Late summer 2025 brought more compliance housekeeping than big policy change. The items below are the ones most likely to affect a small carrier's schedule, equipment plans or cash flow.
Regulatory updates
Two more ELDs revoked: replace before 29 September
On 31 July 2025 the FMCSA removed two more devices from its list of registered electronic logging devices: Walker ELD from Walker ELD Systems and SR ELD from SR ELD LLC. Carriers using either device had to replace it with a registered ELD before 29 September 2025.
This follows the May revocation of eight Gorilla Fleet Safety devices, which carried an 11 July deadline. Revocations happen device by device, so the practical step is the same each time: check that your exact model is still on the FMCSA's registered list. A carrier still running a revoked device after the deadline is treated as operating without an ELD.
Automatic emergency braking is still a proposal
The NHTSA and the FMCSA jointly proposed in July 2023 that new trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight be fitted with automatic emergency braking. The proposal gave manufacturers three to four years after a final rule to comply. As of the Spring 2025 regulatory agenda, the rule was still at the proposed stage, with a supplemental proposal planned for December 2025 and no final rule date set. If you are buying a truck now, AEB is worth considering on safety and insurance grounds, but it is not yet required.
Oral fluid drug testing is approved but not yet usable
The DOT's May 2023 rule allowed oral fluid testing as an alternative to urine testing. It cannot be used until the Department of Health and Human Services certifies at least two oral fluid laboratories, and as of October 2025 the DOT said none had been certified. Urine testing remains the method in practice.
Truck makers cut jobs
In April 2025 Volvo Trucks North America said job cuts since the start of the year would affect up to 980 employees. The April round included 250 to 350 layoffs at Mack's Lehigh Valley plant in Pennsylvania, up to 350 more at Volvo's New River Valley plant in Virginia, and 50 to 100 at the powertrain plant in Hagerstown, Maryland. Volvo cited weak heavy-truck orders, uncertainty over freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes and tariffs.
Lower production does not automatically mean higher truck prices, but it is a signal that new-truck demand is weak. If you are financing equipment, compare the payment against the rates you are actually earning, not against a hoped-for recovery.
Lessons from past failures
Two collapses from 2023 still shape how factors and carriers think about risk:
- Yellow. The less-than-truckload carrier filed for Chapter 11 on 6 August 2023 in Delaware, as it shut down. Its exit took a major LTL carrier out of the market in one step.
- Convoy. The digital freight broker suspended loads on 18 October 2023 and shut down the next day. Nearly two months later, some carriers and their factoring companies were still trying to collect for loads hauled in its final days. Because Convoy never filed for bankruptcy, it was unclear whether or how those carriers would be paid.
The Convoy case is the clearest example of why broker credit checks matter. A factor that checks broker credit before you haul, and a non-recourse agreement that actually covers broker insolvency, can be the difference between a loss and a paid invoice. Our guide to recourse vs non-recourse factoring explains what non-recourse usually does and does not cover.
Fuel
The U.S. average retail diesel price was $3.713 a gallon in the week of 18 August 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration, down slightly from $3.812 in the week of 21 July.
What to do now
- Check your ELD model against the FMCSA registered list and replace it before any deadline.
- Ask your factor how it checks broker credit and how quickly it flags a slow-paying broker.
- Read the recourse terms in your agreement. Our factoring contract guide covers the clauses that matter.
- Keep a cash reserve. Factoring speeds up payment, but it cannot cover a broker that never pays under a recourse agreement.
For the bigger picture, see our freight factoring market trends roundup, or compare factors on the freight and trucking page.