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This week’s top stories in trucking

Nussbaum Leads Driver Pay Push

Illinois-based Nussbaum Transportation this week publicly detailed driver pay increases that could signal a broader industry shift. The move echoes Schneider National’s 2020 announcement that triggered an industrywide wave of raises.

Current over-the-road drivers receive a 3-cent-per-mile increase and $50 more in weekly guarantees. New hires receive an additional 5 cents per mile and $100 more weekly. Key-location drivers in Chicago, the Quad Cities area, Indianapolis and Columbus gained a total of 10 cents per mile through increases rolled out in April and May.

Nussbaum also launched its first profit-sharing plan, averaging 2 cents per mile annually and potentially 4 cents per mile in strong years.

National Transportation Institute President and CEO Leah Shaver confirmed other fleets have quietly raised pay recently amid first- and second-quarter hiring challenges. Ryder CEO John Diez predicted sign-on bonuses will spread before broader wage inflation hits.

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Supreme Court Rules Last-Mile Drivers Qualify as Interstate Workers

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that transportation workers delivering goods on the final leg of an interstate journey qualify as “interstate workers” — even if they never cross state lines. The 9-0 decision in Flowers Foods v. Brock means last-mile drivers can now bypass forced arbitration and sue employers directly under the Federal Arbitration Act.

Justice Neil Gorsuch rejected the notion that workers must physically cross borders or “touch” vehicles that do. “Each of the drivers played a direct, active and necessary part in ensuring the Krimpets got from a point in State B to a point in State A,” he wrote.

Fleet executives should note the expanded class-action exposure for last-mile operations.

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The Trucking Insurance Crisis

Commercial auto insurance posted its 14th consecutive year of underwriting losses in 2024, with insurers paying $1.07 for every dollar collected. The paradox: Heavy-duty truck crash rates fell 2.6% from 2021 to 2024 while liability premiums climbed 38%.

The losses are not coming from the highway. They are coming from collapsed underwriting standards, Rob Carpenter argues in a new FreightWaves analysis. Instant-issue platforms now write policies based on self-certified applications that nobody verifies. Assigned-risk pools force insurers to cover carriers the voluntary market rejected.

The $750,000 federal minimum, unchanged since 1980, discourages proper vetting. Inflation-adjusted, it should be $2.8 million. The industry built this crisis, Carpenter writes, and the courtroom is now pricing the consequences.

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Supreme Court Sidelines Florida’s Interstate CDL Fight

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Florida’s lawsuit against California and Washington over commercial driver licenses issued to undocumented immigrants, leaving existing licensing rules intact.

The case traces to a fatal August 2025 crash on Florida’s Turnpike involving Harjinder Singh, a truck driver from India who allegedly made an illegal U-turn that killed three people. Singh held a valid California CDL and was previously licensed in Washington.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier argued those states violated federal safety and immigration laws by licensing drivers “without proper training or the ability to read road signs.” Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, arguing the court must hear state-versus-state disputes.

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Motive Debuts Integrated AI Stack to Slash Manual Workflows

At its Vision 26 conference in Nashville, Motive unveiled hardware and software designed to consolidate fragmented fleet systems. The centerpiece is AI Dashcam Plus, a single unit combining telematics and cameras on a Qualcomm processor capable of running more than 30 AI models simultaneously.

“We combined telematics and cameras into one device. That means faster install, one point of failure instead of two,” said Shoaib Makani, co-founder and CEO of Motive.

The platform’s Atlas AI assistant now generates morning briefings, drafts driver messages and connects to external tools such as ChatGPT. Motive estimates that 1,000-vehicle fleets can save $3.4 million annually through reduced accidents and lower insurance and fuel costs.

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SONAR spotlight: Post Memorial Day’s superseasonal rate boom

(Source: SONAR)

Summary: Spot truckload rates showed an unusual post-Memorial Day twist as dry van rates briefly eclipsed reefer rates before settling slightly lower. Flatbed rates continued climbing to new record highs in the SONAR dataset.

Dry van rates received a superseasonal boost leading up to Memorial Day, followed by a typical seasonal dip. The SONAR National Truckload Index’s seven-day average fell 1 cent per mile week over week to $3.54 from $3.55 on May 21. The index stood 50 cents per mile, or 16%, above the $3.05 level last month. Compared with last year, it was up $1.24 per mile, or 54%, from $2.31.

Reefer spot rates followed a similar Memorial Day pattern of a seasonal gain then slight loss. The SONAR Reefer Truckload Index fell 5 cents per mile week over week to $3.61 from $3.66. The index stood 31 cents per mile, or 9%, above the $3.30 level last month and $1.02 per mile, or 39%, above the $2.59 level last year.

The flatbed segment continued rising at a historic pace. The SONAR Flatbed Truckload Index rose 11 cents per mile week over week to $4.36 from $4.25. It stood 33 cents per mile, or 8%, above the $4.03 level last month. Year-over-year comparisons highlight the parabolic rise best: The index was up $1.58 per mile, or 57%, from $2.78 last year.

A relative shortage of trucking capacity compared with truckload demand remains the key driver. The produce season continues gaining momentum and is affecting dry van and reefer rates depending on the region. Shippers in states such as Florida, Texas and California should prepare for added capacity challenges.

Data center construction appears to be a primary driver for flatbed rates, with downstream effects that include power grid expansion by utilities. This is also increasing demand for the raw materials required to build them.

Looking ahead, seasonal rate declines have typically weighed on spot rates leading up to the Fourth of July holiday weekend. However, tender rejection rates remain elevated, suggesting tighter upstream capacity and more frequent routing guide failures. Sudden demand shocks from consumers or geopolitical events could add even greater volatility to an already turbulent market.