Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025:
- Former medical examiner faces bevy of charges.
- Nearly four years after acquisition, Heartland Express will integrate and rebrand a subsidiary fleet.
- New electronic parking brake option for Petes and KWs.
- Fleet's pre-CDL, team-driving waiver up for renewal.
Medical examiner indicted charges including falsifying DOT physicals
A grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington indicted Anna Elperin, a former certified medical examiner through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, on numerous charges related to fraudulent Department of Transportation physicals, among other allegations.
Elperin has been charged for conspiracy to defraud DOT; making a false writing or document; falsification of Federal records; conspiracy to dispense controlled substances; making false statements relating to health care matters; dispensing and distribution of controlled substances; and acquiring or obtaining a controlled substance by misrepresentation, fraud, or deception.
[Related: FMCSA Administrator Barrs to make radical changes to driver training, ELDs, med certs]
According to court documents, Elperin was a licensed osteopathic physician residing and practicing medicine in Ellensburg, Washington, with a medical practice named Awake Health.
The indictment alleges that, between 2018 and 2022, when a patient came to Awake Health for a DOT physical, Elperin would charge $150 and “rarely, if ever, failed to approve an applicant who paid the required $150.” The indictment further alleges that Elperin and co-conspirators “failed to conduct appropriate physical examinations in accordance with DOT regulations.”
Physicals at the business were allegedly often performed by office staff who were not approved medical examiners and lacked appropriate medical training. Elperin and her co-conspirators “often failed to perform required parts of the examination, entered false and inaccurate information into required documentation, or certified as medically eligible applicants who had disqualifying medical conditions,” the indictment alleges.
Elperin “coached” CDL applicants who came to Awake Health to help them pass the exam, according to the indictment, allowing an applicant with high blood pressure to lie down in an exam room, “often in the dark,” for long periods of time -- sometimes “hours,” the indictment alleges -- “with the goal of decreasing the individual’s blood pressure to a level” where the applicant would appear to be medically qualified.
Elperin used the scheme to “obtain future business from CDL applicants,” according to the indictment, adding that applicants knew Elperin “would approve them for CDLs whether they were medically qualified or not, and she would approve them even if they had a disqualifying medical condition.”
Elperin also faces charges related to the distribution of controlled substances for both her and her employees.
According to FMCSA’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners, Elperin was removed from the registry on Sept. 16, 2022.
[Related: CVSA asks for FMCSA guidance on med card enforcement]
Heartland Express integrating, rebranding CFI’s U.S. business
Heartland Express has announced that it plans to fully integrate and rebrand the U.S. operations of Contract Freighters, Inc. (CFI) into Heartland Express, effective Dec. 31.
Heartland acquired CFI's non-dedicated U.S. dry van and temperature-controlled truckload business and CFI Logistica operations in Mexico in August 2022 for $525 million.
While the CFI brand will be retired within the United States, the company’s Mexican subsidiary, CFI Logistica, S.A. de C.V., will remain independent and unaffected by the change. “We believe that integrating and rebranding CFI into Heartland Express is the next logical step in enhancing our consolidated operating and financial performance,” said Heartland Express CEO Mike Gerdin.
Gerdin added that the decision to integrate and rebrand the CFI business “was driven by a desire to align our CFI drivers’ pay package with our legacy Heartland Express pay package, providing them with an increased driver compensation and benefits package that we believe is among the best in the industry.”
Those drivers, he added, will remain in their current trucks and have the option to choose any pay packages in the legacy Heartland fleet. Drivers will also have the option of moving to other Heartland subsidiaries Millis Transfer or Smith Transport.
[Related: Pay wish list: Leased owner, company driver preferences v. reality]
The company plans to continue operations in current CFI offices in Joplin, Missouri (the current headquarters of CFI), as well as West Memphis, Arkansas, and Laredo, Texas. CFI employees will be offered the opportunity to continue their employment with Heartland.
Peterbilt, Kenworth adding Bendix’s electronic parking brake as option
Kenworth and Peterbilt have added the Bendix Intellipark Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) as an option on medium- and heavy-duty trucks.Kenworth
Owner-operators and fleets in the market for new trucks from Paccar brands Kenworth and Peterbilt will have the option of adding the Bendix Intellipark Electronic Parking Brake (EPB) to medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
The system is equipped with advanced safety features such as Rollaway Mitigation, Smart Unpark and Auto Trailer Brake Release (on towing models). The features are supported by unique interlocks that verify the vehicle is ready to be parked or unparked through sensors that monitor door position, seat belt status, and vehicle movement.
The Electronic Parking Brake system replaces traditional red and yellow push/pull knobs with new ergonomic switches that feature LEDs clearly showing parking-brake status at a glance, Kenworth noted. The company added that the design maintains the recognizable symbols while simplifying operation, eliminating the “sting” usually associated with manual valves, and helping to reduce fatigue and distraction during frequent stops.
The EPB system is also compatible with packages of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which include the latest version of the Bendix Fusion system, Tire Pressure Monitoring System, Lane Keeping Assist with Torque Assisted Steering and DigitalVision Mirrors.
[Related: Old-school ways with new-school tools: Back to effiency basics with advanced assist systems]
Wilson Logistics requests extension of pre-CDL team-driving waiver
Wilson Logistics is petitioning the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for an extension of a waiver that allows pre-CDL drivers, who have passed their skills test but yet to return to their home state to obtain their CDL, to operate without a CDL holder in the front seat, effectively allowing team operations with these drivers.
The company has held the exemption since Feb. 23, 2021, and it is set to expire Feb. 23, 2026.
As a registered training provider with FMCSA, Wilson Logistics administers the CDL test for prospective driver employees, which the company calls “pre-apprentices,” that have completed the company’s CDL training program. Since the initial granting of its exemption in 2021, the company has trained 1,381 prospective driver employees and successfully tested and approved 1,264, or 91.5%, of these individuals.
Wilson describes its program as a company-sponsored, hands-on, on-the-job, pre-apprentice CDL training program accessible only to Wilson Logistics prospective driver employees.
While participating in the driver training, the pre-apprentices are not employed by Wilson Logistics. Once pre-apprentices obtain their CDL, they receive an offer of employment from Wilson Logistics.
Once a Wilson pre-apprentice has passed the CDL test, a Wilson Logistics trainer accompanies the commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holder for their first 30,000 miles. For the first 10,000 miles, the trainer is in the front passenger seat of the CMV; during the remaining 20,000 miles, the trainer is in the truck, although not necessarily in the front seat of the vehicle. Trainers also accompany the CLP holders when they return to their state of domicile to receive their CDL after having passed the test.
Current regulations require that CLP holders always be accompanied by a valid CDL holder physically present in the front seat of the vehicle next to the CLP holder.
FMCSA will accept public comments on Wilson’s request here through Jan. 9.
Other fleets operate with similar waivers, including C.R. England, which first received the waiver in 2015.
