Truck-parking rules shift and a broker-records fight lead a firming freight week

Two states just moved truck-parking rules in opposite directions -- one adding capacity, one taking it away -- so check the situation before you bank on an overnight in either. Land Line has the state-by-state detail.

For owner-operators watching how brokers handle rate records: a dispute over whether an FMCSA email can compel a broker to hand over its records is playing out in Pink Cheetah's case against TQL, and it may test how far the agency's transparency stance actually reaches.

Cargo theft stayed in the news. The leader of a six-month crew behind $1.5 million in stolen freight was sentenced, and separately Verified Carrier and MiKargo247 launched spot insurance aimed at strategic theft -- the double-brokering, carrier identity theft and fictitious-pickup schemes that have been hitting loads.

The freight side keeps firming, and that is the good news in this batch. Freightliner parent DTNA is adding assembly staff in Mexico as North American truck demand rises; U.S. container imports climbed 3.8% in the month to 2.6 million TEUs, their third-highest monthly level, per FreightWaves; and McLeod's Tom McLeod urged carriers to hold rate discipline as excess capacity clears out of what he called a four-year rate recession. Rising demand and thinner capacity are the conditions that put rates back in the driver's favour.

On the cost side, the Federal Reserve is set to decide on its benchmark rate this week, and diesel kept climbing to fresh records -- the figures are in our fuel reports.

It is also National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. Among the offers going around, Fleetworthy is waiving its $25 activation fee for owner-operators signing up for toll management -- a small, concrete one to grab while it lasts.