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Illustration: flatbed semi trucks loaded with plywood and building-material crates queued at a Canada-United States border port of entry, with customs booths and Canadian and U.S. flags in the foreground
Regulations

Canada's 50% tariff list swapped at midnight Oct. 30 — 100 classifications added, 22 removed — and the entry date now decides what a cross-border load costs

Proclamation 11076, published in the Federal Register on Oct. 30, took plywood, packaging and refrigeration equipment off the Section 338 list and put lubricants, flooring, paints, valves and carpets on it. The duty stacks on top of Section 232 tariffs, applies regardless of USMCA status, and is set by when a load is entered — not when it was loaded.

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The Morning Mile — Saturday, Oct. 31

Ohio moves to downgrade 5,000 non-domiciled CDLs, contract rates are set to jump again in 2027, FMCSA talks hours-of-service flexibility, and Georgia opens a $134 million inland port.

Regulations

FMCSA safety chief promises more hours-of-service flexibility and a comment-first SMS rewrite — and admits Motus is still keeping thousands out of the industry

Steve Dowling told the WEX OTR Summit on Oct. 28 that about 95% of carrier registration is in place in Motus but the remaining 5% is 'not acceptable.' The agency revised four hours-of-service provisions in June, its two flexibility pilots take comments through Dec. 7, and SMS changes will be proposed for industry comment before they land.

Carrier watch

Super Ego is back — and as of Nov. 1 it won't lease to non-domiciled drivers, ELP violators or Conditional-rated carriers

The Elmhurst, Illinois leasing company at the center of the chameleon-carrier scandal announced new safety and eligibility requirements effective Nov. 1 for every new lease, renewal and added unit: a current FMCSA safety rating on file, no Conditional ratings, no unresolved English-proficiency violations, and no non-domiciled CDLs for owner-operators or carrier owners. Overdrive visited its lot Wednesday and found it largely empty — the company says it still serves more than 1,200 carrier customers.

Equipment

NHTSA starts the first major tire-standard overhaul in more than 20 years — and the bias-era tests may not survive it

A negotiated rulemaking announced Oct. 26 puts the plunger-energy strength test, the bead unseating test and the endurance test on the table, along with non-pneumatic tires and sidewall markings. Secretary Sean Duffy will appoint an 18-member committee for a single two-year term; ATA's maintenance council calls the legacy tests 'vestigial' for modern steel-belted radials.

Regulations

Motus reclassified a flatbed carrier as a hazmat hauler and suspended it — and roughly 6,475 carriers got the same insurance-change suspension this week

Dynamic MD of Carol Stream, Illinois learned Tuesday that FMCSA's Motus system had reclassified it from general freight to hazardous materials, raising its insurance minimum to $1 million against the $750,000 on file and suspending it without notice. A Central Analysis Bureau and CCJ analysis found more than 6,475 carriers hit by the same kind of change, roughly 6,000 of them this week.

Law & safety

Werner's Leathers: capacity cuts are in the 'early innings' — about 15% of trucks still out of alignment, only 3% to 4% gone

Werner Enterprises Chairman and CEO Derek Leathers told analysts Tuesday that enforcement-driven capacity reductions have barely begun, with driver-application rejection rates up 170% since January and driving-school enrollment down 20% to 30%. Werner's third-quarter revenue rose 23% to $950.5 million and it swung to a $6.6 million profit — while spending heavily to hire drivers into the tightening market.

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