DOT Blitz Week starts tomorrow, and brokers are bracing for one of the toughest weeks in years. Plus: $10.1M in stolen freight leads to five years in prison, Forward Air loses 40% of its value, diesel prices hit produce costs, and more.
Aurora's driverless trucks are moving real loads between Dallas and Houston right now, and nobody is in the cab. Plus: RXO signals a strong freight rebound, Ken Adamo joins Ease Logistics, rail got faster to Mexico, and more.
Aurora signed two major partnerships in one week. Spot rates just hit an all-time high. A Chicago cross-dock blew up Reddit over how shippers load trailers. And someone dug into Super Ego's carrier network — the safety scores are not okay.
Plus: backlash over carrier safety rankings, the Port of LA’s push toward 10M TEUs, states expanding ICE enforcement, and more in today’s newsletter.
TGIF. Today’s feature breaks down a stolen reefer load that looked fully compliant on paper, and still vanished after pickup.
Plus:
😡 Backlash Over FreightWaves’ “Dangerous Carriers” Data. A FreightWaves article analyzing FMCSA crash data sparked criticism from many over how carrier safety was portrayed. Chris Henry, president of KSM Transport Advisors, called for a retraction, arguing the headline and analysis ignored exposure, fault, and context, unfairly harming carrier reputations. Dale Decker, CEO of Decker Companies, said the piece relied on distorted safety data despite Decker Truck Line’s multiple safety awards and zero CSA BASIC alert scores. Adding to the fire, Jason Miller, MSU supply chain professor, said accident-rate comparisons are not a recommended safety measure. After reviewing the carriers using CSA compliance metrics, Miller found many were safe, some concerning, and others mischaracterized, urging greater context and care when presenting safety data.
🚢 Port of LA Nears 10M TEUs in 2025. The Port of Los Angeles remains on pace to surpass 10 million TEUs in 2025, marking a rare milestone despite ongoing trade volatility. October volumes totaled 848,431 TEUs, lifting year-to-date traffic to 8.65 million, up 2% year over year. Executive Director Gene Seroka credited early-year import front-loading ahead of tariffs, but momentum is cooling. November volumes fell 12% as inventories normalized and imports softened. Seroka expects trade to ease into 2026, with single-digit import declines likely amid tariffs, retaliation, and weaker exports.
🚨 States Expand ICE Partnerships. In 2025, multiple states deepened coordination with ICE as federal scrutiny intensified around non-domiciled CDLs and English-language proficiency enforcement. Following actions by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and President Donald Trump, states including Texas, Wyoming, Mississippi, Indiana, and Alabama entered ICE’s 287(g) task-force partnerships. Wyoming’s “Operation Safe Haul” alone placed 38 drivers out of service over three days. Supporters argue the effort targets safety gaps and bad actors, while reinforcing standards for lawful, qualified drivers nationwide.
Most logistics teams juggle planning, carrier emails, spreadsheets, and status calls. A unified TMS solves most of these issues by pulling everything into one clean workflow.
It is the control layer that road logistics has always needed: less noise, fewer steps, and full transparency from booking to delivery.
According to the broker’s account:
Then, after "pickup" and a fuel advance, the carrier vanished.
No missed calls. No location updates. Just a stolen load.
GenLogs reviewed the case as part of what it says are nearly 500 stolen load and equipment investigations it has conducted over the past year. The company argues this incident follows a familiar pattern, one that traditional digital vetting tools often miss.
Their analysis focused on three signals.
Looking at roadway observations tied to the carrier’s USDOT number, GenLogs found that the carrier had only been observed operating in the Carolinas over the last three years.
A long-haul reefer move originating in Idaho raised immediate suspicion.
"Desiring a load out of Idaho would be highly unusual and suspicious," GenLogs wrote.
GenLogs’ review of observed assets showed:
That discrepancy raised further questions about how the load was actually moved.
The strongest signal, according to GenLogs, was timing.
The carrier had been observed regularly — until it wasn’t.
"This is the single greatest signal of potential compromise," GenLogs said.
Based on those signals, GenLogs believes the carrier’s MC number had likely been sold, allowing a bad actor to exploit previously legitimate credentials, access tracking tools, and impersonate a compliant carrier.
"This wasn’t a ‘good’ carrier that suddenly went bad," GenLogs wrote. "This was a ‘good’ carrier that suddenly sold their MC."
Because there’s no formal record of MC sales, GenLogs argues the carrier could still appear clean across digital-only vetting platforms even while no longer operating legitimately.
Adriana Pulley
As GenLogs frames it, brokers relying solely on documents, onboarding history, and tracking links may miss when a carrier has effectively disappeared from the road, even when everything seems to check out.
Get the full investigation from GenLogs.
*Editors Note: Article updated on December 22, 2025 to clarify this case as a fuel advance scam rather than cargo theft.
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🚧 Overpass Strikes. An oversized load struck six Oklahoma overpasses in a single incident, forcing highway closures and inspections as officials cited routing and permit failures. Repairs on the turnpike could take up to two weeks.
🛡️ Theft Bill Backed. ATA President Chris Spear voiced support for proposed cargo theft legislation, urging tougher penalties and stronger enforcement as organized freight theft continues to rise nationwide.
🏛️ Reform Caucus. Rep. Dave Taylor and bipartisan lawmakers launched the Congressional Trucking Caucus to cut regulatory red tape, protect CDL integrity, and address infrastructure issues across the trucking industry.
📉 Class 8 Slide. U.S. Class 8 truck sales fell year-over-year for a fifth straight month (down 36.5% YoY), though “miracles” can happen in terms of a boost in sales in December, according to Steve Tam, Vice President at ACT Research.
🏗️ Stord Investment. Stord will invest $40+ million in a new Hebron, Kentucky facility, creating 500 jobs. CEO Sean Henry announced the multi-year expansion alongside Gov. Andy Beshear.
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER
FREIGHT HUMOR
DOT Blitz Week starts tomorrow, and brokers are bracing for one of the toughest weeks in years. Plus: $10.1M in stolen freight leads to five years in prison, Forward Air loses 40% of its value, diesel prices hit produce costs, and more.
Aurora's driverless trucks are moving real loads between Dallas and Houston right now, and nobody is in the cab. Plus: RXO signals a strong freight rebound, Ken Adamo joins Ease Logistics, rail got faster to Mexico, and more.
Aurora signed two major partnerships in one week. Spot rates just hit an all-time high. A Chicago cross-dock blew up Reddit over how shippers load trailers. And someone dug into Super Ego's carrier network — the safety scores are not okay.
Amazon just became a direct rival to the biggest names in parcel, freight, and 3PL services. Plus: shippers are paying a lot more, your carrier check may be passing thieves through, a $4M cargo theft recovery shows what's possible, and more.
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