News

# Arkansas Trucking Ruling Remains Unclear From Filed Excerpt The Arkansas Supreme Court docket shows that Old Dominion Freight Line and driver Aaron Marvell Foster appealed a St. Francis County case involving six defendants. But the excerpt provided does not include the court’s ruling, reasoning, underlying accident facts, or the legal issue the justices decided….

Speed violations top trucker citations in CVSA campaign Speeding was the most frequently cited violation among commercial motor vehicle drivers during this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, according to results released by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance in early October. Law enforcement officers from 36 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces and Mexico interacted with 8,083…

Diesel shortage? NASTC warns Congress, voicing safety concerns with tanker HOS relief The National Association of Small Trucking Companies is urging Congress to consider a temporary pause on U.S. diesel and distillate exports as inventories decline and fuel prices rise. In a Sept. 24 letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives, NASTC President…

LAPD recovers $1 million in cargo linked to BNSF and Union Pacific rail thefts Los Angeles police recovered approximately $1 million worth of merchandise that investigators said had been stolen from freight shipments moving on BNSF Railway and Union Pacific rail lines. The recovery followed a Sept. 30 search at Shoes n Shoes, a shoe…

Logistics Companies Look to AI for Measurable Gains, Not Just Automation Artificial intelligence is moving deeper into freight operations, but logistics companies face a practical question: Can the technology produce a measurable return on investment? Dan Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Nexcade, said the answer depends less on simply deploying AI and more on whether…

Federal regulators are moving forward with two pilot programs that would test greater flexibility in how commercial truck drivers manage their hours of service. The proposals focus on temporarily pausing the 14-hour driving window and expanding options for splitting sleeper-berth time. Programs Would Test a Pause in the 14-Hour Window The Federal Motor Carrier Safety…

Tesla drops “self-driving” branding in Europe Tesla is moving away from its “self-driving” branding in Europe, a change that puts new emphasis on the limits of the company’s driver-assistance technology and the responsibilities that remain with the person behind the wheel. The company’s naming of its advanced driver-assistance features has been a continuing point of…

Speeding was the most common violation recorded among commercial truck drivers during the 2026 Operation Safe Driver Week campaign, according to results released by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. Officers issued 3,968 warnings and 2,604 citations to commercial motor vehicle and passenger vehicle drivers across North America. Enforcement Conducted Across North America Law enforcement agencies…

FMCSA to Allow Self-Driving Trucks to Use Cab-Mounted Warning Beacons in Place of Triangles The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is granting a limited five-year exemption allowing certain autonomous trucks to use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of traditional roadside warning devices such as reflective triangles or fusees. The exemption applies to Aurora Operations Inc. and…

Federal regulators have granted Aurora Operations Inc. and other qualifying carriers a five-year exemption allowing Level 4 autonomous trucks to use cab-mounted amber warning beacons instead of traditional roadside warning devices when a vehicle is stopped or disabled. Exemption Addresses Driverless Truck Requirements The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said the exemption is intended to…

Five U.S. military veterans have been named finalists for the 2026 Transition Trucking: Driving for Excellence Award. The winner will receive a new Kenworth T680 truck. 2026 finalists The finalists were selected by Kenworth Truck Company, Fastport and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program. They are: Mohammad Arzola — U.S. Marine…

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced $426 million for critical freight and highway infrastructure projects in 12 states through the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects, or INFRA, program. Funding Targets Freight Bottlenecks The investment is intended to improve transportation infrastructure and address congestion affecting the nation’s supply chain. One of the projects…

Court Rejects Challenge as FMCSA Grants Five-Year Warning-Beacon Exemption for Driverless Trucks The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has approved a five-year exemption allowing Aurora Operations and other participating autonomous trucking companies to use cab-mounted warning beacons instead of traditional roadside warning devices. The decision follows a legal challenge from Illinois cargo van operator Kostas…

Freight’s Next Move Matters More Than the Last 18 Months The U.S. freight market is still working through a prolonged downturn, but the most important signals may now be coming from what happens next rather than from the weakness of the past 18 months. That was the central theme of a FreightWaves Today discussion with…

AV truck fleets win 5-year exemption on warning beacons The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted a five-year exemption allowing qualifying autonomous trucks to use cab-mounted flashing amber beacons instead of the roadside warning triangles required for conventional trucks. The exemption took effect Oct. 7, 2026, and runs through Oct. 7, 2031. It was…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a provisional renewal allowing designated steel-coil transport drivers to work up to 16 consecutive hours in a duty period and return to work after at least eight hours off duty. Exemption Extends Duty Period The exemption permits covered drivers serving steel-coil transportation operations and related shipping locations…

Melton driver honored by TCA for aiding victims of Kentucky rollover crash The Truckload Carriers Association has named Melton Truck Lines driver Sammie Phillips a TCA Highway Angel after he stopped to help four young adults involved in a serious SUV rollover near Lexington, Kentucky. According to the TCA, Phillips was traveling near Lexington at…

President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily easing federal tax and penalty rules for red-dyed diesel used in highway vehicles, but trucking groups say the measure may provide limited savings and create compliance challenges across state lines. Federal tax and penalty relief The order defers the federal excise tax on on-road use of red-dyed…

Pilot’s First Tesla Megacharger Opens at Georgia Travel Center, With 12 More Planned Pilot and Tesla have opened their first Tesla Megacharger site at a Pilot travel center, launching a heavy-duty electric truck charging network at select locations along major U.S. freight corridors. The site opened October 8 at Pilot #1390, located at 130 Interstate…

Pilot’s First Tesla Megacharger Opens at Georgia Travel Center, With 12 More Planned Pilot and Tesla have opened their first Tesla Megacharger site at a Pilot travel center, launching a heavy-duty electric truck charging network at select locations along major U.S. freight corridors. The site opened October 8 at Pilot #1390, located at 130 Interstate…

Fuel-tax relief measures could reduce diesel costs for some truckers, but the savings may vary significantly by state and may not follow vehicles across state lines. A federal order allowing temporary highway use of tax-free dyed diesel also leaves questions about state taxes, enforcement and interstate fuel-tax reporting. Federal order targets diesel costs President Donald…

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced $426 million in infrastructure funding for critical freight and highway projects in 12 states through the Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects, or INFRA, program. Funding targets freight bottlenecks The projects are intended to improve transportation infrastructure and address congestion affecting the nation’s supply chain. One of…

Federal regulators have granted Aurora Operations Inc. and other qualifying autonomous trucking companies a five-year exemption allowing Level 4 driverless trucks to use cab-mounted amber warning beacons instead of requiring a human to place traditional warning devices around a disabled vehicle. Exemption Addresses Driverless Truck Requirements The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced the…

Highway plans ELD certification update after providers linked to HOS cheating Highway, a carrier-vetting and load-matching platform, says it plans to launch a voluntary certification program for electronic logging device providers after Overdrive identified ELD companies integrated with the platform that admitted to allowing hours-of-service cheating. The planned program would establish a higher standard for…

The Autonomous Trucks Are Coming for the Lane, Not Necessarily for Your Business Autonomous trucks are operating on U.S. highways in 2026, but the industry has not reached the wholesale transformation many predictions once suggested. The technology is advancing through limited commercial deployments, while federal rules, state laws, labor opposition and unresolved liability questions continue…

SONAR Rate Intelligence Adds Intermodal Rates and Truckload-to-Intermodal Conversion Savings SONAR has added intermodal contract and spot rates to its Rate Intelligence platform, giving shippers, brokers, carriers and transportation professionals a way to compare rail-based intermodal pricing with truckload rates on the same lanes. The new tools include intermodal rate data, ramp information, volume trends…

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has provisionally renewed an hours-of-service exemption for designated drivers transporting steel coils, allowing them to work up to 16 consecutive hours in a duty period and return to work after at least eight hours off duty. Exemption Extends Daily On-Duty Window The provisional renewal permits qualifying coil transport drivers…

Driver pay increased in 2025’s freight recession, ATA study finds Truck driver compensation continued to rise in 2025 despite weak freight conditions, falling rates and higher operating costs, according to the American Trucking Associations’ 2026 Driver Compensation Study. The findings show that pay growth persisted through the later stages of one of the trucking industry’s…

WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is moving forward with two pilot programs that could give commercial truck drivers more flexibility in managing hours-of-service requirements. One program would test a method for pausing the driver’s clock, while the other would evaluate additional split-sleeper-berth options. Pilot program would examine a clock pause The first…

Industry leaders warn drivers and truck stops could face taxes later for using red-dyed diesel Fuel and transportation industry groups are warning truck drivers, farmers and truck-stop operators that the short-term savings from using red-dyed diesel may come with future tax obligations and compliance risks. President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week directing…

License plate readers are used in criminal investigations, parking management, toll collection and truck enforcement. As the technology expands, lawmakers are turning their attention to how the resulting data is collected, stored and used. Automated systems capture more than license plates Flock’s automated license plate reader cameras are designed to record vehicles that enter their…

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order temporarily allowing broader highway use of tax-free, red-dyed diesel and deferring the federal excise tax on that fuel through the end of the year. The measure is intended to reduce diesel costs, but trucking groups say its practical benefit may be limited because of state-by-state rules, fuel-system…

A new federal executive order temporarily opens the door for red-dyed diesel to be used on public highways, while directing the Treasury Department to defer certain federal diesel excise-tax obligations. Trucking and fuel industry groups are cautioning carriers to wait for final Treasury and IRS guidance before purchasing or using dyed fuel for on-road operations….

C.H. Robinson acquiring RXO in $5.8 billion stock-and-cash transaction C.H. Robinson Worldwide plans to acquire RXO Inc. in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.8 billion, creating a combined third-party logistics company with an estimated enterprise value of more than $25 billion. The companies announced the agreement Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. The transaction was unanimously…

Transportation prices surge as capacity tightens further in September Transportation costs moved higher again in September as available freight capacity contracted for the 10th consecutive month, according to the latest Logistics Managers’ Index. The data points to a difficult operating environment for shippers and carriers, with transportation prices remaining near historic highs while warehouse space…

Yellow Corp., Teamsters settle WARN Act claims Former Yellow Corp. employees will receive a partial payout on claims tied to the company’s 2023 shutdown under an agreement reached between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Yellow’s bankruptcy estate. A Teamsters memo issued Tuesday said the settlement would allow approximately $17.2 million in additional claims related…

Exclusive: Central Freight Lines to shut down after 96 years Central Freight Lines will begin winding down operations Monday after nearly a century in business, ending the run of one of the country’s oldest regional less-than-truckload carriers. The Waco, Texas-based company notified employees, drivers and customers of the decision over the weekend. Central Freight said…

Trucker received calls and texts from fake freight broker in attempt to steal $273K worth of seafood New Jersey police stopped an attempted cargo theft involving approximately 29,000 pounds of frozen seafood after a truck driver was directed to move part of the shipment to an unauthorized location. The shipment, valued at more than $273,000,…

Highway plans ELD certification update after providers linked to HOS cheating Carrier-vetting company Highway says it plans to introduce a new certification program for electronic logging device providers after Overdrive identified ELD companies integrated with Highway that admitted to allowing hours-of-service cheating. The planned Highway Certified ELD Provider program would establish additional technical and data-integrity…

DP World plots U.S. port comeback with Corpus Christi container terminal DP World has signed a lease option agreement with the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas to develop a container terminal capable of handling approximately 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, annually. The agreement is an important step in the Dubai-based terminal operator’s…

Benchmark diesel slides; what will be the impact of the red-dye change? The benchmark diesel price used to calculate many fuel surcharges fell for the second consecutive week, but the effect of a new federal policy allowing red-dyed diesel for over-the-road use remains uncertain. The Department of Energy/Energy Information Administration’s weekly average retail diesel price…

Independent truck drivers and small fleets are facing increased financial pressure from sharply higher diesel prices, stagnant freight rates and costly litigation. The strain has fueled online rumors of a nationwide trucker strike, although the rumored Oct. 1, 2026, shutdown did not materialize. Diesel prices pressure owner-operators Diesel prices have risen significantly in several markets….

C.H. Robinson to acquire RXO for $5.8 billion C.H. Robinson Worldwide and RXO have agreed to combine in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at approximately $5.8 billion. The deal would create a combined company with an enterprise value of more than $25 billion and bring RXO under C.H. Robinson’s ownership. The agreement, announced Oct. 5, calls…

Diesel prices have climbed sharply across multiple markets, increasing operating costs for truck fleets, farmers, food distributors and consumers. Analysts and industry groups warn that tight refinery capacity, disrupted supplies and strong global demand could keep fuel prices elevated well into the next refinery maintenance cycle. Refinery maintenance could extend supply pressure U.S. refineries have…