Newsletter
Biggest ELD Crackdown Ever
FMCSA pulls 133 ELDs after investigators find providers falsifying driving logs and rest periods.
Nebojsa Lindic, Paul Jaroslawski · November 13, 2026 · 6 min read
TGIF. FMCSA pulled 133 ELDs yesterday, and the DOT released a video showing a driver getting his hours reset by phone, with Derek Barrs sitting beside him.
Plus:
Outlook Is Down
The 25-Cent Shortcut
Logistics Layoffs Mount
💡 QUESTION OF THE DAY:
One ELD provider’s falsified logs showed trucks traveling up to ____ mph to compress recorded driving time.
🍳 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT
📉 Outlook Is Down. Microsoft’s Outlook outage left some users unable to open their inboxes or send and receive emails, with Downdetector reports peaking at 138,058. Brokers reported email issues, and logistics provider Joyner issued a customer notice warning that both incoming and outgoing messages were delayed. And the freight outlook isn’t looking much better. Using DAT dry van linehaul data, Ken Adamo puts the spot market 14 months into its inflationary run, versus 19–22 months in the previous three cycles. He sees year-over-year spot rate growth slipping into the teens this winter and potentially turning negative around mid-2027. Contract rate inflation could end in late 2027 or early 2028.
🚛 The 25-Cent Shortcut. Prosecutors allege VMS Transport used 57 B-1 visa drivers to complete 1,044 domestic freight trips between February 20 and May 15. The Laredo carrier allegedly paid them 25–50 cents per mile, compared with roughly 70 cents for authorized drivers performing similar work, saving $299,606 in labor costs. Owner Armando Martinez Varela is accused of recruiting the drivers and arranging housing between assignments. B-1 status permits qualifying international transportation but does not authorize purely domestic hauling. Varela faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. He pleaded not guilty and requested a jury trial.
📉 Logistics Layoffs Mount. FreightWaves reported 1,021 announced job cuts across 10 companies in notices and announcements compiled from late October through November 11. DSV plans to eliminate 175 jobs in Edwardsville, Illinois, after losing a customer contract. National Distribution Centers announced 293 cuts across California and Ohio, while CEVA plans 120 in Ohio. The roundup also identified 15 bankruptcy filings between September 14 and November 10, including 13 since October 19. Bruin Logistics filed Chapter 7 on November 9, and livestock carrier X-Total Cattle Transportation filed Chapter 11 the following day, listing liabilities of $500,000–$1 million against assets below $50,000.
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FMCSA Pulls the Plug
FMCSA pulled 133 electronic logging devices from its Registered Devices List on Thursday. The agency revoked 121; providers voluntarily withdrew the other 12.
DOT called it the largest ELD revocation in FMCSA history. For comparison, FMCSA’s revoked-device list records 102 agency removals over the preceding two years, fewer than it revoked yesterday alone.
The revoked-device list identifies devices by name. In its release, DOT anonymized three investigative examples as Company A, B, and C, citing ongoing investigations.
One allowed carriers to erase driving time and fabricate rest periods while trucks were moving. Another uploaded fake logs during an active roadside inspection. A third produced records showing trucks traveling up to 130 mph to compress recorded driving time.
Barrs in the Passenger Seat
In the video DOT posted on X, Meiborg driver Francis “Binx” Buchanan got his driving hours reset outside DOT headquarters while FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs watched from the passenger seat.
Buchanan called a support line to request the reset, then restarted his device. His clock showed additional driving hours.
The video was filmed November 2. Buchanan had demonstrated the same process before FMCSA investigators at a DeKalb, Illinois, police station on October 28.
A roadside inspector in the new video acknowledged that log manipulation by an outside party is difficult to detect during an inspection.
Extra Hours, Cheaper Miles
Zach Meiborg, CEO of trucking company Meiborg Companies, told Barrs his trucks cost about $3 per mile to run. By his estimate, carriers operating additional miles through manipulated logs could bring that closer to $2 per mile.
In a separate Overdrive report, drivers described hauling as many as 22 hours a day. One said carriers would move the logbook backward to create another five or six hours after the driver had exhausted the legal driving allowance.
Out-of-Service Consequences
CVSA’s updated ELD-tampering out-of-service criteria took effect April 1. As of mid-October, inspectors had recorded more than 16,000 tampering violations across more than 5,000 USDOT numbers, according to Overdrive and RigDig.
DOT says carriers have 60 days to replace revoked devices, but the same release tells inspectors to begin placing drivers out of service on November 24, just 12 days after the announcement. Apparently, DOT’s clock needs a reset, too.
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🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB
⚓ Another Million for L.A. The Port of Los Angeles topped one million container units for the second consecutive month. October’s volume extended the port's busiest five-month stretch in history.
🚔 Carrier411 CEO Arrested. Darren Brewer faces reckless aggravated assault and vandalism charges after allegedly pointing a gun at a Chattanooga property manager during a dispute. Brewer told police he had been assaulted.
📋 One Lane, 27 Brokers. A. Duie Pyle’s brokerage chief spotted one lane posted 41 times by 27 brokers. He warned that brokers chasing the same truck can drive up the shipper’s price.
🚂 Close Call in Fort Worth. A yard-truck driver and train conductor jumped before a collision at a railroad crossing. Video captured the incident, which hospitalized one BNSF employee.
🔐 Maersk Confirms Data Theft. Data was taken from an older system inherited through an acquisition. Maersk is investigating and has warned customers about unexpected messages concerning the breach.
🚻 Congress, We Gotta Go. The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a November 18 vote on the Trucker Bathroom Access Act, with just weeks left in the congressional session.
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