Regulations

High-value cargo and volatile trade conditions are reshaping freight management, demanding a shift from reactive tracking to proactive, data-driven control.

The first year of deregulation under the Trump administration is reshaping the trucking industry, as federal agencies roll back emissions rules, language requirements, and speed limiter mandates. While supporters hail the moves as “pro-trucker,” critics warn that looser oversight could slow the industry’s shift toward cleaner, safer, and more autonomous operations.

A trio of industry stakeholders—each focused on different areas of surface transportation, including truckload, ground parcel, and less-than-truckload (LTL)—addressed current market conditions for their respective modes, as well as take a look at key priorities shippers need to be focusing on in 2026, at a session at this week’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) EDGE conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

It is now more difficult for non-U.S. citizens to obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) under new Department of Transportation (DOT) rules.

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order saying truckers who don’t read and speak English proficiently would be considered unfit for service is causing ripples of concern within the industry.

Industry groups praised the decision, saying the rules hurt truck sales.

AAR said that the comments were filed in regards to a United States Department of Transportation Request for Information, with a focus on DOT modernizing and streamlining rail regulations, “that stifle innovation and discourage investment without enhancing safety." It also noted that the main issue in the Biden administration’s crew staffing rule, which mandates a minimum of two members per train is viewed as an unsubstantiated mandate.

ATA called the Senate’s passage of the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act a “victory for common sense and puts us on the verge of eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles imposed by the federal government that waste time and money.”

Our top trucking correspondent takes his annual look at what federal regulators are now seeking from trucking as well as the potential impact those changes will have on rates and costs.

For the second straight year, concern over the state of the nation’s economy was the highest-ranked industry issue for trucking executives, according to an authoritative survey of industry issues by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI).

The Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB) recently announced it has extended the date for Class I railroad carriers to submit data related to new reciprocal switching regulations issued in a decision by the STB on April 30.

The Surface Transportation Board stated it has unanimously adopted a final rule to implement new regulations at 49 CFR part 1145. Which it said “sets forth a path for shippers and receivers to petition the Board for the prescription of a reciprocal switching statement.

Federal regulators should review the process by which fleets’ Compliance Reviews (CRs) are conducted and how the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) determines how and when reviews are conducted, the largest trucking interest group said in comments to the agency.

The Washington, D.C.-based Surface Transportation Board (STB), an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers, recently announced it has extended its reply comment period, for Docket No. EP 711, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) focusing on providing rail service with access to reciprocal switching as a remedy for poor service, by two weeks, to December 20.

If shippers think implications from pending truck regulation issues don’t affect them, they’d be wrong. Most of these proposed regs around alternative fuels and speed have a direct impact on truck capacity and costs—and eventually rates.