The Supreme Court ruled Trump's tariffs illegal. Plus: an Illinois official took $300K and handed out illegal CDLs, cartel violence may affect your Mexico freight, 550 CDL schools just got shut down, and more.
Here are the Top 500 fleets of 2026. Plus: Sierra snow shuts down I-80, rail targets truckload freight, and ocean rates fall.
For Immediate Release AscendTMS Acquires LoadPilot TMS AscendTMS Continues Its Rapid Expansion By Acquring A Two-Decade Leader In Freight Brokerage
Plus: a $400K lobster shipment stolen en route to Costco, a $7M cocaine bust, California’s non-domiciled CDL crackdown's legal challenge, and more.
Happy Monday. The U.S. capture of Venezuela’s president jolted oil markets and sent Chevron shares higher, but for freight, the impact is far less dramatic.
Plus:
👮‍♂️ $400K Lobster Load Stolen Pre-Christmas. A $400,000 lobster shipment was stolen after leaving a cold-storage warehouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, while en route to Costco locations in Illinois and Minnesota. Dylan Rexing, CEO of Rexing Companies, said thieves posed as a legitimate carrier using a fake CDL, spoofed emails, forged paperwork, and altered truck identification. “This theft wasn’t random,” Rexing said, describing a growing pattern of carrier impersonation targeting high-value freight. The load raised alarms when its GPS was manually disabled in transit. The FBI is investigating, and police confirmed another seafood theft from the same warehouse earlier in December.
👮‍♂️ $7 Million Cocaine Seized in Indiana Truck. Indiana State Police seized 309 pounds of cocaine worth an estimated $7 million during a routine semi-truck inspection in Putnam County, Indiana. The stop occurred Saturday afternoon near the 41-mile marker on eastbound I-70, when an ISP K-9 alerted during a compliance check. Troopers found the drugs hidden in the truck’s sleeper berth on a route from Joplin, Missouri, to Richmond, Indiana. Two occupants, Gurpreet Singh of Fresno, California, and Jasveer Singh of Santa Clara, California, were arrested and charged with Level 2 felony for dealing narcotics. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed deportation holds on both men.
⚖ Sikh Coalition Lawsuit Tests CDL Authority. The Sikh Coalition and Asian Law Caucus filed a class-action lawsuit against the California Department of Motor Vehicles over the planned cancellation of roughly 20,000 non-domiciled CDLs tied to mismatched expiration dates. The original Jan. 5 deadline has been pushed to March 6. The suit argues the cancellations stem from DMV clerical errors and violate due process, stating the agency “has not explained how it identified 19,999 licenses as out of compliance.” Legal Director Munmeeth Kaur said the errors are “of the CA-DMV’s own making.” This case unfolds as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatens up to $160 million in federal funding cuts, placing the lawsuit at the center of a potential precedent on federal-state authority over CDL enforcement. You can read the full class-action lawsuit here.
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Despite Venezuela holding the world’s largest proven oil reserves, the country’s oil system remains deeply broken, and that matters far more for diesel prices than geopolitics alone.
Background: Following four months of planning and rehearsals at a full-scale model compound in Kentucky, the U.S. used a cyberattack to cut power to Caracas, allowing 150 American planes, drones, and helicopters to approach undetected.
Short answer: Not anytime soon.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but most of it is heavy-sour crude, and the infrastructure needed to move and refine it is severely degraded.
Why it matters:
Diesel prices react to physical supply, not political headlines.
Chevron accounts for roughly one-third of Venezuela’s current output, making it the most direct U.S. corporate exposure to any future reopening.
Equity markets are reacting to expectations, optionality, and positioning.
Even without new barrels, markets move fast.
With the U.S. enforcing tighter controls on Venezuelan exports:
Still, President Trump has stated that the U.S. will "run" the country and "get the oil flowing" again, using U.S. companies.
If the U.S. takes operational control of Venezuelan assets, we will likely see an increase in tanker traffic between the Orinoco Belt and U.S. Gulf Coast refineries (like those in Houston and Lake Charles).
Could Venezuela eventually become a major industrial logistics story?
Yes, but that’s a multi-year rebuild, dependent on sanctions relief, legal clarity, and massive capital investment.
Experts like Jim Bianco and analysts at Capital Economics warn that "regime change is not regime change for oil," meaning it will take billions of dollars and years to restore production.
While Trump asserts the U.S. is "in charge," interim leader Delcy RodrĂguez has called the U.S. an "illegal invader," though she has already begun softening her tone to discuss a "cooperative agenda."
For now, sanctions remain a compliance minefield for freight forwarders. Moving goods into the country remains high-risk until a formal transition is solidified.
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👮‍♂️ GPS Exposes Theft. An Illinois sheriff tracked a stolen trailer using its GPS device to a warehouse packed with more than $2 million in Target’s stolen cargo. Other stolen merchandise was recovered at the warehouse.
🤖 AV Warning Pushback. ATA and safety groups urged FMCSA to reject IMAMS’ request to replace flares with LED message signs on autonomous trucks, calling the ad-supported system “a recipe for disaster,” lacking real-world safety data.
🤝 MGN X Fast Service. MGN Logistics acquired Fast Service LLC, its ninth self-funded deal, adding 80+ expedited drivers and cargo-van capacity nationwide to strengthen its MyMGN Marketplace execution for time-critical freight.
📋 R for Restricted. FMCSA has partially approved Massachusetts' bid to waive portions of the CDL exam on Martha’s Vineyard, issuing an “R-restricted” license, lasting through Dec 31, 2027. The R-rated CDL will not be valid for use anywhere except on Martha’s Vineyard.
đźš“ 2 Marijuana Bust. Arkansas troopers seized more than $3 million in illegal marijuana during two routine commercial vehicle inspections on I-40 on the same day, authorities said. Troopers seized 531 pounds and 504 pounds of marijuana from the two busts.
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER
FREIGHT HUMOR
The Supreme Court ruled Trump's tariffs illegal. Plus: an Illinois official took $300K and handed out illegal CDLs, cartel violence may affect your Mexico freight, 550 CDL schools just got shut down, and more.
Here are the Top 500 fleets of 2026. Plus: Sierra snow shuts down I-80, rail targets truckload freight, and ocean rates fall.
Here’s what’s trending across freight and logistics on X, LinkedIn, Reddit, and YouTube.
Freight rates could climb faster than anyone expects. Plus: Illinois CDL crackdown, 2026 top freight bottlenecks, LA Port slows, and more.
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