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The Daily // Thu 09.03.26 View in browser →
The DailyThursday · September 3, 2026
The five minutes that makes you the most informed person in freight today
Lead Story
FedEx Freight fires chief commercial officer following internal probeLess-than-truckload carrier FedEx Freight announced Wednesday after the market closed that it has terminated Mike Lyons, its chief specialized services and commercial officer. Lyons was appointed to the role in June 2025, one year ahead of the company’s spinoff from FedEx Corp. "Following an internal investigation, the Company determined Mr. Lyons violated its Code of Conduct and no longer met the standards of employment at FedEx Freight," a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission stated. The filing said Lyons’s conduct "was not related to and did not impact the Company’s financial reporting or performance, internal controls, strategy, or customer relationships." The company said duties performed by Lyons will be reassigned to other executives while it conducts a search for a replacement. Lyons had been with the company for 19 years, according to his LinkedIn page, where he led commercial strategy and customer experience as well as FedEx Custom Critical. FedEx (NYSE: FDX) announced the new executive leadership team for FedEx Freight (NYSE: FDXF) in June 2025. "FedEx Freight will not be providing further commentary or information beyond what is included in our 8-K filing," a company representative told FreightWaves in an email. Why It Matters?
The termination of FedEx Freight’s chief commercial officer is significant because it introduces instability during a critical transition and potentially threatens continuity of commercial relationships. Top Stories
Comments close on EPA’s DEF rule; which way will it go?The public comment period on the federal proposal known as the "DEF rule" has closed, with almost 200 submissions spanning the full range of opinions on possible changes to the EPA regulation. The proposal, published in the Federal Register July 14 after a 45-day comment window, would replace engine "deratements" — where a vehicle slows if sensors detect inadequate or poor-quality Diesel Exhaust Fluid — with audible and visual warning signals instead. Truck and engine manufacturers, environmental groups, bus operators and fuel retailers all weighed in. The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association praised EPA for addressing driver complaints about deratements but said existing August 2025 guidance is "sufficient" and warned against further changes. Environmental groups like California Environmental Voters said weakening warranty and inducement requirements "undermines the EPA’s statutory responsibility to protect public health," while bus operators like Trans-Bridge Lines described real-world safety and traffic incidents caused by unexpected derates. Why It Matters?
The EPA’s eventual decision on deratements will shape how strictly diesel engines and equipment enforce emissions compliance in the field, directly affecting uptime, safety incidents and NOx-reduction technology across the industry. Sponsored · Aurora
Florida AG calls semi-truck a ‘rolling dungeon’ after 4 children confined for 6 yearsFlorida prosecutors have filed 22 charges against two women accused of confining four children inside a semi-truck sleeper cab for more than six years, Attorney General James Uthmeier said Tuesday. Tamra Marshon Stewart, 37, of Jacksonville, and Keysha Monique Epps, 51, of Atlanta, Georgia, face charges including sexual battery, molestation, neglect and permanent disfigurement. Epps worked as a commercial truck driver, regularly running routes between Atlanta and Miami with stops throughout Florida, while both women served as the children’s primary caregivers. Investigators said the four children — ages 5 to 9 — shared a single sleeper bunk and lacked adequate food, hygiene, schooling and medical care throughout the confinement. A tip received three to four weeks before Tuesday’s announcement led investigators to the case. Stewart faces 10 criminal counts and Epps faces 12, including failure to report abuse; the investigation remains open in Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, and additional charges are possible. Why It Matters?
Transportation professionals should recognize how commercial equipment can conceal criminal conduct across multiple jurisdictions. Careful observation and immediate reporting may help authorities identify endangered passengers sooner. Trans-Pacific spot rates reach new highs on resilient demand, port congestionTrans-Pacific container freight rates rose to new highs last week, supported by peak-season demand that has remained unexpectedly firm despite starting earlier than usual in May. Asia-U.S. West Coast prices increased 2% to $7,621 per forty-foot unit, while Asia-East Coast rates increased 2% to $9,791, according to SONAR data contributor Freightos. Persistent congestion at major Asian ports, following a series of typhoons, is tightening effective vessel capacity and helping sustain rates on both trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe trades. Ocean carriers are adding some trans-Pacific capacity in September ahead of scheduled blank sailings around China’s Golden Week holiday, though planned service withdrawals later in the month may again restrict available space. Asia-Europe rates have pulled back from their July peak but remain 40% to 70% above pre-peak May levels, while trans-Atlantic rates rose about $400 per FEU over the past two weeks as carriers reduced available capacity. Why It Matters?
Persistent port congestion and firm peak-season demand are keeping ocean freight rates elevated across trade lanes, a dynamic shippers will need to plan around as Golden Week blank sailings and Panama Canal surcharges loom. Port inspection leads to $10M counterfeit Nike, Adidas seizure in CaliforniaLos Angeles County investigators seized counterfeit merchandise worth an estimated $10 million from an Arcadia, California, warehouse after a port inspection flagged a bulk shipment in early August. The Aug. 25 search recovered 25,898 items bearing Nike, Adidas and other trademarks; authorities identified the business owner as an outstanding suspect, and the case remains active. The LASD’s Counterfeit and Piracy Enforcement Team, working with federal agents, obtained a warrant for the property after examiners determined the intercepted shipment contained large quantities of counterfeit streetwear destined for the address. Over the past year, the unit has conducted roughly 25 searches across the county, recovering about 200,000 counterfeit items valued between $15 million and $25 million. Why It Matters?
Counterfeit products move through the same ports, warehouses and transportation networks used by legitimate cargo. Logistics companies need verified customers, accurate shipping records and clear escalation procedures before accepting questionable freight. FreightWaves Today · Live at 12PM ET
Built with operators, for operators. Blind spots cause some of fleets’ costliest, most complex collisions. Learn how AI-powered 360-degree visibility helps you spot risks in real time and protect drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. Download the Guide.
● LIVE at 12PM ET — tv.freightwaves.com/today, streamed on LinkedIn, FB and X.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Highway, Love’s, OTR Solutions, Pallet, Premier Trailer Leasing, RXO, Trinity Rail, Motorcity Systems, Descartes, Saia, Centerline and SONAR.
FreightWaves Events
F3: Future of Freight Festival
Your team works hard every day to keep supply chains moving. This Labor Day, invest in their growth—and your company’s bottom line—by sending them to F3: Future of Freight Festival (Oct. 27-28 in Chattanooga). Get ahead of market trends and regulatory shifts, experience the latest FreightTech insights that directly impact your margins, and expand high-value relationships with 1,000+ supply chain leaders spanning the industry. October 27–28, 2026 · The Signal, Chattanooga
Sponsored Insight
Presented by Werner
High-Stakes Freight Brokerage: Risk and AccountabilityHow the pursuit of low-cost brokerage created a reliability crisis in high-stakes freight. Presented by G3 Logistics
Why Going Global Isn’t Always the Right CallA logistics guide to balancing cost, risk, lead time, inventory, and transportation tradeoffs. Presented by Aurora
Your next truck could drive itself.Aurora Driver 2 is hauling freight on public roads. From the Research Desk
In partnership with CargoWise Landside
What It Takes to Win in the Next Era of DrayageFreightWaves and CargoWise Landside surveyed drayage operators on the automation investments separating growth from margin compression amid demand volatility and driver shortages. In partnership with Werner
High-Stakes Freight Brokerage: Risk and AccountabilityFreightWaves and Werner surveyed shippers moving high-value freight and found compliance failures and limited visibility are turning low-cost brokerage into a reliability risk, not just a pricing one. In partnership with Trimble
White Paper: AI Agent Readiness and Adoption in FreightAI is moving beyond experimentation and into everyday freight operations. FreightWaves and Trimble surveyed carriers, brokers, shippers and owner-operators on where the industry is adopting AI today and what leaders expect next. Courtesy of Infios
New Research: Tariffs Didn’t Raise Costs. They Raised the Execution Standard.Infios-backed research breaks down how tariff volatility turned transport-mode selection and trade-route monitoring into daily operating decisions instead of annual ones. Watch on FreightWaves TV
What We’re Watching
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FedEx Freight’s abrupt commercial officer exit adds uncertainty mid-transitionMike Lyons’s termination for a Code of Conduct violation comes just months after FedEx Freight’s spinoff from FedEx Corp, with his duties temporarily reassigned to other executives. Watch who FedEx Freight names as a permanent replacement and whether commercial relationships built under Lyons hold steady. ▸
EPA’s DEF rule decision will reshape how deratements work industry-wideAlmost 200 comments came in before Wednesday’s deadline, with manufacturers, environmental groups and bus operators split on replacing engine deratements with audible and visual warnings. Watch for EPA’s final rule and whether it sides with operators pushing for less-punitive derate triggers. ▸
Trans-Pacific rates keep climbing as Golden Week sailings loomAsia-U.S. rates hit new highs on early peak-season demand and typhoon-driven port congestion, even as Asia-Europe rates cool from their July peak. Watch whether Golden Week blank sailings and Panama Canal surcharges push rates higher still through September. That’s your Daily for today. See you tomorrow.
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