🎣 The Hair-Raising Proposal

Happy Hump Day.

Plus:

• USDOT's New Motus Registration System
• FedEx Freight Is Becoming Its Own Company
• The US and China Shake Hands on Trade

🍳 What's Cookin' In Freight

🚨 FMCSA Is Replacing the Registration System Chameleon Carriers Have Been Exploiting for Years. USDOT's new Motus registration system went live last week, requiring biometric facial scans, government-issued ID verification, and third-party business validation just to get a carrier number. Under the old system, all it took was an email, a name, and an address, which is exactly how several thousand suspicious registrations tied to fraudulent carriers slipped through. Officials say they've already tied several thousand suspicious registration numbers to bad actors under the legacy setup.

🚛 FedEx Freight Is Becoming Its Own Company. The FedEx board approved the spinoff of its LTL business last Wednesday, with shares set to trade on the NYSE under "FDXF" starting June 1. The carrier is scrapping its existing operating platform entirely and building a new one from scratch, including a dimension-based pricing system that bypasses the traditional freight class model. FedEx Freight keeps the FedEx name for up to 10 years under a trademark agreement.

🌏 The US and China Shake Hands on Trade. Last week in Beijing, Trump and Xi agreed to a formal bilateral trade framework, a $17 billion commitment to agricultural purchases, and the restoration of US beef and poultry access to Chinese markets. China also approved the purchase of 200 US-made Boeing aircraft for Chinese airlines and agreed to address restrictions on the supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals that have been squeezing US manufacturers. Both countries called for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, closed since the Iran war started in February. The tariff pause is still in place through November 10, giving importers a window.

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BUILD America 250. The Quiet Overhaul.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is marking up the BUILD America 250 Act tomorrow morning (May 21st) at 10 AM ET. The bill runs more than 1,000 pages and has a $580 billion price tag.

It includes the largest bridge investment in US history and the first-ever federal framework for autonomous trucks.

However, the stuff that will actually affect the freight industry is buried 400 pages in.

Here is what you should know:

1. Brokers Are Going to Need Actual Qualifications

Here's something most of you probably don't know: the federal statute has required experience and qualification standards for broker officers since the law was written. Nobody ever enforced it. Right now, becoming a freight broker requires a $75,000 surety bond and very little real vetting. No enforced experience requirement. No minimum liability insurance worth the name.

Section 5006 orders DOT to issue a final rule within 2 years that actually implements those requirements and to brief Congress every 6 months until it's done.

Coming off the Montgomery ruling last week, this is the second major move in a row that raises the bar for brokers.

2. Hair Testing Is Coming for Truck Drivers

Hair detects drug use for over 90 days. Urine catches roughly three days. Rob Carpenter, who ran his own side-by-side comparison on the same drivers the same day, found that out of 17 drivers who passed the urine test, seven failed the hair test; a 41 percent miss rate on the federally required method.

The FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse already had 190,000+ drivers in prohibited status as of mid-2025, under urine testing alone. If hair becomes the federal standard, that number goes up. The qualified driver pool gets smaller, and capacity gets tighter.

3. The proposal also includes:

• The largest bridge investment in US history, targeting roughly 43,000 bridges currently rated in poor condition.
• $150 million per year through 2031 for truck parking expansion.
• Highway funding increases 8% (+$28 billion). Transit and rail get cut 20% (-$43 billion) compared to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

"You can't have a big-league economy with little-league infrastructure," said Ranking Member Rick Larsen. The bill markup is on Thursday. We'll see if it passes.

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 🌎 Around the Freight Web

🚛 Post-Blitz Week, the Market Is Still Tight. DAT showed 80,000+ loads against just 5,000 trucks yesterday. Flatbed from Savannah to Florida hit $6.85/mile, same or better than during blitz week itself. Craig Fuller is asking whether $5/mile spot rates are next.

⚖️ The SCOTUS Ruling Isn't Doomsday for Brokers. Cargado's Matt Silver breaks down what the Montgomery v. Caribe decision actually means for broker liability.

📦 Cargo Theft Is Down. Q1 numbers show that overall cargo theft incidents dipped, but organized fraud schemes, double brokering, identity theft, and fictitious pickups are filling the gap.

⚖️ STG Logistics Gets the Green Light. Bankruptcy court approved STG's reorganization plan, keeping one of the country's larger LTL and intermodal players in operation.

🚢 Port of LA Had a Big April Despite the Iran War. Import volumes jumped at the Port of Los Angeles last month, even with the Strait of Hormuz closed since February.

🎣 The FreightCaviar Corner

Issue 003 of FreightCaviar Print is almost here.

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Freight Humor