🎣 10 Roads Express Shutting Down

Happy Hump Day. 10 Roads Express is shutting down after 79 years of business. A move that will unfortunately impact more than 2,600 drivers.

Plus:

• Truck Hangs Off WV Bridge
• DOT Going After CDL Schools
• Lanesurf Emergences

🍳 What's Cookin' In Freight

😯 Trucker Rescued After Cab Hangs Off WV Bridge. A West Virginia trucker hauling bricks survived a terrifying ordeal Tuesday after his cab went over the edge of a bridge on US-35 and dangled for more than five hours. The load’s weight kept the truck from falling, allowing firefighters to execute a high-angle rope rescue. One firefighter rappelled into the cab, secured the driver, and lifted him back to safety. The crash, triggered after the truck hit a concrete barrier near Sixteen Mile Creek Road, shut down the northbound lanes during the rescue. Miraculously, the driver was uninjured.

🚨 DOT Scrutinizes 7,000 CDL Schools. DOT’s review of CDL training providers has pushed nearly 3,000 schools toward removal and warned another 4,000 for potential noncompliance. Regulators cite falsified training data, missing records, and “CDL mill” practices that fail to meet federal standards. Secretary Sean Duffy says the goal is to stop “illegal and reckless practices” that put unqualified drivers on the road, while FMCSA’s Derek Barrs warned, “If you are unwilling to follow the rules, you have no place training America’s commercial drivers.” Many support the cleanup, though immigrant-driver advocates warn that aggressive audits risk sweeping legitimate operators into the dragnet.

🤖 AI Books a Load in 10 Minutes. A live demo recently showed Lanesurf’s AI covering a real load in 10 minutes by contacting 96 carriers at once across phone, email, and text, essentially functioning as “an army of 100 carrier reps.” The platform vets carriers for compliance, pulls real quotes, negotiates rates using memory from past interactions, and adapts in real time. In the demo, the AI negotiated a lane from Bolingbrook to Columbus, moving a $1,900 offer to $2,000 by leveraging historical context and market signals. Brokers report coverage times dropping from hours to minutes and an average $50+ margin lift per load. For teams battling thin margins and staffing constraints, Lanesurf is emerging as a new operating layer for modern brokerage.

TOGETHER WITH EPAY MANAGER

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Iowa-based 10 Roads Express Collapses

10 Roads Express, long one of the largest haulers for United States Postal Service, is shutting down permanently. The Iowa-based carrier has told employees that all operations will cease on January 30, 2026.

What Happened

• Over the past 24 months, USPS leaned hard into brokers and started insourcing more of its transport work. That shift caused a 70% drop in revenue for 10 Roads.
• The decline proved inexorable, so the company gave 60 days’ notice and will wind down all mail contracts, even as it promises to maintain “dedicated and timely service” through the end date.
• As of last week, FMCSA data shows 10 Roads had roughly 2,462 power units and 2,606 drivers on the books.
• Layoffs will impact around 2,000 employees when operations end.

Why This Matters

10 Roads was a top-tier USPS backbone hauler, meaning its exit has immediate ripple effects across mail freight capacity, regional linehaul networks, and broker supply chains. A vanishing 2,500-truck fleet doesn't get easily replaced. This could mean:

• Tightened capacity in overnight/mail-heavy lanes.
• Rate spikes or spot-market chaos as remaining contractors scramble for volume.

Plus, 10 Roads spent much of 2025 snarled in labor unrest. Over 500 drivers staged a multi-state strike early this year under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters' demands.

Though a tentative agreement was reached by June, it didn't save the company. By late fall, the revenue drop from lost USPS freight proved too steep.

TOGETHER WITH TRUE NORTH

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 🌎 Around The Freight Web

🎤 Rate Bull Run. Craig Fuller highlighted Citi’s call for a trucking rate bull run driven by sharp capacity contraction. He notes, “Enforcement is working.”

📈 Saia Tonnage Rises. Saia shares climbed after reporting positive November tonnage growth, with the LTL carrier’s stock up 4.4% during mid-Tuesday.

📋 ELD Rules Tighten. FMCSA is toughening its ELD certification process, adding stricter technical reviews and compliance checks to curb non-compliant devices and strengthen safety oversight.

🤝 Wabtec Acquisition. Wabtec acquired Frauscher Sensor Technology Group (for 675 million euros), expanding its rail signaling and detection portfolio across global freight and passenger rail network.

🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER

• FreightCaviar Podcast: Everest-Simple CEO David Radom joins us to talk scaling, market flips, and smarter brokerage strategy. Catch the episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
• Manifest 2026: We're proud to be an Official Partner of Manifest: The Future of Supply Chain & Logistics conference, the premier event shaping what's next in freight and logistics. Save $200 on the current price with our link.

FREIGHT HUMOR