Trucking News Roundup: ATA Says the Recovery Is Supply-Driven as Texas Shipper Spending Jumps 37%, FMCSA Relaunches Its Complaint Center for Broker and Fraud Reports, a $760K Fuel-Card Fraud Case, Reefer Rejections Near 20%, and Congress Faces a Dec. 11 Deadline (Nov 7, 2026)

ATA's Costello: the recovery is supply-driven, and Texas spend is up 37% on fewer loads

ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello used his annual economic update with U.S. Bank at MCE 2026 in Charlotte to say the truckload market has turned, but not because freight is booming. Transport Topics (Nov. 5) and CDLWire (Nov. 6) both reported his read: national shipment counts are roughly flat, while the trucks available to haul them have thinned out. Shippers are paying for that. Logistics Management reports the U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index spend measure hit 242.4 in the third quarter, up 5.2% from Q2 and 32.1% from a year earlier.

The gap is widest in the border-exposed states — Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arizona. Per Costello, Texas shipments are down 12.9% so far this year while shipper spending is up 37%. He dates this "phase two" to roughly spring 2025, when enforcement on non-domiciled CDLs, English proficiency and training schools picked up, alongside court rulings and high diesel. He said he does not see a recession coming, and named a recession as the main thing that could break the trend.

What it means: What it means for Texas shippers: You are paying more to move fewer loads, so planned capacity beats chasing the cheapest spot number. Build your 2027 bid around carriers that actually own trucks — our https://maaslogistic.com/blog/2026-11-04-truckload-rfp-guide-2027-freight-bid-shippers walks through it — see the https://maaslogistic.com/lanes/freight-shipping-texas page, and request lane pricing at https://maaslogistic.com/quote. For CDL drivers: a supply-driven market means qualified drivers matter. Company drivers: https://maaslogistic.com/drive-with-us/company-drivers. Owner-operators: https://maaslogistic.com/drive-with-us/owner-operators.

• Source: Transport Topics — Costello on the trucking recovery (Nov. 5)
• Source: CDLWire — ATA's Costello: supply-driven recovery, shipper spending (Nov. 6)
• Source: Logistics Management — U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, Q3

FMCSA relaunches its complaint site as the FMCSA Complaint Center

FMCSA on Nov. 6 brought back its online complaint system under a new name, the FMCSA Complaint Center, replacing the old National Consumer Complaint Database. Truck News and OTR News report the rebuilt site adds categories for property brokers, entry-level driver training and the Training Provider Registry, intermodal equipment providers, and registration-related fraud and identity theft. It also gets a redesigned layout, updated forms and better search.

Complaints go in at complaint.fmcsa.dot.gov or by phone at 1-888-DOT-SAFT (1-888-368-7238). FMCSA is clear that filing a complaint does not automatically open an investigation. The relaunch is part of DOT's Pro-Trucker Package announced in June 2025.

What it means: What it means for CDL drivers and carriers: If a CDL school took your money and didn't deliver the training, or someone is running loads under your company's identity, there is now a specific box to check. Keep your paperwork, because a complaint is a record, not a guaranteed case. Shippers and drivers can use our https://maaslogistic.com/blog/carrier-vetting-checklist to check who they're dealing with before the problem starts.

• Source: Truck News — FMCSA expands complaint system (Nov. 6)
• Source: OTR News — FMCSA's relaunched Complaint Center (Nov. 7)

Fuel-card fraud: $760,320 left unpaid after cards opened in a carrier's name

CDLWire's Nov. 6 Morning Mile reports that two Atlanta men were indicted over eight fuel cards obtained in the name of a Detroit carrier. The cards were used in 23 states, and the charges left $760,320.19 unpaid.

It is the same problem FMCSA's new registration-fraud and identity-theft complaint category is meant to catch: somebody borrows a real carrier's name, and the real carrier finds out when the bill comes.

What it means: What it means for Texas shippers: Carrier identity theft costs real money. Confirm a carrier through contacts you already have on file and through FMCSA's own records using the USDOT number — not a phone number or email on a new rate confirmation. Maas Logistics is USDOT 3179194, based in Melissa, Texas. More dispatch-desk reporting: https://maaslogistic.com/news.

• Source: CDLWire — Morning Mile newsletter (Nov. 6)

Reefer rejections still near 20% as dry van holds around 10.5%

IEL's Nov. 2 weekly market update, built on SONAR data, put all-mode tender rejections at about 12.73%. Dry van rejections rose 0.17 point to 10.55%. Reefer rejections fell 1.27 points to 20.19%, which still means carriers are turning down roughly one reefer load in five.

On the spot side, IEL had national dry van around $3.47 a mile including fuel, up a penny, and reefer around $3.92 a mile including fuel, down a penny. These are third-party national market averages, not Maas rates or a quote for any lane.

What it means: What it means for DFW shippers: Reefer is still the hardest truck to land heading into Thanksgiving. If you have temperature-controlled holiday freight, get it booked early with pickup times and temperature requirements spelled out. Maas runs asset-based dry van and reefer full truckload, never re-brokered — request pricing at https://maaslogistic.com/quote.

• Source: IEL — Weekly freight market update, Nov. 2, 2026

Short: Congress comes back facing a Dec. 11 deadline

Truck News' Eugene Mulero reports that lawmakers return for the lame-duck session with a Dec. 11 deadline to keep DOT and other agencies funded. Democrats take governing majorities in 2027 after the midterms, with "affordability" expected to be a theme. ATRI's survey has fuel cost at the top of the industry's concerns, the House transportation appropriations bill includes $200 million for truck parking projects, and driver qualification and English-proficiency policy are expected to come back up.

What it means: What it means for Texas shippers and CDL drivers: Nothing changes on the road this week, but parking money, fuel and driver-qualification rules are all on the table for the next Congress. Worth watching before 2027 contracts are signed.

• Source: Truck News — Affordability, safety and oversight set to shape trucking policy in Congress (Nov. 6)

Saturday note: shipping or driving out of DFW

Yesterday's holiday capacity, diesel and spot-rate roundup is here: https://maaslogistic.com/news/2026-11-06-holiday-truckload-capacity-diesel-english-oos-spot-rates.

Shipping dry van or reefer out of DFW? Get a quote from an asset-based carrier that never re-brokers: https://maaslogistic.com/quote. CDL-A drivers: 50+ CPM dry van / 60+ CPM reefer: https://maaslogistic.com/drive-with-us/company-drivers. Owner-operators: 87–90% of gross, non-forced dispatch: https://maaslogistic.com/drive-with-us/owner-operators.

What it means: Maas Logistics LLC | 1817 Miller Rd #5, Melissa, TX 75454 | (916) 770-7323 | dispatch@maaslogistic.com | Melissa, TX / DFW | USDOT 3179194. The Logistics Partner that Delivers. Read more at https://maaslogistic.com/news.

• Source: Transport Topics
• Source: CDLWire
• Source: Logistics Management
• Source: Truck News
• Source: OTR News
• Source: CDLWire Morning Mile
• Source: IEL
• Source: Truck News