Tariff Ruling, Roadcheck Today & Canada Truck News

Good morning and happy Monday. It's May 11th — here's what's moving the industry today.

A federal court has handed the Trump administration its second tariff defeat of the year, striking down the 10% global import duty as unlawful — a ruling with direct implications for cross-border freight just as the USMCA/CUSMA review approaches in July. International Roadcheck begins tomorrow, with electronic logging device compliance and cargo securement in focus at a moment when nearly one in five commercial trucks on U.S. roads is estimated to fail basic roadworthiness standards. We also have two notable Canadian tech stories, an update on a B.C. carrier in receivership, and a Truck News column worth your time on whether the Humboldt Broncos crash has actually changed anything.

Federal court strikes down Trump's 10% global tariffs; trade uncertainty deepens

FreightWaves reports that the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down the Trump administration's 10% global tariff in a 2-1 ruling on Thursday, finding that the administration had exceeded the authority Congress delegated under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. The tariffs were the replacement measure imposed after the Supreme Court voided Trump's broader emergency-based tariffs in February; the court found the conditions required to invoke Section 122 — a large and serious balance-of-payments deficit — did not exist. The Department of Justice immediately appealed, and the tariffs remain in force for all importers except the plaintiffs while the appeal proceeds, adding another layer of legal uncertainty to freight markets already navigating volatile demand and shifting sourcing patterns.

Cross-border note: USMCA-compliant goods from Canada and Mexico were already exempt from this replacement tariff. The ruling arrives with the USMCA/CUSMA review scheduled for July 2026 and fresh pressure from Washington on the EU — developments Canadian cross-border operators should track closely.

Court denies stay on non-domiciled CDL rule; case heads to an expedited trial

The D.C. Circuit Court voted 2-1 to deny a request to pause the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) rule restricting non-domiciled commercial driver's licences (CDLs), Truck News reports, meaning the rule stays in force while litigation moves forward on an expedited schedule. The updated rule, effective since March, limits non-domiciled CDL eligibility to H-2A, H-2B, and E-2 visa holders — a category FMCSA estimates covers only 3% of the approximately 200,000 non-domiciled CDL holders currently operating in the U.S. — with briefs due this summer and oral arguments expected in September.

Shipper costs jump 21.8% year-over-year as capacity tightens

Shipper spending climbed 12.9% quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026 — the largest sequential increase since late 2020 — even as national shipment volumes were essentially flat, TheTrucker.com has the details from the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index. American Trucking Associations (ATA) Chief Economist Bob Costello attributed the divergence to supply rather than demand: fewer trucks competing for freight, combined with a diesel spike in March that pushed smaller carriers to their financial limits, tightened available capacity faster than any demand shift. Spot rates rose approximately 12% quarter-over-quarter per DAT Freight & Analytics data cited in the report, with the spending-to-volume gap most pronounced in the Midwest — where softer cross-border freight from Canada was specifically flagged as a drag on regional volumes.

Forward Air warns of major customer departure; shares fall more than 40%

Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD) disclosed it is likely losing a contract logistics customer representing approximately $250 million in annual revenue, per FreightWaves, sending shares down more than 40% in early Friday trading after a Q1 earnings call that also confirmed a strategic review concluded without receiving any actionable whole-company sale proposals. The company posted a Q1 net loss of $34 million ($1.09 per share) on revenue of $582 million — down 5% year-over-year — and said the customer transition, expected to begin in early 2027, involves no correlation with Amazon, per management. Forward Air's board will now pursue the sale of non-core assets, including its intermodal segment and two smaller Omni Logistics units, as it seeks to deleverage and refocus on its expedited ground network.

Diesel — Canada prices continue to trend downwards over the weekend for some much need relief, with provincial price discrepancies varying by up to 40 cents a litre.

Halifax: 2.13 | Montreal: 2.32 | Toronto: 1.98 | Calgary: 1.95 | Vancouver: 2.27

Diesel — United States U.S. national average: $5.637 per gallon to start the week of May 11^th. After a price spike last week we are hoping to resume the sequential prince declines from end of April.

Freight market Truckload tender volume is running approximately 11–13% above year-ago levels per FreightWaves SONAR, consistent with Q1 market tightening. Spot rates remain elevated relative to contract. Current dry van and reefer rate benchmarks: check DAT Freight & Analytics for daily updates.

Crude Brent crude is trading above $100/barrel as Strait of Hormuz transits remain disrupted since May 5, sustaining upward pressure on diesel costs on both sides of the border.

Rate data: DAT Freight & Analytics / U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index. Diesel: Natural Resources Canada / U.S. Energy Information Administration.

International Roadcheck begins tomorrow — ELDs and cargo securement in the crosshairs

International Roadcheck runs May 12–14, beginning tomorrow morning. FreightWaves has a breakdown of what carriers can expect from the 72-hour Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) enforcement blitz, which runs simultaneously across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. This year's driver inspection focus is electronic logging device (ELD) tampering, falsification, or manipulation; the vehicle focus is cargo securement — and in 2025, 18.1% of inspected vehicles and 5.9% of drivers received out-of-service orders, with prior Roadcheck events producing spot rate spikes of 6–8% as some drivers park to avoid the heightened enforcement window. Canadian carriers operating U.S. routes are subject to the same inspection standards; any truck placed out of service in a tightening rate environment this week carries a real cost.

OOIDA calls truck parking "overlooked" as FMCSA opens comment period

Owner-operators looking for regulatory movement on parking may have an opening: the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has formally told the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that truck parking is an issue that is "overlooked and inadequately supported," with Land Line reporting that the FMCSA has published a notice seeking input for an upcoming study called "Quantifying the Benefits of Creating New Truck Parking Spaces." The comment period is now open — carriers and owner-operators with documented parking challenges on high-volume corridors, including cross-border lanes into the U.S., have an opportunity to put their experience on the federal record.

Edison Motors clears federal approval to build Class 8 diesel-electric hybrid trucks in B.C.

Truck News reports that B.C.-based Edison Motors has received approval from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) to manufacture Class 8 diesel-electric hybrid trucks powered by the Cummins X15 engine as the on-board generator — clearing a regulatory barrier that had blocked the company from commercialising its hybrid design. The approval covers production at a new manufacturing facility in Donald, B.C., expected to be operational in Q3 2026 with capacity for up to 125 vehicles annually; Edison has already delivered one Class 8 prototype and one Class 5 conversion vehicle to demonstration partners, with three more planned for this year. The company built North America's first plug-in hybrid Class 8 semi-truck prototype in 2023.

Kodiak AI heads to the Alberta forests in its first international deployment

What started with driverless commercial freight on Texas highways is moving north: Truck News is reporting that Kodiak AI will begin piloting autonomous log-hauling operations in Alberta this year, in partnership with West Fraser Timber Co. and facilitated by forestry research organisation FPInnovations. Trucks equipped with Kodiak's AI-powered autonomous driving system will haul timber from forest sites to a West Fraser processing facility, with the pilot designed to determine whether the technology is suited for full commercial driverless deployment on remote resource roads — conditions significantly more demanding than the interstate highway routes where Kodiak built its operating record. The announcement came the same week the company disclosed it has begun hauling live commercial freight for Roehl Transport between Dallas and Houston.

Manney Transport restructuring faces questions as B.C. receivership proceeds

A court-appointed receiver overseeing Manney Transport says key financial information remains outstanding, per Truck News, as the Surrey-based carrier and affiliated companies — including NCG National Container Group Inc. and Pacific Mountain Transport — attempt a structured reorganisation to avoid a broader collapse. National Bank of Canada obtained the receivership order on March 10 through Alvarez & Marsal Canada Inc.; the companies' restructuring proposal argues the plan would preserve 63 employees and 100 dependent operators. Proceedings continue before the B.C. Supreme Court.

Eight years after the crash that reshaped Canadian trucking safety regulation, a Truck News column asks whether the industry has actually addressed the systemic failures that produced it. The piece draws a direct line from inadequately trained drivers and predatory fly-by-night carriers in 2018 to conditions that persist today, arguing that Humboldt was not an isolated tragedy but a symptom of structural problems — in driver training, carrier vetting, and regulatory enforcement — that governments have repeatedly declined to fix. Worth reading before the week gets away from you.

Read the full column at Truck News.

Nearly one in five commercial trucks currently on U.S. roads fails to meet basic roadworthiness standards — a figure FreightWaves SONAR attributes to a widespread accumulation of deferred maintenance during the prolonged freight recession of 2022–2026, when squeezed margins led carriers to postpone repairs and put off equipment upgrades. With International Roadcheck beginning tomorrow, fleets that parked equipment or deferred mechanical work during the downturn should treat this week as more than a compliance checkpoint.