Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025:
Another bill to address lawsuit abuse introduced in Congress
In another attempt to prevent frivolous lawsuits, including those targeting the trucking industry, members of Congress have introduced the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act that would reform tort law an mandate sanctions for frivolous lawsuits.
The bill – introduced in the U.S. House by Reps. Mike Collins (R-Georgia), Brandon Gill (R-Texas), Tom Tiffany (R-Wisconsin) and Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) – would amend Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
A separate bill also introduced in the House recently specifically targeted lawsuits against trucking companies and would give federal courts original jurisdiction over highway accident civil actions against commercial motor vehicles involved in interstate commerce when the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million.
A press release from Rep. Collins said his legislation would:
- Make sanctions for frivolous lawsuits mandatory rather than discretionary
- Eliminate the 21-day period that prevents a sanctions motion from being filed if the challenged pleading is withdrawn or corrected, allowing immediate filing of a motion for sanctions
- Mandate payment of reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, to parties harmed by the frivolous filing
- Allow additional sanctions, including striking pleadings, dismissing cases, or imposing financial penalties to deter future violations
"This commonsense legislation will help restore accountability in our courts, protect job creators from frivolous legal attacks, and deliver real reform to a civil justice system that too often favors abuse over fairness," Collins said. "We’re sending a clear message: the courtroom should be a place for justice, not a playground for abuse."
According to the American Trucking Associations, federal rules requiring sanctions for frivolous lawsuits were weakened in 1993, which resulted in increased lawsuit abuse. This bill, ATA added, would reinstate mandatory sanctions for lawyers who use this tactic in federal court.
“When frivolous lawsuits are filed to shake down honest trucking companies, hardworking truckers and consumers pay the price,” said ATA SVP of Legislative Affairs Henry Hanscom. “The Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act would turn the tables on those who pervert our justice system for profit by ensuring that unscrupulous lawyers – not their victims – bear the consequences of frivolous claims. The trucking industry strongly supports this commonsense reform championed by Congressman Collins to restore fairness in the courtroom and protect job creators.”
[Related: Lawmakers target 'lawsuit abuse' against trucking companies with new bill]
Watco Logistics acquires Colossal Transport Solutions
Third-party logistics provider Colossal Transport Solutions has been acquired by another 3PL, Watco Logistics, the companies announced. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Based in Spring, Texas, Colossal is a logistics partner for over-dimensional and heavy-haul transport across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, offering turnkey, multimodal services that cover every stage of the process, from rail transport and heavy haul to crane and rigging and barge shipments. The company also provides specialized support such as truck brokerage, transloading, railcar security, surveying, and engineered transport drawings.
“Colossal’s deep industry knowledge and reputation for handling multi-modal complex, largescale projects complements our ability to provide innovative, reliable, and flexible logistics services,” said Eric Wolfe, president of Pittsburg, Kansas-based 3PL Watco Logistics. “We’re excited to welcome the Colossal team into the Watco family, and together we offer customers an unmatched breadth of capabilities and an expanded geographic reach.”
Watco specializes in managing a full spectrum of freight methods, from highway and rail to barge, intermodal, ocean and air. Its services range from domestic truckload shipping and e-commerce fulfillment to intermodal transfers, rail freight management, inland and coastal waterway cargo handling, and global air and ocean freight forwarding.
Bill Taylor and Nestor Bernabe, co-founders of Colossal Transport, said what was important to the Colossal team’s legacy was “continued focus on growing alongside the customer, culture and fit for their talented team members and having access to added resources to support future growth.”
Shell launches fifth Giving Pump campaign
Shell Oil Products has brought back The Giving Pump for the fifth year, an initiative driving positive change by turning ordinary fill ups into donations for local charities across the nation.
Now through Oct. 31, consumers are encouraged to fill up at designated purple Giving Pumps at participating Shell stations. When a purple pump is used, participating Shell branded wholesalers and station owners will contribute to charities that support children and families. Consumers can see at each Giving Pump which charity will be supported, and the donated amount comes at no additional cost.
The Giving Pump will be specially marked at participating stations with colorful signage to inspire consumers to fuel up and support a range of causes including children's hospitals, schools, sports, food pantries, youth leadership programs and more, the company said. Starting at 2,900 locations in 2021, the number of Shell stations participating in this two-month initiative has grown to nearly 6,500 across the U.S. Find a station near you here.
"The Giving Pump goes to show how small choices – like where you fuel up – can add up to meaningful change," said Barbara Stoyko, Senior Vice President, Mobility and Convenience Americas at Shell. "The Giving Pump works so well because of our generous retailers. They are the ones selecting the charities benefitted by our purple pumps because they know the causes that matter most to the customers in their communities. It's really a special time of year for Shell and it makes me so grateful that we can collaborate with them and our customers to create real, local impacts."
This year, The Giving Pump is supporting 400 local and national charities across the US, including St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, The Macoupin Center for the Developmentally Disabled, The Purvis Youth Foundation and more. The Giving Pumps were used millions of times during the two-month campaign in 2024, Shell noted.
Warehousing provider acquired by BWT Logistics
Atlanta-based BWT Logistics has acquired RAZR Logistics, a contract logistics provider and Colorado-based provider of on-demand warehousing, from its parent Johnson Storage & Moving. Terms of the transaction were not released.
The deal expands BWT’s dedicated logistics solutions and brings added warehouse network capabilities and end-to-end supply chain services to more than 500 RAZR corporate customers in consumer products, retail and manufacturing. It also brings the benefits of on-demand warehousing which expands BWT’s ability to meet customers' exact needs regardless of term or scale and expands its potential customer base, enabling the company to serve a wider range of industries, sizes and stages.
RAZR President Mike Griffin will join BWT as a Senior Vice President of Sales and retain an ownership stake in the business.
