Plus: regulators crack down on crooked brokers, Echo expands into Monterrey, CDL testing scam leads to more jail time, and more in today’s newsletter.
Two men sentenced in Massachusetts CDL scam as unqualified drivers obtained licenses with falsified tests. Ex-state trooper at center of scheme faces sentencing in October.
Echo Global opens a Monterrey office as U.S.-Mexico trade rises 21% in 2025. The move strengthens cross-border logistics amid booming nearshoring and record foreign investment in Mexico.
FMCSA upgrades its complaint database to include broker fraud for the first time. Regulators, truckers, and brokers agree modernization is overdue, but enforcement will determine its effectiveness.
Federal regulators are moving to modernize how they handle fraud complaints in the trucking industry, with a new focus on broker-related violations. FMCSA announced changes to its National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB), which processes between 25,000 and 30,000 complaints annually, according to the Department of Transportation (DOT).
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy described the update as overdue: “This overdue tech upgrade is a win for drivers, carriers, and the driving public. The modernized database will make it easier to file complaints, access digital tools, and empower individuals to speak up about unsafe practices. With your support, we will continue to take bad actors off the roads to keep the American people safe.”
As part of the upgrade, FMCSA will expand reporting categories to include, for the first time, complaints against property brokers. Examples outlined in the database include:
Truck drivers have long criticized the NCCDB for failing to provide real protections. Todd Spencer, president of the OOIDA, said: “[FMCSA’s database] wasn’t protecting drivers. It failed to address coercion, freight fraud, and broker abuse.”
He added: “The updated system will be easier to use on the road, faster to process complaints, and expanded to cover brokers – while also ensuring enforcement when bad actors break the law. These improvements are long overdue, but they represent an important step toward giving truckers a tool that truly works for them.”
Brokers also welcomed the upgrade. Chris Burroughs, president of the Transportation Intermediaries Association, told FreightWaves: “While this modernization is necessary to relieve industry concerns of motor carriers and brokers, enforcement of the violations will be key.”
DOT said the modernization is part of a “phase one” overhaul of the complaint system. The next phase will include renaming the database to make it more trucking-centric — a change OOIDA has also advocated.
“Renaming the database to better reflect its purpose will further strengthen communication between FMCSA and the drivers it regulates,” Spencer said.
Source: FreightWaves
FMCSA restored key safety datasets after a glitch, as DOT launches a cargo theft crackdown.
Since June, more than 3,000 truck drivers have been placed out of service for failing English proficiency rules.
FMCSA is launching its first fatal truck crash causation study in nearly two decades, aiming to pinpoint driver, vehicle, and environmental factors shaping deadly crashes and future safety policy.
The U.S. has frozen work visas for foreign truck drivers. This comes after the fatal U-turn Florida crash
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