Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025:
- Border Patrol agents conducted immigration enforcement efforts in California, arresting dozens of CDL holders.
- Holiday season sees positive trend for rates.
- FMCSA taking next step toward warning-device study.
Recent California immigration enforcement blitzes result in 87 truck driver arrests
In recent weeks, Border Patrol agents in California arrested 87 “illegal aliens” with commercial driver’s licenses in two separate enforcement initiatives.
Between Nov. 23 and Dec. 12, Indio Station agents apprehended 42 truck operators with CDLs traveling on the interstate or traversing immigration checkpoints on Highways 86 and 111. According to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection press release, drivers arrested were from India, El Salvador, China, Eritrea, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Russia, Somalia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
California issued the majority of the CDLs, CBP reported, while others were issued by Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
[Related: 10,000 CDL out-of-service for ELP violations: Where's the rates bump?]
In addition, on Dec. 10 and 11, Indio Station agents participated in Operation Highway Sentinel, a two-day, joint, large-scale enforcement operation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Ontario and Fontana, California.
Operation Highway Sentinel resulted in 45 arrests of CDL holders.
The enforcement effort targeted commercial trucking companies in California, launched after several fatal accidents caused by non-citizen drivers with CDLs and operating trucks at the time of the accidents. The purpose of the interagency operation, CGB said, was to enforce immigration law violations, safeguard U.S. highways and uphold regulatory standards in the commercial transportation sector.
“The success of this operation highlights the ongoing dangers posed by the unmitigated border crisis we experienced prior to 2025,” said El Centro Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Joseph Remenar. “The individuals arrested should never have been operating these semi-trucks, and the states issuing them commercial driver’s licenses are directly responsible for the fatal accidents we have tragically witnessed recently.”
[Related: California explains why it upgraded Jashanpreet Singh's CDL days before fatal I-10 crash]
Rates making strong positive December run
For the third consecutive week, load posts on the DAT One load board exceeded 3 million, topping 3.2 million load posts during the most recent week ended Dec. 20. That’s coupled with a 12% decline in truck postings during the same week.
Winter storms that impacted the Midwest earlier this month created intense demand for refrigerated trailers during the first two weeks of December, including shippers using reefers to protect dry van freight from freezing. Midwest reefer spot rates jumped 23% in the week immediately after Thanksgiving.
DAT One saw 7-day average spot rates for dry van up six cents during the last week to $2.32/mile, while reefer rates were up 8 cents to $2.65/mile and flatbed was up 4 cents to $2.48/mile.
Looking at the big reefer freight markets in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Elizabeth, New Jersey, the December rate-per-mile trajectory is almost identical to last year's, DAT noted, but a week earlier and up 10% due to cold weather and calendar effects, rather than necessarily sustained demand.
DAT’s Dean Croke said it’s too soon to say whether current demand for equipment signals a market turn. Owner-operators will get a better picture by late January, he noted, when strawberries should be shipping out of central Florida; avocados will start arriving from Mexico ahead of the Super Bowl; leafy greens will be moving out of California and Arizona; and red roses will be arriving in Miami from Colombia and Ecuador before Valentine's Day.
[Related: State of freight 'sluggish,' even amid spot spikes, capacity reductions]
FMCSA planning study of warning devices for stopped trucks
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is planning to submit a request for a study of warning devices for trucks stopped at roadside.
The new proposed information collection, titled “Study of Warning Devices for Stopped Commercial Motor Vehicles,” FMCSA said, “is an experimental study that requires data collection for evaluating whether warning devices meaningfully influence crash-relevant aspects of human performance in the presence of a parked or disabled commercial motor vehicle (PDCMV), and if so, how and to what extent.”
FMCSA first announced its intentions to launch the study in January.
Under the proposed study, FMCSA would require the participation of 256 drivers.
FMCSA noted that with an increased focus on automated driving systems, driver safety when deploying warning devices at roadside, and the availability of new technology and alternative devices, it’s necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of warning devices under current regulations. The agency also acknowledged new research instruments that weren’t available the last time warning devices were studied, including:
- Sensors that provide specific vehicle location data
- Eye-tracking devices that allow the researcher to determine the precise moment when a driver first glanced at a PDCMV
- Instrumented vehicles that record accurate, high-frequency data related to drivers’ interactions with a vehicle’s controls
“FMCSA plans to implement these modern tools in a controlled experiment at a closed-course, state-of-the-art driving research facility that will allow the most comprehensive examination of the effects of warning devices to date,” the agency said. “The results of the study may support future rulemaking related to warning devices and provide baseline data necessary to inform Agency decisions on exemption applications for alternative warning device products.”
FMCSA in October granted an exemption to autonomous truck developer Aurora that allows the company to begin using cab-mounted warning beacons as an alternative to reflective triangles to meet federal warning device requirements.
[Related: FMCSA clearing path for autonomous rigs with recent waiver?]
