66% of logistics pros say talent quality — not cost — is the #1 factor in choosing a nearshore partner. Rapido's integration model explains why that's the right question to be asking.
Plus, a carrier pleading guilty to mob money laundering while still FMCSA-active, Iran's first post-ceasefire attack and what it means for diesel surcharges, FedEx Freight's first earnings as a standalone company, and more in today's newsletter.
Freight brokers are measuring their inboxes wrong. Most inbound email is monitoring, not work. And the longtail categories that look like noise are costing real margin. Here's how to audit what's actually in your inbox, and why it matters in 2026's margin-first market.
Plus, a carrier pleading guilty to mob money laundering while still FMCSA-active, Iran's first post-ceasefire attack and what it means for diesel surcharges, FedEx Freight's first earnings as a standalone company, and more in today's newsletter.
Happy Friday. Rates are still elevated, tender rejections are running well above last year, and the Fourth of July hasn't even hit yet. We're breaking down Arrive's June 2026 Freight Market Update in today's feature.
Plus:
TOP LANE MOVERS POWERED BY TRIUMPH
👨👩👧 A Trucking Company Just Pleaded Guilty to Hiding Mob Money. Frasso Trucking, a New Jersey carrier, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy for anti-money laundering profiteering after being used by its owners to conceal illegal gambling proceeds tied to the Lucchese crime family. The case is part of a two-year investigation that identified $4.79 million in suspected criminal proceeds funneled through illegal poker clubs, an online sportsbook, and shell companies — with 42 people indicted since April 2025. As of June 23, Frasso Trucking was still listed as an active carrier on FMCSA's SAFER website. Yep, a carrier actively moving freight while simultaneously pleading guilty to organized crime money laundering.
🚢 Iran Just Shot at a Ship. The Ceasefire Is One Week Old. An Iranian drone struck the Evergreen vessel Ever Lovely in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday — the first reported attack since the US-Iran ceasefire — sending oil prices higher and prompting the UN to pause ship evacuations. Windward AI tracked 62 vessels transiting on June 24, but only 21 inbound, as tanker flows into the region remained heavily restricted. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister warned at the UN that safe passage "cannot be guaranteed" under any arrangement that bypasses Iran and threatened to suspend the designated parallel route if shippers use non-Tehran-approved corridors. Oil inventories sitting in Gulf vessels dropped from 160 million barrels to 110 million barrels since early June, and until inbound tanker flows normalize, the benchmark price and the surcharge calculations attached to it stay volatile.
📦 FedEx Freight as Standalone Company is Already Hunting. FedEx Freight just reported its first earnings as a standalone public company after splitting from FedEx Corp. earlier this month, and CEO John Smith didn't spend much time looking backward. The company built out a dedicated sales force targeting data center infrastructure, grocery, and healthcare; high-margin segments where it had historically underperformed. Smith called it moving from "building" to "hunting." The timing is pointed: Amazon announced LTL expansion earlier this month, sending FedEx Freight shares and other LTL peers tumbling on the news. FedEx Freight is essentially telling the market it plans to compete on specialization, not price. The LTL landscape is shifting fast; the biggest carrier in the segment is pivoting its entire sales strategy while the biggest retailer in the world is trying to eat its lunch.
A carrier driving Dallas to Chicago shows up in your Dallas-to-Nashville search. Every other tool calls that a match. It isn't one. You call them. They can't cover. You call three more. Same story. The problem isn't the carriers. The problem is the search.
Lane Intelligence shows you which carriers have actually run the lane, which have a truck nearby right now, and which are posting capacity. Carriers are scored and ranked — so the ones most likely to say 'yes' rise to the top. Every result identity-verified.
The truckload market is not fully “hot” yet, but it is no longer loose either.
That is the main takeaway from Arrive Logistics’ June market update. Freight volumes are mostly stable, but capacity has been getting thinner. That means normal disruptions are starting to hit harder.
Roadcheck Week and Memorial Day pulled trucks out of the market, pushing rates higher. Things cooled off a bit in early June, but tender rejections are still much higher than last year. Dry van rejections climbed near 18%, reefer rejections hit roughly 25%, and flatbed remains tight with rejection rates in the 30% to 40% range.
The market is getting more sensitive to timing. The end of the quarter and the short Fourth of July shipping week are expected to create another round of volatility.
Spot rates have moved above contract rates in dry van and reefer. Arrive expects more contract increases through the rest of the year.
Demand is also not exploding. The consumer is still spending, but not all spending growth is volume growth. Bank of America card data showed household spending rose 5.1% year over year in May, the strongest gain in nearly 4 years. That supports freight demand, but inflation is still the risk: if more of that spending is just higher prices, it may not translate into much more freight.
The next few weeks will show whether this is just seasonal summer tightness or the beginning of a higher-rate environment that lasts into 2027.
Check out Arrive's full report by clicking here.
The Supreme Court just removed brokers' federal liability shield for carrier selection. Our free risk assessment tool reveals if the carriers you're booking today could cost you in court.
🕊️ Lakeville Founder John Wren Dies. The Lakeville Motor Express founder and former ATA chairman, the first Minnesotan to lead the association, died June 16 at 80.
🏭 FMCSA Glitch Triggers Bogus Audits. A SafeSpect system update mistakenly flagged decades-old carriers as new entrants, setting off a wave of unwarranted safety audits across North Carolina.
🤖 Humanoid Robots Hit Warehouses. Agility Robotics is betting that staffing warehouses with humanoids solves the labor crisis, becoming the first publicly traded company focused entirely on the space.
🚛 Norfolk Southern Accused of Patent Theft. A lawsuit alleges Norfolk Southern stole AI inspection technology from a Georgia startup and deployed it network-wide without paying.
Issue 003 of FreightCaviar Print is almost here.
Print magazine + Caviar Circle access.
From $17/month.
30-day money-back guarantee. If it's not for you, we'll refund you right away, and you still keep both Winter and Spring editions.
Subscribe → here.
66% of logistics pros say talent quality — not cost — is the #1 factor in choosing a nearshore partner. Rapido's integration model explains why that's the right question to be asking.
Freight brokers are measuring their inboxes wrong. Most inbound email is monitoring, not work. And the longtail categories that look like noise are costing real margin. Here's how to audit what's actually in your inbox, and why it matters in 2026's margin-first market.
Bad carriers are gaming the weigh station system. Plus, C.H. Robinson's own engineer goes scorched earth on Reddit, the Ghost Truck Act gets roasted, and more in today's newsletter.
Plus, overseas ELD tampering, 100 pallets of stolen womenswear, 20,000 Mexican truckers losing US visas, and more in today's newsletter.
Join over 14K+ subscribers to get the latest freight news and entertainment directly in your inbox for free. Subscribe & be sure to check your inbox to confirm (and your spam folder just in case).
