Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, April 7, 2026:
Trucking company owner, brokerage employee sentenced for fraud
A logistics company employee and a trucking company owner have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty to a scheme that paid for fake transportation invoices.
Philip Charles Smith, 41, of Richmond Hill, Georgia, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term, while Antonio J. Evans Sr., 41, of Sylvania, Georgia, was sentenced to 13 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
According to Margaret E. “Meg” Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, both men pleaded guilty to Wire Fraud. There is no parole in the federal system.
U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood also ordered Smith and Evans to be held equally responsible for paying $821,899 in restitution.
As described in court documents and testimony, Smith previously was employed by a national logistics and transportation company that served the Port of Savannah, while Smith was the owner of a local trucking company that served as a licensed carrier for Smith’s employer. One of Smith’s duties was to award contracts on behalf of the company to such third-party carriers to move freight from the port to other destinations.
From about July 2021 to August 2024, Smith devised a scheme in which he used his employee access to create fake freight-hauling jobs that he assigned to Evans. The company then would unwittingly pay Evans for work that didn’t exist, and Evans would kick back a portion of the funds to Smith. The $821,899 in restitution represents the total amount of the company’s loss from the three years of the scheme.
“Private companies that serve the transportation needs for the Port of Savannah, like all companies, deserve to expect honesty and integrity from their employees and service providers,” Heap said. “Philip Smith betrayed the trust of his employer in order to funnel fake work to Antonio Evans so the two of them could line their pockets, and they’re now being held accountable for their dishonesty.”
FMCSA advances proposed truck parking survey
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is taking its next step toward a new survey of truck drivers about their experience with finding truck parking spaces. The agency first announced its plans for the survey in November.
The agency received eight comments on the initial notice, seven of which were supportive of the information collection.
Last week, FMCSA announced it filed an information collection request (ICR) with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval to conduct the survey. The survey is titled “Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces.”
The feedback collected in the survey will be used to estimate the monetary benefits of creating new truck parking spaces, the agency said.
In a Federal Register notice published Monday, April 6, FMCSA noted that “although researchers have conducted many other surveys on truck parking, none have reliably estimated the statistics needed,” including how often and how long truckers:
- Park in unauthorized spaces
- Stop driving early to obtain a parking space
- Drive off their routes to find parking
- Drive past hours-of-service limits to find parking
The agency added that the results of its proposed survey “will be combined with related research to produce estimates of the benefits of creating new truck parking spaces in different areas, which could be beneficial to the many government and private organizations that decide where to build new truck parking spaces.”
FMCSA said the main objective of the survey is to estimate the benefits of new truck parking spaces, but the project will also answer four related research questions:
- How many trucks are parked in authorized and unauthorized areas per day, on average? In other words, how large is the nationwide shortage of truck parking spaces?
- What are the most cost-effective methods for increasing truck parking capacity?
- Which truck parking information management systems are used most often and are most effective?
- What percentage of drivers routinely make reservations, pay for parking, or use various other truck parking services?
Several thousand truck drivers, from a wide range of sectors, will be asked to complete the 25-minute online survey, with a goal of obtaining approximately 1,000 complete responses.
[Related: FMCSA planning to survey truck drivers on truck parking shortage]
Volvo VNLs recalled for instrument panel, service brake issues
Two separate recalls have been announced affecting model year 2025-’26 Volvo VNL trucks, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents.
One recall affects approximately 222 units in which the service brake may take longer than expected to release. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 121, "Air Brake Systems."
Dealers will install an additional brake valve and fittings to the service brake pneumatic plumbing, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 22. Owners can contact Volvo Trucks' customer service at 800-528-6586. NHTSA’s recall number 26V-186.
A separate recall affects approximately 115 VNLs in which the instrument panel may fail while driving. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 101, "Controls and Displays."
An instrument panel display that fails to show critical safety information, such as the speedometer or warning lights, increases the risk of a crash, the recall noted.
Dealers will replace the instrument panel clusters, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed May 24, 2026. Owners may contact Volvo Trucks' customer service at 800-528-6586 with recall number RVXX2603. NHTSA’s recall number is 26V-184.
