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The Daily
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Announcement
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Regulators reject bids to fast-track dismissal of UP-NS merger
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Dismissal motions rejected, filed Aug. 6
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2001
Year of the merger rules being tested for the first time
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Nov. 18
Deadline for comments on the merger’s merits
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The Surface Transportation Board isn’t taking the easy way out on Union Pacific’s proposed merger with Norfolk Southern.
The STB unanimously rejected three motions filed Aug. 6 by BNSF Railway, CSX and a coalition of shipper associations, all seeking summary denial of the deal before a full review. Opponents argued UP’s application failed to meet the "prima facie" showing merger law requires. The board disagreed, saying additional evidence and argument will aid its decision-making "in this consequential transition" — and noted this marks the first application reviewed under the major-merger rules the STB adopted in 2001.
BNSF spokesman Zak Andersen countered that "the application lacks transparency and depth while offering mitigating conditions of little benefit," while CSX’s Austin Staton said the railroad "appreciates the Board’s recognition of the important questions and issues presented." Comments on the merger’s merits are due Nov. 18, and the fight is expected to center partly on UP and NS’s proposed Committed Gateway Pricing program, which the companies say preserves competition at interchange points that opponents say the merger would otherwise close off.
Rejecting the dismissal bids doesn’t tell shippers which way the STB is leaning — it just guarantees a longer, more document-heavy fight, with BNSF, CSX and shipper groups now building a record against the merger through the Nov. 18 comment deadline and beyond.
$100M inland rail terminal advances in Montgomery, Alabama
The Alabama Port Authority’s Montgomery Intermodal Container Transfer Facility is taking shape on 272 acres near the I-65 and I-85 interchange, with site grading and underground utilities already complete, according to Stuart Chirls’ reporting. The $100 million facility will handle up to 60,000 container units a year — roughly 30,000 40-foot-equivalent containers — running five days a week with daily express rail service to the Port of Mobile via CSX. Crews are now building more than 25,000 feet of track, including two 3,500-foot process tracks, a 3,500-foot support track and roughly 10,000 feet of lead track. Konecranes, based in Finland, was contracted this month to supply two rubber-tired gantry cranes for late-2026 delivery, ahead of an early 2027 opening. "A critical investment in Alabama’s supply chain infrastructure," said Port Authority Director Doug Otto, who expects the terminal to help catalyze development along Montgomery’s Interstate Industrial Corridor.
An inland container yard tied directly to Mobile by daily rail service gives central Alabama’s auto and manufacturing base a shorter path to the port than truck drayage — and gives CSX another reason to keep investing in the corridor.
Piston raises $15M to expand cardless fuel payments network
Fuel payments startup Piston raised a $15 million Series A round led by FPV Ventures, bringing its total funding to $22.5 million, according to Patrick Hatzis’ reporting. The network now covers more than 2,000 fuel stations in 48 states, with payment volume up 8x and its merchant network up 40x over the past year; its point-of-sale integrations are now certified on more than 95% of U.S. merchant fuel sites. That’s a sharp climb from June 2025, when a $7.5 million round backed a network of more than 120 fleets across 800 stations. "Commercial fuel still runs on payment technology built for another era," said CEO Vikram Sekhon. "Fleet fuel fraud is a physical card problem, disguised as a detection issue." The company is rolling out two AI products — Piston Guard, which flags and blocks suspected fraud before a transaction completes, and a Piston Analytics Agent for fleet spending patterns — and plans to cover every U.S. region within 18 months.
Sekhon’s pitch reframes fuel fraud as a hardware problem, not a detection problem — if cardless payments keep scaling at this rate, fleets may start expecting fraud prevention built into the payment rail itself rather than bolted on afterward.
Appeals court judges question FMCSA’s non-domiciled CDL rule
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia pushed back on the government’s defense of new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules governing commercial driver’s licenses for non-domiciled drivers, according to John Kingston’s reporting from oral arguments in Lujan v. FMCSA. The rules, effective this spring, narrowed immigration eligibility standards and limited acceptable documentation to unexpired passports and Form I-94s, eliminating Employment Authorization Documents as proof of eligibility. Lead plaintiff Jorge Rivera Lujan, a DACA recipient with no waiver under the new rule, brought the case alongside co-plaintiff King County, Washington. DOT counsel Simon Jerome told the panel the changes address safety gaps created when states can’t access a driver’s full foreign driving record, but judges questioned whether states could be trusted to verify safety and whether a 10-year driving history requirement should create such a barrier — one judge told Jerome the government was "between a rock and a hard place." Wendy Liu, representing the coalition challenging the rule, argued the restrictions lack evidentiary support and create disparities against U.S. citizen drivers. The next related hearing, in New York v. DOT, is set for Sept. 28.
Judicial skepticism at oral argument doesn’t decide the case, but it’s a signal that FMCSA’s documentation rule may face a rockier path than the agency expected — carriers relying on non-domiciled drivers should watch the Sept. 28 hearing for where this is heading.
Masked thieves cut trailer hinges to steal beef in Philadelphia
Four masked suspects cut the rear-door hinges off a 2026 Freightliner trailer parked in South Philadelphia around 1 a.m. Tuesday, making off with roughly half a pallet of Black Angus beef ribs, according to Phil Brink’s reporting. The stolen cargo was loaded into a dark-colored Ford F-150, which fled southbound from the 3300 block of South Third Street accompanied by an unidentified Jeep. Philadelphia police said the investigation "remains active and ongoing," with no arrests announced and the meat not recovered; the motor carrier and the value of the stolen load haven’t been disclosed. The theft follows a pattern FreightWaves has tracked in the region of thieves targeting parked trailers and, increasingly, using more confrontational tactics against security escorts guarding high-value freight.
Cutting through trailer hinges instead of picking locks shows organized cargo theft crews adapting faster than the deterrents carriers are putting on their trailers — a reminder that a parked, unattended trailer is still the softest target in the supply chain.
Brought to you by Samsara — 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.
| Time | Guest | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 12pm | John Ferguson | Founder & CEO, Pivot Supply Chain Solutions |
| 12:30pm | Drew Wilder | Founder & CEO, Vicarious Liability Risk Management |
| 12:30pm | Greg Reed | Partner, Hanson Bridgett |
| 1pm | Bill Stephens | Editor, Trains Magazine |
| 1:30pm | Pam Polyak | Founder, Polyak Trucking and Polyak Consulting |
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New Research: Tariffs Didn’t Raise Costs. They Raised the Execution Standard.
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What Freight Operators Should Actually Be WatchingFreightWaves cuts through the noise to lay out the indicators that actually matter for operators right now. |
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Diesel Export Ban? Why It Could Backfire FastFreightWaves examines why a proposed diesel export ban could tighten supply and raise prices rather than ease them. |
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Diesel Prices Could Push More Capacity Out in Q4A look at how sustained high diesel prices could accelerate capacity exits among already-strained carriers heading into the fourth quarter. |
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Where the STB’s UP-NS merger review actually landsThe board rejected all three dismissal bids without tipping its hand. Watch how BNSF, CSX and shipper groups build their case ahead of the Nov. 18 comment deadline. |
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Whether cardless fuel payment adoption keeps compoundingPiston’s payment volume grew 8x and its merchant network 40x in a year. Watch whether that pace holds as it rolls out fraud-detection tools and expands nationwide. |
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How judges rule on the non-domiciled CDL ruleJudges on the D.C. Circuit panel voiced skepticism of FMCSA’s documentation standard at oral argument. Watch the Sept. 28 hearing in New York v. DOT for where the broader challenge is headed. |
