News

The 2015 expansion of the Panama Canal will have an effect on U.S. trucking, according to a report recently released by U.S. DOT’s Maritime Administration (MARAD). The study focuses on the canal expansion’s impacts on ports, waterways and intermodal freight systems. The Panama Canal Expansion Study, the first of a two-part study, found the integration…

With reauthorization of the federal transportation bill looming in 2014, transportation industry leaders are priming the pump for increases in federal funding formulas. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) recently introduced H.R. 3636, which would raise the federal fuel tax by 15 cents. Blumenauer’s bill is consistent with recommendations made by the Simpson-Bowles National Commission on Fiscal…

Commercial truck drivers face a Jan. 30, 2014 deadline to self-certify their operating status and provide NRCME medical examiner certificates to their state driver licensing agencies, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA). FMCSA began requiring CDL holders to identify if they conduct intrastate or interstate commerce and if they hold non-excepted or excepted…

 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released the 2012 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data and the numbers don’t bode well for trucking safety. Large-truck occupant fatalities increased for the third consecutive year (8.9 percent over 2011) and overall highway deaths increased to 33,561 in 2012, which is…

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) has filed a lawsuit challenging the New York State Thruway Authority’s (NYSTA) diversion of millions of dollars of toll revenues every year to maintain the New York Canal System. “During these times of under funding highway infrastructure, we cannot afford to have tolling authorities take the money users pay for…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Making the transition from military truck driver to the commercial ranks will be a bit easier if recommendations from the U.S. DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) are adopted. FMCSA’s recommendations are the result of a recently-released study mandated in the MAP-21 legislation that analyzed training, testing and licensing similarities and…

Some of the largest trucking fleets in the United States are starting to make the shift from diesel fuel to natural gas. Companies such as Lowe’s, Proctor & Gamble, United Parcel Service and FedEx are accelerating a shift to natural gas fueled trucks, betting that higher prices for diesel over natural gas will continue. According…

Arkansas Senators Mark Pryor (D-Ark) and John Boozman (R-Ark), along with Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark) are taking another run at new legislation that would enable trucking firms to conduct random drug tests on truck drivers’ hair, a measure they say would make America’s highways safer. “Advanced uniform drug testing requirements for trucking companies will help…

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) last week called for audits of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) stewardship of the U.S. motor carrier industry. At the root of NTSB’s scathing report are four crashes that resulted in 25 deaths and 83 injuries. In each accident, investigators identified safety deficiencies and noted red flags…

The recent stalemate in Washington over the Affordable Care Act has put the nation’s largest trucking association at odds with Tea Party elements of the Republican Party. Bill Graves, chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), told attendees at the organization’s recent annual meeting in Orlando that, “if I was your political broker,…