Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025:
- One of the nation's top load boards is looking to help hard-hit dry van owners with a new options at a lower price point.
- How spot rates performed in the most recent week.
- What OOIDA wants from Congressional leaders in the next highway bill.
Truckstop.com launches dry van-only load board
Truckstop.com this week launched what it says is the trucking industry’s first dry van-only load board.
The new platform aimes to help dry van owner-operators and small fleets match with high-quality, verified loads for their specific equipment type, the company said. With unlimited searches starting at just $35/month, carriers gain access to the same quality of freight they're accustomed to seeing on Truckstop.com, plus real-time market data.
“Small fleets and owner-operators are the backbone of the trucking industry,” said Scott Moscrip, CEO of Truckstop.com. “We know this freight recession has been especially tough, with van rates trailing other equipment types and offering some of the lowest pay per mile in the market. That’s why we created a dedicated Van Load Board at a lower price point -- to give van carriers quick, verified access to high-quality freight and real-time market data.”
The Truckstop.com Load Board for Dry Vans offers unlimited load searches and truck postings exclusively for this equipment type, making it easier to find and select loads at the lowest cost. It’s available in two versions -- Basic and Pro -- both of which provide tools that help carriers make freight-matching decisions.
The Basic version includes the following features:
- Private loads -- Directly access freight from approved brokers within a carrier’s network
- Load popularity and truck count by state -- Identify loads and lanes with less competition for better negotiating leverage
- Broker factorability data -- Identify which brokers and loads are eligible for factoring through Truckstop Factoring to get paid faster
- Routes map -- Visualize and plan truck routes to minimize miles and ensure on-time deliveries
- Canadian loads -- Broaden load searches to include freight entering and leaving Canada.
The Pro version includes all the Basic features, plus same-day and forecast rate data from the Sonar Insights company to understand market shifts, compare lanes, and negotiate with confidence. Pro subscriptions also include other tools to help maximize efficiency and profitability:
- Real-time live loads -- Access freight opportunities in the most active lanes
- Load comparison -- Evaluate multiple loads side by side to make faster, data-driven decisions
- Rate per mile (RPM) heat map -- Identify high-paying regions to optimize planning and profitability
- Multi-trip search -- Plan multiple hauls in one view for extended peace of mind and growth opportunities
- Load alert notifications -- Receive instant load matches directly to a mobile device
[Related: Taking control: Owner-op cost and revenue, income, wider trucking trends]
Rates stagnant in most recent week, up slightly from a year ago
Broker-posted spot rates in the Truckstop.com system increased for each of the three principal equipment types during the most recent week ended Oct. 17, but not by much.
According to the latest report from FTR Transportation Intelligence and Truckstop.com, flatbed spot rates barely moved during the week, and the same was true for the overall market rate. Total spot rates were up just a tenth of a cent from the prior week and were 1.6% higher than the same 2024 week.
Dry van spot rates increased for the third time in four weeks, while refrigerated spot rates rose by the smallest amount in the three straight weeks that they have increased. Changes were largely in line with seasonal expectations, the firms noted.
Total load activity eased 0.7% after decreasing 4.6% in the previous week, but volume was still 13% higher than the same 2024 week -- that's the weakest prior-year comparison in six weeks due mostly to a continued softening of large comparisons in flatbed. Loads were down more than 13% versus the five-year average for the week. Truck postings increased 4.1%, and the Market Demand Index -- the ratio of loads to trucks -- fell to its lowest level in five weeks.
[Related: Overdrive's Load Profit Analyzer: How to use to assess rates, costs]
OOIDA calls on Congress to strengthen CDL training standards
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association on Oct. 20 sent a letter to leaders in Congress that urges stronger standards for driver training, licensing and qualifications.
“Simply put, far too many individuals are entering the trucking industry without the basic skills necessary to safely operate a commercial vehicle,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said in the letter. “Additionally, inconsistent and improper licensing processes among states has permitted hundreds of thousands of unqualified drivers to work on our nation’s roads, which has needlessly resulted in numerous fatal crashes.”
Among OOIDA’s requests to Congress was for lawmakers to pass Rep. David Rouzer’s (R-North Carolina) bill that would codify the DOT’s interim final rule related to non-domiciled CDL issuance.
[Related: Lawsuit seeks to block DOT's purge of 194,000 non-domiciled CDL holders]
As Congress begins work on the next highway reauthorization with the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act expiring in September 2026, OOIDA offered the following recommendations for inclusion in the next highway bill:
- Bolster Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) standards -- OOIDA specifically called for the introduction of mandatory behind-the-wheel hours for new drivers. Current ELDT requirements do not set a required minimum for behind-the-wheel instruction hours and only require that instructors cover the topics included in the behind-the-wheel curriculum and that the trainee is proficient in that curriculum. OOIDA called for a minimum of 30 hours of behind-the-wheel training.
- FMCSA must better utilize the Training Provider Registry (TPR) to remove bad actors -- OOIDA called for the agency to “take decisive action to more quickly remove both non-compliant and inadequate training locations from the TPR.”
- Strengthen new-entrant audit requirements -- Congress can improve safety by requiring more stringent U.S. DOT oversight of new carrier applicants before granting authority.
- Eliminate unsafe CDL exemptions and waivers -- OOIDA voiced its opposition to exemptions and waivers from the requirement that commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders be accompanied by a CDL holder in the front seat while the CLP holder is operating the vehicle. “This regulation is designed to properly ensure that inexperienced drivers will have sufficient training, instruction, and oversight as they learn the job,” Spencer said in the letter.
- Establish more oversight and accountability for third-party CDL testing providers -- With states increasingly utilizing third-party knowledge examiners and skills testers, OOIDA said more oversight of third-party testers is needed “as we continue seeing instances of third-party examiner fraud and bribery.”
[Related: Trucking org calls for ELP assessment as part of CDL test, among other legislative reforms]
