Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026:
Trucking market ‘generally better’ despite tonnage dips: ATA
ATA's Truck Tonnage Index has fallen in four of the last five months after big gains were observed to begin the year.ATA
Trucking activity in the United States decreased 0.5% in August after falling 1.2% in July, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the trucking “market has certainly flipped this year, but recent tonnage levels confirm this is due to reduced capacity, not robust demand.”
Tonnage has now declined “in four of the last five months,” he added, noting that tonnage “is down 4.3% from the recent peak in March, and it has fallen from year-earlier levels in three of the last four months. Because of all the supply constraints, however, the market is generally better.”
In August, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 112.7, down from 113.3 in July. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, decreased 1.6% from the same month in 2025, which was worse than July’s 0.7% decline.
Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2025, tonnage is up 1% due to robust year-over-year increases from February through April.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 116.1 in August, 0.6% below July’s reading of 116.7.
Iowa suspends weight regs with harvest proclamation
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has declared a state of emergency in the state coinciding with the beginning of grain harvest season.
In the proclamation, Reynolds noted that “concerns over a timely harvest have resulted in large amounts of agricultural truck traffic throughout the state and has hastened the need for efficient and effective collection of the harvest.”
As a result, the declaration suspends several regulatory provisions to allow trucks transporting soybeans, corn, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid, and gas), manure (dry and liquid), and distillers grains to be overweight, not exceeding 90,000 pounds gross weight, without a permit.
Suspension of the provisions applies to loads transported on all highways within Iowa, excluding the interstate system, that:
- Do not exceed 90,000 pounds gross weight
- Do not exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the primary and non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in the Iowa Code by more than 12.5%
- Do not exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds
- Comply with posted limits on roads and bridges
The proclamation is effective through Oct. 10.
Truck driver arrested in alleged cargo theft
The Delaware State Police arrested 35-year-old Dushatdaman Parihar, of Manteca, California, after he and a partner allegedly used fraudulent documents to steal a high-value cargo shipment from a New Castle warehouse on Sept. 14.
Dushatdaman PariharDelaware State Police
The suspects reportedly identified themselves as FedEx employees and presented driver’s licenses and shipping documents for a trailer containing more than $680,000 worth of electronics. The suspects then allegedly hooked to the trailer and left the area.
A short time later, the shipping documents were determined to be fraudulent. The caller later located the tractor-trailer parked at University Plaza and called 911. While speaking with the caller, troopers observed one of the suspects, later identified as Parihar, walking toward the tractor-trailer.
Troopers contacted Parihar and determined that the driver’s licenses presented at the warehouse and the registration plate displayed on the tractor-trailer were fraudulent.
Parihar was taken into custody without incident. The trailer was recovered and returned to the business with all the cargo still inside.
Parihar was charged with the following offenses:
- Theft Where the Property Value is $100,000 or More (Felony)
- Forgery First Degree (Felony)
- Forgery Second Degree (Felony)
- Conspiracy Second Degree
- Fictitious Registration Plate
Parihar is being held on a $66,550 secured bond.
