Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026:
Truck tonnage dipped in July after June increase
Trucking activity in the United States decreased 1% in July after rising 1.5% in June, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
"Tonnage levels have been choppy recently, and this trend was reflected in July’s decline,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. "Aside from a couple pockets of strength, including the boom in data center construction for AI, freight has been lackluster. It is also true that the industry is seeing a recovery, but that is nearly all due to excess capacity leaving the market.”
In July, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.5, down from 114.7 in June. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, decreased 0.5% from the same month in 2025, which was worse than June’s 1.2% gain.ATA
Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2025, tonnage is up 1.4% due to robust year-over-year increases from February through April.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 117 in July, 0.9% below June’s reading of 118.
Specialized radioactive waste hauler named CVSA’s IDEA winner
Tommy Cash, a truck driver with CAST Specialty Transportation Inc., has been named the recipient of the 2026 International Driver Excellence Award (IDEA) by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.
Tommy Cash
According to CVSA, Cash exemplifies those qualities through more than four decades of safe driving, outstanding leadership in training the next generation of drivers and unwavering dedication to the commercial motor vehicle industry, all while maintaining an exemplary safety record of more than 3.6 million crash-free miles.
“I was like, wow, this is fantastic,” said Cash about the moment he found out from his safety manager that he was selected as this year’s IDEA recipient. “I couldn’t believe it. I was very happy, very pleased and, of course, very honored. That’s a big accomplishment.”
Throughout his career, Cash has hauled a wide variety of freight, including fuel, milk, refrigerated goods, flatbed loads and bulk commodities. For the past 23 years, he has specialized in transporting legacy radioactive waste -- one of the nation’s most demanding and highly regulated transportation operations -- for the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) program near Carlsbad, New Mexico, the nation’s only repository for the disposal of transuranic waste generated by atomic energy defense activities.
Today, Cash is one of only 36 professional drivers in the U.S. entrusted with transporting transuranic radioactive waste from DOE sites across the country to the WIPP facility for permanent disposal. Selection for this role requires an exceptional driving history and extremely rigorous background screening.
Cash’s commitment to safety is reflected not only in his crash-free driving record but also in his extraordinary inspection history. During the past three years alone, he has undergone more than 195 Level VI Inspections, which is a higher and stricter inspection standard and procedure due to the materials being transported. A Level VI Inspection is conducted at the point of origin before the driver is permitted to start travel. The vehicle, driver and cargo must all be free of defects to pass inspection and proceed on their route.
Cash serves as a senior lead driver and mentor within the WIPP program, road-testing driver applicants, training newly hired drivers and coaching fellow professional drivers.
“In fact, Tommy has set the bar so high, that we’ve had to adapt hiring and training standards further to keep up with his superior performance,” said Mike Savage, director of safety for CAST Specialty Transportation Inc.
Cash’s accomplishments have earned him numerous industry honors, including recognition as CAST Specialty Transportation’s Driver of the Year and, most recently, one of the Truckload Carriers Association’s 2026 Professional Drivers of the Year.
“Tommy’s clean inspections time after time greatly contribute to the company’s overall safety profile but, more importantly, it is a testament to his skill and expertise in trucking and a strong commitment to safety,” Savage added. “The motoring public is safer with a driver like Mr. Cash operating on American roadways. He truly has contributed greatly to trucking safety.”
Cash will attend and be honored at the CVSA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, in September where he will receive $5,000 and a crystal trophy at the awards luncheon on Sept. 23.
Truck bound to U.S. from Mexico busted with big cocaine haul
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Pharr International Bridge cargo facility in Texas intercepted $634,000 worth of alleged cocaine concealed in a commercial tractor-trailer.
“Our CBP officers continue to successfully use their skills and expertise to intercept another load of hard narcotics,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry.
On Aug. 7, CBP officers encountered a tractor-trailer traveling from Reynosa, Mexico. The vehicle was referred to secondary for further inspection utilizing nonintrusive inspection equipment, which showed anomalies within the tractor.
Physical inspection of the vehicle resulted in the extraction of 18 packages of alleged cocaine with a combined weight of 47.48 pounds (21.54 kg) concealed within the vehicle.
CBP Office of Field Operations seized the narcotics and vehicle. Homeland Security Investigation Special Agents initiated a criminal investigation.
