Two PlusAI trailers disappeared overnight from the company’s Fremont, California, warehouse on Sept. 24. One displayed both PlusAI and NVIDIA branding. Whoever took them broke the hand locks before pulling the trailers away from their docks. Inside sat something far less valuable than high-end technology: 40,000 pounds of sand.
PlusAI discovered the equipment missing the following morning. Its vehicle operations team immediately contacted police and filed insurance reports. Employees also reached out to neighboring facilities seeking security footage. Fremont Police received the stolen vehicle report at approximately 9:34 a.m.
The sand inside had a legitimate purpose. PlusAI uses simulated loads during manual testing of its trucks. Consistent weight helps engineers evaluate handling, braking and other driving dynamics. Those conditions more closely resemble real freight operations.
An unexpected text changes everything
The case took an unusual turn later that afternoon. A friend of PlusAI’s vice president of legal spotted both trailers outside her Newark office. The location sat only minutes from the company’s Fremont warehouse. She thought PlusAI had brought the equipment there for a display.
She photographed the trailers and texted the executive a congratulatory message. The picture quickly caught the company’s attention. PlusAI sent its vehicle operations team to the location and contacted authorities. Employees soon confirmed they had found the missing equipment.
“The trailers were actually located through a remarkable coincidence,” Lauren Kwan, PlusAI’s vice president of marketing, told FreightWaves. Newark Police responded to the 39000 block of Eureka Drive that afternoon. Officers recovered both trailers and returned them to PlusAI. All 40,000 pounds of sand remained inside.
“Police told us it appeared the thieves had broken open the back of the trailers,” Kwan told FreightWaves. She added that they found nothing valuable inside before abandoning the equipment. The discovery brought a quick end to the search. However, it did not answer why someone targeted the trailers.
One trailer carried NVIDIA branding
PlusAI linked the joint branding to its long-standing collaboration with NVIDIA. The companies work together on AI software and autonomous trucks. “One of them displayed joint PlusAI and NVIDIA branding,” Kwan told FreightWaves. She explained that the markings reflected the companies’ ongoing collaboration.
The branding raises a question about whether it influenced the thieves’ decision. However, Fremont Police has not publicly established a motive. No confirmed evidence currently connects the NVIDIA markings to the theft. Investigators also have not identified what the thieves expected to find inside.
Tracking technology did not lead PlusAI to the equipment in this case. Instead, the unexpected sighting led directly to its recovery. Kwan noted that real-time visibility could still provide value across transportation. Location and status technology can give fleets another tool against cargo theft.
Fremont Police assigned report number 260924009 to the original theft investigation. Newark Police documented the recovery under incident number P26101390. Fremont investigators continue working to determine who took the trailers. Authorities have not announced any arrests.
Why it matters
Trailer theft can develop quickly, giving transportation companies limited time to locate missing equipment. Physical security and real-time visibility can help fleets identify unauthorized movement sooner.
Click here for more articles on cargo theft and freight fraud by Phil Brink.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that will require some cold-storage operators to establish emergency financial resources for affected communities and allow local governments to impose substantially higher penalties for health and safety violations.
The measures, Assembly Bill 817 and Senate Bill 716, follo the June 17 fire at a nearly 500,000-square-foot Lineage cold-storage warehouse in Los Angeles. The blaze burned for eight days, triggering a state emergency declaration and a prolonged cleanup effort amid public-health concerns in surrounding neighborhoods.
AB 817, authored by Assembly member Mark González (D-Los Angeles), makes a contingency fund or insurance coverage for specified community emergency needs a condition of approval for building permits covering certain large cold-storage facilities.
The law is designed to ensure that resources are available for residents when a cold-storage emergency disrupts a neighborhood. Industry opposition groups said the measure could impose new financial obligations on cold-chain companies and ultimately raise costs through the food and pharmaceutical supply chain. The Global Cold Chain Alliance said cities and counties could set required contingency funds from zero to $20 million as a permit condition.
SB 716, sponsored by Sen. Maria Elena Durazo (D-Los Angeles), strengthens local enforcement authority for health and safety violations involving specified nonresidential buildings of at least 20,000 square feet. For qualifying violations that lead to a governor-declared emergency or federal disaster declaration, fines may reach $50,000 per violation.
The enhanced penalties will initially apply in Los Angeles County before expanding to qualifying areas statewide on July 1, 2028.
Current local penalties can amount to only hundreds or thousands of dollars, Durazo said, an amount she argued was insufficient to reflect the harm stemming from major industrial incidents.
The Los Angeles Fire Department determined the fire originated on the roof at or near a 13,000-panel solar array and involved an electrical event. However, because the precise electrical trigger could not be definitively proven, the official cause remains classified as undetermined.
Lineage said its cleanup and remediation alone would exceed $100 million. That work included removing more than 89 million pounds of spoiled food, demolishing the damaged structure and disinfecting the site.
The bills are California Latino Legislative Caucus priorities and focus on the aftermath of the Lineage warehouse fire in the mostly Hispanic neighborhood, which led to smoke, cleanup challenges and concerns surrounding deteriorating food at the site. Lineage Chief Executive Greg Lehmkuhl said during an earnings call that the company had committed $3.3 million to assist the community after the fire.
“Boyle Heights showed us the lasting impact a major facility emergency can have on a community,” Newsom said in a statement. “These laws strengthen the tools, resources and accountability needed to protect residents and help communities respond when emergencies happen.”
Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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The Airforwarders Association has named former Airlink chief executive Steve Smith as executive director to replace Brandon Fried, who will retire in December.
The Airforwarders Association represents logistics companies that manage freight transportation moving on airlines before Congress, federal agencies and industry partners.
Smith founded Airlink in early 2013 and grew it from a one-person startup into a non-profit organization with nearly $20 million in annual revenue that helps connect humanitarian organizations with airlines to ship relief supplies to disaster areas. A logistics matchmaking organization able to help humanitarian groups coordinate crisis response with the aviation sector had previously not existed. He left the organization in September 2025.
During his tenure, Airlink worked with more than 50 airlines and logistics companies, and 250 humanitarian groups across 100 countries, responding to more than 200 disasters and crises, and helping more than 80 million people in need.
Smith directed the organization’s response during major global disruptions, including COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine War, the Ebola outbreak, and the 2023 Türkiye earthquake, and has served as a subject matter expert to NATO on building resilience through public-private cooperation.
Airlink recently coordinated a series of cargo flights from Miami to Venezuela, donated by Amazon Air, to rush medical supplies and other essentials to victims of the massive earthquakes in June.
Prior to Airlink, Smith spent four years as director, civil aerospace at engine manufacturer Rolls Royce where he negotiated large commercial deals.
“Steve brings extensive aviation and logistics experience, a strong understanding of air cargo, and established relationships across all areas of the industry,” said Fried, the outgoing executive director. “He understands the issues affecting the industry and the importance of engaging members, and I am confident he is well-placed to lead the AfA and build on the work we have done over the past two decades.”
Fried, who has led the AfA for 21 years, will assist Smith during a transition period, allowing Smith to settle into his new role as the AfA continues its advocacy work. Among issues the AfA lobbies on are air cargo security, airport infrastructure, and trade facilitation.
He announced in February that he planned to retire at the end of the year.
“The work of the AfA has rarely been more important, with shifting trade policy,
geopolitical disruption, and aging infrastructure adding pressure on supply chains that are already stretched,” said Smith, in a news release announcing his hire. “Forwarders need greater predictability as they navigate these pressures, and investment in the infrastructure that keeps it moving. I look forward to working alongside the AfA team, meeting more members, and ensuring forwarders continue to have an effective voice in Washington and across an industry that sits at the center of billions of dollars in global trade every day.”
Smith serves on the board of InterAction, the largest U.S. alliance of international non-governmental organizations, is a board trustee of the Aero Club of Washington, and serves on the advisory board of GoCrisis, a crisis management company. He is a member of the Air Transport World Hall of Fame.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
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