Port Houston completes ship channel dredging amid environmental scrutiny
Port Houston announced the completion of its share of the $1 billion Houston Ship Channel Expansion (Project 11) during Monday’s commission meeting, marking a major milestone toward widening one of the nation’s busiest waterways; even as residents and environmental groups pressed for stronger safeguards over dredging practices.
Port officials said the widened channel through Galveston Bay — expanded from 530 feet to 700 feet — will improve safety, reduce vessel emissions, and strengthen Houston’s competitiveness.
“This is really big for our port and our channel and our region,” Charlie Jenkins, CEO of Port Houston, said during the meeting. “It has already had measurable efficiency gains and safety gains for all users of the Houston Ship Channel.”
Jenkins said daylight-restricted vessels now have an additional two-and-a-half hours each day to sail.
“That’s a huge improvement in emissions because ships aren’t sitting out there waiting — and it helps balance the workload of the channel, making it safer for everyone,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins also reported that September tonnage rose 6% year-over-year, with total throughput up 5% year-to-date, even as some commodity imports softened.
Port Houston handled 337,659 twenty-foot equivalent units in September, a 2% year-over-year increase compared to the same month in 2024.
“Compared to most ports, we’re faring very well given the economic uncertainties,” he said.
Public concerns over dredge spoil placement
The meeting’s public comment period was dominated by concerns about dredge spoil disposal sites linked to Project 11.
Representatives from the Environmental Defense Fund, Public Citizen, and local neighborhood coalitions urged the port to support a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) proposal to barge dredged material to offshore bay sites instead of reusing legacy placement areas near Pleasantville and Clinton Park.
Paige Varner, a toxicologist scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the dredge spoils could pose contamination risks.
“Testing from USACE and communities show that the material from both Project 11 dredging and ongoing maintenance dredging contains potentially hazardous concentrations of chemicals, including dioxins, furans, PCBs, arsenic, and PAHs,” Varner said. “These chemicals are linked to multiple cancers, developmental and reproductive harm, liver damage, and immune system suppression.”
Varner said “samples exceeded EPA risk levels by up to 25 times” and nearby “neighborhoods already face some of the highest cancer and non-cancer health risks in the country from air pollution.”
Varner urged the port to halt any new on-land placement of dredge spoils until comprehensive, transparent risk assessments are completed.
“It is imperative that the port take immediate steps to protect affected communities,” she said.
Retired Army Corps engineer Bill Empson echoed those concerns, saying the proposed onshore sites should undergo full dam-safety reviews, while Adrian Shelley, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office, asked the commission to “make a decision in favor of public health and safety.”
Major capital approvals
Commissioners also advanced a slate of infrastructure and maintenance contracts, including:
$20 million for construction of Container Yard 7 North at Barbours Cut Terminal.
$4.65 million for design of Wharf 8 at Bayport Terminal.
$1.7 million for two truckable push boats and a maintenance barge.
Renewals and new pipeline and barge-fleeting leases with Kirby Inland Marine and others
The future of cold storage goes underground
When it comes to warehouses and cold storage facilities, the picture of them peppering the highway about 40 miles outside of a major metropolitan area comes to mind. That picture could change as cold storage providers get creative with solutions. Most recently, M&M Quality Solutions has opened a cold storage facility underground.
This new facility is in SubTropolis, the world’s largest underground business complex in Kansas City, Missouri. The 18,757-sq.-ft. facility will serve as a regional cold-chain hub. The underground environment provides a naturally climate-controlled, energy-efficient level of thermal stability that conventional above-ground warehouses struggle to compete with.
Despite being underground, the facility has direct access to both truck and rail docking. The inbound-outbound connectivity leverages Kansas City’s status as a logistics crossroads, enabling seamless movement of refrigerated goods and supplements through a network that supports freight, rail and cold-chain flows.
“This expansion reflects our commitment to the future of logistics and to the Kansas City region,” said Brian McMaster, CEO of M&M Quality Solutions, in a news release. “SubTropolis provides the perfect environment for our Adaptive Growth Logistics model—offering our partners reliability, efficiency, and intelligence in how products move, market, and grow.”
As retailers and manufacturers continue to require greater visibility and security over frozen and chilled inventory, providers are under growing pressure to offer specialized footprints that blend scale, access and resilience. M&M Quality Solutions’ subterranean facility can be viewed as a forward-thinking response: by placing cold storage underground, it hedges against surface-level risks such as extreme weather, infrastructure variability or energy grid constraints.
This type of solution is representative of how 3PLs are evolving. The standard formula of “warehouse + trucks” is no longer sufficient; instead, differentiation comes from location intelligence, environmental design and integration of supply-chain functions.
That said, the move also presents operational implications. Cold-chain storage underground will demand meticulous planning around air circulation, humidity control, insulation and the interface with upstream and downstream transport.
For those operating in the beverage and nutrition sectors, this development offers a case study in how logistics infrastructure is adapting to meet the twin imperatives of scale and precision. M&M Quality Solutions’ new hub in SubTropolis may well serve as a model for how underground cold storage can deliver both operational and strategic advantage.
M&M Quality Solutions has taken a notable leap into a distinctive logistics environment that aligns with the rising bar for cold-chain performance. As the facility comes online this month, the industry will be watching how subterranean storage stacks up in practice and whether it becomes a blueprint for the future of refrigerated logistics.
Retail diesel price takes biggest one-week rise since June
Retail diesel prices as measured by the weekly Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration average national price has registered the third-biggest jump this year.
The price of $3.718/gallon was up 9.8 cts/g. It’s the largest increase since a 20.4 cts/g climb on June 23. It also wiped out the last two consecutive weeks of 4-plus cents gain, and put the price used as the benchmark for most fuel surcharges above where it stood three weeks ago at $3.711/g.
The price effective Monday, released Tuesday, was the first number released since the shift in oil market sentiment last week on the back of sanctions announced by the Trump administration. The sanctions are aimed at Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.
The reaction to that announcement was sharp and sudden. On Wednesday, ultra low sulfur diesel on the CME commodity exchange settled at $2.2496/gallon, up 4.38 cts/g from the prior day.
But it was the action the next day that really took prices higher. The gain of 15.34 cts/g to a settlement of $2.24964/g marked the biggest one-day increase since December 22, 2022. But while that gain from almost three years ago was more than 18 cts/g, the increase Thursday was a much larger jump when measured by percentage.
Trading on Monday tacked on a few more cents to the price, settling at $2.4361. Early trading Tuesday showed a small decline of less than 1 cent per gallon at approximately 9:40 a.m. EDT.
In an article published by the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the impact of the sanctions were described as twofold.
First, the two companies will see a freeze in their U.S. holdings, as well as any financial assets in which they own more than 50%.
But second, the most significant aspect of the latest announcement is seen as the emphasis on secondary sanctions. As per the Treasury guidance in the announcement, any entity “engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions.”
That is widely interpreted as being a message to countries buying Russian oil, like India. And the market reaction to the sanctions was to move higher, given that current Russian customers trying to switch out their Russian supplies could boost the price of oil as they seek oil from other sellers.
Meanwhile, the sanctions have helped boost the market in Europe for diesel and gasoil, a diesel-like product which is heavily supplied to Europe by Russia.
Energy consulting firm Energy Aspects, in its monthly report on the market for distillates such as diesel, reported Sunday that the spread between the first month and second month gasoil contract on the ICE commodity exchange had risen, a sign of concern about inventories.
But EA was less bullish going forward. “We expect balances to loosen from December, with global December 2025–January 2026 stockbuilds forecast as 22 million barrels above the five-year average, assuming workarounds can be found to clear Russian diesel, and Atlantic basin spreads have room to fall as inventories start to build,” the consultancy said in its report. “Strong margins should keep refinery runs high, and rising OPEC+ crude supply, especially medium sours, will improve crude slate optimisation and boost clean product yields.”
Whether current diesel inventories in the U.S. are tight is a matter of a half empty, half full analysis.
For the third week of October, last week’s report by the Energy Information Administration had non-jet distillate stocks, which are about 90% diesel, at about 115 million barrels. That is more than where inventories stood for the third week of October in the prior three years.
But that total is significantly less than the amount held at this point on the calendar in the years leading up to the pandemic. Stocks during those years ranged from a high of about 152 million barrels in 2016 to 120 million barrels in 2019.
In other bearish news reported in recent days, almost 1.4 billion barrels of oil are now on board crude tankers, according to data from Vortexa Ltd. That’s the highest figure going back to 2016.
The size of the flotilla measured by Vortexa has been rising for 10 weeks, according to the media reports citing the firm’s analysis. The jump has been fueled by increasing production from the OPEC+ group of oil exporters, which is unwinding its production cuts at a rapid pace.
Those increases are creating the growing view that the supply/demand balance in oil could be headed for a glut by the end of the year or into 2026.
When someone tweets that truck driving is “a relatively low-skilled occupation requiring minimal training,” it doesn’t just sting — it exposes a staggering level of ignorance about one of the most critical, complex, and heavily regulated professions in this country.
This isn’t about defending pride. It’s about defending truth.
Because every time someone spits out a take like that, it chips away at the respect, safety, and wages of the men and women who quite literally move America forward. And if we’re not careful — those misunderstandings could turn fatal.
What Does It Actually Take to Become a Truck Driver?
Let’s layout the basics.
To legally operate a Class 8 truck — that’s your 80,000 lb tractor-trailer combo — a driver must first go through a Department of Transportation (DOT) physical, drug and alcohol testing, and clear a Motor Vehicle Record check.
From there, they enter a CDL training program that spans weeks of classroom instruction and behind-the-wheel training — often totaling hours behind the wheel. But don’t let the recent headlines fool you. It’s what you don’t see, sometimes a small fraction of driving school students that actually make it all the way through as some don’t cut it.
These are just a few of the real world required skill sets:
Backing a 53-foot trailer into a tight dock with 6 inches of clearance on either side
Reading and interpreting DOT Hours of Service regulations
Performing pre-trip inspections that could detect potential brake failures before a mountain downgrade
Calculating axle weight distribution to comply with federal bridge laws
Handling icy mountain descents with an 13-speed transmission in foggy conditions
Coordinating with brokers, shippers, and receivers across multiple time zones
That doesn’t sound “minimal” to me.
You Know What Is Low Skill? Making Tweets Like That Without Ever Riding Shotgun in a Truck
The disconnect between the perception of trucking and the reality of it is vast.
People think truckers are just “driving around all day.” But they’re running rolling warehouses worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — surrounded by distracted drivers, unpredictable weather, strict time windows, and a federal rulebook that could fill a law library.
You mess up in a cubicle job? You might miss a deadline.
You mess up in a big truck? People could die.
The Real Test Isn’t on Paper — It’s in the Field
Let’s play a game. Imagine someone drops you into the driver’s seat of a fully loaded 18-wheeler on 285 in Atlanta at 5:30 PM. It’s raining. Your fuel tanks are at 30%. Your load is at full max legal. And your ELD just beeped — 45 minutes left on your clock.
Still think it’s low skill?
Trucking demands:
Spatial awareness under stress
Mechanical intuition on the fly
Advanced trip planning
Customer service at shipper/receiver docks
Legal literacy of state and federal regulations
Split-second decision making at 70 mph
Many lawyers couldn’t do what a trucker does. Even doctors couldn’t. Most influencers certainly couldn’t.
But truckers do it every single day, in every state, for 500–3,000 miles a week.
The Math Behind the Pressure
✅ Off-street ✅ Blind-side ✅ Super tight ✅ Pallets in the open ✅ Nails in your tires ✅ Probably have to pay a lumper too What's the worst dock you've ever had to back into? 📸 u/FAYMKONZ Reddit pic.twitter.com/LRXuCgfhK9
And here’s the worst part: if the public believes trucking is “low skill,” it makes it easier for companies and lawmakers to:
Underpay drivers
Slash training programs
Overlook safety
Replace humans with automation prematurely
That’s the real danger of this narrative.
Real-Life Stories That Prove the Point
You want proof? Here are just a few recent headlines:
California Crash, October 2025: An improperly trained driver — under the influence — plows into traffic and kills 3 people on I-10. Video shows no attempt to brake or steer. CDL status under scrutiny.
New Entrant Audit Violations: Thousands of new carriers fail basic safety components of the audit due to poor training practices and falsified driver qualification files.
Non-Domiciled CDL Debate: FMCSA is now reevaluating 200,000+ licenses after discovering systemic abuse in testing protocols and English comprehension standards.
These aren’t just policy problems. They’re people problems. And they start with underestimating the job.
Why This Narrative Persists
So why do people keep pushing the “low skill” myth?
Because the less respect a job has, the easier it is to:
Outsource it
Automate it
Underpay it
Exploit it
If you tell the public “trucking is just steering a wheel,” you pave the way for:
Driver fast-track programs that skip safety fundamentals
Brokers prioritizing price over qualifications
Politicians using truckers as talking points but not policy priorities
You devalue the workforce — and the workforce becomes disposable.
The Real Skill Is What You Don’t See
Trucking is a 24/7 mental game.
A skilled trucker is:
Watching mirrors every few seconds
Adjusting gears to grade and weight
Listening to engine tones for early failure signs
Reading body language of drivers ahead
Predicting danger before it happens
And beyond the wheel?
They’re managing parking plans, HOS logs, trip planning, detention billing, reefer temp logs, and broker relations — all while being away from home, sleeping in rest areas, and missing birthdays.
Sound low-skill to you?
We’re Not Just Defending Trucking — We’re Demanding Recognition
What you saw in that tweet is bigger than just one comment.
It’s a window into the deep-rooted cultural disconnect that’s undermining one of America’s most important professions.
We need:
Stronger CDL training standards
Wider public education on what truckers do
Greater media coverage of driver achievements
Policy input from real drivers, not just executives
And we need to start calling out ignorance when we see it.
Because if you can disrespect a trucker’s skill, you can disrespect their life.
The Bottom Line
Let’s end with this:
If trucking is so easy, why do we have 90% turnover in the large fleets?
Truth is, trucking isn’t easy. It’s unforgiving. It’s exhausting. It’s precise. And it’s absolutely essential.
So the next time someone tweets nonsense like that?
Send them this article — and remind them that the “low skill” they’re talking about is the same profession that delivered their food, built their roads, hauled their fuel, and kept their shelves stocked through a global pandemic.
Truckers don’t need your approval.
But they damn sure deserve your respect.
It’s Time for the ATA to Relinquish Their Claim as the Voice of the American Trucker. FreightX Has It From Here
For decades, the ATA has postured itself as the voice of the American trucker. They’ve shaped policy, lobbied lawmakers, and inserted themselves into every major transportation debate. But somewhere along the way — in boardrooms, PR campaigns, and executive luncheons — they lost sight of the people they claimed to represent.
The men and women behind the wheel. The small fleet owner who dispatches his trucks at night. The owner-operator running on razor-thin margins. The actual American trucker.
The “Shortage” That Wasn’t
Let’s start with their favorite talking point: the “driver shortage.”
And yet, drivers in the trenches have a different story.
We’re not short on truckers. We’re short on good-paying jobs, respectable working conditions, and retention-minded employers.
Driver churn at large fleets is sky high, with some companies cycling through 90% of their workforce annually. Why? Because wages haven’t kept up. Because quality of life has taken a back seat. And because drivers are treated as expendable.
But rather than focus on fixing why people are leaving, the ATA doubled down on importing more labor — and that’s where the damage began.
The Backdoor Opened — And the Floodgates Followed
In February of 2023 when American Truckers were already BLEEDING from the gross over supply and artificially low freight rates ceeated by @TRUCKINGdotORG#bidentruckingactionplan… Chris Spear, in his written statement to congress stated the “ATA is vitally interested in safely… pic.twitter.com/l2ecEMjjux
When the ATA pushed the “driver shortage” agenda, it created the perfect excuse for the federal government to open the door to non-domiciled CDL holders — individuals who may not live permanently in the U.S., but are authorized to operate 80,000-pound vehicles on our highways.
And now? We’re staring down nearly 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders in active circulation — many of whom received licenses from states later accused of cutting corners during the issuance process.
These aren’t hypotheticals. These are facts — confirmed by the Department of Transportation, scrutinized in court filings, and echoed by frontline dispatchers and fleet owners across the country.
Worse, some brokers and large shippers are knowingly opting for these drivers because they come cheaper — sometimes by $400 to $500 per load. That’s not just undercutting; it’s erosion from within.
It’s not a stretch to say the shortage narrative has become a Trojan horse — not for workforce expansion, but for wage suppression and market manipulation. And the ATA helped build it.
Shifting Messages, Shifting Loyalties
Let’s not ignore the receipts. In March 2025, the ATA published a blog post stating:
“No, millions of foreign truck drivers aren’t flooding into the U.S.”
Then — just six months later — their president, Chris Spear, released another post titled:
“Cheaters Are Undercutting America’s Trucking Industry. The Trump Administration Must Stop It.”
Which is it?
You can’t on one hand defend the presence of non-domiciled labor, and on the other hand blame “cheaters” for collapsing the market. Especially not when your own lobbying contributed to the conditions that allowed it.
And let’s be clear: the ATA isn’t confused. They’re just caught in a messaging trap of their own making — trying to defend mega fleets on one side while pretending to care about the American trucker on the other. The mic they’re holding only amplifies the concerns of the largest players in the room.
When the Truckers Spoke Up, It Wasn’t the ATA Who Listened
Meanwhile, the real voice of the American trucker has been rising — not in Washington, not in boardrooms, but on platforms like X (formerly Twitter). That’s where FreightX was born.
FreightX isn’t a formal organization. It’s a movement — a digital alliance of truckers, owner operators, small fleet owners, and advocates who share real-time market data, policy breakdowns, safety violations, and wage abuse stories.
They’ve raised awareness, exposed shady practices, and fought for common-sense reform in public, with receipts, and without funding.
While the ATA was cozying up to D.C., FreightX was pushing back against fraud on the load boards, calling out corruption in CDL programs, and shining a light on good carriers being locked out of broker systems.
FreightX did more for small carriers through tweets than the ATA has accomplished in decades of lobbying.
And that’s the shift. That’s the moment the public conversation passed the ATA by.
Follow the Money — And You’ll See Who They Represent
Let’s be real. The ATA doesn’t represent the independent contractor.
They don’t speak for the one-truck operator in Mississippi. They don’t show up for the dispatch service hustling in Georgia. They don’t advocate for the small fleet caught between compliance chaos and rate pressure.
They represent the top 100 for-hire carriers in the country, many of whom have spent millions lobbying for policies that pad profits while squeezing the people doing the work.
In its 2020 Annual Report, ATA showcased its core lobbying priorities — including tort reform, automation, and driver recruiting initiatives. But for anyone reading between the lines, the real takeaway isn’t what they said — it’s what they didn’t.
There’s zero mention of advocacy specifically for independent contractors, leased-on owner-operators, or small fleets — even though these groups make up over 90% of the industry by fleet size. That omission is telling.
ATA’s priorities are laser-focused on:
Lowering operating costs for mega-carriers
Expanding access to cheaper labor pools through driver pipeline programs
Defending large fleet protections in litigation (e.g., tort reform and preemption policies)
Advocating for broader automation tech to reduce labor dependency
And while they’ve thrown their support behind entry-level driver training standards and wage growth in general terms, they’ve also been at the center of narratives like the “driver shortage crisis” — a talking point that many now see as a wage suppression tactic used by the largest carriers to justify importing lower-cost labor.
They’ve fought to weaken safety regs under the banner of efficiency. They’ve defended double brokering and overcapacity — all while telling us the problem is too few drivers.
And now, they’re calling on the Trump Administration to “step in”? After years of playing both sides?
It’s time to say it clearly: the ATA no longer represents the American trucker.
So, What Now?
We’re at a crossroads — not just in trucking, but in representation.
If you’re a carrier with 5 trucks trying to compete with a 5,000-truck operation, the ATA isn’t fighting for your survival. They’re protecting the system that keeps your profit margins squeezed while their members reap the benefits of cheaper labor, broader exemptions, and volume discounts.
It’s time for new voices to rise. For independent coalitions to form. For those actually in the trenches — dispatchers, drivers, compliance experts, mentors, and small business owners — to take the mic.
And it’s time to retire the shortage myth once and for all. We don’t need to bring in foreign labor to fill seats. We need to pay drivers fairly, treat them with respect, and build systems that retain talent instead of replacing it every 90 days.
Final Thought
ATA — we see you.
We see the inconsistency. The changing stories. The influence-peddling. The silence during critical moments when the community needed a defender.
We’ve heard the word “shortage” for years. But the only shortage we see now is of trust — and of accountability.
So this is the ask: Step aside. Fall back from the policy front lines. Let the real voices of this industry rise.
We are the drivers. The owner operators. The carriers. The brokers who play fair. The compliance folks and the educators. We are FreightX. We are the industry now.
And we don’t need a lobbyist to tell our story.
Non-Domiciled CDL Emergency Rule could cause capacity crunch
Introduction to the Emergency Interim Final Rule
On September 29, 2025, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced an emergency interim final rule to restrict non-domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs). This significant regulatory action, issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), aims to address widespread abuse in issuing these licenses to immigrants, which has caused substantial disruptions in the trucking and supply chain industries.
Background on Non-Domiciled Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs)
Non-domiciled CDLs were originally introduced in 2017 to provide flexibility for drivers who resided in one state but needed to obtain a license in another. Over time, however, this licensing category expanded to include non-U.S. residents, sometimes without proper work permits. This evolution went beyond the original intent, creating a situation in which licenses were issued to individuals who may not have met all legal requirements for employment in the United States.
Key Findings from the DOT Audit
A comprehensive DOT audit revealed alarming statistics regarding non-domiciled CDLs. At least 200,000 such licenses have been issued nationwide, with particularly high concentrations in certain states. California emerged as a significant problem area, where the audit found that over 25% of non-domiciled CDLs were granted improperly.
Regulatory Guidance from FMCSA (March 2019)
In March 2019, the FMCSA issued regulatory guidance outlining conditions under which foreign drivers could obtain non-domiciled CDLs. According to this guidance, individuals with valid employment permits or unexpired passports and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Arrival/Departure Records could qualify. However, implementation issues soon arose, as many states failed to properly verify employment permits or align license expiration dates with work authorization periods. These oversight failures led to mounting concerns about potential fraud and safety implications in the trucking industry.
Impact on the Trucking Industry
The proliferation of non-domiciled CDLs has coincided with a dramatic increase in trucking capacity across the United States. Since the FMCSA permitted foreigners to obtain non-domiciled CDLs in March 2019, the industry has added more than 310,000 trucks to American roads.
It is not a stretch to believe that at least half of the new capacity has come from non-domiciled CDL holders. We know that 200,000 CDLs were issued, but it is unclear how many of these are still active and currently driving over the road.
Regardless, the industry has suffered greatly from the surge of new truck drivers and the sudden influx of capacity. These new participants have contributed significantly to market oversupply conditions, resulting in the longest freight recession in history. The correlation between the issuance of these licenses and industry-wide disruption points to significant regulatory challenges that must be addressed to restore balance to the freight transportation sector.
A Capacity Crunch Is Likely, but No One Knows How Fast One Will Come
The emergency interim final rule represents an important step toward addressing the unintended consequences of the non-domiciled CDL program. As the DOT and FMCSA work to implement stricter controls on these licenses, capacity will certainly tighten. The question on the mind of every freight market executive: When will we feel it?
What Lumber And Steel Futures Are Telling Flatbedders As We Wrap Up 2025
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 away in your load board. When it cools off, you feel that too.
So where are we right now, closing out 2025? Lumber futures are sliding off their highs and steel demand is soft with some pockets still running hot. That combination is sending a pretty clear message to flatbed haulers: expect mixed demand instead of broad “every lane is on fire” demand. Some regions will stay busy. Some will get quiet. And the guys who survive are going to be the ones who understand where the money still is — and where it isn’t.
Lumber: housing is cooling off, and the market is telling on itself
Lumber futures ran up hard earlier this year and even hit around $695 per thousand board feet in August — a three-year high, driven mostly by traders betting on tighter supply and higher tariffs on Canadian wood. That wasn’t because America was suddenly building houses like crazy. It was mostly front end tariff buying: “Tariffs are going up, better load up before it gets expensive.” Mills, wholesalers, builders — everybody grabbed inventory early.
Then additional reality hit.
Mortgage rates stayed high. Builders started seeing buyers slow down. Single-family starts and permits dropped. Builders shifted from “how fast can we frame it” to “how fast can we move what we’ve already built.” Lumber demand didn’t follow the price up. Now, as we sit in late October 2025, lumber futures have fallen back into the $590–$610/mbf range, down double digits from that August spike, and recently touched the lowest levels in weeks.
Here’s what that means in plain English: the lumber market is heavy. They’ve got plenty of product. They don’t have buyers lined up like they hoped. Builders overbought expecting a strong fall build cycle, and that build cycle didn’t fully show up. Again, you heard it before, it is all supply versus demand.
There are two main reasons for that weakness:
Housing affordability is still brutal. Buyers are backing off because monthly payments are ugly, even if sticker prices come down a little. That stalls new single-family construction, which is a core driver of flatbed loads like studs, trusses, sheathing and roofing materials into subdivisions.
So instead of steady flatbed freight — lumber from mill to yard, yard to jobsite, jobsite to next jobsite — you get pauses. Slow downs. Gaps in the week.
If you’re a flatbed carrier that leans heavy on housing freight (think Southeast and Sun Belt bedroom communities, roofing materials, truss packages, drywall), you’re going to feel that softness first. You’ve probably already felt it: more deadhead to get something decent, brokers holding the line on rate because “it’s slow this week,” and more back-and-forth just to keep the truck moving.
The price slide in lumber is basically the market saying: “Housing isn’t absorbing material fast enough.”
That is your early warning signal. When lumber drops, housing obviously cools. When housing cools, flatbed softens.
Now, does that mean lumber freight dies everywhere? No. It means you stop assuming “house build = easy money” in every county. The good lumber lanes going into high-growth pockets (parts of Texas, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Alabama) will still exist. But they’ll be more competitive. You’re going to see more trucks chasing the same pool of deliveries because demand isn’t broad and guaranteed anymore; it’s targeted and uneven.
Translation: If you’re purely living off new residential construction materials, you’re in a risk lane. You’ll need to either widen your service radius or start playing in non-residential work (commercial buildouts, distribution centers, solar fields, infrastructure jobs) to keep your week full.
Steel: weak overall, but not dead — and not equal in every lane
Now let’s talk steel.
Steel is the backbone of flatbed freight — coils, plate, beams, fabricated components. When steel moves, flatbeds eat. When steel slows down, you feel trucks stacking up in places like Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Texas.
Here’s where steel sits as we close 2025:
Global steel demand in 2025 has been weak. Prices have been under pressure most of the year because buyers — construction, manufacturing, export markets — haven’t been pulling hard enough to soak up supply. We’ve got too much capacity chasing not enough end use in a lot of regions, especially Asia, where prices are at or near historic lows.
In Europe, demand is also soft, and the only thing keeping prices from totally dumping is production cuts and trade protection. In other words: they’re shutting furnaces off just to stop the bleeding. According to a September 2025 report, this scenario will drive overall utilization rates down to approximately 70% from the current 78-79%, creating what steel industry observers describe as a “structural oversupply crisis.”
In the U.S., you’ve got another layer: tariffs. That sounds like a policy headline, but let’s talk about what that actually means at the dock door.
When imported steel is priced out of the market, domestic mills get to hold onto more volume by nature. That keeps U.S. production running, even if global demand is soft. It doesn’t mean price explodes upward — because demand is still not booming — but it does mean U.S. mills get the work that might’ve gone offshore.
Add to that a couple bright spots: infrastructure, energy, grid upgrades, pipeline components, utility and heavy industrial work are still consuming steel in certain pockets like Texas, Alabama, and along Gulf and Mid-South corridors. Flatbed demand in those areas is still described as “hot” thanks to coil and industrial freight, even while residential construction is cooling.
So yes, the overall mood in steel for late 2025 is: weak now, slow recovery maybe into 2026. But that’s not the full story. It’s not equally weak everywhere, and it’s not equally weak in every product type.
Some steelmakers in the U.S. are still posting strong earnings outlooks tied to non-residential demand — things like energy, automotive, and infrastructure build — and metals recycling. That right there should grab your attention if you’re hauling flatbed.
So what does all of this say about Q4 2025 for flatbedders?
Let’s break it down:
Lumber is telling you housing is slowing, not surging.
Even with sluggish global demand, U.S. mills are still feeding sectors like energy, infrastructure, automotive, grid upgrades, and industrial expansion. Those projects need plate, beams, poles, coils, and fabricated assemblies. That’s all flatbed freight.
Your best-paying freight heading into 2026 probably won’t be starter homes in a new subdivision for sure.
It’ll be steel going into power grid work, utility infrastructure, industrial sites, heavy equipment builds, and even data center construction for example. Those jobs are less interest-rate sensitive than housing. Cities can slow housing starts. Utilities can’t slow the grid upgrade. Manufacturers can’t delay retooling forever. That’s where the need is.
The “lumber hustle” model is going to tighten.
For the one-truck or three-truck carrier that built their money on regional hauls of lumber, trusses, roofing bundles, fencing panels to new build sites? You’re going to start seeing more competition. They’ll do it now — because their steel work got soft that week. So be ready to defend your relationships, offer reliability, and maybe stretch your service area a little.
Bottom line
Lumber and steel tell the truth before the broader market does.
Lumber falling back from that August spike is the market quietly admitting: housing isn’t strong enough to keep every flatbed busy on residential construction going into winter.
Steel staying soft through late 2025, with talk of only a slow recovery into 2026, is the market saying: don’t expect a miracle, expect to hustle — but pay attention, because certain regions tied to infrastructure, grid work, energy, and manufacturing are still moving steel every single day.
If you’re a flatbedder, things will be a little slower for a little longer on your side.
In other words: 2025 is ending with a sorting-out. If you’re smart about where you point that trailer, you’ll still eat.
Talking to AI Like a Business Partner – How Prompting Can Power Up Your Trucking Business
If you’ve ever told someone to “just find a load,” and they came back with something that made no sense, then you already understand the problem with vague communication. The same rule applies to artificial intelligence (AI). It can’t read your mind—it can only respond to what you clearly tell it.
That was the central theme of our recent Masterclass on Prompt Engineering for Trucking Companies, where we broke down how to “talk to AI so it works for you.” What started as a deep dive into prompt building quickly became a wake-up call for fleet owners and dispatchers who realized AI isn’t just another tech gimmick—it’s a tool that can clean up inefficiencies, reduce admin stress, and bring structure to how you run your business.
This article is your high-level recap and playbook on how to effectively prompt AI tools (like ChatGPT or Copilot) to become a genuine asset in your trucking operation.
Why Prompt Engineering Matters in Trucking
AI doesn’t think for you—it thinks with you. That means the quality of your output depends entirely on the quality of your input.
If you’re vague, you’ll get vague results.
If you’re clear, structured, and specific—you’ll get answers that feel like they came from a trained operations manager.
In trucking, time equals money. Every hour you spend writing policies, searching for loads, emailing brokers, or piecing together safety reports can now be reduced to minutes—if you know how to talk to AI properly.
Let’s break it down with a simple example:
Bad Prompt: “Make a safety checklist.”
Good Prompt: “Create a weekly truck safety inspection checklist for a 5-truck reefer fleet running Midwest lanes, focusing on DOT compliance and preventing breakdowns.”
That second version tells AI exactly what it needs to know—who it’s helping, what the task is, and what to focus on. The more context you give it, the smarter it performs.
The 3-Part Formula for Writing a Good Prompt
If you remember nothing else from this lesson, remember this: Role + Task + Format.
This formula turns a random question into a professional-grade instruction.
Role & Context – Tell AI who it is and what situation it’s in.
Example: “You are a fleet operations manager for a small reefer company with five trucks running Midwest lanes.”
Task & Details – Explain what you want done and include the key factors that matter.
Example: “Create a driver orientation plan that covers compliance, safety, and company culture.”
Format & Output Style – Tell it how you want the answer presented.
Example: “Provide it as a bulleted checklist organized by daily activities for the first week.”
When you combine all three, you give AI the same clarity you’d expect from a dispatcher briefing a driver before a run.
The Most Common Prompt Mistakes Trucking Companies Make
AI doesn’t fail—it follows bad directions. In the Masterclass, we looked at five common mistakes that cost trucking businesses hours of frustration:
Being Too Vague.
“Make a safety plan” gives you vague. “Create a DOT safety plan for a six-flatbed fleet running Midwest to Texas lanes, including driver training and CSA monitoring” gives you precision.
Forgetting Output Format.
Don’t just say “make a checklist.” Say “make a checklist grouped by daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.”
Leaving Out Context.
A driver handbook for a hotshot company in Texas looks nothing like one for a reefer fleet in Ohio.
Asking Too Much at Once.
Split your request into steps. Let AI focus, refine, and build piece by piece.
Not Reviewing the Response.
AI gives you a first draft, not a final product. Edit it like you would an SOP before sending it out to your team.
Turning AI Into an Assistant That Knows Your Business
The next level of prompt engineering is what we call “training your AI.” Think of it as onboarding a new office assistant—you have to give it your company profile before it can do real work.
Step 1: Gather Core Info
Write out your company basics:
Fleet size, trailer types, and lanes you run
Preferred shippers and brokers
Driver home-time rules and lane restrictions
Communication tone (professional, friendly, direct, etc.)
Step 2: Create Your Company Profile Prompt
Example:
“You are now my virtual operations assistant for Playbook Logistics, a five-truck reefer carrier based in Charlotte, NC. We specialize in Midwest and Southeast lanes, avoid loads under $2.25 per mile unless repositioning, and our drivers must be home every weekend. Preferred brokers: ABC, Coyote, TQL. Tone: professional and direct.”
Save this as your “AI Company Profile.” Paste it at the start of every new AI session, and now you’ve got an assistant who remembers your playbook before you even start typing.
Step 3: Reuse and Update
Keep that prompt handy in your notes app or Google Drive. When your policies or lanes change, update it and reuse it. Over time, this becomes your digital co-pilot for decision-making.
How Trucking Companies Can Use AI Prompts Right Now
Once you master prompting, AI becomes your silent business partner. Here are real examples covered in the class:
Dispatch Planning:
Ask AI to plan a 5-day load schedule based on your drivers’ preferred lanes, HOS rules, and rate goals.
“You are a professional dispatcher for a small dry van carrier in Atlanta. Plan a weekly load schedule that maximizes revenue while keeping all drivers within HOS limits.”
Safety & Compliance:
AI can create a monthly DOT compliance checklist, including file audits, random drug testing schedules, and equipment logs.
Driver Recruiting:
Draft professional job ads that highlight your pay, home time, and family culture.
“You are writing a recruitment ad for a family-owned reefer company based in Ohio. Focus on stability, respect, and home weekends.”
Broker Outreach:
AI can write polished intro emails that make you sound like a national carrier—even if you only run three trucks.
Rate Negotiation Practice:
Use AI to simulate a broker call and prepare rebuttals. Use the video or audio function of your AI so you can practice the back and forth.
“Act as a broker offering me a load from Charlotte to Chicago for $1,650. Push back on my counter so I can practice my responses.”
The Secret Weapon – AI in Your Daily Operations
Prompting isn’t just about “asking better questions.” It’s about embedding AI into your everyday workflow.
You can use it to:
Draft your SOPs for onboarding new drivers or dispatchers.
Analyze ELD reports and create driver coaching summaries.
Detect maintenance trends before breakdowns happen.
Automate shipper updates via email and Zapier integration, so customers get professional communication every time.
Think of AI as your virtual operations manager—never tired, never late, never taking a lunch break.
But only if you feed it the right information.
The Golden Rules of AI for Trucking
Before you start typing away, keep these Do’s and Don’ts from the class in mind:
DO:
Be specific and structured.
Train it on your company profile.
Ask for multiple options, not just one answer.
Double-check trip times, mileage, and compliance.
Use it for tasks that drain your time—emails, SOPs, reports.
DON’T:
Trust it blindly with live rate data or financial decisions.
Feed it sensitive info like account numbers or driver SSNs.
Expect it to replace humans—it enhances your people, not replaces them.
The Big Picture – AI Won’t Replace People, But It Will Replace Poor Process
Prompt engineering is about turning AI into your assistant, not your boss.
It’s about taking back control of your time, cleaning up your workflows, and scaling without chaos.
If you’re an owner-operator or small fleet owner trying to grow in a tough market, this isn’t just a tech skill—it’s a competitive edge.
When you know how to talk to AI, it can help you:
Build load plans that match your goals.
Write SOPs that train new hires in half the time.
Catch compliance issues before they hit your CSA score.
Improve communication with brokers and drivers.
AI doesn’t replace experience—it amplifies it.
Final Takeaway and Call to Action
Our recent Masterclass was just one of many deep dives we host every month, showing small carriers how to use AI to run smarter, scale cleaner, and compete stronger.
If this lesson sparked ideas or helped you see where AI can fit into your workflow, it’s time to take the next step.
Enroll in the Playbook Masterclass Program to get bi-weekly lessons like this—covering everything from AI-driven dispatching to compliance automation, financial analysis, and driver performance tools.
Learn how to turn technology into a business advantage, one prompt at a time.
US, China reach trade framework as Trump threatens 10% tariff on Canada
President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.S. and China have reached a framework for a new trade agreement just days before his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping — even as tensions with Canada flared over a new 10% tariff on imports.
Meanwhile, Mexico secured another extension for “a few more weeks” on a looming tariff deadline, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday.
Trade breakthrough with China
The U.S. and China have agreed to the framework of a trade deal that could be finalized when Trump and Xi meet later this week in South Korea, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
The plan includes a final agreement over TikTok’s U.S. operations, a deferral of China’s tightened rare earth export controls, and the resumption of large-scale soybean purchases from the U.S.
Bessent told CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan on Sunday that the 100% tariff Trump had threatened on Chinese imports would likely be avoided, saying the two countries had reached “a substantial framework” that would “avert tariffs.”
The U.S. and China have also agreed to finalize additional details in the coming weeks. Beijing confirmed that talks produced “constructive” progress and a “basic consensus” on trade arrangements, Bessent said.
The discussions come amid months of escalating trade measures, including Chinese restrictions on rare earth exports vital to U.S. electronics manufacturing and Trump’s renewed push to expand American access to Asian mineral supply chains through agreements with Malaysia and Thailand.
Trump raises tariffs on Canada
Even as Washington and Beijing moved closer to easing trade tensions, Trump reignited friction with America’s northern neighbor. On Saturday, he announced a 10% tariff hike on Canadian imports, a move reportedly triggered by an Ontario advertising campaign that featured former President Ronald Reagan denouncing tariffs.
The new tariffs represent a sharp break from the cooperative framework under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The escalation coincides with Canada’s economy entering contraction for the first time in more than a year. Statistics Canada reported GDP fell 0.4% in Q2 2025, with exports dropping 7.5% after U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos took effect, according to BNN Bloomberg.
Mexico avoids confrontation — for now
Sheinbaum said on Monday she spoke with Trump over the week and the two leaders agreed to delay his planned 30% tariff on Mexican imports, citing “very good progress” in ongoing negotiations.
“I was interested in making sure that Nov. 1 didn’t arrive without us having communicated and that we were in agreement that our teams were still working,” Sheinbaum said during her daily morning news conference on Monday.
The U.S. agreed in July to pause for 90 days an increase in tariffs on heavy-duty vehicles made in Mexico as the two countries continued talks aimed at reaching a new trade deal. That pause was set to end this week.
The U.S. currently has tariffs of 25% to 30% for automotive sector goods and 50% for steel and aluminum from Mexico.
Meet the Firestone FS592 – A New Era of Steer Tires for Owner-Operators
The Overlooked Workhorse – Why Steer Tires Deserve More Attention
If drive tires get all the glory for traction and trailer tires get all the heat for wear, then steer tires are the unsung heroes—silently absorbing the brunt of the highway, balancing weight, and literally setting the direction for your operation.
But many carriers—including small fleets—treat steer tires as just another item on the maintenance checklist. That’s a mistake.
Steer tires are your first line of defense when it comes to safety, handling, and even fuel economy. They take the hits, absorb the road, and bear the wear patterns that tell you a lot about your truck’s condition—if you know how to read them. Blow one steer tire and you’re never forget the experience—you’re at the mercy of someone else’s tow bill.
In 2025, we’re not just talking about circular chunks of rubber. Today’s steer tires are highly-engineered tools, designed to extend service intervals, increase casing durability, and deliver better wear life across a variety of operating conditions. If you’re still buying steers like it’s 2015, you’re leaving safety and money on the table.
What’s Changing – Inside the Firestone FS592
Bridgestone just launched the Firestone FS592, and it’s not another tire—it’s a real shift in steer tire tech. And if you’re a small fleet trying to extend life between swaps, this deserves your attention.
The FS592 features a new tread compound built to resist irregular wear, which is one of the biggest killers of steer tires. That alone could mean thousands in savings across your fleet if you’re rotating properly.
Then there’s the updated shoulder profile, which reduces the chance of shoulder step wear—a common issue in regional operations. The tire’s 18/32” tread depth provides an excellent starting point for long mileage cycles, and its casing is engineered for multiple retreads.
Translation? You’re getting more tire for your dollar, better wear resistance, and more flexibility in casing reuse. The sidewall design even accounts for lower rolling resistance, which quietly helps your fuel economy without sacrificing durability.
That’s not just innovation—it’s practical ROI.
Cost vs Value – Rethinking Your Tire Strategy
Here’s where some small fleet owners go wrong: they price-shop their steers like it’s only about the upfront cost.
Let’s break that down (using numbers for easy math only, your life expectancy is based on many factors).
Say you buy a set of steers for $1,100 total. If they last you 75,000 miles but start showing irregular wear at 30,000 miles, your long-term cost per mile creeps up—especially if you’re prematurely rotating, replacing, or burning fuel due to misalignment.
Now say you spend $1,350 for a premium steer like the FS592, and it lasts 90,000+ miles with a casing good for retread. Suddenly that extra $250 investment feels a lot smarter.
Quick example:
Budget steer: $1,100 / 75,000 miles = $0.0146/mile
Premium steer: $1,350 / 90,000 miles = $0.015/mile — but with one retread, it drops to $0.011/mile total
And when you factor in fuel savings from reduced rolling resistance, that “more expensive” steer just made you money.
How to Know When It’s Time to Upgrade Your Steers
You don’t wait for a steer tire to explode to replace it. That’s not smart—that’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Here’s how to know it’s time to upgrade or rethink your steer spec:
Feathered wear across the tread: Your alignment or toe-in may be off.
Consistent inside shoulder wear: Usually underinflation or overloading.
Visible cracks or bulges: Age, heat, or impact damage.
Also look at your downtime. If you’re sidelined for tire-related issues more than once a quarter, you’re burning opportunity cost, not just rubber.
Owner-Operator Angle – Real ROI and Peace of Mind
For owner-operators and 3-5 truck fleets, the tire game isn’t just about replacement schedules—it’s about trust. Trust that your tires won’t fail you in the middle of a load. Trust that you’re getting every possible mile out of your casing. Trust that your maintenance budget isn’t going to blow up when you least expect it.
When you spec a better steer tire, you’re protecting your uptime, your CSA score (yes, blowouts can lead to roadside inspections in a few cases), and your ability to operate without constant tire drama.
This is especially true if you’re running varied lanes. From regional P&D to long-haul reefer runs, steer tires need to be spec’d for how you operate, not just what’s in stock.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Is it worth it for a small fleet to invest in premium steer tires?
A: Absolutely. When you spread the cost over multiple retreads and fuel savings, the ROI is clear—especially when downtime kills your profit margins. If at all possible, don’t short change on tires.
Q: Can poor tire choice affect my fuel mileage?
A: Yes. Rolling resistance plays a real role. Low-rolling-resistance steers like the FS592 can improve MPG enough to make a noticeable difference over a quarter.
Q: Should I match steers with specific drive tires?
A: Ideally yes, especially if you’re running a fuel-focused spec. Keep everything aligned for balance and wear consistency.
Final Thought – Innovation Is Only as Good as the Operator Who Uses It
The FS592 and other steer innovations are game-changers—if you know how to take advantage of them. But no tire can save a fleet that doesn’t track alignment, rotate regularly, or spec for its real-world operation.
You don’t need to be a tire engineer to win the tire game—you just need to be a smarter buyer than your competition.
And in 2025, when margins are tighter than ever and downtime is unacceptable, smarter beats cheaper every time.
