Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, July 31, 2025:
Truckstop adds Private Loads feature for broker-vetted carriers
Trucking companies within the Truckstop.com load board system that are vetted with brokers on the platform will now be able to see private loads posted by those brokers alongside public loads. It's a feature that could to help carriers better filter loads, saving time in the process.
Truckstop.com's new Private Loads will show brokers' private loads alongside public loads to broker-vetted carriers.Truckstop.com
[Related: Summer freight doldrum have arrived | Charges come in S.C.'s biggest-ever fentanyl-trafficking bust]
The freight industry is navigating unprecedented challenges, from market volatility and intense competition to the ever-present threat of fraud. For carriers, every minute spent searching is a minute not hauling. Private and public loads in one place give carriers a centralized load board to quickly identify, compare and secure the most desirable loads without the constant, inefficient juggling of emails, time on hold, unreturned calls, and multiple boards.
For brokers, Private Loads could be a high-reach channel to connect with pre-vetted carriers in the same place where they're already looking for freight. Brokers who post Private Loads can seamlessly "waterfall" these loads to Truckstop’s public load board of verified carriers as needed to expand the network.
[Related: Evaluate earning potential with Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer]
450-truck Carroll Fulmer shutting down
Weighed down by lawsuits and a lingering soft freight environment, Groveland, Fla.-based trucking company Carroll Fulmer Logistics is closing its doors. News of the closure was first reported by local newspaper The Clermont Sun.
Philip Fulmer, one of the company’s partners, told the newspaper that sustaining the 450-truck, 71-year-old multi-generational family business had been tough since the COVID pandemic and, bundled with a slew of “bogus” personal injury lawsuits, trucking post-COVID was more than he could take.
“There are many attorneys who make it seem easy to sue a trucking company,” Fulmer told the newspaper. “Many of these lawsuits are bogus, meaning that no injury actually occurred, but we still have to fight them and that takes a lot of money." Payouts, he added, "cause people to lose jobs and businesses to close and insurance rates to increase for everyone."
[Related: Never underestimate a South Carolina watermelon hauler: Carroll Fulmer and Leon Everette]
North Dakota max speed limit will hit 80
Drivers traveling through North Dakota will see a change to speed limits in the state Friday, Aug. 1, as the state’s maximum speed limit is increasing from 75 mph to 80 mph.
With the looming change, the North Dakota Highway Patrol reminded drivers that unless they plan to time travel, 88 mph won’t be permitted.
“We keep getting asked… ‘Can I go 88 mph?’” the agency said in a Facebook post. “Unless your car is a DeLorean with a flux capacitor and you’re trying to time travel—NO. You’re not going Back to the Future, you’re going back to court. Keep it at 80. Not 88. Not 188.”
Former trucking company manager charged for embezzling $500K
A former operations manager at Tribe Transportation, Dustin Jarrard, was arraigned on federal charges after he allegedly embezzled more than half a million dollars from the company.
According to U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, from May 2018 through May 2024, Jarrard served as an operations manager for Gainesville, Georgia-based Tribe Transportation. As an operations manager, he had the authority to request expense reimbursements on truck drivers’ behalf. To submit a request, he would send the company’s accounting department the driver’s name, the reason for the expense, and the amount of the reimbursement.
Over the course of more than three years, Jarrard allegedly sent fraudulent reimbursement requests to Tribe Transportation. In certain cases, he allegedly requested reimbursement for drivers who were not actually employed by the company, which resulted in payments Jarrard personally redeemed for his own use.
In other cases, Jarrard allegedly enlisted Tribe Transportation drivers in his scheme and falsely submitted payment requests for expenses never incurred and layover bonuses that were not earned. After receiving funds that were not owed to them, the drivers then allegedly transferred some of the money to Jarrard for his personal use.
“Jarrard allegedly stole more than $500,000 that was intended to help truckers on the road,” Hertzberg said. “We will hold accountable those who abuse their positions of trust and embezzle funds for their personal use.”
Jarrard, 38, of Gainesville, Georgia, was arraigned July 29 after he was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 22 for wire fraud.
