FreightWaves Today | September 10

Malcolm Harris (0:24)

Welcome to FreightWaves Today, I'm your host Malcolm Harris, alongside my co-host, Zach Strickland. Of course, you may know me from What The Truck and Zach from Freightonomics, but today we are all yours, Zach. Hello, sir, how are you?

Zach Strickland (0:37)

After, good afternoon.

Malcolm Harris (0:39)

Good afternoon, officially.

Zach Strickland (0:41)

It's like you're the cool one, and I'm the nerd on the side.

Malcolm Harris (0:46)

I'm not cool, man.

Zach Strickland (0:47)

What The Truck, Freightonomics, you know, like what are you gonna do? It's like the cool friend and the nerd friend.

Malcolm Harris (0:52)

No, but it's like PB&J, it's the perfect combination. You gotta have, you can't have one way or the other, if you have one way or the other, the sandwich doesn't taste as good.

Zach Strickland (1:02)

You're probably right.

Malcolm Harris (1:04)

I know I'm right, I know I'm right. It's good to see you. We got a big show today. Of course, you guys know Thursdays are always us, Malcolm, as well as Zach. And today we have two great guests that are going to be fantastic. Let's get into it and see who we have that is gonna be on the show today. We're going to start with the Pasco's Eric Lemus. He is breaking down a new report showing operator margins nearly vanished this quarter, right as peak season approaches. And then DTN's own Ben Hershey is joining us on how AI-powered weather forecasting is helping keep drivers safe as the strongest El Nino pattern in years is officially underway. It's all coming up right here on FreightWaves Today. We have a lot to get into as well. Of course, our two Freightonomics with, of course, Zach as well as DJ. What's the happenings in Freightonomics today? Give us a little insight.

Zach Strickland (1:54)

DJ is going to break down the latest macroeconomic readings.

We got a lot to go through there. But he also did a little bit of back-end work for me on, I know this has been overdone a little bit, but the influence of AI on the economy. You hear a lot of this back and forth around production, like people are doing, are they more productive with AI? Yes. Then you have the physical thing, which is a lot of what our audience is worried about is, how much freight is moving?

How much is this actually contributing to GDP? How much of it in those figures is being driven by this ongoing activity with AI? It's a huge debate. He did a little bit of back-end work there. Then of course, we're going to have Thomas Wasson on.

Malcolm Harris (2:38)

Oh, really?

Zach Strickland (2:39)

Thomas Wasson, to help me break down, we've got some border crossing stuff going on with the visas, but also I think primarily because he's worked extensively with fleet count data, the FMCSA. Of course, we have a partnership in Sonar with Carrier Details, and FMCSA data has had a little bit of a moment in terms of their transitioning, their systems and everything. So we're going to break that down to see what's actually going on with the capacity.

Malcolm Harris (3:08)

It's going to be fantastic stuff. I mean, anytime Thomas Wasson is in the room, just buckle up your seatbelt to get ready. He is fantastic and that's going to be quite the show. Of course, you guys know how we always start the show. Here is now officially your Morning Minute.

SPEAKER_3 (3:23)

We kick things off with a massive milestone in cross-border commerce. US-Mexico trade reached a record $94.8 billion in July, the highest monthly total on record according to US Census Bureau data analyzed by WorldCity. Two-way trade between the US and Mexico jumped 27.5 percent from $74.3 billion in the same month last year. Mexico now accounts for nearly 18 percent of total US international trade, firmly holding its position as America's number one trading partner ahead of Canada, at number two and China at number three. Laredo, Texas retained its crown as the nation's busiest international trade gateway, handling $36.9 billion in two-way commerce during July, up nearly 22 percent year over year. Meanwhile, federal regulators are giving carriers some breathing room during a major technology transition.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has temporarily suspended enforcement of its biennial update requirement, and stopped inactivating USDOT numbers when registrants missed those filings. The relief covers deadlines falling on or after June 1, 2026, and will remain in place until further notice.

Fmcsa introduced the change while registrants transitioned to its new MODIS system, which the agency launched May 19

Officials want to reduce service disruptions during the migration. Businesses covered by the relief do not need to submit overdue biennial updates immediately, and their USDOT numbers will remain active despite missed deadlines. The Fmcsa will provide advance warning before restarting enforcement actions. Finally, the federal government's aggressive crackdown on alleged CDL fraud is now enlisting the public for help. US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a tip line for reporting suspected commercial drivers license fraud. People with information about suspected CDL fraud can submit tips by calling their tip line. This comes shortly after federal officials announced the emergency removal of more than 110 commercial driver training schools from a federal registry. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated those 110 schools accounted for 5,000 English language proficiency violations. HSI said it had already received more than 1,000 leads involving CDL-related businesses, suspected of unsafe practices. Investigators were examining for potential CDL fraud, unauthorized employment, identity document fraud, money laundering, possible connections to human smuggling, drug trafficking, and cartel activity.