🎣 FMCSA Staff Cuts

Happy Hump Day. In today’s feature, we unpack the FMCSA's newly released budget request, which includes a 7% workforce cut even as it ramps up fraud detection, broker oversight, crash data analysis, and a full tech overhaul.

Plus:

🕵️ Explosive Customs Fraud Bust
📉 Temu User Collapse Post-de minimis
🚢 NY/NJ Port Surges
... and more.

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🍳 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT

🚔 Feds Bust Freight Execs in Cross-Border Customs Fraud. A massive smuggling and money laundering operation has come to light: Sport LA Inc.’s CFO and CEO face 22 federal counts for allegedly falsifying customs records, bribing officials, and funneling kickbacks to the CJNG cartel. The DOJ says the duo moved billions in undeclared goods into Mexico, masking contraband with fake export info and sham tax certs. Shell companies, wire fraud, and bulk cash smuggling were all part of the plot. If convicted, they could face decades in prison. This is one of the most explosive logistics-related indictments in recent memory.

📉 Temu Traffic Tanks Post-Tariffs. Temu’s U.S. user base has collapsed, dropping from 70M to under 30M daily users, since March’s end of the de minimis loophole and a surge in tariffs. The Chinese-owned discount marketplace relied on cheap, direct-to-consumer shipping to fuel rapid U.S. growth. Now, higher duties and rising delivery costs are cooling consumer demand. Analysts say the platform’s appeal—bargain prices—may not survive this new policy landscape. The U.S.–China trade squeeze continues to ripple across logistics, one shopping cart at a time.

🚢 Port of NY/NJ Posts Big April Bump. The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 751,194 TEUs in April 2025, up 6% YoY and 24% over April 2019. The year-to-date tally: 2.95 million TEUs, a 9% climb from early 2024. That growth is fueled by post-pandemic routing strategies and tariff-induced front-loading. While West Coast ports dominate headlines, NY/NJ is quietly reasserting East Coast muscle. Eyes now shift to May’s numbers to see if the momentum holds or fizzles as inventories normalize and policy uncertainties swirl.

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FMCSA Wants to Do More With Less—Will It Work?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration just unveiled its FY 2026 budget, and it’s got big plans and a smaller team.

The $926.6M budget request outlines a surge in oversight for brokers, carriers, and fraudsters alike. But here's the thing: FMCSA wants to cut 89 full-time equivalent (FTE) staffers, a 7% workforce reduction, even as it ramps up enforcement and tech deployments.

So what gives?

Fraud Is FMCSA’s #1 Target

FMCSA plans to build out a Registration Fraud Team as part of a broader overhaul to catch chameleon carriers and shady actors before they ever hit the road.

Motus, a new central registration system, will screen for reincarnation behavior and flag suspicious applications automatically.
This will trigger increased vetting, meaning more delays, and more rejections, for everyone applying.

This is part of FMCSA’s wider push to clean up its registration database, a long-overdue move, but one that could jam up the system before it improves it.

Broker Rule Enforcement

The 2026 budget supports implementing the Broker and Freight Forwarder Financial Responsibility Rule, with FMCSA laying the groundwork for stricter bond enforcement and oversight.

It also mentions the Broker Transparency Rule, suggesting the agency is serious about tracking broker behavior and transactions more closely.

Both rules are expected to take effect in 2025–2026. Translation: less leeway, more liability.

Smarter Crash Data, More Targeted Enforcement

The agency plans to merge crash data with external databases, identifying which fleets, drivers, and cargo types are most often involved in accidents.

These insights will fuel new “intervention strategies” based on risk profile, particularly for new entrants and small fleets.
This could impact CSA scores, audit frequency, and insurance costs down the line.

“One Number to Call” and a Whole Lot More

Other initiatives in the works:

Expanding the FMCSA Customer Contact Center to handle 30K+ weekly interactions with a one-stop support model.
Standing up the Motus registration platform with real-time status updates and fraud flags.
Funding policy teams and tech to manage the increasing rule complexity.

What About Safety?

Despite the proposed 7% staffing cut, FMCSA’s core safety operations remain untouched. Specifically:

The Motor Carrier Safety Grants program will continue receiving full funding.
The safety operations and programs budget for FY 2026 is set at $436.3 million, consistent with FY 2024 levels.
The Vetting Division is being expanded to better screen for reincarnated carriers, a major safety concern .

The Bottom Line

FMCSA wants to be smarter, faster, and stricter, but with fewer staff. It’s an ambitious play that could either streamline compliance or slow the whole system down.

So the industry will need to adapt while D.C. works out the kinks.

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🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB

☣️ Acid Trip in Livonia. A semi spilled 300 gallons of corrosive acid in Michigan. Streets were shut, truck impounded, and cleanup will be monitored for a year.

📈 Pricing Outpaces Capacity Again. The May Logistics Managers’ Index shows transportation prices are climbing faster than capacity, for the 13th month straight. Conclusion? Freight is getting more expensive, even if volume isn’t booming.

🏭 Factories Hit the Brakes. Manufacturing shrank for the third straight month as tariffs slammed imports. ISM index dropped to 48.5; import levels cratered to a 16-year low.

🛒 Dollar General Defies Gravity. As retailers struggle, Dollar General posted record $10.44B sales. Shoppers are broke, but DG’s thriving—thanks, tariffs. Investors, take notes.

🧪 Meth-Making Mix Busted. Authorities seized 55 tons of dicumyl peroxide, a key ingredient in meth, at Port of Long Beach, allegedly bound for Sinaloa cartel.

💸 23 Years for Ponzi Trucking King. Royal Bengal Logistics’ owner got 23 years for a $54M ponzi scheme. Promised big returns, bought a Mercedes. 2,000 investors scammed.

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