Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025:
Former Mass. trooper sentenced in CDL testing fraud scheme
A former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) trooper was sentenced last week in federal court in Boston for his role in a conspiracy to falsify records by giving passing scores to certain commercial driver’s license applicants, including individuals who had failed or did not take the CDL skills test as required by federal law.
Perry Mendes, 64, of Wareham, Massachusetts, was sentenced to one month in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release with the first two months on home confinement. The government recommended a sentence of one year in prison and a fine of $5,500.
Mendes pleaded guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to falsify records, three counts of falsifying records and two counts of making false statements. In January 2024, Mendes was charged in a 74-count indictment along with five others in the alleged conspiracy and related schemes.
Members of MSP’s CDL Unit were responsible for administering CDL skills tests. Only drivers who have passed the test and thereby proved they are capable and qualified to drive a commercial vehicle may be issued a CDL, with the primary goal of public safety.
Between January 2019 and April 2022, Mendes conspired with others to give automatic passing scores to at least 17 CDL applicants on their skills tests regardless of whether they actually passed, using the code word “golden handshake” or “golden,” for short, to identify applicants who would receive special treatment.
Mendes admitted to his role in the alleged conspiracy, including that he cut skills tests short for “golden” applicants; that he entered false information on CDL score sheets indicating that certain applicants had passed the skills test when they had not; and that he reported passing scores for one applicant he knew had never taken the skills test.
Mendes is the first of the six defendants to be sentenced in the scheme.
[Related: Another former Mass. trooper pleads guilty in CDL bribery scheme]
Overhaul: Cargo theft continued to increase during Q2
Cargo theft recording and prevention firm Overhaul’s U.S. Cargo Theft Report for the second quarter of 2025 reported a total of 525 cargo theft incidents in Q2, representing a slight increase of 4% compared to Q1 2025 and a significant increase of 33% compared to the second quarter of 2024.
Historically, the second quarter has shown varying trends in cargo theft risk over the past few years, Overhaul noted. In 2023, there was a reduction in theft incidents compared to the first quarter, but in 2024, Q2 showed slightly higher levels than Q1, indicating that the risk remained stable.
A similar pattern was observed in Q2 2025. Regardless, the second quarter marks the start of the riskiest period of the year, as it signals the beginning of the second half of the year, which typically sees an increase in economic and logistics activities and consequently in criminal activities.
The distribution of theft incidents in the second quarter of 2025 was fairly even with 32% in April, 34% in May, and 33% in June.
In the first half of 2025, cargo theft in the United States increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2024, a rise slightly below early-year projections. Nonetheless, the upward trend continues to highlight cargo theft as an ongoing issue.
Looking ahead, Overhaul expects a similar pattern to what was observed in 2023 and 2024, when theft activity began to climb as early as July. As a result, the prediction for the second half of 2025 anticipates at least a 15% increase in cargo theft incidents, driven by heightened economic and logistics activity in the latter part of the year.
Overhaul also reported that cargo theft in the U.S. continues to show higher incidence near freight hubs and large cities, leading to hot spots in states such as California (38%) and Texas (21%), which ranked first and second in terms of cargo theft risk. Food & Drinks (16%) were especially at risk, as well as Electronics (16%), followed by Home & Garden (13%), and Miscellaneous (11%).
During the second quarter, three product types experienced an increase in theft rate over both comparative quarters, Q1 2025 and Q2 2024. Metals thefts increased most significantly with +92% over Q1 2025 and +84% over Q2 2024. Within this product type, 43% of thefts took place in California. Cash thefts increased 51% and 236% over Q1 2025 and Q2 2024, respectively. Thefts within the category also took place primarily in Pennsylvania, which concentrated 55% of all hijacking events against armored trucks with cash in transit.
