Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025:
Shippers’ market conditions hit three-year low point: FTR
FTR’s Shippers Conditions Index for June fell to -3.6 as shippers faced their toughest market conditions in three years.
FTR's Shippers' Conditions Index fell deeper into negative territory in June, largely due to rising fuel prices at the time.FTR Transportation Intelligence
“The freight market still looks soft well into next year, but not quite as soft as it did a month ago,” said Avery Vise, FTR’s vice president of trucking. “While that’s not great news for shippers, it’s not really bad news, either. Still, the range of possibilities remains broad due to an uncertain impact from recent tariff hikes potentially offset by a boost in activity due to lower financing costs and July’s enactment of tax cuts.”
Capacity is another unknown, Vise noted, as it “has been surprisingly resilient but might not be able to withstand rising insurance costs and other cost and regulatory pressures.”
Former state troopers get prison time in CDL bribery scheme
Two former Massachusetts State Police (MSP) troopers have been sentenced to prison time this month for their roles in falsifying CDL test scores.
On Aug. 12, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts sentenced Calvin Butner to three months of incarceration, a year of supervised release with the first three months in home confinement, and a $900 special assessment. On Aug. 8, Perry Mendes was sentenced to one month in prison, a year of supervised release with the first two months in home confinement, and a $600 special assessment.
On April 11, Mendes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to falsify records, three counts of falsifying records, and two counts of making false statements. On April 7, Butner pleaded guilty to conspiracy to falsify CDL test scores. Butner also pleaded guilty to three counts of falsifying records, aiding and abetting by giving passing scores to applicants who failed the CDL test, and five counts of making false statements.
Mendes, Butner and others were charged in 2024 in a 74-count indictment for conspiracy to falsify records, conspiracy to commit extortion, extortion, honest services mail fraud, falsification of records, false statements, and perjury.
The indictment alleged that from about May 2019 to January 2023, they conspired to give preferential treatment to CDL applicants by giving passing scores on their skills tests even if they had failed or did not take the test at all.
