🎣 RFX and R&R Express Sued

Happy Monday. Unpaid freight claims tied to R&R are spreading through the industry. New lawsuits are adding clarity to the financial damage left behind.

Plus:

• ELP Enforcement Isn’t Sticking
• Amazon Eyes LTL
• FMCSA Warns of Phishing Scam

🍳 What's Cookin' In Freight

🗣️ ELP Enforcement Isn’t Sticking. Danielle Chaffin examined FMCSA's English Language Proficiency enforcement and found major gaps between citations and real-world impact. Since June 25, 2025, inspectors issued 13,257 ELP out-of-service violations, yet nearly 60% trace to carriers domiciled in just five states, while enforcement happens elsewhere. Some carriers rack up 80+ violations with only two trucks reported, pointing to repeat offenders and weak follow-through. Headlines say drivers are sidelined; the data shows behavior persists.

👀 Amazon Eyes LTL as Carriers Hold the Line. Amazon is quietly testing the LTL waters. Morgan Stanley says Amazon has begun reaching out to shippers, with 11% of those surveyed already contacted and a possible June–July launch using roughly 26 terminals. That threat lands as others double down on discipline. Estes Express Lines is expanding doors and service reliability, while leaders describe demand as “tepid,” not collapsing. LTL pricing are holding, for now, but Amazon’s entry risks testing that resolve.

🎣 FMCSA Warns of Phishing Scam. Motor carriers are being targeted in a new phishing campaign posing as official enforcement. FMCSA says scammers are sending emails that “falsely claim to be from USDOT or FMCSA officials,” using polished documents and fake links to steal data or demand payment. FMCSA stressed it “will never request payment or sensitive information” via unsolicited messages and urged carriers to avoid links, report incidents, and verify all contacts through official .gov channels.

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R&R Collapse Becomes a Carrier Payment Crisis

R&R Family of Companies, a privately held Pittsburgh-based logistics group, controlled a web of brokerage, trucking, and logistics subsidiaries across the U.S., including:

• R&R Express
• RFX LLC
• The newly shut down Taylor Express and others

Recent court filings and former employees are saying financial and operational control was centralized.

A structure now central to multiple lawsuits.

Lawsuits Put Numbers on the Damage

A Florida-based motor carrier, Vantage Carrier, filed a federal lawsuit alleging it hauled more than 600 loads for RFX and R&R Express throughout 2025 and was never paid.

According to the complaint:

• Unpaid invoices total more than $1.34 million
• Payment was required within 30 days of invoice and proof of delivery
• RFX and R&R Express allegedly operated as a single enterprise, sharing offices, employees, and financial infrastructure

The case, filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, follows earlier litigation by Jimenez Logistics and lender Huntington National Bank.

A Second Case Reinforces the Pattern

A Jan. 23 lawsuit filed in Texas by Jimenez Logistics alleges R&R Express and RFX failed to pay approximately $264,650 in freight invoices after continuing to tender loads into early 2026.

The complaint alleges:

• Carriers were prepaid based on representations that invoices would be paid
• Defendants continued arranging freight despite lacking the ability to pay
• Claims include breach of contract and fraudulent inducement

Inside the Collapse

Former employees say warning signs were visible long before the shutdown.

“This didn’t collapse overnight,” a former R&R Express employee told FreightWaves, pointing to failed acquisitions, aggressive fleet expansion, and repeated delays in carrier payments that drained cash and eroded trust.

Former employees detail turmoil before R&R Family of Companies collapsed

Former employees shed light on Pittsburgh-based R&R Family of Companies shutdown earlier this month.

FreightWavesNoi Mahoney

At RFX, employees described confusion as payments stalled:

“The message we kept getting was that things were under control,” one former employee said. “But carrier pay kept getting worse.”

Court filings in a separate Florida case allege R&R and affiliates accumulated as much as $65 million in unpaid trade payables while continuing to operate through late 2025.

Contagion Spreads Beyond R&R

The fallout has extended beyond R&R’s subsidiaries.

• AGX Freight Group shut down after losing access to working capital
• Former CEO Mike Williams linked the shutdown to litigation involving R&R Express, telling FreightWaves that the issue was “not liquidity — it is accessibility” after a lender restricted access to AGX’s revolving credit facility.

Overall, R&R 's collapse is showing how unpaid freight bills can cascade quickly through carriers, brokers, and lenders.

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 🌎 Around The Freight Web

🥶 Florida Produce Tightens. DAT Principal Analyst Dean Croke said Florida’s cold snap will slow crop maturity, reducing produce volumes just as Valentine’s Day flower shipments surge, thus tightening reefer capacity out of the state.

⚖ Fake CDL Crackdown. Arizona lawmakers advanced House Bill 2345, sponsored by David Livingston, making fake CDLs a felony and allowing truck seizures, increasing enforcement risk and carrier compliance exposure.

🌍 Panama Ports. Panama’s Supreme Court voided a CK Hutchison canal port concession, forcing them to relinquish the port. Maersk’s local unit will step in temporarily until new concession can be bid and awarded.

⚡ Electric Truck Probe. PHMSA issued a DOT Request for Information examining hazmat safety risks of heavy-duty electric trucks versus diesel, potentially building a safety-based case for retreating from electric heavy-duty fleets in hazmat transport.

❌ Clean Truck Rejected. The EPA issued a final disapproval of California’s Clean Truck Check rule for out-of-state semis, blocking added emissions requirements and avoiding new compliance costs for interstate carriers.

📦 Container Growth Stalls. U.S. container volume growth flattened as global trade flows shifted routes and demand cooled, reducing momentum at major ports and pressuring intermodal and drayage activity.

🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER

• FreightCaviar Podcast: We sat down with Garrett Allen, Founder of SearchCarriers.com, to discuss building a carrier discovery and investigation tool and what’s coming next for the platform. Catch the episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.
• Now Hiring: Western Reserve Logistics Group is looking for a remote Logistics Account Manager.

FREIGHT HUMOR