Newsletters

🚚 Granted vs Revoked

Thomas Werdine

16 May 2025 — 7 min read

Freight Morning! 👋 We’re starting the day with a deep dive into granted vs. revoked freight brokerage authorities. Between January 2020 and December 2022, the FMCSA granted 25,286 new authorities, while revoking 15,419, resulting in a net gain of nearly 10,000 active brokerages. More ahead 👇

💬 More in Freight:

⚫️ Autonomous Pilot With 1000 Mile Lane

⚫️ Cass Data Shows More Mixed Signals For Market Recovery

⚫️ DAT Makes Factoring Acquisition

⚫️ DHL & Boston Dynamics Team Up

Pilot With 1000 Mile Lane 🤖

Aurora Innovation is expanding its autonomous trucking pilot with Werner Enterprises, adding a Fort Worth-to-Phoenix lane to its existing Texas operations.

The new route stretches over 1,000 miles more than 15 hours of driving, surpassing federal hours-of-service limits for human drivers. Aurora aims to cut that transit time in half by going fully driverless by late 2025.

Aurora and Werner first teamed up in 2022 with weekly runs between Fort Worth and El Paso. The Phoenix extension marks a key step toward scaling longer-haul autonomous freight. While current runs still include a human safety operator, Aurora plans to remove the driver once its system is validated for night and adverse weather driving, capabilities it’s currently testing with supervised hauls.

“We are excited for the extended miles being added,” said Chad Dittberner, SVP at Werner, calling autonomous trucking “an integral part” of the company’s future.

Aurora has already logged over 4,000 driverless miles and now runs two fully autonomous trucks on daily schedules. CEO Chris Urmson said the company expects to operate “tens of trucks” by the end of 2025 as it ramps up commercial operations.

Data Shows More Mixed Signals 🚨

April showed mixed signals for the freight market, according to Cass Information Systems. While freight rates rose year-over-year, volumes remained under pressure. The shipments index ticked up 0.4% from March but was still down 3.6% y/y—marking the softest decline so far in 2025. On a two-year stacked basis, shipments were down 7.5%.

Freight flows were disrupted in Q1 as some shippers pulled forward inventory ahead of tariffs, while others waited. That uncertainty—fueled by rapidly changing trade policy—has clouded forecasts and prompted many carriers to scale back or suspend full-year guidance.

Despite soft volumes, rates held steady. Cass’ freight expenditures index, which tracks overall freight spend including fuel, rose 3.3% month-over-month and 1.2% y/y—the first y/y gain since January 2023. The increase implies freight rates climbed roughly 5% y/y, supported by contract pricing gains and tighter capacity due to carrier exits.

Truckload base rates were up 0.9% y/y but dipped slightly from March. LTL carriers, meanwhile, continued reporting stronger yields thanks to a focus on service and pricing discipline. Diesel prices dropped 11% y/y in April, helping ease some cost pressures.

TOGETHER WITH TALENTO.

Talento is not just a nearshoring solution – it’s a partner in building and scaling a thriving logistics business. Focused entirely on freight, supply chain, and logistics, Talento offers more than just talent—it provides an entire ecosystem designed to support and optimize growth.

Beyond providing skilled, nearshore professionals, Talento helps diagnose operations, improve processes, and implement the right technology solutions.

Let Talento be the partner that helps build a dream team and scale smarter, faster, and limitless.

What Else Is Moving 🚚

Granted vs Revoked 📊

Between January 2020 and December 2022, the FMCSA granted 25,286 new freight brokerage authorities. During the same period, 15,419 were revoked—leaving a net gain of 9,867 active brokerages.

That’s a 167% jump in net new authorities compared to the 2017–2019 period, which saw just 3,697 net additions. The pandemic-era freight surge made brokerage look like easy money—and everyone wanted in.

Chaos Meets Opportunity

The historic market volatility of 2020–2022 created tailwinds for new brokers. Record rates, digital tools, and remote work opened the door for both seasoned pros and first-timers to jump into the game. Load boards exploded. So did freight courses and “how-to” guides. But that door didn’t just let in the hungry. It also let in the shady.

With minimal vetting and a rush of inexperienced entrants, double brokering, identity spoofing, and fraud ran rampant. Many of the new brokers lacked shipper relationships or operational know-how. Others were flat-out scams.

From Boom to Bust

By 2023, the freight market cooled—and the fallout began. Revocations spiked. New applications slowed. Some shops went under due to lack of freight; others couldn’t keep up with compliance.

Still, legit brokers that weathered the storm are now more tech-savvy, selective, and efficient. The broker explosion changed the landscape, but also exposed deep flaws. FMCSA is under pressure to improve oversight, and platforms are adding layers of fraud prevention.

FREIGHT SNIPPETS ✂️

💥 Factoring Acquisition | DAT Freight & Analytics has acquired Outgo, a payments and factoring tech company focused on truckload carriers, to enhance the reliability and value of its freight load board for both carriers and brokers. Founded in 2022 by former Uber and Convoy employees, Outgo will now be integrated into DAT One, DAT’s platform for carriers. Loads approved for factoring will be marked with a blue checkmark, allowing carriers to receive payment in four days or less. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more.

🇲🇽 U.S. Trade With Mexico | Mexico was the U.S.’s top trade partner in March with $77.3 billion in trade, up 13% year-over-year—the highest monthly total in six years. For Q1 2025, U.S.-Mexico trade hit $215 billion, an 8% increase over last year. Port Laredo handled $31.3 billion in two-way trade, with top imports including auto parts, computers, and trucks. Exports included gasoline, batteries, and diesel engines. Truck crossings through Laredo rose 3.5% in March, then dipped 4.7% in April. This week, Laredo represents 0.67% of total outbound truckload demand, up 8% from last week. Read more.

💸 Parking Shortage Fee | Truckers in Nevada may start charging a $500 delivery surcharge for Clark County loads starting July 1, citing a worsening truck parking shortage. The Nevada Hispanic Truckers’ Association says recent closures of truck yards in Las Vegas have left drivers with few legal parking options—and costly fines. Read more.

💐 Remembering Ryan Daube | The freight world lost a standout leader this week. Ryan Daube, founder of Advantage Freight Network (AFN), passed away on May 14 after a battle with stage 4 lung cancer. He built AFN into a $250M powerhouse before its 2018 sale to GlobalTranz and later founded 240 Logistics. Known for his “You Inc.” leadership style, Ryan championed intense sales culture, entrepreneurship, and building strong teams. Many in freight today trace their start back to his mentorship. Read more.

💰 DOT Awards 180 Projects | The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $3.2 billion in funding for 180 infrastructure projects on May 6. The bulk of the money—more than $1.4 billion—went to the Federal Highway Administration, accounting for roughly 44% of the total. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the department is working through a backlog of 3,200 unobligated grants left over from the Biden administration. So far, DOT has approved 329 of those previously announced grants. Read more.

⚖️ Weigh In Motion | The New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) announced it will expand the use of weigh-in-motion (WIM) technology to crack down on infrastructure damage caused by overweight trucks. As part of the state’s 2026 budget, WIM systems will be installed at 14 new locations across New York, including nine NYC-owned bridges and highways. WIM sensors, already in use on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway since 2023, weigh trucks as they pass and issue $650 fines to those exceeding legal limits. The system includes a 10% buffer over the maximum weight limit, meaning a truck rated at 40 tons is only cited if it exceeds 44 tons. Read more.

Pallets of News 🚛

DHL and Boston Dynamics Team Up 🤝

DHL Group is deepening its partnership with Boston Dynamics, announcing plans to deploy more than 1,000 Stretch robots globally by 2030 under a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). While Stretch is currently used for container unloading, the two companies aim to broaden its applications, including mobile case picking, one of the most labor-intensive warehouse tasks.

DHL began working with Boston Dynamics in 2018 and rolled out Stretch in North America in 2023. The robot has since been deployed in the U.K. and Europe, where it’s achieved speeds of up to 700 cases per hour.

Arkansas Troopers Make Marijuana Bust 🚔

Arkansas State Police say a routine traffic stop turned into a drug bust last week on I-40 near Ozark. Troopers pulled over a tractor-trailer for a traffic violation near mile marker 30. A search of the trailer uncovered three pallets holding 49 boxes of illegal marijuana, totaling 1,135 pounds. The driver, 51-year-old Kok Tse of Brooklyn, New York, was arrested and booked into the Franklin County Detention Center on felony charges of Trafficking a Controlled Substance and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.