Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025:
- Tax evasion charges land trucking company owner in prison.
- Park often in Wisconsin? The state wants to hear from you.
- Border Patrol touts cabotage enforcement at Arizona border.
Fleet owner sentenced for tax evasion, ordered to pay $1.9M in restitution
A trucking company owner from Stark County, Ohio, has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion.
Alice F. Martin, 66, of Louisville, Ohio, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent, after pleading guilty in August to Attempt to Evade and Defeat Income Tax, and Attempt to Evade and Defeat Payment of Tax. She was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and to pay $1,971,660.86 in restitution.
According to court documents, Martin attempted to evade the payment of taxes, penalties, and interest tied to a trucking company that she owned and operated under the name of Martin Logistics. The tax evasion scheme consisted of a plan to phase out the company after it became burdened with tax debt as a strategy to avoid paying taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
However, Martin intended to continue operating her trucking business through a new company, TSA Transportation. Income that TSA Transportation received was then deposited into a bank account for another business entity that Martin owned and controlled, A.F. Martin.
She also placed Martin Logistics’ assets, such as trucks and trailers, under the name of yet another company she established, Martin Global.
IRS investigators found that from around 2013 to 2018, Martin directed approximately $18 million in gross receipts from TSA Transportation to be deposited into the bank account of the A.F. Martin company. The investigation concluded that she did not report $3.6 million in taxable income and failed to pay approximately $1.2 million in federal taxes due between 2013 and 2018.
IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) conducted the investigation leading to the indictment.
[Related: Trucking company owner indicted for tax evasion]
Wisconsin calls for trucker input on truck parking
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is looking for feedback from truck drivers on ways to improve truck parking in the state.
WisDOT has opened a survey for truck drivers to complete to provide input on truck parking in Wisconsin to better understand the industry’s needs and concerns. Survey responses will help inform the department on where truckers believe additional truck parking capacity and other improvements are needed in the state.
[Related: Truck parking: FMCSA plans survey of 'several thousand truck drivers']
The survey asks respondents to identify rest areas, weigh stations and highway corridors in need of additional truck parking capacity. It also asks about drivers’ use of state resources, such as 511wi.gov, the state’s Truck Parking Information Management System (TPIMS) signage and more.
The survey will be open through January 19, and results will be part of a larger study of truck parking in Wisconsin.
Based on readers’ responses to Overdrive’s Highway Report Card survey over the summer, Wisconsin is already doing a lot right when it comes to truck parking. The state ranked No. 7 overall for best truck parking in the country, while the greater Madison metro area received an honorable mention just outside the top 10 metros the nation over for truck parking availability.
[Related: Truckers' 2025 Highway Report Card: Worst roads, states, parking]
Border Patrol turns back two Mexican truck drivers for cabotage
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the I-19 immigration checkpoint in Nogales, Arizona, recently sent two Mexican national truck drivers back to Mexico during immigration inspections.
Agents conducting the inspections determined the truck drivers to be "in violation of multiple federal regulations, including cabotage laws.”
The drivers were returned to Mexico and informed that their border crossing cards would be processed for revocation due to violations of visa terms. The drivers retrieved personal belongings from the trucks, and the units were towed. Truck owners were notified of the enforcement actions.
Cabotage laws bar the transportation of goods or passengers between two points within the United States by foreign carriers or drivers. The laws are designed to ensure that domestic transportation services are reserved for U.S. companies and workers, preventing unfair competition from foreign entities.
[Related: Cabotage across the pond: How deregulatory moves in the EU sparked backlash]
