Federal prosecutors say VMS Transport LLC owner Armando Martinez Varela recruited B-1 visa drivers to haul domestic freight out of Laredo across the United States, paying $0.25 to $0.50 a mile against $0.70 a mile for authorized drivers and allegedly saving the company about $299,606 in labor costs.
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Fleets made more driver pay changes in the third quarter than in any quarter since early 2022, according to National Transportation Institute data — but the raises are concentrated in over-the-road and specialized jobs, not across the board.
Van spot at $3.05, contract records for reefer and flatbed, three snow events between Wednesday night and Saturday, and pay changes at a four-year high — here's Wednesday's briefing.
FreightWaves reports SONAR's latest review: tender volume climbed nearly 5% week over week to 11,600, a level last seen in late spring, with the tender rejection index at 12.95% and flatbed rejections at 21%. Van spot rates reached $3.49 a mile on Nov. 9, the van contract linehaul index hit a 52-week high of $2.85 a mile, LTL cost per hundredweight rose to $48.98 in October, and diesel eased about $0.06 on the week.
FreightWaves reports Operation Highway Shield expanded into Maryland and Washington, D.C.: FMCSA and Maryland agencies ran 941 inspections, placing 191 vehicles and 92 drivers out of service, while the District's Nov. 6 update reported 125 inspections, 193 violations and 50 out-of-service violations. The same roundup carries local enforcement in Virginia, Oregon and New York, an arrest on suspicion of DUI on I-40 in Arizona after a preliminary breath sample of 0.301, and a British Columbia brake failure that could have caused a catastrophic collision — with DOT's Nov. 4 update putting 33,000 drivers out of service nationally for English proficiency.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Nov. 10 that on-highway diesel averaged $6.127 a gallon for the week ending Nov. 9, down $0.165 for a second straight weekly decline and the lowest since Oct. 12, with every region lower and California still highest at $7.897. The same day, EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook raised its 2027 diesel forecast to $5.03 a gallon from $4.49 last month.
The Weather Prediction Center's discussion issued early Monday shrinks the excessive-rainfall risk to far southeastern Texas — a slight risk, level 2 of 4, from southwest of Corpus Christi down to Brownsville — after some areas took 4 to 9 inches in 24 hours and the Kingsville area took 5 to 10. The Corpus Christi office says 1 to 3 more inches are possible through Monday afternoon on saturated ground, the Flood Watch runs through noon, and a Flood Warning for Oso Creek near Corpus Christi, with a crest near 23 feet late Monday night, runs to Wednesday afternoon.
DAT's weekly release for the week ending Nov. 6, published Monday, puts the 7-day average broker-to-carrier reefer rate at $3.70 a mile, up $0.10, with reefer load posts up 16% and the load-to-truck ratio at 19.0. Van linehaul rose $0.06 to $2.26 a mile and flatbed $0.02 to $2.63, truck posts run 24% to 34% below a year ago, and DAT's 35-day forecast has van linehaul reaching $2.32 by mid-December.
The National Weather Service in Juneau has upgraded the Haines Highway to a winter storm warning for Monday — 8 to 12 inches of snow possible at the upper elevations near the border crossing, 3 AM to 6 PM AKST — with a winter weather advisory for 5 to 8 inches on the Klondike Highway near White Pass. In Anchorage, a winter weather advisory runs from noon Monday to 3 PM Tuesday: 2 to 8 inches of snow, a light glaze of ice and gusts to 60 mph on the Hillside, hitting both the Monday evening and Tuesday morning commutes.
The National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center raised its South Texas rainfall expectations overnight — a widespread 3 to 6 inches, locally as much as 8, with a 60-90% probability of more than 3 inches south of I-10 — and the Corpus Christi office reissued the Flood Watch through Monday noon with isolated totals of 7 to 9 inches now possible. A Flash Flood Warning and a Flood Advisory covered the Laredo area early this morning, and forecasters say the best chances for flash flooding come late this afternoon and evening, carrying into early Monday morning.
CDLLife reports Colorado State Patrol results from proactive chain-law operations held Oct. 23 and Oct. 28 on I-70 near Dotsero: 703 commercial drivers contacted, 262 citations issued — 63 of them for violating the must-carry chain law — and traffic stops on 119 professional drivers who failed to stop at the chain operation. Compliance with the must-carry rule was 91%. Another enforcement event is planned for Tuesday, Nov. 10, at the same location.
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All-in: van $2.96 · reefer $3.59 · flatbed $3.55 a mile. Tender rejections at 14.21%.
Arrival rules, detention patterns and driver-reported access details.
Single-use fuel codes at Pilot, Love's, TA and Petro — how they fight pump fraud.
On the roadmap — not live yet, and we won’t pretend otherwise.
