In autonomous trucking years, 2014 feels like a lifetime ago. It was in July of that year when Wolfgang Bernhard, then head of Daimler AG’s global trucking business, unveiled the Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025.
Driver Shortage Could Hit All Time High This Year
The trucking industry could be short 50,000 drivers by the end of 2017, warned American Trucking Associations Chief Economist Bob Costello Sunday at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition.
Truck Driver Crunch Could Send Wages Skyward
After years of stagnant wages, truckers look to be in line for several years of strong income growth as the major motor carriers scramble for drivers. The factors playing into the crunch are myriad. At the top is the low appeal of trucking as a career for wage and quality-of-life reasons. Then there’s difficulty obtaining […]
New Gauge of Freight Shipping and Economy Debuts at ATA
U.S. Bank announced the launch of a new barometer for assessing the nation’s shipping industry on Sunday during the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference and Exhibition in Florida. The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index measures quantitative changes in shipment and spend activity, based on data from transactions processed through U.S. Bank Freight Payment.
FMCSA Issues Two Narrow ELD Exemptions to All Carriers
Having decided to grant part of a United Parcel Service request for a limited 5-year exemption from some provisions of the electronic logging device mandate, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will now allow all motor carriers – not just UPS – and drivers to make use of two new temporary exemptions from the ELD […]
CVSA Operation Safe Driver Week Set To Hit The Highways
Law enforcement agencies throughout North America will engage in heightened traffic safety enforcement and educational outreach as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) Operation Safe Driver Week, Oct. 15-21, 2017. Throughout the week, enforcement personnel will identify and issue warnings and/or citations to commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers and passenger-vehicle drivers exhibiting unsafe […]
Heavy-truck sales grow in U.S., Canada
Last month, U.S. heavy-truck sales grew to 36,057 units – up 7.1% – compared with 2016’s 32,357, according to WardsAuto data. In Canada, big truck sales also continued to rise – up 15.9% to 4,014 in September – for the seventh consecutive monthly year-over-year gain, according to Wards.
Buffett’s Bet on Truck Stops Looks Like a Contrarian Move
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s purchase of a large stake in truck stop operator Pilot Flying J and his plans to eventually take control of the business look like a contrarian bet. Hurdles such as low diesel fuel prices and a shift in shipping patterns that favors regional trucking and local delivery over long-haul freight have […]
Seven western states agree to improve electric vehicle infrastructure
Electric vehicle manufacturers just received an incentive boost after seven western states announced an agreement to build a regional electric vehicles (EV) corridor. The agreement covers more than 5,000 miles and nearly a dozen interstates. Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming recently agreed to the “REV West Plan.” The plan includes EV […]
FMCSA to hold two hours-of-service Q&A webinars this month
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration later this month will host two question-and-answer webinars about federal hours-of-service regulations. The hour-long sessions will allow participants to submit HOS-related questions and have them answered by FMCSA subject matter experts Tom Yager and Peter Chandler. Yager is chief if the Driver and Carrier Operations Division within FMCSA, and […]