This episode of FreightWaves Daily unpacks a massive safety crisis involving fraudulent CDL schools, where a regulatory loophole has allowed unqualified drivers to self-certify without state oversight. New enforcement measures are projected to remove nearly 200,000 drivers from the road, creating a high-stakes trade-off between highway safety and available capacity.
State officials and industry leaders are warning that this rapid reduction in the driver pool could severely disrupt supply lines and increase operational costs. We examine the tension between these necessary safety crackdowns and the potential for a severe economic shock.
Shifting to market signals, the latest data reveals that transportation capacity has stalled while pricing continues to surge for downstream retailers. In a historic shift, warehousing utilization contracted for the first time in nine years as long-standing inventory backlogs finally clear.
On the rails, a major proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern threatens to reduce the sector’s competition from four major players down to just two. East Coast ports are raising alarms that a seamless transcontinental route could undermine their infrastructure investments by favoring West Coast dominance.
Finally, we discuss the infrastructure challenges facing pure electric trucks following the removal of federal EV tax credits. The conversation highlights hybrid engineering, such as the onboard generators used by Edison Motors, as a practical bridge to overcome range anxiety.
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