The Army Transportation Command (ARTRANS) issued a Customer and Carrier Advisory Oct. 1 that effectively bans trucks with paper company insignia and DOT numbers from hauling military freight.
- The move followed Overdrive reporting on military vehicles and other freight entering a “shadowy” web of carriers moving a seemingly impossible amount of freight for their size.
- ARTRANS issued two other advisories to military-contracting carriers in September that seemed designed to prevent rebrokering by military contracted carriers.
- The new advisories were issued to carriers in the military freight network, not those responsible for awarding freight or enforcing the military contracting system’s rules.
Overdrive‘s August reporting found ARTRANS awarding millions worth of freight to two businesses owned by Huffman Monk, a fleet owner convicted in past of fraud and public bribery.
A single one-truck carrier registered to Monk didn’t have insurance and was not federally authorized to haul freight from July 16 to July 31. Yet over the two weeks the fleet landed 40 loads from ARTRANS, according to records from the Global Freight Management platform.
The American Trucking Associations wrote the Pentagon a letter calling out the “troubling patterns within the military freight transportation system” that saw military hardware “disappear into a shadowy maze of brokers and unknown entities” at an “alarming scale.”
[Related: Millions in military freight awarded to convicted fraudster’s fleets]
Since that reporting, ARTRANS has issued three new advisories telling carriers what is and isn’t allowed.
A September 16 advisory noted Transportation Service Providers (TSPs) hauling Department of War freight needed active operating authority.
“Valid operating certificates and insurance for the scope of operations shall be maintained by the TSP,” the advisory said. Carriers registered in the Freight Carrier Registration Program “must always maintain an active USDOT operating authority with FMCSA while hauling freight for DOW,” and all “information reported to FMCSA must be truthful and accurate.”
A second advisory that same day made it clear that the truck picking up/delivering a load needed to have markings matching the carrier that booked the load, and just two weeks later ARTRANS issued near-identical guidance making clear paper numbers wouldn’t do.
In an advisory aimed at “TSP requirements regarding the leasing of vehicles to transport” military freight, the military agency noted carriers must comply with federal regulations on the leasing and interchange of vehicles in 49 CFR Part 376.
Military haulers told Overdrive that, frequently, trucks with DOT numbers not registered in the military’s Global Freight Management (GFM) platform showed up at military installations with freight that had been awarded to other carriers. ARTRANS’ guidance emphasizes that so-called “trip leases” are not sufficient for moving DOW freight, and requires a lease agreement of at least 30 days.
Also: markings on the vehicle must match the GFM-registered carrier.
Not only that, but the lease “must be always maintained in the cab of the leased CMV and available for inspection by the DOW Shipper,” and leases must have been in force for at least 30 days prior to moving the load. The truck that arrives for pickup or delivery must have the registered carrier’s name and DOT number “easily visible.”
On October 1, the military updated the guidance to specifically say no paper or removable magnetic numbers, among other temporary insignia.
[Related: How troopers tackle remote ELD manipulation, ‘chameleon’ operations]
“When providing services under a DOW-issued [bill of lading], these markings must be applied to the CMV using painted markings or permanently adhered vinyl/adhesive decals affixed in a manner not removable by hand,” according to the latest advisory. “Temporary markings will not be accepted, including magnetic signs or decals, static-cling signs, placards, and paper or other signs taped or otherwise temporarily affixed. The driver’s Electronic Logging Device must display the same USDOT number. The Shipper may reject a vehicle for improper markings” and issue a service failure.
Despite this guidance, on October 6 a firsthand witness provided Overdrive evidence of motor carriers not registered with GFM hauling military vehicles.
The guidance appears not to have changed much on the ground in the short-term, according to military haulers who said that Transportation Officers across the country continue to award impossible freight volumes to one-truck carriers, and that wrongly marked vehicles continue to haul GFM-awarded freight.
As previously reported, ARTRANS had already issued updated guidance clarifying that “Signature and Tally” freight, often sensitive materials with confidential specifications (like advanced military vehicles), couldn’t be brokered, and trucks needed to be clearly marked, back in October of 2025.
The military agency told Overdrive that the new guidance was aimed at carriers, not at its own Transportation Officers, who are tasked with actually enforcing the rules.
“These documents reinforce carrier compliance standards” regarding vehicle leasing and asset reporting, ARTRANS said.
Back in August, Overdrive asked if Transportation Officers are trained to correctly identify trucks, common in commercial shipping, and learned that ARTRANS didn’t control the awarding officers, and just provide guidance.
“Transportation operations are decentralized to individual installations, organizations, and agencies across the DOW,” ARTRANS said. “Customer Advisories have been published to local Transportation Officers providing guidance on how to verify lease information and vehicle markings at the time of loading.”
ARTRANS added that, while it offers “recurring educational opportunities to DOW Transportation Officers and transportation personnel,” the “individual compliance and administrative oversight of these personnel remain the responsibility of their respective employing Military Services and federal agencies.”
[Related: How to get access to military freight]
