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Tucker Carlson’s nicotine brand loses 378,000 tins in a cargo theft. Plus: produce rates reset, diesel climbs, and a bill that could pull hundreds of thousands of drivers off the road.
The Middle East crisis is already hitting carriers. Plus: Florida lost $3B in crops, flatbed rates posted a fifth straight weekly increase, a $5B brokerage was just acquired, and more.
Week of June 19: A round-up of the most engaging and talked-about freight content from around the web and from us.
FreightCaviar Weekly Recap. A round-up of the most engaging and talked-about freight content from around the web and from us.
This week’s featured video is DRIVEN, a new documentary series that dives into the heart of America’s trucking industry. Produced by the American Trucking Associations, DRIVEN puts a human face on the essential work that keeps the U.S. economy moving—from cross-country hauls to local deliveries.
Office of Public Affairs
DRIVEN will focus on the personal journeys of three drivers:
The docuseries will be released this summer, so be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on the episodes as they drop.
Over on r/FreightBrokers, yet another cargo theft case. Reddit User briar1320 shared how a load from California to North Carolina disappeared after the carrier failed to deliver.
One Redditor shared their similar horror story:
“They’ve been smart. Now they’re getting sophisticated.”
Even with verification steps in place, these tactics are getting harder to detect, and the consequences are costly.
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On X, American Truckers United voiced their displeasure over non-citizens, including asylum parolees, being issued Non-Domicile CDLs, potentially compromising highway safety.
The post cites former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who stated that the National Counterterrorism Center identified 600 individuals with ties to terrorist organizations who entered the U.S. illegally during the Biden Administration and were granted various legal documents, including Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses.
The group is demanding transparency and calls for an immediate ban on issuing Non-Domicile CDLs to non-citizens, framing the issue as a national security threat.
Though finding these individuals may be easier said than done, especially when some of these individuals go by the name, NO NAME GIVEN. Danielle Chaffin has done extensive research on FMCSA records, uncovering a slew of trouble patterns:
And so on...
You can read her report here, the findings are indeed shocking.
June 2025 brought little momentum for the U.S. truckload freight sector, according to Arrive Logistics. Despite a brief uptick during Roadcheck Week, overall market conditions remained subdued, demand stayed soft, capacity remained ample, and spot rate increases quickly lost steam. Dry van activity was flat, with reefer and flatbed driving modest year-over-year gains. Imports dropped sharply amid tariff disruptions, particularly from China, though a short-term rebound may follow due to front-loaded orders. With manufacturing still lagging and the mixed economic signals, the truckload market enters July playing the same ol' wait-and-see game.
Will Hopkins, Co-Founder at BlackBox Logistics, is making one thing clear—BlackBox Logistics isn’t for sale.
Despite interest from private equities, he is firmly rejecting any talk of merging or exiting.
“We’re not building to sell—we’re building to win.”
He added:
You think we are doing this for a liquidity event? Brother, we are the liquidity. This company runs on caffeine, chaos, and irrational belief. We’re not on a path to exit. We’re on a path to war. So, no- we can’t talk. But you can watch.
We are indeed watching, Will! Keep fighting the good fight!
Our customers are accomplishing what used to take them a month to do in one hour!!!
How? AI workers are assigned a task & can complete thousands of those tasks at once - vetting inbound interest, calling outbound for capacity, confirming appointments, collecting PODs.
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😅 Meme of the Week
Have you watched this one yet? This one hit a nerve (and a laptop).
In the video, a guy trying to enjoy a night swim smashes his laptop in pure freight-induced despair, then rests his head in defeat.
This meme racked up 450+ likes, 24 comments, and 25 reposts in under 24 hours — clearly, a lot of you needed to vent.
Freight never sleeps.
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER
Tucker Carlson’s nicotine brand loses 378,000 tins in a cargo theft. Plus: produce rates reset, diesel climbs, and a bill that could pull hundreds of thousands of drivers off the road.
The Middle East crisis is already hitting carriers. Plus: Florida lost $3B in crops, flatbed rates posted a fifth straight weekly increase, a $5B brokerage was just acquired, and more.
Plus: autonomous trucking just raised $113M, California is fighting to keep 20,000 drivers, Arrive's 2026 truckload freight forecast, and more.
Two bills just dropped in the Senate that could reshape trucking faster than anything since deregulation. Plus: Russian hackers targeted your load board, flatbed rejection rates just hit 40%, and a robot is taking the Houston-Dallas overnight run.
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