newsletters

Shorter Newsletters? You Decide

The Caviar Desk · March 20, 2026 · 3 min read

Happy Friday. No feature story today, we’re running a quick FreightCaviar survey and would love your input. Takes 30 seconds and enters you to win a hoodie + print magazine.

Plus:

FedEx Had a Strong Quarter
Michigan Goes After Cargo Thieves
Trump Opens U.S. Ports to Foreign Ships

🍳 What's Cookin' In Freight

📦 FedEx Beats, Freight Lags. FedEx posted a strong quarter, with revenue up 8% to $24B and profits beating expectations, driven by higher package pricing and cost cuts across its core delivery network. But its LTL division, FedEx Freight, lagged, with revenue down 4.7% as shipments declined and spin-off-related costs added pressure. FedEx plans to separate this Freight unit into its own public company on June 1. Despite the weakness there, the overall business looks solid. FedEx raised full-year guidance, and the stock jumped 9% after hours.

🚨 Cargo Theft Crackdown. Michigan lawmakers are pushing tougher penalties for cargo theft, with new bills that could add up to 10 years in prison and allow stacked sentences for offenders. The goal is to target organized theft rings that have been hitting freight at scale, not just small-time theft. Both bills have already passed the House and are now headed to the Senate. At the same time, federal lawmakers are moving forward with broader reforms, including stricter carrier registration rules, improved CDL oversight, and a new task force focused on freight fraud and theft.

⚓ Trump Suspends the Jones Act. With Iran war-driven fuel prices soaring, the White House issued a 60-day waiver allowing foreign ships to carry crude oil, gas, and fertilizer between U.S. ports, a law that's been on the books since 1920. The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed to most traffic, trapping hundreds of tankers in the Persian Gulf. The waiver could shave 10 cents off a gallon of gas on East Coast routes. U.S. maritime groups aren't happy; the American Maritime Partnership says it'll displace American workers and disputes the price impact in its entirety.

Presented by CloneOps.ai

CloneOps.ai transforms business communication with AI agents that keep your operations always on, precise, and scalable.

This isn’t theory or hype, it’s live and delivering results today!

👉 Call one of our agents now, and experience how AI transforms communication.

FreightCaviar Survey (Win a Hoodie + Print Magazine)

No feature story today.

We’re thinking about making the newsletter shorter and faster. Before we do, we want your take.

Quick 30-second survey. We ran one yesterday, too, but this is a new one, so you can take both and increase your chances of winning a FreightCaviar hoodie + print magazine.

👉 Take the survey here.

P.S. If you'd like to increase your chances of winning a hoodie and a magazine, you can also take this 2nd survey, which we ran yesterday.

🌎 Around the Freight Web

🚛 16,980 Drivers OOS. Nearly 17,000 truck drivers have been placed out of service for failing to meet English language requirements, according to a viral post circulating on X.

⚡ Tesla Semi Gets Love. Tesla is finally rolling out its long-awaited Semi, and early driver feedback is surprisingly positive.

🚆 CPKC Pushes Mexico Growth. CPKC is growing cross-border freight by launching new Mexico–U.S.–Canada rail services, but is still struggling to pull enough volume off trucks.

🔥 Truckload Market Tightens. Truckload spot rates hit $2.82/mile, the highest since 2022, with volumes also at multi-year highs.

🤖 Autonomous Trucking Impact. Aurora says autonomous trucking could add $70B to U.S. GDP by 2035, while saving consumers ~$9B annually through lower shipping costs.