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Oil Prices Tanked After Iran Reopened the Strait of Hormuz — Here's What It Means for Diesel Truckers may finally be catching a little relief at the fuel pump after oil prices dropped sharply on April 17 following Iran's announcement that the Strait of Hormuz was back open to commercial vessels during the ceasefire. U.S. crude fell more than 13% to $79.31 per barrel, while Brent crude dropped 13.4% to $86.11. Stocks surged alongside the oil drop, with the Dow jumping more than 1,000 points...

Used Class 8 Truck Sales Are Picking Up — But Buyers Aren't Going All In Just Yet The used truck market showed more life in March, and if you're an owner-operator or small fleet watching every equipment dollar, that's worth paying attention to. ACT Research reported that preliminary same-dealer used Class 8 retail sales posted their second-best month since November 2021, rising 9.1% from February. Auction sales climbed 25%, wholesale activity jumped 34%, and total reported preliminary...

ATA and Six House Lawmakers Are Pushing HHS to Stop Stalling on Modern Drug Testing The trucking industry is turning up the heat on Washington again over drug testing, and this time the pressure is aimed directly at HHS. On April 17, the American Trucking Associations backed a letter from six House lawmakers urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to clear the roadblocks that are still preventing wider use of oral-fluid and hair testing in federally regulated...

Port and Rail Freight Costs Are Rising Again — And This Time It's Coming From Every Direction If you've been waiting for a sign that freight conditions are shifting, ITS Logistics just handed you one. The company's April U.S. Port/Rail Ramp Freight Index shows every major port and rail region has moved into elevated status. Rising fuel costs, ongoing Middle East shipping disruptions, and four straight years of trucking capacity exits have combined to create what ITS is calling the first...

U.S. Trailer Orders Jumped 42% in March — But Don't Pop the Champagne Yet There was finally some life in the U.S. trailer market in March, but it's a little too early to call it a full recovery. ACT Research reported preliminary net trailer orders came in at 18,800 units for the month, up roughly 5,600 units from February's 13,300 — a 42% jump month over month. That's a meaningful move. But even with that bounce, orders were still 14% below where they were in March 2025, which tells you...

A new federal lawsuit out of Florida is putting FMCSA's non-domiciled CDL crackdown directly in front of a judge. Nineteen non-domiciled CDL holders living in Florida filed suit on April 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The defendants named in the complaint include FMCSA, USDOT, the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles agency, FMCSA Administrator Derek Barrs, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and FLHSMV Executive Director Dave Kerner. The...

Truck drivers are getting more time to keep using paper medical cards, but this extension comes with a clear message attached to it. FMCSA has issued a new exemption allowing interstate CDL holders, CLP holders, and motor carriers to continue using a paper copy of the Medical Examiner's Certificate as proof of medical certification for up to 60 days after it's issued. The exemption took effect April 11, 2026, and runs through October 11, 2026. The agency said the move is designed to keep...

If you've ever tried to fight a bad inspection record or a wrong crash entry through FMCSA's DataQs system and felt like the deck was stacked against you, the agency just made one of the biggest changes to that process in years. On April 15, FMCSA announced a DataQs overhaul designed to make safety-record challenges faster, more transparent, and fairer for drivers and carriers trying to correct crash, inspection, and violation data. The formal notice hit the Federal Register on April 16...

New York just got one of the biggest public warnings yet in the federal government's ongoing crackdown on non-domiciled commercial driver's licenses. On April 16, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that FMCSA is withholding $73,502,543 from the state after the agency determined New York failed to revoke illegally issued non-domiciled commercial learner's permits and CDLs. DOT said the penalty equals 4% of New York's National Highway Performance Program and Surface...