Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026:
- Freight tonnage hauled by trucks in July reflected moderating market.
- More parking in Texas with new truck stop.
- Truck routing added to major mapping platform.
Freight tonnage gives back most of June gains
Trucking activity in the United States decreased 1% in July after rising 1.5% in June, according to the American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index.
"Tonnage levels have been choppy recently, and this trend was reflected in July’s decline,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. "Aside from a couple pockets of strength, including the boom in data center construction for AI, freight has been lackluster. It is also true that the industry is seeing a recovery, but that is nearly all due to excess capacity leaving the market.”
In July, the ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 113.5, down from 114.7 in June. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, decreased 0.5% from the same month in 2025, well worse than June’s 1.2% gain.ATA
Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2025, tonnage is up 1.4% due to robust year-over-year increases from February through April.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 117 in July, 0.9% below June’s reading of 118.
[Related: Blame the ambulance-chasing lawyers for C.H. Robinson's $604M verdict: Owner-op]
Google adds large-vehicle routing capability for fleets
It is almost impossible to get lost in 2026, thanks to the supercomputer in most pockets. Map applications can point nearly every user to any known address in seconds -- if they are in a passenger vehicle.
Most consumer-facing apps don't account for tight turns, truck routes, narrow tunnels, weight limits, or low bridge clearances -- including Google Maps.
Yet Google, which maintains the largest database of local businesses, public transit routes, and offline map features, rolled out the Large Vehicle Routing by Google Maps Platform this week.
The technology, now generally available nationwide across the company’s Routes API, Route Optimization API, and Navigation SDK, directly integrates vehicle dimensions and road regulations into routing algorithms.
This means it’s not yet available in the free Google Maps app, but rather to companies that subscribe to the Google Maps Platform to integrate into their internal systems.
While the Routes API identifies the optimal path, the Navigation SDK delivers it inside a familiar Google Maps-style interface. Drivers receive seamless, turn-by-turn guidance within existing carrier apps, complete with real-time visual alerts for vehicle-specific constraints like height and weight limits.Google
Google's new Large Vehicle Routing system allows truckers to input vehicle profiles, including height, weight, length, width, axle count, and hazardous material classifications. The system then calculates routes, mileage, and travel times tailored specifically to those parameters.
Features:
- Customized trip planning: Dispatchers can optimize single trips or complex, multi-vehicle schedules while factoring in road restrictions and dynamic toll avoidance.
- Specialized arrival estimates: A dedicated large-vehicle ETA model combines commercial speed patterns with real-time and predictive traffic conditions.
- Driver navigation matching: A built-in "route token" ensures the planned compliance route transfers directly from dispatch to the driver's cab via the Navigation SDK, eliminating route discrepancies.
- In-cab restriction alerts: Drivers receive turn-by-turn guidance displaying visual callouts for upcoming clearance and weight limits inside the familiar Google Maps interface.
[Related: Throw out your GPS: Trucking trip planning the old-school way]
Love’s expands in Texas
Love’s Travel Stops is expanding its footprint in Texas with the opening of a new travel stop in Premont, outside of Corpus Christi, located at 511 NE 8th Street (U.S. Route 281).
The new travel stop has 59 truck parking spaces and provides free parking for Love’s customers. So far in 2026, Love’s has added 1,135 truck parking spaces across the country, the company said.
Located along U.S. 281, between Love’s Three Rivers and Edinburg locations, the new travel stop in Premont also provides a Godfather’s Pizza restaurant, five diesel bays, four showers, a Cat Scale, among other amenities.
Texas is already considered by truck drivers tops in the nation for truck parking availability. A 2025 survey of Overdrive readers ranked the Lone Star State No. 1 in the nation for best parking by a wide margin in the 2025 Truckers' Highway Report Card.
Love’s also announced that, under its Road Ahead Plan, it recently completed remodels of the following locations:
- Waco, Georgia
- Lordsburg, New Mexico
- Greenville, Illinois
- Conneaut, Ohio
- Walters, Oklahoma
- Baxter, Tennessee
Guests can now experience updated environments designed to improve traffic flow and elevate the overall shopping experience at these locations, the company said.
