https://www.overdriveonline.com/life/article/15834464/driver-busted-with-38m-worth-of-cocaine-in-empty-trailerOverdriveen2026-09-09T20:54:52.000ZDriver busted with $3.8M worth of cocaine in 'empty' trailerhttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-09-at-124147-pm.GWbjK0o13K.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/keith-rahn.ubFgDhyso5.webp?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Keith Rahnhttps://www.overdriveonline.com/small-fleet-champ/article/15834430/drumroll-please-meet-your-small-fleet-champ-semifinalistsOverdriveen2026-09-09T19:40:41.000ZDrumroll, please ... Meet your Small Fleet Champ semi-finalistshttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/mixcollage-09-sep-2026-10-07-am-6694.CFSk8Mn3nL.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Leighton Transport has built a reputation across the Pacific Northwest as a dependable flatbed carrier that punches above its weight class. Running with 53-foot Maxi flatbed trailers to haul steel, lumber, and recyclable commodities, the fleet has scaled to 28 trucks (15 company drivers, 13 owner-ops) intentionally while maintaining financial independence and a driver-first culture. Originally operated under a three-partner structure, the carrier evolved after co-founder Randy Leighton retired. Today, Leighton Transport operates under 50-50 ownership between Andy Lott and Michelle Miller. Lott oversees capital equipment acquisitions and high-level strategy, while Payson Lott manages day-to-day operations.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/kst.xx7jrwQsOL.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Shannon Sanders, owner of Manteca, California-based <a href="https://kstlogistics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">KST Logistics</a>, has been on a journey of stabilization for the last couple years. In 2024, KST's founding owner-operator and Shannon's husband, Ken Sanders, died during a tragic accident on a load site, hit by falling pipe, throwing the business the Sanders' had built into turmoil. Since, she's laid ground work for growth after slight contraction since, with six total drivers operating earlier this year, in efforts to build the team around her. "Ken used to say, 'Let’s rock and roll,'" she said, and she lets his example guide her drive toward measured growth with open-deck, often-oversize freight. "We’re going to keep rocking and rolling."https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/truckwise.r9NStug3cG.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Owner Kevin Haderlie started out as a self-described “trucking gypsy,” working load boards for the first six months or so in business with authority after first leasing to another flatbed fleet with his first turn as an owner-operator. A customer's oversize equipment moves led him to invest in the right trailers for the job, and growth has followed for <a href="https://truckwise.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TruckWise</a> to 10 trucks, with a couple more on the way before the year's out.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/car-couriers.AgZK0y9aip.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70<a href="https://www.carcouriers.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Car Couriers</a>' 12 mostly stinger-steer car-haul units run a mix of new and used vehicles within Canada and cross-border from the port in Aberdeen, Washington, to points north, among a variety of other moves owner Gerry Neilon (pictured, left) and team keep their heads on a swivel for, rolling with market punches with dexterity. Company safety man and longtime trainer Ron Spring, a former owner-operator, put Car Couriers forward as a contender for <i>Overdrive</i>'s Small Fleet Champ award this year. Spring described Neilon as modest perhaps to a fault for what he really is, the consummate businessman. A day out looking at equipment together, Spring recalled, "I’m looking at [a truck] -- 'What’s the original cost, other options, will this really work or not?' As soon as I finish talking, Gerry's got the net-net figured out." The company also operates a service shop doing fleet and outside maintenance work in Calgary, nearby headquarters in Cremona.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/getcargo.L8yOL3EyvW.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The Chicago-area mostly owner-operator fleet <a href="https://www.getcargo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Get Cargo</a>'s going on 20 years in business now, with a 10%-of-gross fee for leased owners, access to the company discount fuel network, likewise a network of shop vendors built up by owner Stevey Nikolov over years. He cut his teeth in Chicago trucking after coming to the U.S. first as a student (English major), then got immigrant status like so many Eastern Europeans at the time, working by 2005 for a trucking company in Elgin, where he had two trucks leased himself. By 2009, he was responsible for more than 100 drivers as a dispatcher and knew there had to be a better way, founding Get Cargo that same year in pursuit of measured growth since to 18 total trucks at year-end 2025. Originally from Bulgaria, Nikolov's invested in support in additional staff, with two dispatch employees (one part-time) in Bulgaria, likewise a bookkeeper there and an office manager at Illinois headquarters.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/leighton.NKwgs13QHg.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Leighton Transport built a reputation across the Pacific Northwest as a dependable flatbed carrier that punches above its weight class. Running with 53-foot Maxi flatbed trailers to haul steel, lumber, and recyclable commodities, the fleet's scaled intentionally to 28 trucks (15 drivers and 13 owner-operated), while maintaining financial independence and a driver-first culture. Originally operated under a three-partner structure, the carrier evolved after co-founder Randy Leighton retired. Today, Leighton Transport operates under 50-50 ownership structure between Andy Lott and Michelle Miller. Lott oversees capital equipment acquisitions and high-level strategy, while Payson Lott manages day-to-day operations.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/otto.4cZ89nqann.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The Minnesota Trucking Association's executive leader calls Otto Transfer's Kevin and Liz Otto the "dynamic duo" as current co-owners of a trucking business that's celebrating 80 years since Kevin's father Charlie hauled livestock starting in the 1940s in Delano. The fleet's at 16 trucks today, about half sleeper tractors and half daycabs with loaders atop the cab as a prime tool for operators -- and significant value-add for one among its most important customers, a manufacturer of power pole for utilities.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/mckinney.QeuOjF2W8e.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Owner David McKinney bought his first truck at 22 years old after having moved with his family from California to Alabama. He had cousins who drove trucks, but otherwise no real connection to the industry. “I bought my house on a Friday and a Peterbilt on a Saturday,” he said, leasing to a larger outfit at first and growing to four trucks. A 2001 bankruptcy forced him to rethink trucking in significant ways, bringing his wife full-time into back-office management, growing to between 15 and 20 trucks, where the fleet of show-quality Petes has ranged consistently for years. "We’ve come a long way from being just a poor, dumb truck driver,” he joked. “And now we try to run the equipment to show that.”https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/sfc-semifinalist-kickoff.C6KDY1l6Jn.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Let the final bouts commence! The 2026 <i>Overdrive</i>'s Small Fleet Championship semi-finalists are in. Two will emerge with the Champ belts in Nashville next month at the conference of the <a href="https://nastc.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Association of Small Trucking Companies</a>.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/nastc-logo.vlZdOR5YJZ.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The <a href="https://overdriveonline.com/small-fleet-champ">Small Fleet Championship</a>'s long-running sponsor is the National Association of Small Trucking Companies. <a href="http://nastc.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Find more about the myriad benefits of association membership via the NASTC website.</a>https://www.overdriveonline.com/business/article/15834444/a-new-record-high-diesel-costs-surge-rates-bust-recent-slumpOverdriveen2026-09-09T16:59:20.000ZA new record high: Diesel costs surge, rates bust recent slumphttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/truck-delivery-dock-adobestock-2037984667.G6w1M1qH54.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://www.overdriveonline.com/life/article/15834357/thank-you-truckers-deals-giveaways-more-on-deck-for-driver-appreciation-weekOverdriveen2026-09-08T20:25:06.000ZThank you, truckers: Deals, giveaways, more on deck for appreciation weekhttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/pilot-w990.iv2LXxqu03.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The Kenworth W990 features a 52-inch flat-top sleeper equipped with a Diamond VIT interior, powered by a Paccar MX-13 engine that delivers 510 horsepower and 1,850 lb-ft of torque via a Paccar TX-18 transmission. The custom build journey and Road Warrior highlights will be shared through exclusive content on Pilot and Kenworth social media channels.https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834340/ice-opens-tip-line-with-dot-for-cdl-fraud-crackdownOverdriveen2026-09-08T19:30:55.000ZICE opens tip line with DOT for 'CDL fraud' crackdownhttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/tipline.jOA56kHApY.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834334/chameleon-carriers-continue-to-draw-congress-attentionOverdriveen2026-09-08T19:23:46.000ZChameleon carriers continue to draw Congress' attentionhttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/freight-fraud.9U4WhPjsKo.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://www.overdriveonline.com/life/article/15834226/full-i40-reopening-timeline-extended-into-2029Overdriveen2026-09-07T13:55:00.000ZFull I-40 reopening timeline extended into 2029https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/i-40-reconstruction.SPHda6Pu4D.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70New geotechnical information revealed that the I-40 reconstruction in western North Carolina will take longer and be more expensive than previously estimated.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/joann-mcnabb.IoGLJjVPvZ.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Joann McNabbhttps://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834172/fmcsa-cleaning-up-motus-mess-one-carrier-at-a-timeOverdriveen2026-09-04T19:32:18.000ZFMCSA cleaning up Motus mess one carrier at a timehttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-04-101800.OFeoTALpZ4.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-04-114231.wkTVSFVdaz.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834186/fmcsas-emergency-cdl-school-closures-every-school-listedOverdriveen2026-09-04T19:31:55.000ZCDL school fires back after 'emergency shutdown' from FMCSA, White House anti-fraud task forcehttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-04-at-20549-pm.3W2u522Tb4.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834206/new-legislation-would-criminalize-all-staged-crashes-at-federal-levelOverdriveen2026-09-04T17:45:15.000ZNew legislation would criminalize all staged crashes at federal levelhttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/truck-wreck.UKNYazJ6bh.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/gabriel-popa.MsrXzeactT.webp?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Gabriel Popahttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/prepass-tablet-bypass-go-small.0HgJriIOZi.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The app transmits safety scores, credential information, and other compliance data to enforcement officers. Vehicles that meet Oregon’s safety and credential standards may be cleared to continue at highway speeds so officers can focus their attention on carriers who don’t satisfy those standards.https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834108/major-cdl-schools-face-fmcsa-removal-noticesOverdriveen2026-09-03T20:51:52.000ZFMCSA proposes removing the nation's biggest CDL schools amid fraud crackdownhttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-03-at-25940-pm.CrpyOcRyci.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://www.overdriveonline.com/regulations/article/15834095/1k-elp-violations-561-arrests-al-truck-troopers-and-iceOverdriveen2026-09-03T19:47:40.000Z1K ELP violations, 561 immigration arrests: Alabama trumpets aggressive trucking posturehttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/alea-21-scaled.shtkPdc2j1.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/tennessee-truck-parking-sign-tpas.05nw7IcWQ5.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70The TPAS technologies are now fully integrated into TDOT’s SmartWay system and operational at the I-40 Welcome Center.https://www.overdriveonline.com/equipment/article/15834073/buy-now-truck-prices-on-the-way-up-with-epa-2027-emissionsOverdriveen2026-09-03T19:40:44.000ZBuy now? Truck prices on way up with EPA 2027 emissionshttps://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-03-103039.1MG097Succ.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70Moyer shared this slide during his presentation that showed categories of new engines for 2027 allowed for in the EPA rule proposal. Estimated upcharges are highlighted.https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-03-111429.MF0ykOAOI4.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/screenshot-2026-09-03-143638.2yrNppT4YQ.png?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70https://img.overdriveonline.com/mindful/rr/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/09/mixcollage-03-sep-2026-02-22-pm-1016.RwHydrcxp9.jpg?auto=format%252Ccompress&q=70