Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, July 28, 2026:
- Two arrested in connection with three years of truck thefts.
- Truck stop’s expansion adds parking in Illinois.
- Van trailers recalled over issue with rear impact guards.
- Trailer manufacturer announces rebrand.
Two arrested for stealing trucks in S.C.
Law enforcement in South Carolina last week arrested two individuals as part of an ongoing investigation into commercial vehicle thefts in Florence County.
According to investigators, between Nov. 8, 2022, and Oct. 4, 2025, Andre Horace David Jumpp and Prince Raymond Leon Betts are alleged to have stolen nine commercial motor vehicles in the Florence area, with an estimated total value of $876,500.
Investigators in South Carolina and North Carolina have recovered a total of two motor vehicles, 13 semi-trucks and three trailers with a combined estimated value of over $1 million.
Jumpp and Betts were released from the Florence County Detention Center on surety bonds of $68,436 and $137,596, respectively.
The investigation is ongoing and additional charges and arrests are possible.
Jumpp, age 38, of Home Mills, North Carolina, was arrested on July 22 and charged with nine counts of Grand Larceny, Criminal Conspiracy, Unlawful Entry Into Enclosed Places, and Malicious Injury to Property.
Betts, 37, of Raeford, North Carolina, was arrested on July 24 and faces the same charges as Jumpp.
The thefts are being investigated by the Florence County Sheriff’s Office, working in conjunction with the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office and other enforcement agencies.
Love’s expands in Illinois, renovates Oklahoma, Kansas locations
Love’s Travel Stops is expanding its footprint in Illinois with the opening of a new location in Rock Falls, located at 2801 Hoover Road at I-88 and State Route 40.
The new travel stop has 85 truck parking spaces and provides free parking for Love’s customers. So far in 2026, Love’s has added 1,076 truck parking spaces across the country.
In Overdrive’s 2025 Truckers’ Highway Report Card survey on the best and worst haul routes and states for truck parking across the U.S., Illinois was ranked in the bottom 10 for parking, tying as the sixth-worst state for parking availability.
Located between Love’s Rochelle, Illinois, location and the Iowa state border, the new location in Rock Falls provides a much-needed stop for professional drivers, RVers and motorists navigating I-88 and State Route 40 in northern Illinois, the company said.
In addition to truck parking, the new location also offers Godfather’s Pizza and Naf-Naf Grill restaurants, seven diesel bays, four showers, a Cat Scale and more.
Under Love’s Road Ahead Plan, the company also recently celebrated the remodels of its store in Southeast Oklahoma City, and four locations on the Kansas Turnpike, including locations in Belle Plaine, El Dorado (Towanda), Cassoday (Matfield Green), and Topeka.
Great Dane recalls dry van trailers for rear impact guard issue
Great Dane Trailers has issued a recall for 11 model year 2027 Champion dry van trailers, which may have been produced without the installation of the rear impact guard extension channels.
As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 224, "Rear Impact Protection."
Great Dane said it “did not install rear impact guard extension channels to rear impact guard horizontals once rail type liftgates were installed in the factory. This caused the rear face of the rear impact guard horizontal member to be more than 12 inches forward of the rearmost extremity of the trailer.”
The company noted that trailers built before and after this small group of trailers were equipped with the extension channel that brings the rear face of the rear impact guard within the 12-inch requirement.
Dealers will install the rear impact guard extension channels, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 15, 2026. Owners may contact Great Dane's customer service at 1-877-369-3493. NHTSA’s recall number is 26V-465.
BT Trailers rebrands as BT Built to reflect evolving business
Trailer manufacturer BT Trailers, builder of custom trailers for the oil and gas, over-the-road, and mobile power industries, is moving to a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and, in conjunction, introducing its refreshed brand -- BT Built.
The new identity reflects the company’s capabilities and principles, the company said.
While custom trailers remain a core part of the business, BT also designs and manufactures custom skid systems, industrial fabrication, and engineered equipment solutions for customers across oil and gas, mobile power, transportation, manufacturing, and other demanding industries.
"Our business has grown well beyond trailers, and our brand needed to reflect that," said Matt Ritter, Chief Executive Officer of BT. "BT Built represents who we are today: a custom fabrication company built around solving problems, building relationships, and delivering on our word."
The rebrand comes alongside one of the company's largest investments to date: a new 80,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
