mccown co llc

Dear Mr. Minor, My name is David McCown, President of McCown Co LLC. I represent a growing network of carriers and drivers across numerous congressional districts working toward restoring transparency and stability in the American freight market. I recently saw the press conference where Secretary Duffy and Mr. Barrs asked for help and ideas on how to fix the current problems in trucking. Respectfully, here is the answer. If possible, I would appreciate you forwarding the following message to them. Thank you for your time. Secretary Duffy and Mr. Barrs, During your recent press conference, you asked the industry for solutions. Here is the answer. This will fix trucking. The freight market today is unstable because the incentives are backwards. Drivers, carriers, brokers, and shippers are operating inside a system that rewards opacity and pushes the industry toward a constant race to the bottom. The American Fair Freight Transportation Reform Act (AFFTRA) corrects those incentives and restores stability to the market. Mandatory Minimum Freight Rate — $5 per mile No profitable independent trucking business owner can realistically start or operate a truck for less than roughly five dollars per mile once fuel, insurance, equipment, maintenance, and labor are accounted for. A nationally published freight floor of $5 per mile would immediately stabilize the market. Highway safety is directly tied to financial stability in trucking. When carriers are forced to run loads below cost, maintenance is delayed, drivers are pushed harder, and unsafe operating conditions become more common. Stable freight rates allow professional carriers to operate responsibly, maintain equipment properly, and keep experienced drivers in the industry. Mandatory Minimum Driver Pay — $1 per mile AFFTRA establishes a professional wage floor for drivers. This stabilizes the workforce and ensures the people responsible for moving America’s freight are compensated fairly for the work they perform. Broker Commission Cap — 3% The broker cap is designed to correct the incentive structure. Today brokers increase their income by widening the gap between what the shipper pays and what the carrier receives. Under a 3 percent commission cap, brokers increase their income by securing better freight rates from shippers, not by squeezing carriers. This aligns broker incentives with carrier success and encourages brokers to pursue higher-value freight rather than lowering carrier compensation. Transparency Before Booking AFFTRA requires shipper rate, broker commission, and carrier pay to be disclosed before a load is accepted. This restores informed negotiation and eliminates the information imbalance that currently exists in freight transactions. Together, these reforms create a freight market where the incentives of drivers, carriers, brokers, and shippers are aligned toward stability, professionalism, and safety. You asked how to fix trucking. Correct the incentives, restore transparency, and establish stable rates. The market will stabilize immediately. There is no other sustainable way to repair the structural problems in the freight industry. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this framework further. Respectfully, David McCown President, McCown Co LLC McCownUSA.com Phone: 660-221-9293 Email: mccown843@gmail.com

The Transparency Debate in Trucking Whenever full transparency in freight is discussed, one concern always comes up. Back-solicitation. The argument is that if carriers can see the real numbers behind a load, they may try to go directly to the shipper. But let’s be honest. Back-solicitation already exists today. And the current hidden market may actually be one of the biggest reasons why. When carriers eventually discover that a load paid far more than what they were told — sometimes 15%, 20%, even 60% more — trust is already broken. At that point the relationship has already been damaged. A hidden market creates resentment. Resentment encourages people to go around the system. Transparency does the opposite. When everyone understands the economics of a transaction from the beginning, relationships are built on honesty instead of suspicion. But the benefits go far beyond that. Transparency would make the entire freight system more efficient. Right now loads often sit on boards while brokers “fish” for cheaper rates instead of booking the truck that is ready to move the freight. Freight that should already be on the road is sitting still while pricing games are played. That affects delivery times. It affects driver schedules. It affects safety. It affects the reliability of the entire supply chain. Transparency removes that incentive. When the numbers are visible, the focus shifts from manipulation to execution. Freight moves faster. Drivers spend less time waiting. Shippers get better reliability. And the market begins to function the way it was originally intended. The truth is simple. A transparent market does not create conflict. A hidden market does. David McCown President McCown Co LLC Phone 660-221-9293 Email mccown843@gmail.com Website mccowncompany.com

Why Is the One Thing That Would Fix Trucking the One Thing They Are Not Talking About? For years the trucking industry has been stuck in the same endless debates. Fuel prices. Insurance costs. Driver shortages. Equipment costs. Market cycles. But none of those are the real root problem. The real problem is something far simpler. Transparency. Right now in freight brokerage, the carrier hauling the load often has no idea what the shipper actually paid for the freight. The people doing the work are negotiating in the dark while someone else controls the information. Imagine any other industry operating like that. Imagine selling your labor without knowing the value of the transaction you are part of. That is exactly how much of trucking operates today. And yet the solution already exists. Federal regulations already require brokers to maintain transaction records showing the shipper rate and all related charges. The problem is that the information is usually hidden until after the load is completed, if it is disclosed at all. The simple question is this. Why is the industry fighting so hard to avoid showing the rate before the load is booked? Because transparency changes everything. When carriers know the real rate, the market becomes honest. When the market is honest, freight cannot operate below cost. When freight operates above cost, small carriers survive. This is not radical. It is basic market integrity. And it may be the one conversation the industry has avoided for far too long. David McCown President McCown Co LLC mccown843@gmail.com 6602219293

The “Trust Me” Problem in Trucking For years carriers have been told the same thing by brokers. “Trust us.” We are told broker margins are typically around 12 to 16 percent. That may very well be true in some cases. But here is the question no one seems willing to answer. If the margin really is 12 to 16 percent, why is it so difficult to prove it? In most freight transactions today, the shipper knows the rate. The broker knows the rate. But the carrier hauling the freight is expected to accept the load based on trust alone. Take it or leave it. Trust the number. Trust the margin. Trust the system. But trust without transparency is not a market. It is an information imbalance. And when one side controls the information, the other side is negotiating blind. No small business should be expected to operate that way. The truth is simple. If the margins being claimed are accurate, transparency would confirm it. If they are not, transparency would expose it. Either way, transparency strengthens the market. The real question is this. If the numbers are fair, why is showing them such a problem? David McCown President McCown Co LLC mccown843@gmail.com 6602219293

A Public Message from David McCown Founder To the carriers, drivers, industry professionals, supporters, and leaders who care about the future of American trucking, Over the past several years something has been happening in our industry that many could see but very few were willing to confront. Small carriers, the backbone of American freight, have been disappearing at a historic pace. Families who built businesses with their own hands, their own trucks, and their own sweat have been pushed out of an industry they helped build. Many of us began asking the same question. How did we get here and what can be done to fix it? What began as conversations among drivers and small carriers slowly grew into research, long discussions, and a deeper look into how the freight system actually works. The more we studied the structure of the industry the clearer it became that the issue was not simply market conditions. The deeper issue was transparency, accountability, and a system that had drifted away from the people who keep America’s freight moving. In the summer of 2025 those conversations turned into action with the development of what would become AFFTRA, the American Fair Freight Transportation Reform Act. Since that moment drivers, carriers, and industry professionals from across the country have contributed ideas, research, and encouragement to help shape this effort. Many people have stepped forward not for recognition but because they believe this industry can and should operate with integrity and fairness. Recently we reached another important milestone when Samantha Hughes joined our leadership effort. Over the past three weeks we have begun organizing our core leadership and developing the strategy needed to turn this vision into a structured national initiative. Our goal is straightforward. We are working to restore transparency, support the survival of small carriers, strengthen opportunity for drivers, and encourage accountability throughout the freight marketplace. This effort is not about attacking the industry. It is about strengthening it and restoring balance to a system that millions of Americans depend on every day. To every driver, carrier, and supporter who has contributed their time, their knowledge, and their belief in this mission, thank you. What began as a series of conversations has grown into something much larger. We are building a movement focused on restoring fairness and long term sustainability to American trucking. We still have work ahead of us but the momentum is real and the foundation is now being built. The work continues. David McCown Founder Phone 660 221 9293 Email mccown843@gmail.com Website AFFTRA.org

“If every group stopped chasing symptoms and fixed the core problem, trucking would stabilize overnight. Fair pay and transparent rates don’t just improve the industry—they eliminate the very problems everyone keeps fighting.”Because when the foundation is right, everything built on top of it corrects itself. You don’t need to chase predators if the job pays a dollar a mile. You don’t need to fight exploitation if rates are built on cost plus profit. You don’t need layers of enforcement when the incentives are finally aligned. The industry would stop reacting and start stabilizing. Carriers would become selective. Drivers would become professionals again. Bad actors would be priced out instead of chased down. And for the first time in decades, trucking wouldn’t feel like survival… It would feel like a system that actually works.

In the next 10 days, McCownUSA is launching a coordinated nationwide email campaign to every congressional district in the country. One message. One push. Transparency before the load is booked. We are not asking you to join anything. We are not asking for your money. We are asking for one thing: Stand with us in unity and send one email alongside every other driver and carrier in your district. That’s how change happens. Not noise. Not division. Coordination. Go to McCownUSA.com Find your district Be part of it One voice. One moment. Let’s use it.

👉 TIA lobbying (recent years): Roughly $1M–$2M per year on federal lobbying That’s just TIA. Now include: CH Robinson JB Hunt Amazon logistics interests Other broker coalitions 👉 Total industry influence = many millions annually$3 a mile keeps the truck moving. $1–$1.50 keeps the driver alive. The rest keeps the business from dying. That’s how you get to $5.A truck doesn’t run on fuel alone. It runs on maintenance, downtime, retirement, and replacement. If the rate doesn’t cover all of that, you’re not making money—you’re borrowing against your future. That’s why $5 a mile isn’t expensive. It’s responsible.

🚨 THIS AFFECTS EVERYONE ON THE ROAD 🚨 This isn’t just about trucking. This is about YOUR safety. YOUR highways. YOUR cost of living. In the next 12 days, we are organizing a nationwide effort to contact EVERY congressional district in the United States at the SAME TIME. One message: 👉 Require full transparency in freight before it’s booked 👉 Fix a broken system that’s been hidden for decades Why does this matter to you? Because when trucking is broken: • Drivers are forced to run exhausted • Equipment gets neglected • Unsafe decisions get made just to survive That puts EVERYONE on the road at risk. And when the system lacks transparency: • Costs get hidden • Prices still go up for YOU • The wrong people profit We have a real chance to change this — but only if we act together. Go to 👉 McCownUSA.com Go to 👉 McCownUSA.com/contact Go to 👉 McCownUSA.com and join us All you have to do is send ONE email when notified. That’s it. If you believe in safer roads, safer highways, and a fair system… Be part of this. McCownUSA.com is where this starts. McCownUSA.com is how we organize. McCownUSA.com is how we make noise. If every district speaks at once — they can’t ignore us. Let’s fix this. #SaferRoads #HighwaySafety #Trucking #SupplyChain #CostOfLiving #America #Transparency

🚨 TRUCKING INDUSTRY — THIS IS OUR MOMENT 🚨 In the next 12 days, we’re organizing something that has NEVER been done before. We are contacting EVERY congressional district in the United States at the SAME TIME with ONE message: 👉 Amend 49 CFR 371.3 👉 Require 100% transparency BEFORE you book This is how we stop hidden spreads. This is how we expose the system. This is how we fix the core problem. We are already over halfway there — but we need to fill the remaining districts. If you are: • A truck driver • A family member • Someone who believes in safer roads and highways for all of us You can be part of this. Go to 👉 McCownUSA.com Then go to 👉 McCownUSA.com/contact Then go to 👉 McCownUSA.com and make sure we hear from you All it takes is ONE email when notified. Send your name + your congressional district through 👉 McCownUSA.com We’ll plug you in. If we hit every district at once, they cannot ignore us. McCownUSA.com is where this starts. McCownUSA.com is where you sign up. McCownUSA.com is how we organize. This is coordinated. This is unified. This is real. Let’s make history. #AFFTRA #Trucking #OwnerOperator #Freight #Logistics #SupplyChain #TruckDriver #HighwaySafety #SaferRoads #Transparency

🚨 LIVE TOMORROW — UNFILTERED TRUCKING TALK 🚨 I’ll be live on SiriusXM with KC Phillips tomorrow at 11:30 AM Eastern. We’re breaking down AFFTRA, broker transparency, freight rates, driver pay, and why the trucking industry keeps getting squeezed — and more importantly, how it gets fixed. No spin. No corporate narrative. Just the truth drivers and carriers deserve to hear. 📻 Road Dog Trucking 📡 SiriusXM Channel 146 🕦 11:30 AM ET 🔥 Tune in. This conversation matters. #AFFTRA #TruckingTruth #RoadDogRadio #SiriusXM146 #TruckersOfAmerica #FixTrucking #BrokerTransparency #DriverPayMatters #NoMoreCheapFreight #FreightReform

How trucking deregulation was sold — and what they carefully avoided What they argued: Deregulation would make freight cheaper for consumers. Competition would make trucking more efficient. The free market would “self-correct.” What they attacked: Cost-plus-profit pricing, calling it “artificially high.” Stability, labeling it “inefficiency.” Published rates, framing them as outdated bureaucracy. What they avoided entirely: That pre-deregulation rates covered real costs — equipment, wages, maintenance, safety, and replacement capital. That those rates kept trucking stable for decades. That once rates stopped being published, transparency disappeared. That information asymmetry — not efficiency — became the profit model. What actually happened: Rates fell below cost. Drivers were forced to compete against each other to survive. Consumers didn’t see meaningful price relief. The industry entered permanent boom-bust cycles. They didn’t debate transparency — because they couldn’t. Once information was hidden, whoever controlled it controlled the money. This isn’t about going backward. It’s about restoring the guardrail they removed. Mantra: We are not fixing symptoms. We are fixing the mechanism that creates them. David McCown Founder – AFFTRA 🌐 afftra.org� 📧 mccown843@gmail.com 📞 660-221-9293

What trucking deregulation was sold as vs. what actually happened What they said: Deregulation would make freight cheaper for consumers. What they didn’t say: Rates before deregulation were cost plus profit. They covered equipment, wages, maintenance, safety, and replacement capital. That’s what kept trucking stable for decades. What actually happened: Rates didn’t fall to “efficient.” They fell below cost. What they said: Competition would help drivers and owner-operators. What actually happened: Oversupply of trucks. Undercapitalized carriers. Drivers competing against each other just to survive. What they said: Consumers would benefit. What actually happened: Freight rates collapsed. Driver pay collapsed. Retail prices kept rising. The savings went upstream to shippers and shareholders. What they said: The market would self-correct. What actually happened: Boom-bust cycles every 6–8 years. Mass bankruptcies. Permanent driver burnout. What they never argued against: Transparency. Once rates stopped being published, whoever controlled information controlled the money. This isn’t about going backward. It’s about restoring the guardrail that was removed. Mantra: We are not fixing symptoms. We are fixing the mechanism that creates them. David McCown Founder – AFFTRA 🌐 afftra.org� 📧 mccown843@gmail.com 📞 660-221-9293

have already petitioned the FMCSA. What I am trying to understand is why so many groups are petitioning for rule changes that treat symptoms of the problem instead of pushing for the one change that could actually fix the market at its root. That change is simple. Amend 49 CFR §371.3 to require full rate transparency before a load is booked, not after. Today, carriers are expected to accept loads without knowing what the shipper paid, how much the broker kept, or what fees are involved. That is not a free market. Transparency should not have to be requested after the fact. It should be automatic before the deal is made. I will explain how this works because it already exists. This is exactly how Department of Defense freight operates. With DOD loads, the full rate and terms are shown up front, pay is locked before booking, and there are no surprises later. It works at scale every day for the largest shipper in the country. There is no legitimate reason the rest of the trucking industry cannot operate under the same standard. Instead of chasing enforcement actions paperwork fixes and downstream complaints, why are more groups not petitioning for the one modernization that matches how freight is actually booked today. Full disclosure before booking. If it works for the DOD, it can work for all of us.

If “just don’t haul cheap freight” worked, the market would have self-corrected in 45 years. It didn’t.

“If it costs carriers more than $2.20–$2.50 per mile just to operate, and drivers deserve a wage reflecting the real value of their labor plus replacement costs, then a $5.00/mile minimum is justified to ensure viability and stability.” That argument is rooted in published industry data, not conjecture. 📘 Actual Reports You Can Cite or Link Here are specific sources you can use: ATRI Operational Costs of Trucking report (2024/2025) — industry benchmark figures used by fleets and policymakers.� Cottingham & Butler Class 8 Truck Cost Breakdown — showing driver wages are about $1/mile already, fuel ~$0.6–$0.7, etc.� tachusa.com Rate and Cost Trend Analyses confirming ongoing cost increases.� truckingresearch.org +1

How a reversal would actually look A restoration of transparency / published minimum rates would say: All existing contracts remain valid until expiration All new contracts after X date must comply with: Published minimum rate Automatic, non-waivable transparency Defined broker compensation rules That’s it. Clean. Lawful. Boring — which is what regulators want.Why this kills the “it’s impossible” argument Anyone claiming this would: Cancel contracts Crash the economy Violate the Constitution is either uninformed or being dishonest. Because we already did this once — in 1980.Deregulation didn’t cancel contracts — it grandfathered them and changed the rules going forward. Restoring transparency works the same way. Existing contracts run out, new ones follow the new rules. This is routine regulatory law, not radical change.If deregulation could be done with grandfathering, re-regulation can be done with grandfathering. The argument that it “can’t be undone” is historically false.

I’m working on a deep historical review of U.S. trucking regulation, and I’m asking for help locating original source documents — not summaries, not opinion pieces, but the actual records. I’m specifically looking for primary materials such as congressional debates, committee reports, hearings, or court opinions tied to three key moments that shaped trucking as an industry: 1) Trucking’s entry into federal regulation (Motor Carrier Act of 1935) I’m looking for the actual conversations and arguments explaining why trucking was brought under the Interstate Commerce Commission. This includes discussions around rate instability, underbidding, operating below cost, rail competition, and the need for published tariffs or transparency. 2) Reed–Bulwinkle Act of 1948 (antitrust exemption) I’m looking for the legislative reasoning behind exempting trucking and rail from the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts — especially language explaining why collective rate-setting, published tariffs, and operating above cost plus profit were considered necessary for transportation markets to function. 3) National Master Freight Agreement (circa 1960) I’m trying to find records or official references tying the NMFA to a stable, regulated rate environment — documents showing how predictable freight rates made national wage agreements, benefits, pensions, and long-term trucking careers possible. What I’m hoping to find: Congressional Record excerpts House or Senate committee reports Supreme Court opinions cited in these debates Department of Labor or transportation records Strong original quotes explaining why these systems existed These materials usually live in places like: govinfo.gov Library of Congress (Congressional Record) Supreme Court opinion archives (Oyez / Justia) University or labor history archives If you have experience in transportation law, labor history, academia, or know how to pull historical federal records — or if you already have access to any of this material — I would really appreciate the help. PDFs, screenshots, links, or even just pointing me in the right direction would be extremely helpful. This history matters, and I want to get it right. Contact: David McCown 📧 mccown843@gmail.com 📞 660-221-9293