Criminals can enter trusted freight channels through compromised carrier accounts, email systems, business phones or compliance platforms. They may change delivery instructions after a legitimate trucking company takes possession. That move can bypass safeguards focused only on carrier selection. Verisk CargoNet identifies this identity-based deception as an expanding holiday threat.
The warning accompanies a five-year analysis covering Labor Day periods from 2021 through 2025. Verisk CargoNet recorded 273 incidents across the United States during those seven-day windows. Estimated commodity value reached approximately $31.8 million. Verisk released the findings Friday ahead of the 2026 holiday weekend.
Labor Day thefts climbed 70%
The annual count increased from 33 incidents in 2021 to 56 during 2025. That change represented a 70% jump. Activity reached a five-year high with 70 cases in 2024. CargoNet found that risk remained materially above levels recorded early within the period.
Friday led every weekday with 55 incidents. Tuesday followed with 49, while Thursday produced 46 and Wednesday recorded 44. Those four days generated 194 cases, representing 71% of the entire analysis. The holiday weekend produced significantly fewer reports.
Saturday accounted for 24 incidents, while Sunday had 28 and Labor Day Monday recorded 27. CargoNet connected this pattern with deceptive pickups and non-delivery schemes. Those crimes depend upon active phone lines, working employees and freight moving through normal channels. Such conditions decline during closures before returning around the weekend.
CargoNet described two overlapping risks surrounding the holiday. Physical exposure develops when loaded freight remains stationary during closures or schedule disruptions. Verification exposure emerges when limited staffing combines with time pressure. Those conditions help criminals impersonate carriers, alter instructions or introduce fraudulent contact information.
Three states accounted for nearly half
California, Texas and Illinois accounted for 130 incidents, representing 48% of the five-year total. California led the country with 70 cases. Texas followed at 38, while Illinois recorded 22. Verisk connected this concentration with dense freight networks, large consumer markets and intermodal infrastructure.
Food and beverage shipments led all commodity categories with 49 incidents. Household goods ranked second with 27, followed by electronics at 25. Vehicles and accessories accounted for 20 cases, while metals produced 11. CargoNet noted that these products offer strong resale opportunities through numerous illicit channels.
The broader financial threat extends beyond Labor Day. CargoNet estimated cargo theft losses exceeded $359 million during 2026’s first six months. Average stolen commodity value reached approximately $341,518. Organized groups increasingly pursue expensive metals, enterprise technology components and other high-value freight.
Verisk did not identify individual victims, suspects, carriers or investigations within the Labor Day analysis. The report provided no breakdown separating physical thefts from identity-based schemes. CargoNet also withheld individual loss amounts and recovery outcomes. Those details remain unknown from Friday’s announcement.
Why It Matters
Brokers, carriers and shippers face exposure before, during and after the holiday weekend. The findings show that routine business activity can give criminals more opportunities than complete closures.
Click here for more articles on cargo theft and freight fraud by Phil Brink.
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The post CargoNet tracks $31.8M in Labor Day thefts as criminals breach trusted freight accounts appeared first on FreightWaves.
Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week in Borderlands Mexico: Trucker protest raises stakes in Mexico-US B-1 visa dispute; CBP announces extended-hours program for empty trailers at Laredo bridge; and Imperative Logistics expands El Paso footprint with RM Customhouse Brokers deal.
Trucker protest raises stakes in Mexico-US B-1 visa dispute
Trucking industry leaders in Mexico are intensifying calls for U.S. officials to clarify how B-1 visa rules are being enforced against cross-border truck drivers, warning that continued uncertainty could disrupt freight flows between Mexico and the United States.
Officials with Mexico’s National Chamber of Freight Transportation (CANACAR) say Mexican drivers are losing their visas after encounters with U.S. officials involving alleged cabotage violations, but carriers lack clear information about how eligibility and violations are being determined at different border crossings.
The dispute spilled into public view Thursday when truck drivers blocked commercial traffic at the Mexicali, Mexico-Calexico East (California) border crossing in protest of visa revocations.
CANACAR officials in neighboring Tijuana have urged drivers there not to stage similar blockades, warning that shutting down additional border crossings would increase the economic impact.
Alfonso Millán Chávez, CANACAR delegate for Tijuana, Tecate and Playas de Rosarito, said the organization and other business groups are seeking meetings with U.S. and Mexican officials to establish clearer protocols governing visa revocations tied to alleged cabotage, reported Uniradio Informa México.
Millán said disagreements can arise over what constitutes a prohibited domestic movement in the U.S., including how officials treat the movement of empty trailers.
“Sometimes we have had problems with the interpretation, for example with an empty trailer,” Millán said according to El Sol de Tijuana. “The empty trailer is there to be loaded with merchandise, and some officers interpret the empty trailer as merchandise.”
Cabotage generally refers to transportation between two points within the same country by a foreign carrier. Mexican truck drivers using B-1 visas are permitted to haul international freight into and out of the U.S., but generally cannot perform point-to-point domestic U.S. freight movements.
Millán said CANACAR wants U.S. authorities to establish protocols for visa actions involving suspected cabotage and provide reliable statistics showing how many drivers have lost their visas.
CANACAR estimates more than 25,000 visas have been revoked from commercial drivers along Mexico’s northern border, including potentially 4,000 in the Tijuana area. The figures are CANACAR estimates based on reports from its members and social media, however, rather than official U.S. government statistics. The organization has sought information from the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and U.S. State Department.
Related: Mexican truckers block California border crossing over B-1 visa crackdown
Visa dispute reaches boiling point in Mexicali
The pressure intensified Thursday when truckers protested at the Mexicali commercial port of entry over what drivers described as an increase in B-1 visa revocations.
Millán said CANACAR had anticipated growing frustration among drivers.
“We understand the desperation of the drivers, and as a chamber and as an industry, I think we have been anticipating this over the last few months,” Millán said. “There hasn’t been a week when we haven’t raised the issue with various authorities in both Mexico and the United States.”
CANACAR is nevertheless urging drivers to pursue negotiations rather than expand the demonstrations to Tijuana.
Millán called for Mexico’s Interior Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs to intervene with U.S. authorities, saying the dispute ultimately requires a binational solution. He said CANACAR has already raised the issue with the U.S. Embassy and State Department.
“My hope is that it does not extend to Tijuana,” Millán said of the protests. “The idea is that we be cautious with this issue.”
He added that CANACAR has consistently favored dialogue over actions that interrupt cross-border commerce.
Ismael Reyes de la Rosa, a CANACAR official in Mexicali, has also raised concerns about how U.S. officers are handling B-1 visas at the border, as drivers seek greater clarity over what activities could trigger cancellation or revocation.
The growing concern is not limited to Baja California. Israel Delgado, CANACAR’s vice president for Mexico’s northwest region, has warned that visa losses could affect time-sensitive shipments including medical products, technology, food and perishables moving from Mexico into the U.S.
Industry warns of supply chain effects
The visa dispute is beginning to ripple beyond trucking companies.
José Luis Contreras Valenzuela, president of the Association of Industrialists of Mesa de Otay, said the situation has contributed to delays in incoming supplies and deliveries of finished products.
Federico Serrano Bañuelos, president of Index Zona Costa, said companies that outsource transportation services are particularly exposed. Business groups are seeking to elevate the issue to Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for diplomatic discussions with U.S. officials, according to El Sol de Tijuana.
The dispute comes as cross-border freight activity in the Tijuana region is already below previous peaks. Millán recently said roughly 3,000 export trucks are crossing daily, compared with as many as 4,500 during stronger periods. He said freight volumes fell nearly 30% in 2025 before improving somewhat this year.
Millán said English-language proficiency enforcement, another recent concern for Mexican drivers operating in the U.S., has become less of an immediate problem locally. He said CANACAR had not recently received reports of drivers being placed out of service for English proficiency violations.
“The current challenge is the revocation of visas for cabotage issues,” Millán said, adding that such violations are sometimes interpreted “in a very drastic way.”
CBP announces extended-hours program for empty trailers at Laredo bridge
Port of Laredo, in coordination with Nuevo León’s Border Zone Development Corporation, will begin a 90-day program extending weekday operating hours for empty tractors and trailers at the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge beginning Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Under the program, weekday operations for empty trucks and trailers will begin one hour earlier, at 7 a.m., and continue until midnight, Monday through Friday. Current weekday operating hours are 8 a.m. to midnight.
The program is intended to alleviate morning northbound traffic congestion from Colombia, Nuevo León, to Laredo, Texas.
Program details:
- Effective date: Monday, Sept. 14
- Duration: 90 days
- Current weekday hours: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight
- Revised weekday hours: Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-midnight
- Applicable traffic: Empty tractors and trailers only
Imperative Logistics expands El Paso footprint with RM Customhouse Brokers deal
Imperative Logistics has joined forces with El Paso, Texas-based RM Customhouse Brokers, expanding the logistics provider’s customs brokerage and cross-border capabilities along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a news release.
RM Customhouse Brokers, whose history dates to 1948, provides customs brokerage, trade compliance, bonded warehousing and cross-border logistics services. Its El Paso operations combine customs clearance, storage and distribution services in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez trade corridor.
“El Paso is an important addition to our network and gives our customers another critical gateway for U.S.-Mexico trade,” Imperative Logistics CEO Dante Fornari said in a statement.
Fornari said the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez region includes more than 330 maquiladora plants and handles nearly $150 billion in annual trade, making the market a major North American manufacturing and cross-border freight hub.
RM President and co-owner Elvia Miles Doyle said joining Imperative will allow the company to maintain its existing customer relationships while providing access to a broader range of logistics services. RM customers will continue working with the same team while gaining access to Imperative’s customs brokerage, cross-border transportation, global forwarding and integrated logistics capabilities.
Imperative Logistics specializes in expedited transportation, cross-border services, global forwarding and mission-critical logistics.
Why it matters: Mexican trucking companies depend on B-1 drivers to move international freight across the border, and industry leaders warn that unclear or inconsistent enforcement of cabotage rules could reduce available cross-border capacity and trigger additional protests at major commercial gateways.
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Two trucks entered an industrial estate in Runcorn, England, and hauled away trailers carrying more than 800 Guinness barrels. The drivers arrived separately during a two-hour period Monday night. Each connected a tractor to a loaded trailer displaying GXO branding before leaving the depot. Police estimated the total value of the stolen beer and trailers at £205,000, or approximately $277,000.
The first vehicle reached Aston Lane around 7:45 p.m. Its driver attached a loaded trailer and departed 10 minutes later. That driver traveled toward the Mersey Gateway. A second truck arrived at 9:12 p.m. before leaving around 9:30 toward Rainhill and Watkinson Way.
Police release driver descriptions
Investigators described the initial driver as a white man with a short, dark beard and beanie. Authorities believe another male wearing a cap handled the later pickup. The Cheshire Constabulary announcement provides no additional physical details. Officers have not released photographs showing either individual.
The stolen beer carried an estimated value of £115,000, or approximately $155,000. Both white tri-axle curtain-side trailers displayed GXO branding. GXO told FreightWaves neither unit fell under its control, management or supervision during the theft. Police identified the equipment numbers as DL736 and DL542.
Those unique identifiers appear near the upper-left corner of each back entrance. Authorities included photographs within their announcement. The images show branding and other distinguishing features. Investigators hope motorists or witnesses recognize the missing equipment.
Investigation remains active
Detective Sergeant McClatchey confirmed that officers quickly opened an inquiry. “We will settle for nothing less than the full recovery of all the items stolen,” McClatchey said. His statement urged nearby motorists to review dashcam recordings. Relevant footage could reveal either vehicle’s movements before or after both incidents.
Anyone with information can contact Cheshire Constabulary online or call 101. Tipsters should reference incident number IML-2408641. Officials also want surveillance video captured near Aston Lane during the evening. The department has not announced any arrests or recoveries.
The public notice does not explain how both drivers accessed the property. Authorities have withheld the tractor registration numbers and ownership information. Investigators provided no details about credentials, paperwork or security procedures. Police also have not identified possible connections between the operators. FreightWaves contacted Cheshire Constabulary for additional information but did not receive a response before publication. This story will be updated if the department responds. Editor’s note: This story was updated Sept. 5 with additional background from GXO.
Why it matters
Two drivers removed valuable commercial loads during separate visits to one depot. Freight professionals can use this case to examine gate controls, pickup authorization and trailer-release procedures.
Click here for more articles on cargo theft and freight fraud by Phil Brink.
Port inspection leads to $10M counterfeit Nike, Adidas seizure in California – FreightWaves
Florida AG calls semi-truck a ‘rolling dungeon’ after 4 children confined for 6 years – FreightWaves
The post $277K Guinness heist: Thieves hit same UK depot twice in 2 hours appeared first on FreightWaves.
With the overall jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing a surprisingly big jump in employment, truck transportation participated in that rebound.
The monthly report showed truck transportation employment rising 4,800 jobs to 1,470,300. It’s the highest level of jobs in the sector since October.
But with employment since then mostly trending down each month, the number of jobs in the sector is still about 10,000 jobs less than it was a year ago.
“A single month trend does not in itself indicate that conditions are beginning to shift,” David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, said in a comment supplied to FreightWaves.
He cited data for April, when a big jump of more than 5,000 truck transportation jobs was followed by two months of declines that mostly offset the April surge.
“However, recent stability in truckload spot rate volatility, including a muted response to the Labor Day holiday, is context that shouldn’t be ignored,” Spencer said.
If the growth in employment has legs, Spencer said, that would “signal a shift in carrier priorities from replacing aging equipment and driver benefits and wages.”
Truckload and LTL numbers
One piece of data that is showing strength in the sector is the market for long-distance truckload drivers. That data lags the overall truck transportation numbers by a month.
The latest report, for July, shows employment in that subsector at 501,400 jobs. That is an increase of almost 5,000 jobs since January.
But like truck transportation jobs overall, it’s down from a year earlier, when it stood at 505,300 jobs. And it’s way down from a recent peak of 553,600 jobs in October 2022.
Growth in LTL drivers has been slower. It was up just 100 jobs between June and July, to 247,100 jobs, and was still 2,000 jobs less than a year earlier. LTL jobs’ recent peak was 282,200 jobs in June 2022.
Warehouse jobs took their second consecutive decline and are now 32,000 jobs less than they were a year ago.
With a decline of 2,600 jobs between July and August, warehouse jobs stood at 1,837,400 jobs. A year ago, it was at 1,869,400 jobs.
The contrast with the all-time peak is startling: 1,939,300 jobs in March 2022.
The broader numbers
Aaron Terrazas, an independent economist with a long history in transportation, did not find any undetected softness in the overall labor report, especially following a report a month ago that saw a decline of 23,000 jobs.
But that was followed by an upward revision in the latest release for July and June.
“July’s initially-reported surprise decline in payrolls now looks like a respectable gain well within the range of breakeven estimates,” Terrazas said in an email to FreightWaves. “The July dip was driven by local government/education — that was reversed. Late summer is a noisy time for public education payrolls. The unemployment rate was stable and participation increased.”
Numbers from Superior Payroll
The beginning of the month is also the time that Superior Trucking Payroll Service releases its data on certain economic conditions in trucking, drawn from the data it processes in paying thousands of drivers.
Its drive pay index slipped back in August to 158.08, down from 161.31 a month earlier. But it is still well above a year ago, when it was at 148.88.
Superior’s measurement of turnover was 9.37% for August. It is down from double digits that Superior measured between September and March.
Rail jobs rose 900 from an upward adjusted number in July. Employment was 150,400 jobs, up from 149,500 jobs, a fairly big gain for the sector where change is measured slowly. But it is still down from 154,100 jobs a month ago, even as rail traffic has increased.
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The post Big jump in truck transportation jobs in latest BLS report appeared first on FreightWaves.
Retail diesel prices are at an all-time high according to one key measurement.
The daily average national retail price for diesel, published by AAA, was set Friday at $5.85/gallon. A day earlier, the price at $5.7832/g set the highest price since military action began against Iran at the start of March.
The $5.85 price broke through the previous all-time high price of $5.82/g set in June 2022, a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Price data shows that the AAA price on the Friday before attacks against Iran began, followed by Iranian counterattacks, stood at $3.758/g, with the latest price now up about $2.10 since that day.
The last four days have seen a remarkable surge in retail diesel prices as measured by AAA, adding just under 25 cts/g during that time.
The DTS.USA data stream in SONAR for Friday showed a slightly lower average at $5.81/g.
That followed a sharp rise in prices on the ultra low sulfur diesel contract on CME, which is the starting point for the multi-step process that ultimately leads to a price at the pump.
ULSD settled at just under $4.50/g on August 21. It then plunged to about $4.25/g the next four days on hopes for more relief from restricted flow in the Strait of Hormuz, though that would not have had any impact from the curtailment of diesel supplies out of Russia.
That latter development has been as a result of successful drone strikes by Ukraine on the Russian refining sector, which is heavily oriented toward the production of middle distillates such as diesel.
But hope is not fundamentals, and ULSD took off from there, climbing to a settlement Wednesday of $4.6822/g. That recent upward move also comes after the entire month was essentially a bull run; a month ago, on August 4, ULSD settled at $3.7705/g.
Tossing out what appears to be a one-day outlier settlement from 2022, the all-time high ULSD settlement was Tuesday of this week at $4.6773/g.
Ironically, as the media reports are filled with the news of the all-time diesel high, its price on CME has softened. It declined 8.86 cts/g Thursday. Friday at approximately 10:30 a.m., ULSD was down just under 12 cts/g to $4.4739/g.
Kevin Book, the managing director of ClearView Energy Partners, summed up the market situation for diesel in an interview Friday on CNBC.
He described middle distillates such as diesel as “at the top of the list as far as the energy policy discussion right now.”
He noted that U.S. refineries are running “flat out”–not surprising, given that crack spreads for all products but diesel in particular are at historic highs–but that some Middle East supplies have been blocked by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz “and are compounded by outages in Russia.”
Book expressed skepticism about a quick slide in prices should the Strait open fully. “I think that there are real questions about the infrastructure on the other side,” he said.
While there have been refinery restarts, and if the Strait gets back to normal, “it looks a little bit better.”
“But will it go back to flowing as it did?” Book said. “It doesn’t seem obviously that way right now.”
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The post Retail diesel has never been this expensive appeared first on FreightWaves.
