Archive
Every briefing
13 pieces, newest first. Start with any headline. Each one opens with a plain-language box if you do not work in freight.
Diesel6 min read
Diesel just set a record: $6.529 a gallon
The weekly government average that freight contracts use hit the highest reading in the series that started in 1994. A year ago it was $3.749.
Government7 min read
Washington opened a joint crackdown on fraud in trucking
Transportation, Homeland Security, and federal prosecutors are going after sham driving schools, licenses that should never have been issued, and drivers who cannot pass an English check at the roadside.
Diesel6 min read
What CDLLife is reporting this morning
Georgia paused its diesel tax for 30 days, federal regulators refused a return to paper logbooks, and six family trucking companies sued two big brokers. Here is the plain version.
Licenses & drivers6 min read
Why a driver can be shut down for not speaking English
It sounds like politics. At the scale, it is a practical rule about signs, crashes, and the person who has to explain what is in the trailer.
Laws & rules7 min read
What a “non-domiciled CDL” is, without the jargon
States can license some drivers who don't live there. Federal auditors say several states issued those licenses to people who were not eligible, or for years longer than the law allows.
Cargo theft7 min read
Cargo theft usually does not look like a movie
The trailer is not always cut open at a truck stop. More often, a criminal convinces a warehouse to load the freight onto the wrong truck.
Fraudulent companies6 min read
The trucking company that dies on Friday and opens Monday
Bad crashes, unpaid judgments, and federal out-of-service orders are supposed to follow a carrier. Chameleon companies shed them by changing the name on the door.
Fraudulent companies6 min read
Double brokering, explained like a package that changed hands
You hired one company. A second company, then a third, took the job without telling you. Sometimes the freight arrives. Sometimes that was the point of the handoff.
Diesel6 min read
The fuel line on a freight bill is a formula, not a mood
Diesel moved. The surcharge moved. Here is the arithmetic most contracts are actually doing, and the places it gets abused.
Laws & rules6 min read
The clock inside the truck
Drivers cannot legally drive until they drop. The limits are specific, and an electronic box in the cab is what makes them hard to pencil away.
The basics5 min read
DOT number, MC number, authority: three different things
A company can have a federal ID and still not be allowed to haul your freight. This is the mix-up that fraudulent carriers count on.
Licenses & drivers5 min read
The physical that never happened
Every commercial driver needs a medical certificate. Federal investigators say some clinics sell the signature. The risk is a driver who should not have been driving, with paperwork that says otherwise.
Cargo theft6 min read
A load disappears. Who pays?
There is no single answer, which is why the argument starts while the freight is still missing. The contract decides more than the press release does.