Freightwaves Interview Part 2: Cargo Theft, Fraud, and Cabotage Violations
The Trucking Alliance partnered with Freightwaves for a panel discussion on trucking safety, regulations, and more. In this three-part series, the panel discusses its goals for 2026 and beyond.
The second part of the series breaks down the explosion of systemic cargo theft due to the growth of digital load boards, cabotage violations by foreign-domiciled trucking carriers operating illegally within the U.S., and foreign actors exploiting credentialing gaps in FMCSA systems to commit fraud.
The panel discussed the use of tracking technologies like GenLogs to identify illegal freight movement, particularly in cabotage cases, and the need for coordination between the FMCSA and Customs & Border Protection.
Click this link for the full roundtable discussion.
JOHN KINGSTON: Let’s move on to the next point: illegal freight. These issues are all connected, but under the heading of illegal freight, you are primarily referring to foreign-domiciled trucking companies violating cabotage rules. For example, if a trucker comes into the U.S. from Canada, they are supposed to either return empty to Canada or pick up freight destined for Canada. They cannot drop a load off in Chicago and then pick up another load to drop off in Minneapolis. The same rules apply to carriers from Mexico. I hadn’t heard much about this being a major problem until the last couple of years, but now it comes up constantly. Has this issue exploded recently? And what regulatory or enforcement steps need to be taken to address it?
BRETT SANT: As we discussed earlier, these issues are deeply interrelated. Licensing fraud is tied to insurance fraud, which is tied to the lack of roadside enforcement. If we had the ability to use Level 8 Inspections to prioritize carriers with no safety data, we would pull more of these bad actors in for inspections using today’s technology. Looking ahead, leveraging underutilized technology would make it significantly harder for fraudulent carriers to operate.
Regarding cabotage specifically, we have long suspected it was a larger problem than recognized. Now, technologies like GenLogs have shed light on the true scope of the issue. GenLogs identified at least 970 Mexican-domiciled carriers with OP-2 authority operating far north of the commercial border zones across as many as 20 states. These carriers were captured tens of thousands of times moving freight outside their authorized zones. There is simply no legal reason for them to be there. This illegal activity affects highway safety and compromises the security of the U.S. workforce. With existing technology, enforcement could be much more effective at curbing this abuse.
GREER WOODRUFF: The recent efforts around English language proficiency enforcement likely brought this cabotage issue to light much faster than it otherwise would have been. Historically, cabotage violations have been viewed primarily as an economic issue for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to resolve. However, we need to see tighter coordination between CBP and the FMCSA. There should be established out-of-service criteria for cabotage violations discovered during roadside inspections. During an inspection, an officer can check English proficiency, review the bill of lading to confirm the origin and destination, and determine from the driver’s license and operating authority whether they are violating cabotage rules. Emerging business technologies can easily be applied to government use cases to strengthen this enforcement.
JOHN KINGSTON: Do you think the English language crackdown will naturally self-correct some of these cabotage problems?
GREER WOODRUFF: It has had some impact. Increased enforcement has caused some Mexican carriers to return to Mexico, which we’ve noticed through an increase in available capacity south of the border over the last couple of months. While it has corrected itself to an extent, there are undoubtedly continuing violations that still need to be addressed.
JOHN KINGSTON: Let’s move to licensing fraud, which ties into the cargo theft issue we just touched on. This is very much in the news right now. What has happened so far that you think will make a significant impact, and what would you like to see happen going forward?
BRETT SANT: Again, this points to how correlated these issues are. If you look at the explosion in cargo theft over the last few years, it parallels the explosion in the number of CDLs issued to non-U.S. citizens using non-domiciled licenses. We believe that effectively enforcing existing laws and leveraging new technologies will help solve this. Utilizing Level 8 inspections to enforce cabotage rules and supporting the administration’s efforts to enforce CDL licensing standards will combat fraud. Raising the standards for operating authorities, enforcing licensing requirements, and strictly regulating cabotage will collectively reduce both cargo theft and fraud.
JOHN KINGSTON: Those seven points are the main subheads of your agenda. Looking beyond the Alliance’s work, do you feel there has been a tipping point in trucking regulation? Has the industry been too laissez-faire for too long? Most of what you are advocating for isn’t about creating new rules, but simply enforcing existing ones. Do you sense a permanent shift in enforcement that will outlast the current administration? Lane, you’re down there in Washington—what is your sense of this?
LANE KIDD: I do sense a permanent shift. Like many transformational changes, it sometimes takes a specific catalyst. Over the last several months, we have seen a handful of highly publicized, tragic large truck crashes that should never have happened. The general public became acutely aware of these incidents because they were caught on video, which ultimately grabbed the attention of Secretary Duffy.
The current leadership at the FMCSA is more attuned to the realities of the trucking industry than any previous appointees I have seen in the last 20 years. Social media is now filled with videos of unqualified drivers getting tractor-trailers stuck in the desert while attempting U-turns. The public is now paying close attention to an industry they previously ignored. This awareness will drive continuous enforcement, and that is a positive development. We need these changes to rid the industry of a very fractious underbelly that has no business operating commercial motor vehicles.
GREER WOODRUFF: I want to stress that the overwhelming majority of drivers in our industry are safe, professional, and essential to fueling our economy. The fringe minority of drivers who drive impaired, lack proper training, operate without valid CDLs, and commit unsafe acts damage the reputation of those millions of safe professionals. That is exactly why we are pushing this agenda: to protect the reputations of the great companies and professional drivers on the road. To do that, we have to address the bad actors on the fringe.