Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026:
Trucking conditions declined in September, but improvements expected
Market conditions for trucking companies deteriorated modestly in September from August, largely due to record fuel costs and stagnating freight rates, according to FTR’s latest Trucking Conditions Index (TCI).
In September, FTR’s TCI declined to 8.13 from August’s 11.5 reading. However, FTR’s revised forecast calls for more favorable conditions for carriers over at least the next three quarters than in the prior outlook.
“Multiple signs point to a truck freight market that probably will be considerably stronger over the next few quarters than we had previously forecast,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “Slow employment growth in trucking despite strong freight rates suggests head winds for adding drivers, including various enforcement initiatives. An increase in our freight volume forecast puts further upward pressure on capacity utilization.”
[Related: Capacity squeeze and regulatory crackdowns point to durable trucking recovery]
Truck driver busted attempting to smuggle drugs from U.S. to Canada
A truck driver is being charged by the U.S. government for allegedly trafficking cocaine after being caught in Michigan attempting to transport 93 kilograms of the drug from the U.S. into Canada.
According to court documents, on Oct. 31 at approximately 12:20 a.m., a tractor-trailer driven by Kawal Preet Singh was stopped by a Michigan State Police trooper for traffic violations in Kimball Township, Michigan. During the stop, Singh presented a manifest indicated he was hauling “non-corrugated folding cartons” from Laredo, Texas, to Belleville, Ontario, Canada, court documents state.
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officer arrived on scene with a K9 to assist with the stop and conducted an open-air sniff. The dog alerted around the rear trailer doors.
Upon opening the trailer, the HSI officer allegedly observed two black garbage bags and two black duffle bags at the rear of the trailer, separate from the pallets containing the manifested cargo.Court documents
Inside the bags, the officer “found numerous bricks contained a white powdery substance, which was wrapped in cellophane and vacuum sealed plastic,” court documents said.
Field testing of the substance tested positive for the presence of cocaine. The total amount of the suspected cocaine was approximately 93 kilograms.
Singh was transported to the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office, where he stated that he picked up the pre-loaded trailer in Laredo, noting the trailer was locked with a white seal. He then made a stop at a truck stop in Ina, Illinois, and still observed the white trailer seal. Finally, he made two stops at travel centers in Battle Creek, Michigan, but said he did not conduct a walk-around before leaving.
Only after being pulled over “did he realize that there was a different yellow seal on his trailer,” according to the criminal complaint. Yet, license plate readers along his route in the days prior to the stop showed the trailer with a white seal in Campbell, Texas, on Oct. 29, and without a white seal on Oct. 30 in West Tarra Haute, Indiana. Investigators located an image from Battle Creek, Michigan, that showed a yellow seal on the trailer.
“Singh was unable to explain these discrepancies between his statement and the photographic images of the seals on his cellular device,” court documents added.
Singh was charged with knowingly and unlawfully possessing with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, a schedule II controlled substance.
