The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
Optimize freight broker operations by fixing payment workflows in Q1. Streamline carrier pay before capacity shifts compress your margins.
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.
Plus, cargo theft risks spikes ahead of Memorial Day, April sees drop in freight, a Wisconsin carrier and brokerage file for bankruptcy, and more.
TGIF & Memorial Day Weekend. Importers are racing to beat the tariff clock. Customs confusion, retail surges, and audit heat. Here's what it all means for freight inside today's newsletter.
Plus:
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🐔 WHAT’S COOKIN’ IN FREIGHT
🚨 Cargo Theft Risk Hits Record High Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend. Verisk CargoNet is warning U.S. shippers of elevated cargo theft risks as Memorial Day weekend approaches. Monthly thefts in 2025 are averaging 338—more than double the historical norm. High-value items like copper, vehicle parts, and energy drinks are being targeted, with organized theft rings focusing on hotspots in Southern California, Dallas, Chicago, and Phoenix. “Criminal groups are exploiting weak points in the logistics chain,” said Keith Lewis, VP of Operations at CargoNet. Carriers are urged to minimize dwell time, secure parking, and check GPS systems. With thefts likely to rise into summer, preparation is critical.
📉 Freight Volumes and Trailer Orders Fall Sharply in April. Freight market recovery stalled in April as ATA’s truck tonnage index dropped for the second month and trailer orders plummeted 57% from March, according to ACT Research. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello blamed “a freight market in flux from tariffs and softening economic indicators.” Contract freight tonnage declined 1.8% over two months. Trailer manufacturers cited customer hesitation driven by high borrowing costs and tariff uncertainty. “They’ve identified the need… but the economy is a little off,” said Dan Taylor of Western Trailer. As Q2 unfolds, uncertainty over trade policy and macroeconomic headwinds continue to stall fleet investment.
😔 Wisconsin Carrier and Brokerage File for Bankruptcy Amid Mounting Debts. Elite Carriers and affiliate ECI Inc., both based in Merrill, Wisconsin, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, joining three other related companies under owner Kirk Ecklund. Each entity lists $1–$10 million in assets and liabilities, with 1–49 creditors. Top creditors include Pathward, Plymouth Lubricants, and Peoplenet Communications. Elite Carriers, operating 28 trucks and 29 drivers, hauls general freight and paper products. It has reported four crashes in two years, one involving injury. The filings add to a growing list of industry firms under financial strain, as mid-sized carriers continue to grapple with rising operating costs, tightening margins, and weakened freight demand.
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Trump announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs, but the countdown is already stressing supply chains. If no deal is made by mid-July for general tariffs or mid-August for China-specific ones, importers could face a wave of new duties.
Adriana Pulley
Logistics teams are moving fast. Shipments are being frontloaded. Customs is already getting crowded.
“Everybody’s in agreement about these next two to four weeks being crunch time,” said Rhenus Logistics’ Scott Dudley, as businesses scramble to clear U.S. Customs before tariffs snap back into place.
While Customs and Border Protection (CBP) hasn’t clarified whether goods must arrive in the U.S. or merely depart from China before the deadline. That lack of clarity is slowing everything down.
Freightos reports a 25% jump in webinar attendance among anxious businesses trying to decode evolving tariff rules.
There isn't just a simple duty to pay anymore. Importing is now a full-blown compliance operation.
Importers are:
A single audit can cover a full year. If paperwork doesn’t match or codes are wrong, it adds up fast.
Those containers have to move by truck or rail. And the intermodal market is already showing signs of disruption.
Intermodal expert Lawrence Gross points to the data: international intermodal volumes are dipping just five weeks after China’s tariffs started rising, down 4.3% w/w and barely up y/y. The West Coast is feeling it hardest.
Five weeks from now? Expect another spike.
Retailers like Home Depot, Target, and TJX Companies reported solid Q1 2025 earnings, despite global uncertainty and tariff volatility.
These are the companies driving import volumes right now and they’re not slowing down.
Just days after their April 21 meeting at the White House, Walmart, Target, and Home Depot ramped up imports from China, with weekly container volumes surging in early May...well ahead of Trump’s May 11 tariff truce.
Did they get a heads-up?
“Did the White House sell out small and medium businesses?” asked Molson Hart, a vocal Amazon seller and frequent critic of tariff policy.
Hart concluded bluntly: “The president should not be interfering in pricing decisions of private corporations.”
While speculative, the exchange shows how deeply freight stakeholders distrust how tariff policy is made, and who it really serves.
Data from GenLogs helps visualize the downstream effects. Their newly released Retail Index shows:
This steep post-April drop follows a surge of orders placed just before tariffs took hold. Now, volumes are tapering.
According to GenLogs, DOT Blitz Week, the FMCSA crackdown on English proficiency, and the anticipated 300% jump in ocean bookings after the tariff truce may all converge to create a “perfect storm” capacity crunch this summer.
“Truck volumes have been relatively flat over the last 60 days... but now you have up to 10% of truck drivers about to be unable to carry freight when 300% more freight is about to hit the shores.”
Just now, Trump threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones made in India, calling out Apple CEO Tim Cook directly.
“I expect their iPhones... will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” he posted on Truth Social.
If enacted, it would mark a major expansion of Trump’s tariff crusade, no longer just targeting China but any company offshoring production.
With Apple silent so far, markets are bracing for a ripple effect: global pricing shocks, retaliatory trade actions, and new sourcing dilemmas for shippers and brokers alike.
If the pause expires, expect ripple effects across U.S. freight markets:
As container imports rebound and freight contracts get re-negotiated in real time, the summer of 2025 may usher in even more volatility.
Carriers are bracing for a squeeze, customs brokers are buried in filings, and capacity watchers are already whispering about July.
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🌎 AROUND THE FREIGHT WEB
🚨 Texas CDL Violations Surge. An FMCSA audit of trucking companies in the state revealed that 4% of audited drivers lacked a valid CDL, and 25.48% of driver-related inspection violations involved missing, suspended, or disqualified CDLs.
📦 FedEx Downplays Amazon Threat. FedEx executive Brie Carere dismissed concerns over competition from Amazon, stating the parcel giant remains focused on differentiated service and global network strength rather than chasing market comparisons.
💊 Drug Seizure on I-40. An Arkansas state trooper discovered 86 pounds of cocaine and 36 pounds of fentanyl during a routine traffic stop of a tractor-trailer on Interstate 40.
🤖 Einride Eyes U.S. IPO. Swedish autonomous trucking firm Einride is preparing for a U.S. IPO to support its North American expansion. “We’re working to be ready as soon as practically possible,” said CEO Roozbeh Charli, citing growing demand for electric and self-driving freight solutions.
🏭 Walmart Expands in Utah. Walmart has purchased a 1-million-square-foot distribution center in Utah. The facility features a cross-docking capabilities and is within 10 miles of a Union Pacific intermodal hub.
🎣 THE FREIGHT CAVIAR CORNER
🎙The FreightCaviar Podcast. Last month in Guadalajara, Ari and Paul sat down with Eduardo Chaim, CCO of VAX Solutions. Eduardo was one of the first hires at Coyote’s Guadalajara branch. In 2020, he co-founded VAX and they’ve been expanding aggressively ever since. VAX handles: domestic freight in Mexico, cross-border shipments, and inter-U.S. freight. But that’s not all, they’ve launched several logistics companies across Mexico, offering everything from brokerage to drayage with their own assets.
If you want a real look inside the Mexican freight market, this episode’s a must.
Watch it on YouTube or listen to it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
💬 FreightCaviar Forum: Now Live! A space built for brokers, carriers, dispatchers, and freight tech to connect, share, and learn from one another. Sign up now here.
FREIGHT HUMOR
The Supreme Court just heard arguments in the broker liability case we’ve been tracking. Plus: oil shipping costs explode, trucking insurance is stuck in 1980, regulators brace for a carrier crackdown, and more.
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.
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