Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026:
- Cargo thieves get combined 19 years, ordered to pay $1.3M restitution for thefts.
- How safe and costly are the HOS and ELD regs? ATRI wants your input.
- Indiana police crack down on unsafe driving in construction zone.
Two sentenced for roles in Philadelphia cargo theft operation
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently announced two cargo thieves were sentenced for their roles in stealing goods from tractor-trailers.
Haneef Palmer, 33, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 121 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $1,080,786.44 in restitution. Rakiem Savage, 28, also of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 108 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1,300 special assessment, plus restitution of $234,474.80 in a cargo theft conspiracy and $37,425 in a racketeering conspiracy.
Palmer and Savage were charged in December 2024 and pleaded guilty in March this year to one count each of conspiracy, robbery interfering with interstate commerce (Hobbs Act robbery), possession of items from interstate shipment theft, theft of government money, and possession of stolen government money, likewise five counts of theft from an interstate shipment.
Between Jan. 1, 2023, and July 31, 2023, Palmer and Savage conspired with co-defendants to steal goods moving as parts of interstate shipments located on tractor-trailers around Philadelphia. While a trailer was unattended overnight, or while the driver was asleep, the members of the conspiracy participating in the theft would use bolt cutters and other tools to break into the trailer and steal the goods inside. The members of the conspiracy would then offer the goods for sale to local contacts.
Among other acts, the pair admitted to participating in the robbery of a tractor-trailer carrying commercial refrigerators on April 1, 2023, during which they and others attacked and injured the driver, and to participating in the theft of over $230,000 worth of U.S. dimes on April 13, 2023. The members of the conspiracy committed numerous other thefts, stealing goods with a total estimated value of more than $1.5 million from more than 10 victims.
Savage also admitted to participating in the Omerta racketeering enterprise, which operated primarily in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood and perpetrating an array of financial crimes along with numerous violent offenses. From at least August 2018 through August 2023, Savage conspired with others in Omerta to counterfeit U.S. currency and engage in robbery, theft, fraud, drug trafficking, and gun crimes, in which members used firearms to protect gang territory, retaliate against rivals, and enforce discipline within the organization.
[Related: Walmart parking lot dimes heist: Philadelphia cargo theft ring busted]
ATRI opens survey on costs, benefits of HOS, ELD regs
The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is beginning research to develop a framework for assessing the impacts of trucking industry regulations.
The framework development will initially be focused on “Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Hours-of-Service (HOS) and the Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate.”
Industry stakeholders, including motor carriers, truck drivers, and law enforcement, are all encouraged to take the HOS/ELD survey here.
ATRI said its Research Advisory Committee recognized a need to develop a framework for assessing the costs and benefits of regulations governing the trucking industry and identified the framework as a top priority in 2026. The research survey launches as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration pursues a real-world test of possible new flexibilities in the hours regs with participating drivers and carriers.
In the HOS/ELD survey, respondents will assess the overall HOS rules, the ELD mandate, and nine specific provisions of the two regulations:
- 11-hour driving limit (HOS)
- 14-hour on-duty limit (HOS)
- 30-minute break requirement (HOS)
- 60/70-hour limit (HOS)
- Split-sleeper berth provision (HOS)
- Personal conveyance (HOS)
- Device registration and certification requirements (ELD)
- Record backup and security requirements (ELD)
- 8-day paper log exemption (ELD)
[Related: Significant hours of service change: FMCSA's 2020 spilt sleeper provision]
Respondents will be asked to assess the regulations according to their safety benefit and cost of compliance. The survey will also ask respondents for recommended changes to each of the provisions to improve their safety benefit and lower the cost of compliance, providing a roadmap for policy improvements.
As noted, this first phase and data collection is focused on the HOS and ELD regulations, but the emerging benefit-cost framework is intended to be applied to and evaluate other trucking regulations across safety, workforce, and the environment.
Interested participants are asked to respond by Oct. 16. All responses will be kept entirely confidential, and data will only be presented in an aggregated, anonymized format.
[Related: Will truckers be able to split as they see fit?]
I-70 unsafe-driving enforcement effort reduced construction zone crashes
Unsafe following distances in an I-70 construction zone were in the spotlight during a recent truck-focused enforcement initiative in Indiana.
The Indiana State Police Pendleton District recently conducted "Operation Space Cadet" along I-70 through Wayne and Henry counties.
During Operation Space Cadet, troopers from the Pendleton District, along with troopers assigned to the Commercial Motor Vehicle Division, conducted 228 traffic stops, issuing:
- 159 citations
- 132 warnings
- 53 commercial motor vehicles violations
- 16 arrests
The enforcement operation coincided with a dramatic reduction in crashes within the construction zone, ISP said.
Before the enforcement effort, the area averaged about eight crashes per week, three with injuries, causing major closures within the zone. During the operation, crashes dropped to three total, with zero personal-injury crashes.
Construction along Indiana I-70 is well-needed, according to Overdrive readers, who named the stretch of interstate the worst haul route in America last year. See other ranked "Worst Roads" states and segments in the Truckers' Report Card via this link.
