming up that will boost it to 90%.”

There is a “snowball effect,” Droege said. As a fleet looks to the various ways it can purchase fuel, the broader network at Relay makes it more attractive. That effect comes, he said, “as you continue to build out more robust retail locations in support of larger and larger fleets.”

Relay Payments signed up Circle K in September as a customer. At the time, Circle K became the third largest company accepting Relay Payments behind Pilot and Love’s.

Droege said that Circle K’s approximately 500 outlets are more than the roughly 300 outlets at TA. “From a location count, TA has fewer, but they’ve been doing it for a lot longer,”: Droege said. “So from a volume standpoint, it is higher.”

Maintenance still to come

TA is not accepting Relay Payments for maintenance at its outlets. “We hope to continue to work on the maintenance side over time,” Droege said.

One barrier to bringing on the maintenance divisions of some of Relay’s customers is that they might share the same name as the better-known retailer, but can have significant differences in technology and even ownership. “It’s not that anybody doesn’t want to do it,” Droege said. “It’s just an order of operations in terms of the complexity and the technology integration.”

For example, despite the highly-touted Love’s acceptance of Relay, Droege said Love’s Truck Care does not yet accept Relay.

With the big 3 travel centers under contract, as well as Circle K, Droege said signing up more maintenance outlets will be “the focus of the next big growth area.”

“It’s a very exciting milestone, to kind of reach the mountain top of the big three,” Droege said. “We still have a lot of value we can bring to fleets elsewhere, so we’re going to continue to push in other areas that our customers ask for. Repair and maintenance is a big one.”

What is replaces

Payments for fuel, DEF, maintenance and other necessary services on the road traditionally had been provided by a bevy of services, ranging from paper checks to credit cards, all with their own drawbacks. Relay Payments is app-based, which the company has touted as drastically reducing the opportunities for fraud.

“When you take a transaction and make it digital, it kind of becomes programmable,” Droege said. “You can do a lot more things around fraud and security controls. You can get a lot more granular on the metadata around the payment, which means your back office becomes more efficient, whether it’s on the accounts payable or the accounts receivable side. There’s just a lot of inefficiencies that are in and around payments and more. We drive that out as we transition to digital. It just ultimately helps the carrier’s bottom line and their operating margin.”

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New SpeedX superhub in Chicago expedites more parcel deliveries

Chutes and ladders for packages moving in a conveyor system.

Delivery service SpeedX has opened an e-commerce superhub in Chicago capable of processing up to 500,000 shipments per day, culminating a blistering expansion for the three-year-old company this year.

The investment underscores how independent parcel carriers in the crowded delivery space are trying to build national networks and chip away at the market once dominated by FedEx and UPS.

SpeedX, which provides last-mile delivery of domestic and international parcels for retailers, marketplaces and logistics providers such as Shein, Temu, TikTok Shop and Amazon, said Wednesday that the new parcel sortation center supports faster, more efficient delivery to shoppers in the Midwest and beyond. The startup courier currently delivers about 1 million parcels per day across the United States using gig drivers with their own vehicles.

The Chicago parcel terminal has been running at full capacity for two months under a long-term lease, said Anthony Pizza, vice president for business growth and innovation, in an email. China-based Damon Technology Group installed the automated sorting system, its first parcel-system integration project in the United States, according to an October news release.

SpeedX has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to build out its U.S. footprint over 18 months. In the past 12 months it has established more than 50 new facilities. The parcel carrier’s network now covers about three-quarters of the country, with a hole in the Great Plains region. In October, it said on LinkedIn that it plans to serve more than 15,000 U.S. zip codes by the first quarter of 2026. It currently covers more than 12,000 zip codes, according to its website.

The 200,000-square foot sortation center, located minutes from Chicago O’Hare International Airport and staffed with 75 employees, can process up to 30,000 parcels per hour. It offers extra dock doors and floor space to accommodate both parcel and freight shipments. Startup costs for the Chicago facility were about $25 million, including the sortation system, rent, equipment and supporting infrastructure, Pizza said. The company is using its own cash flow and financing to pay for the capital expenditure.

“Chicago is both a prime global air gateway and one of the most important hubs for U.S. e-commerce and freight. By investing here, we’re strengthening our operational control and enhancing the efficiency of our network. This superhub is also central to our strategy of connecting SpeedX facilities nationwide through transcontinental linehaul, creating a more resilient and scalable delivery network for the future,” said Chris Zheng, founder and CEO of SpeedX, in the announcement.

SpeedX has opened a large parcel distribution center in Chicago. (Photo: SpeedX)

U.S. e-commerce sales are expected to reach $1.3 trillion this year, up 9% from 2024, and are projected to reach nearly $3 trillion by the end of the decade, according to Statista. But the rate of growth has slowed from double digits in the previous decade, and the pandemic-fueled spike in 2020, to single digit growth.

Other low-cost parcel carriers are also rapidly building out delivery footprints. Veho, Gofo, OnTrac and UniUni have increased their sortation infrastructure and coverage areas this year. Veho, for example, expanded parcel sorting capacity by over 50% in key markets, highlighted by the opening of a 150,000-square foot sort center near Atlanta. Gofo moved into a 400,000-square foot parcel center in Newark, New Jersey, and a superhub in Los Angeles this fall.

Some market watchers question if there is enough business to go around for all the small players at a time when Amazon, Walmart and Target are also growing their own in-house delivery services.

Click here for more FreightWaves stories by Eric Kulisch.

Sign up for the biweekly PostalMag newsletter The Delivery here.

Costco sues Trump administration as tariff backlash intensifies

Costco has become the largest U.S. company yet to sue the Trump administration over its tariff policy, joining other importers seeking to protect their ability to obtain refunds if the Supreme Court strikes down the duties as unlawful.

Costco (Nasdaq: COST) contends that Trump used an emergency-powers law to impose tariffs on goods from China, Mexico, Canada and dozens of other countries, even though the law does not permit the president to levy tariffs absent a legitimate “unusual and extraordinary” national security threat.

The administration misused emergency powers to enact what amounted to a universal import tax, Costco said in the lawsuit.

Tariff collections have surged under the Trump administration, with U.S. customs duties increasing from $118 billion in fiscal year 2024 to $195 billion in fiscal year 2025, according to federal budget data cited in the lawsuit.

Costco said it filed the lawsuit to ensure its “right to a complete refund is not jeopardized,” citing fears that once its tariff bills are “liquidated,” or finalized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the retailer may lose its legal avenue to contest them. The liquidation process begins Dec. 15, and importers typically have just 180 days to challenge assessments.

The lawsuit arrives as the Supreme Court weighs the legality of Trump’s trade actions, with oral arguments beginning in early November. If the Supreme Court overturn the duties, experts say the government could face an unprecedented influx of refund claims

Dozens of importers — including Revlon, Bumble Bee Foods, and Kawasaki — have filed similar lawsuits to Costco’s in recent months, hoping to receive refunds if the Supreme Court ultimately dismantles the tariff regime,” according to NPR.

Industry pressure builds against tariffs — including from Elon Musk

In a recent interview on the “WTF” podcast with Nikhil Kamath, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he personally urged Trump not to implement broad tariffs, warning they “create distortions in markets” and could harm the economy.

Musk said tariffs between states or cities would be viewed as “disastrous,” questioning why barriers between countries were any different.

“Would you want tariffs between you and everyone else at an individual level? That would make life very difficult,” Musk said. “Would you want tariffs between each city? No, that would be very annoying. Would you want tariffs between each state within the United States? No, that would be disastrous for the economy. So then, why do you want tariffs between countries?”

Automaker Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) halted some vehicle orders in China this spring due to retaliatory Chinese tariffs as high as 125%, a move Musk has said underscores the risks of escalating trade conflicts.

Musk added that he hopes the U.S. eventually moves toward a “zero-tariff” framework.

Old Dominion again sees yields improve as volumes sag

An Old Dominion tractor pulling two LTL trailers on a highway

Less-than-truckload carrier Old Dominion Freight Line reported a mid-single-digit revenue decline in November as weak volumes were again partially offset by higher yields.

The Thomasville, North Carolina-based company’s November update showed revenue was down 4.4% year over year as an approximately 6% increase in revenue per hundredweight, or yield, partially offset a 10% tonnage decline. The latest result was a slight improvement from October when revenue declined 6.8% y/y (tonnage was down 11.7% but yield was up 5.6%).

“Old Dominion’s revenue results for November reflect ongoing softness in the domestic economy, which contributed to a decrease in our volumes,” stated Marty Freeman, president and CEO, in a Tuesday evening news release.

Manufacturing data released on Monday showed the industrial complex has been in a slump for 35 of the past 37 months. The Purchasing Managers’ Index registered a 48.2 reading in the latest month, 50 basis points worse than October. (A reading above 50 signals expansion while one below 50 indicates contraction.) The new orders index — an indicator of future activity — fell 200 bps to 47.4.

(Between 55% and 60% of Old Dominion’s revenue is tied to the industrial economy.)

Old Dominion’s (NASDAQ: ODFL) daily shipments were off 9.4% y/y in November, following a 9.8% decline in October. Weight per shipment was down 0.6% y/y in the recent month after falling 2.2% in October.

Weak tonnage trends through the first two months of the fourth quarter come as the carrier is actually up against a favorable y/y comparison (tonnage was down 8.2% y/y in the 2024 fourth quarter).

SONAR: Longhaul LTL Monthly Cost per Hundredweight, Class 125+ Index. Less-than-truckload monthly indices are based on the median cost per hundredweight for four National Motor Freight Classification groupings and five different mileage bands. *To learn more about SONAR, click here.*

The company has maintained yield discipline throughout the downturn and continues to capture mid-single-digit increases. Quarter-to-date, Old Dominion’s yield is up 5.9% y/y, 5.2% higher excluding fuel surcharges.

“We continued to deliver best-in-class service, which supports our yield management initiatives and ability to increase our LTL revenue per hundredweight,” Freeman said. “Our team will continue to focus on these core elements of our long-term strategic plan, which we believe has produced a strong track record of financial performance.”

Old Dominion implemented a 4.9% general rate increase across various tariff codes on Nov. 3. The rate hike was in line with the headline percentage increase taken in 2024, but the implementation date was one month earlier.

The carrier typically experiences 200 to 250 bps of sequential margin degradation in the fourth quarter, but previously forecast 250 to 350 bps of deterioration this year due to the soft demand backdrop. At the midpoint, the guide implies a 77.3% operating ratio (inverse of operating margin), 140 bps worse y/y, but still likely the best out of the group.

Shares of ODFL were up 4.6% in early trading on Wednesday compared to the S&P 500, which was off 0.1%. The stock is up 8% since reporting third-quarter results on Oct. 29.

More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden:

Why we’re all talking about Supply Chain Insiders

Pallet just debuted the newest logistics series: Supply Chain Insiders. Leaders are getting candid about their real experiences and we got the inside scoop.

“Supply Chain is built on the conversations that happen behind closed doors,” said Supply Chain Insiders host and General Manager at Pallet, Michael Burg. “We wanted to create a space where those conversations could be heard unscripted and honest.”

The series explores the unfiltered stories behind the biggest moments in freight. From Uber Freight’s blitzscaling and DAT’s renaissance, to Convoy’s collapse and 24-hour acquisition, the rise of double broker mafias, the surge in freight fraud, and the accelerating AI automation race.

High-Profile Executives, Raw Truths

In its first season, Supply Chain Insiders features conversations with some of the most influential industry leaders:

● Bill Driegert, EVP of Convoy Platform at DAT Freight & Analytics and co-founder of Uber Freight

● Paul-Bernard Jaroslawski, founder of FreightCaviar

● Nabil Malouli, SVP of e-commerce at DHL Supply Chain

● Ben Gordon, founder and managing partner of Cambridge Capital and BGSA Holdings

Inside the Boardroom: Uber-Transplace deal, the GreenScreens 10x Exit, and XPO’s Roll-Up Power Play

“Don’t believe your own bullsh*t.” Ben Gordon, Managing Partner of BGSA and Cambridge Capital, breaks down the largest freight M&A deals in history and the behind-closed-doors moments that shaped them. His story highlights the tenacity and grit that define the industry’s top operators. Having advised on some of the most consequential acquisitions in modern logistics, Gordon reveals the lessons and hard truths he’s picked up from years inside the room where the real decisions happen.

“I Was Scared For My Life”: Double Brokers, Armenian Mafia, and FreightCaviar’s Rise

Paul Bernard-Jaroslawski delivers one of the most striking stories of the season: his encounter with double brokers in Armenia, which turned violent as he prepared to expose their operation. From leading Everest’s Ukrainian team to founding FreightCaviar, Paul takes us through a whirlwind of experiences: from social media virality and being the first to make freight funny to having an entire Netflix documentary wiped by Armenian mafia.

Inside the Industry’s Biggest Turning Points: Uber Freight, DAT, Convoy, Coyote

Bill Driegert offers a rare look into the behind-the-scenes story of Convoy’s $1B collapse and DAT’s series of strategic acquisitions. He outlines how DAT is entering a “renaissance period” as it evolves into a multi-pronged technology company, leveraging its position as a market backbone. From the roots of Coyote Logistics and the reality of building one of the largest freight exits to co-founding Uber Freight and walking us through their overnight growth, Driegert spills all the drama.

DHL’s SVP on Fraud, Tariffs, AI Playbooks, and the $800B Returns Tsunami

Nabil Malouli explains how DHL is navigating the pressure of modern commerce, highlighting how 20% of all e-commerce purchases in the U.S. are returned, a $800 billion challenge that’s pushing logistics operators to innovate faster. He details DHL’s two-year automation journey — from AI pilots to large-scale deployment while also going through the inevitable fraud effects that will come from de minimis changes.

Redefining Freight Media

Unlike traditional freight coverage, Supply Chain Insiders doesn’t focus on scripted talking points or surface-level trends. Each episode includes a unique feature that keeps it entertaining: $3 caviar vs $300 caviar tastings, 1974 Alpha Romeo racing, $300 A5 wagyu grilling, and top-shelf Dominican rum tastings.

“Freight isn’t just about freight,” said Pallet CEO, Sushanth Raman. “It’s about people making high-stakes decisions under enormous pressure. This series is about showing what that really looks like and the impacts of it.”

Where to Watch

The first season of Supply Chain Insiders is now available on YouTube with more to come…

Watch here: Supply Chain Insiders

About Pallet:

Pallet’s AI agent, CoPallet, is an AI agent built to handle the messiness of logistics workflows. CoPallet learns from unstructured data and tribal knowledge to reason through complex workflows like a seasoned logistics operator inside your existing TMS/WMS/ERP. Logistics operators deploy CoPallet to automate shipment processing workflows like reading PDFs, load entry, and POD retrieval. CoPallet is built to effortlessly handle complexities such as customer-specific SOPs, multi-leg shipments, and reading handwriting. Backed by $50M from General Catalyst, Bain Capital Ventures, Activant Capital, and Bessemer, Pallet is offloading back office work across the supply chain.

FMCSA English Proficiency Violations and Why Carriers Aren’t Being Shut Down

Through October 2025, federal motor carrier safety inspectors have issued 6,455 English language proficiency (ELP) violations while placing only 1,816 drivers out of service for the same infractions, creating a notable enforcement gap that industry experts say reflects legitimate regulatory exemptions rather than inconsistent enforcement.

The data, compiled by SONAR from DoT and FMCSA records, shows the disparity widened significantly beginning in June 2025 when ELP violations jumped from 1,399 in May to 3,925 in June. Out-of-service orders followed a similar but less pronounced trajectory, rising from 4 in May to 328 in June before peaking at 2,155 in September.

The dramatic increase in ELP enforcement activity marks a sharp reversal from nearly a decade of what amounted to a regulatory timeout. A 2015 memorandum issued during the Obama administration effectively pulled the plug on active enforcement of English language proficiency requirements, directing inspectors to back off applying the regulation. The memo remained operational policy through multiple administrations, creating what many in the industry saw as a wink-and-nod approach to ELP compliance at roadside inspections.

That changed quickly in early 2025 when a new executive order flipped the switch back on and directed the FMCSA to resume full enforcement operations. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance followed up by updating its out-of-service criteria to provide inspectors with clear guardrails for determining when a driver’s English proficiency is so poor as to warrant a shutdown. The updated CVSA criteria established specific thresholds for communication capability and standardized how inspectors assess language skills across state and federal inspection programs.

Since the enforcement reboot, the numbers show an industry and an inspection community working through requirements that had technically existed all along but had been gathering dust for a decade. The June 2025 spike aligns directly with when the revised CVSA guidelines took effect and inspectors completed training on properly evaluating ELP at the roadside.

Federal regulations require commercial motor vehicle drivers to read and speak English well enough to communicate with the general public, understand highway signs and signals, respond to official inquiries, and complete reports and records. But here’s where it gets interesting, the regulation contains specific exemptions that explain why a driver might catch a violation without getting benched.

The most significant exemption applies to drivers working within commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders. These zones, defined under 49 CFR 390.5, let drivers with limited English proficiency operate commercially as long as they stay within designated boundaries typically stretching 20 to 25 miles from international crossings. Inspectors in Texas, which racked up 7,090 ELP violations through October, and other border states regularly encounter drivers operating perfectly legal under this exemption.

Hearing-impaired drivers represent another protected group under the Americans with Disabilities Act. These drivers may hold valid CDLs with hearing exemptions issued by FMCSA and can’t be placed out of service just because their disability limits their communication. Instead, inspectors document the violation while letting legally qualified drivers continue down the road.

Other scenarios where violations happen without out-of-service consequences include drivers who demonstrate borderline but acceptable English during inspections, situations where someone shows up to help translate and facilitate communication with enforcement, and cases where drivers have proper exemption paperwork that might not surface immediately when an inspector makes contact.

The geographic spread of ELP enforcement shows heavy concentration in southwestern states. Texas leads the pack with 7,090 violations, followed by New Mexico with 1,112 and Oklahoma with 751. The concentration reflects both border zone operations and major freight corridors funneling loads from Mexico into U.S. distribution networks.

Federal inspections accounted for 15,193 ELP-related enforcement actions through October, representing the lion’s share of activity nationwide. That federal inspection total covers violations documented during Level I through Level VI inspections conducted by multiple agencies operating under FMCSA oversight.

The trend lines through October suggest ELP enforcement activity might be finding its groove after the chaotic ramp-up earlier in the year. Violations dropped from a September peak of 7,140 to 6,455 in October, while out-of-service orders fell from 2,155 to 1,816 during the same stretch. Still, both numbers remain way up compared to the first quarter of 2025 when monthly violations stayed under 800 and out-of-service orders barely registered.

What the pattern really shows is inspectors getting better at separating drivers who legitimately qualify for exemptions from those whose English genuinely creates a safety problem. The declining ratio of violations to out-of-service orders in recent months suggests inspectors are getting more comfortable with exemption categories and more precise in applying CVSA criteria.

Fleets operating near international borders or carrying drivers with documented exemptions need to ensure proper credentials remain within arm’s reach during roadside inspections. Being upfront about exemption status when an inspector walks up can prevent a lot of hassle while they verify everything checks out.

The gap between violation counts and out-of-service orders shows that ELP enforcement, despite waking up from a long nap, still recognizes the legitimate exemptions baked into federal regulations. Carriers and drivers operating under authorized exemptions should expect ongoing documentation checks without automatic shutdowns, provided they remain compliant with applicable geographic or medical qualification limits.

FMCSA hasn’t dropped any new guidance on ELP enforcement protocols for 2026, but current activity levels suggest the renewed focus on language proficiency requirements isn’t going anywhere.

First shots fired at Supreme Court in broker liability case

By this time in the years-long debate over broker liability under federal law, there aren’t too many legal arguments that haven’t been made before various federal district and appellate courts.

What is different now is that the pleadings are being placed in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Montgomery vs. Caribe.

The parade of legal briefs that will be submitted to the nine justices kicked off this week with a filing by attorneys for Shawn Montgomery. He was involved in a 2017 crash where his own truck, while parked legally on the right shoulder of an Illinois highway, was plowed into by a truck operated by Caribe Transport, a company that the Montgomery brief said had a “remarkably poor safety record.”

Montgomery survived, but later surgeries ended up costing him part of a leg and left him with long-term pain.

The broker that hired Caribe Transport was C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW). The C.H. Robinson argument at the district court level was that it was protected from being held negligent in its hiring of Caribe by the safety exception of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A) of 1994, given that the exception applies to action against motor vehicles, and a brokerage can’t be considered that.

That argument initially was rejected by the district court in Illinois. But on appeal, the Seventh Circuit, citing its own precedent in the broker liability case of Ye vs. GlobalTranz, disagreed and removed C.H. Robinson as a defendant, citing F4A.

After the Court over several years kicked aside review of other cases that had asked it to clear up the issue of whether the F4A safety exception protected brokers from negligence or liability claims, the attorneys for Shawn Montgomery finally broke through this year.

Cleaning up the conflicts

The Montgomery case gives the court a chance to clear up a circuit court landscape with several conflicting precedents on the issue of broker liability.

At the core of the case before the Court are five words: “with respect to motor vehicles.” More specifically, F4A’s safety exception “shall not restrict the safety regulatory authority of a State with respect to motor vehicles.”

The exception provides an opening for tort action over safety-related incidents even as the rest of the law bans states from taking steps that could affect a “route, price or service,” as the F4A sought to ensure that federal deregulation of transportation going back to the late 70’s and early 80’s was not undercut by state action.

But does a broker fall under the definition of “motor vehicle,” creating a path to a finding of negligence or liability? That’s the issue before the Supreme Court.

The job of Montgomery’s attorneys, which includes former Solicitor General Paul Clement, is to persuade the Supreme Court that under the safety exception, the definition of “with respect to motor vehicles” can haul in a broker.

“Both the plain text of the safety exception and the statutory evolution of that provision make crystal clear that states retain the authority to regulate motor carrier safety by recognizing claims against brokers for negligently hiring dangerous trucking companies and drivers,” the brief says.

In a similar vein, the brief says a claim against a broker for “negligent hiring is plainly an exercise of state regulatory authority, as it seeks to regulate brokers’ conduct by requiring them to exercise due care in hiring trucking companies and drivers, and by imposing liability on them for any resulting injuries if they fail to do so.”

The definition of a motor vehicle

The only reason F4A and the “route, price or service” preemption over state action can be used by brokers, the attorneys argue, is because brokers are “in the business of arranging for transportation by motor vehicle.” Given that, the Montgomery attorneys argue, they can’t claim to be separate from a motor vehicle under the safety exception.

“To prevail, (C.H. Robinson and Caribe) must persuade this Court to interpret the FAAAA’s basic preemption provision broadly, and then turn around and interpret the safety exception narrowly,” the Montgomery brief says.

Earlier cases cited in the filing

Two other cases involving broker liability keep popping up in the Montgomery arguments. One is Ye vs. GlobalTranz, which like Montgomery vs. Caribe was decided in the Seventh Circuit. The Ye decision protected GlobalTranz against a finding of liability or negligence in the hiring of a driver whose truck killed the husband of Ying Ye.

An appeal to the Supreme Court by Ye for certiorari was denied.

The appellate court decision in the Ye case was a precedent that the same Seventh Circuit used to allow C.H. Robinson to exit the Montgomery case as a defendant.

But the circuit’s opinion in Montgomery comes in for heavy criticism by Montgomery’s attorneys. The brief refers to one finding by the circuit as “flat wrong” and another as a ”classic non sequitur.”

The other case that makes multiple appearances in the Montgomery brief is Cox vs. TQL. That Sixth Circuit decision went against TQL, which was found to not be protected by the safety exception.

The court has not acted on that TQL certiorari request yet. The general consensus is that it won’t do so while it considers what amounts to the same issue in Montgomery vs. Caribe.

But that didn’t stop Montgomery’s attorneys from citing the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Cox. Montgomery’s brief cites this passage from the Cox decision: ““The crux of the alleged negligent conduct is that TQL failed to exercise reasonable care in selecting a safe motor carrier to operate a motor vehicle on the highway, resulting in a vehicular accident that killed Ms. Cox… Simply put, there is no way to disentangle motor vehicles from Mr. Cox’s substantive claim.”

No specific mention

One argument that has been a key point of contention is that since brokers are not mentioned specifically in the safety exception, they can’t be considered on the same level as a motor vehicle. Brokers are identified by name in other parts of F4A.

The Ye decision makes reference to the lack of a specific mention of brokers in the safety exception.

But in its dismissive approach of the logic of both the initial Ye decision and the appellate court’s citing of it in Montgomery, Montgomery’s attorneys note that no particular group is referred to in the safety exception, “no mention of motor carriers, drivers, motor vehicle manufacturers or any other entity specifically enumerated in the preemption provision which the safety exemption qualified,” the brief says. Under the logic of the Seventh Circuit, the brief says, “no state-law tort claim against any defendant would be preserved by the safety exception.”

C.H. Robinson declined to comment on the filing. Its deadline to file a response is January 14.

More articles by John Kingston

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Bollinger Motors shuts down amid financial woes

Michigan-based EV truck maker Bollinger Motors has ceased operations, and it is unclear what lies ahead for its parent company, Bollinger Innovations, formerly known as Mullen Automotive. Months-long financial challenges came to a head on Nov. 19 when the Detroit Free Press reported that the Oak Park, Michigan-based company had missed payroll for at least two pay periods. By Nov. 21, the Detroit Free Press reported that the company had ceased operations, effective Friday, Nov. 21, according to company emails.

FreightWaves has reached out to Bollinger Motors and Bollinger Innovations for comment. The phone number for Bollinger Innovations is no longer in operation at the time of writing. The most recent update from Bollinger Innovations is in an 8-K filing dated Nov. 25, in which the company initiated on Nov. 21 a cost reduction plan “intended to streamline operations and preserve liquidity.”

As part of that plan, Bollinger Innovations reduced its workforce and is in the process of closing its Troy, Michigan, office. “These actions are designed to consolidate the remaining staff into its Oak Park facility and align its cost structure with current operating conditions. The actions do not involve the disposal or discontinuation of any business line,” the company said.

Additional information for current customers: As part of the restructuring, Bollinger Innovations began notifying its dealer networks of the changes in its support model, “including the discontinuation of factory service and warranty support and the consolidation of operations into a single Oak Park location.”

Bollinger is also evaluating potential dealer-driven programs relating to parts and vehicle purchases and may provide further updates as these initiatives develop, according to the filing.

The closure of Bollinger Motors was announced to employees through an internal email from the company’s human resources director, Helen Watson, obtained by the Detroit Free Press. Watson wrote: “We received word late last night that the day has arrived. We are to officially close the doors of Bollinger Motors, effective today, Nov. 21, 2025.” Watson indicated that David Michery, CEO of parent company Bollinger Innovations, would attempt to make employees “whole with regard to the remaining monies” from missed payrolls.

Bollinger Motors’ payroll issues were further highlighted in an Oct. 31 email sent by Walter Collins, chief operating officer of Bollinger Motors, who wrote, “Unfortunately, we could not process this week’s payroll on schedule due to a delay in receiving the expected funds.” The lack of payment led employees to file 70 claims with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, according to Luke Ramseth of The Detroit News.

The shutdown caps a turbulent year for the manufacturer, which had positioned itself as building “the most bad-ass electric commercial trucks on the planet.” In May 2025, Bollinger was placed into receivership following a legal dispute with founder Robert Bollinger over unpaid compensation and financial control. Though the company exited receivership in June under the leadership of Mullen Automotive, which held approximately a 95% controlling stake, financial pressures intensified through the latter half of the year.

The company had pivoted from its original focus on consumer-oriented vehicles to commercial electric vehicles in recent years. Jim Connolly, who served as chief revenue officer at Bollinger, explained the strategic shift in a podcast interview with FreightWaves earlier this year: “We started with Robert Bollinger with a B1, B2, which if you look online, it’s kind of an SUV. And so we were developing that product, saw a hole in the commercial market in the class 4, 5 space, and we pivoted over to commercial about three years ago.”

The closure comes amid broader consolidation in the EV space. In June 2025, Mullen Automotive rebranded as Bollinger Innovations and consolidated operations under the Bollinger name. Bollinger Innovations delisted from Nasdaq in October after dropping below the $1-per-share threshold, following at least six reverse stock splits in the preceding 12 months.

Bollinger’s failure raises questions about the future of its intellectual property and assets, including designs for the B4 chassis cab truck that was available for order at the time of closure, as well as planned B5 and B6 models that were slated for future release. The company had established manufacturing relationships with Roush Industries in Livonia, which it had terminated in September amid cost-cutting measures. The company had recently announced plans to move production to a facility in Tunica, Mississippi.

Union Pacific delays rail merger filing

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern now expect to file their merger application with federal regulators around Dec. 16, two weeks later than they had originally hoped.

UP Chief Executive Jim Vena told an investor conference on Tuesday that one of the contractors working on a section of the application needed additional time to finish before the massive document could be sent to the Surface Transportation Board.

“We want to make sure that that final product is … exceptional so that when we give it to the STB that they’re comfortable that we’ve answered the questions and given them the information they want,” Vena said.

The application is expected to run more than 4,000 pages. It will detail the railroad’s growth projections and operating plan. Once it’s filed, the STB will have 30 days to accept the application or reject it as incomplete.

Other Class I railroads have intensified their opposition to the $85 billion merger in recent weeks, arguing that it will harm competition, lead to integration-related service problems, and damage the economy.

BNSF Railway also has asked federal regulators to scrutinize UP’s compliance with the conditions that were designed to preserve competition following UP’s 1996 acquisition of Southern Pacific. BNSF argues that UP (NYSE: UNP) has consistently sought to block its access to shippers who were once served by both UP and SP and that UP has prioritized dispatching of its own trains on lines where BNSF (NYSE: BRK-B) was granted trackage rights.

Vena said the opposition is a sign that other railroads see the advantages of a transcontinental UP system — and that they don’t want to have to compete against a railroad that can offer faster, more efficient single-line service from coast to coast.

“They understand what we’re going to be able to offer,” Vena said, “and they’re going, ‘How do we compete against that?’”

BNSF, Canadian National (NYSE: CNI), and CPKC (NYSE: CP) have all argued that railroads can grow through interline partnerships, rather than mergers. UP says alliances are temporary and cannot measure up against a merged railroad that controls shipments from origin to destination.

Vena spoke at the UBS Global Industrials and Transportation Conference.

States: CDL restrictions to cripple supply lines, raise costs

WASHINGTON — State and local officials have accused the Trump administration of implementing unlawful restrictions against foreign CDL holders, warning that the restrictions will disrupt the trucking economy with zero evidence the crackdown will improve safety.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Interim Final Rule (IFR) that severely restricts how states issue and renew non-domiciled CDLs and commercial learner’s permits will, by FMCSA’s calculations, strip away commercial license eligibility from approximately 194,000 drivers within two years.

But FMCSA lacks the statutory authority to impose those restrictions and has avoided accountability by not providing advance notice of the changes, according to a coalition of attorneys general from Massachusetts, California, 16 other states and the District of Columbia.

“These unlawful actions have harmed and will continue to harm our states,” the group stated in comments filed on the IFR.

“Public and private employers – including state and local governments – depend on commercial drivers to … drive the trucks that transport food and goods to businesses, and to provide many other indispensable services. The IFR will stop virtually all non-domiciled commercial drivers from performing these essential functions, raising costs and disrupting economic and other important activity across the nation.

“And the IFR will impose obligations directly on the states themselves, forcing them to overhaul their licensing systems and comply with needlessly burdensome requirements. These disruptions came without time for individuals, their families, their employers, or state and local governments to prepare, due to FMCSA’s violation of the advance-consultation and notice-and-comment requirements that Congress mandated to prevent exactly this sort of rule by agency fiat.”

A coalition of local government officials, including those from New York City and Portland, Oregon, asserts that FMCSA fails to connect the immigration status of the CDL holders in five recent fatal crashes cited in the IFR and the fact that the crashes occurred.

“Without such evidence, FMCSA cannot rule out the possibility that holders of non-domiciled CDLs are safer, on average, than their domiciled counterparts,” the group asserted in comments to FMCSA. “There are vastly more fatal crashes associated with domiciled CDLs, but that does not justify restricting their ability to hold a CDL just based on their domiciled status.”

Trucking’s concerns

Even truck industry groups that largely support the Trump administration’s efforts at improving truck safety are alerting the administration on the IFR’s cost and safety consequences.

The Washington Trucking Associations told FMCSA that while its members “strongly support” the objectives of the IFR, limiting eligible nondomiciled to only H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visa holders “has resulted in a significant number of drivers with strong safety records either losing or facing imminent downgrades of their CDLs,” the group stated.

“Removing these proven, safety-conscious drivers from the industry will create a series of unintended economic and safety consequences. Economically, carriers face higher operational costs due to the need to recruit, screen, and train replacement drivers – a process estimated to cost between $7,000 and $20,000 per new hire when factoring in recruitment, staff time, federally mandated pre-employment screening, and training expenses.

“From a safety standpoint, turnover introduces additional risk, as new drivers are less familiar with company equipment, routes, and safety culture – factors well-documented to influence increased crash risk.”

The American Trucking Associations commended the IFR but also acknowledged the large number of CDL downgrades that will result, and that drivers who were legitimately issued a non-domiciled CDL but will not qualify for renewal “should receive advance notice so they and their employers can prepare for the change,” the association stated in its comments.

Not restrictive enough?

For others, the CDL restrictions are not only welcome but there is more that can be done.

The CPAC Foundation Center for Regulatory Freedom, a conservative lobbying group, wants FMCSA to work with the Homeland Security and State departments to investigate the three visa holder classes (H-2A, H-2B, and E-2) still eligible for a non-domiciled CDL.

“Any evidence indicating that these designated visa categories are being disproportionately utilized to obtain non-domiciled CDLs must trigger an immediate reevaluation of their inclusion in this IFR,” according to CPAC. “The security of American lives and critical transportation infrastructure demands nothing less than absolute regulatory integrity.”

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