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DOT promises truckers ‘increased flexibility’ in Hours of Service rules soon |  | 
 Today, the head of U.S. Department of Transportation made a major announcement about upcoming changes to Hours of Service regulations. During a keynote speech delivered at the Mid-American Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, March 29, U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao confirmed that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is moving forward with changes to the Hours of Service regulations that truck drivers must follow. According to the FMCSA, “While this proposed rule is still under review, FMCSA is working to increase flexibility for drivers, while maintaining the highest level of safety for commercial drivers and all American motorists.” While the exact nature of the planned changes to Hours of Service remain unclear, comments that Chao made during a March 27th U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing indicate that she is aware of the hardships that truckers endure as a result of strict regulation. Chao said: “Well, this is what happens when there’s a one-size-fits-all solution – it doesn’t work across the country because our country is so diverse. And obviously with electronic logging devices, that created hardships for small truckers and also created hardships for agricultural interests, farmers, people who are hauling in rural areas. But the issue, as it turned out, is not the electronic logging device, it’s the hours of service. So we are actually looking at that as well on a bipartisan basis, and we hope to come out with some conclusions on that. But, again, we’re very much aware of the hardship that these inflexible rules have placed on rural and agricultural interests.” In August of 2018, the FMCSA asked for public comment on HOS regulation reform and received thousands of responses from the trucking industry as well as the public at large. Specifically, they asked the public to weigh in on four specific areas of HOS regulation:
The FMCSA also asked the public for comment on two petitions:
I-75 beam collapse expected to impact freight flow for trucking companies | |
The section where the collapse happened is what most trucking companies refer to as 'Freight Alley.'
 A local trucking company tells Channel 3, the bridge railing collapse is part of a bigger issue in terms of the infrastructure in the country. Dean Croke, chief insight officer at FreightWaves, says the bridge is in the most important interchange in this region. Croke says it could cause significant delays and potentially impact freight flows on a national basis. The section is what they refer to as "Freight Alley." About 15,000 trucks a day come south out of Knoxville and out about 40,000 come north out of Atlanta each day. Croke says the collapse speaks to a bigger issue involving the nation's infrastructure. "One of the big issues that we've got going on at the moment is the decaying bridge issue in the United States. About one in three bridges on the interstate system is structurally deficient. So, that means they are in desperate need of repairs,” says Croke. Croke says the one lane closed at the interchange will deeply affect the traffic flow, especially for freight drivers. This week's partial collapse of the interchange at Interstates 75 and 24 here in Chattanooga is unfortunate, but we're thankful for minimal harm done to passing motorists. The complete or partial blockage of a major Interstate thoroughfare is a significant obstacle for our professional drivers, who rely on America's vast, reliable road infrastructure to do their jobs and keep our economy moving. With thousands of professional drivers calling Covenant Transport Services home, we rely on local roads to move our people and equipment in and out of our corporate headquarters and main Covenant Transport terminal in Lookout Valley. We especially rely on Interstate 75 to service blue chip customers in North Georgia, including those involved in the manufacture of floor covering. Like all Chattanoogans, we hope for a speedy clean-up, and are thankful to the selfless fire, police and department of transportation men and women who ensured the scope of this accident was minimal. In the meantime, we have implemented substantial out-of-route detours for our trucks moving through the area in order to maintain the top-quality service our customers expect,” says Andy Vanzant, senior vice president of operations for Covenant Transport. New York City congestion fee aimed at trucks too | |
Truckers will have one more reason to hate driving to or through New York City. Part of the $175 billion 2020 budget passed by the New York state legislature last weekend is the nation’s first congestion pricing plan. The plan will charge drivers a premium for driving in the city’s central business district below 60th Street in Manhattan. The congestion fee is expected to raise some $15 billion. While details are still being refined, it’s expected in 2021, drivers of cars will pay between $12 and $14. Last year a panel studying the issue suggested truckers would pay a flat $25 per day, but the budget includes wording that suggests the fee will vary based on the most congested times of the day. There is no word if other tolls will be included in the fee charged to truckers. Taxis will be billed $2.50 per ride, while ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft will be billed $2.75 for each trip. The plan is the first in the U.S. and is similar to one that has been in place for years in London. It’s meant to reduce traffic in the busiest section of Manhattan, and raise money to repair the city’s subway system and for other mass transit organizations. Last year there was mention of a similar plan for Seattle, and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon are studying the possibility of such fees. Opponents of the New York City plan claim it will simply cause traffic problems elsewhere in the city. Brakes, seats, U-joints among updates to out of service criteria | |
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has released the latest updates to its out-of-service criteria that governs when drivers and vehicles should be pulled from the road. The changes to the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria cover everything from brakes to cargo securement devices and seats. Updated guidelines for braking systems, for example, have been updated to include pictures of cracked brake rotor structural supports. If such cracks extend through rotor vents, the rotor is about to collapse, CVSA says. Non-manufactured holes in a steering mechanism’s drag link are now clearly forbidden as well. Bearing straps were also added to the potential out-of-service conditions for universal joints, while new rules for the driver’s seat have been introduced to ban temporary seats that take the place of permanent seats secured in a workmanlike manner. But passenger-carrying vehicles with manufacturer-related violations in temporary seats and aisle seats can still receive a CVSA decal. Details about the Doleco USA Textile Link Tiedown Assembly better illustrate whether it should be found defective. And drivers who hold a valid Skill Performance Evaluation (SPE), but don’t comply with the related requirements, will find themselves out of service as well. Meanwhile, frame-related rules were updated to identify those that should not pertain to monocoque-style frames. Some of the latest changes to the document have been designed specifically to make the information easier to navigate. Subheads have been introduced to the text that pertains to exhaust systems and cargo securement devices. The changes will be incorporated into training materials and bulletins by the CVSA training committee, Canada’s education quality assurance team, and the American national training center. The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria is updated every year. TaylorMade Unveils New $1.6 Million PGA TOUR Truck With Multiple Levels | |
Each week throughout the golf season, trucks from all the major equipment manufacturers travel from tournament to tournament as part of the PGA TOUR’s nationwide caravan. This week, TaylorMade’s truck is drawing extra attention in Austin, Texas, site of the World Golf Championships Match Play event. Forget over-sized driver heads, TaylorMade has unveiled the biggest Tour truck of its kind – a $1.6 million, multi-level behemoth that weighs 22 tons. The new 42-foot long TaylorMade truck was inspired by those on the Formula 1 auto racing circuit and designed from the wheels up. With more capacity, workspace and advanced technology than any other vehicle of its kind on tour, it will replace a trailer that attended more than 350 PGA TOUR events over the past decade, traveling an estimated 400,000 miles. TaylorMade has unveiled the biggest Tour truck of its kind – a $1.6 million, multi-level behemoth that weighs 22 tons. When parked, the truck has dual slide out pods on each side as well as a second level that pops up to provide space for meetings or for TaylorMade’s tour players to gather. “It’s a place they can not only come to have their equipment built, but a place they can come hang out and truly feel like part of the TaylorMade family,” said Keith Sbarbaro, TaylorMade’s Vice President of Tour Operations. The first level has all the usual necessities, with a modernized workshop that includes multiple lie and loft machines, shaft cutters, a dedicated gripping station and a variety of other club-building tools. The truck is equipped with more than 1,500 shafts, 1,200 TaylorMade TP5 and TP5x golf balls, 1,000 grips, over 700 clubheads, and 500 hats and t-shirts. Additionally, it features 12 individual player lockers, a gathering area with couches, four high-definition televisions, a video game system, a built-in coffee machine and a two-zone sound system. TaylorMade estimates that its previous tour truck built more than 75,000 clubs over the past 10 years at PGA TOUR stops across the country. The new truck, while unveiled at the Match Play event in Austin, will make its official debut at The Masters Tournament next month in Augusta, Georgia. In total, it’s expected to travel around 35,000 miles in its first full year on tour. Trucking Company Owner Joseph Lipsey III Relinquishes Control After Arrest, Drug Charges | |
The owner of Lipsey Logistics and Lipsey Trucking has relinquished control of the business after being arrested on drug charges at his home in Colorado. Joseph Lipsey III, along with his wife, Shira, and son, Joseph Lipsey IV, were charged by police in Aspen, Colo., on March 12 with distributing cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and providing nicotine to minors. All were released on bond and are scheduled to make a court appearance April 1. The company, in a statement released March 18, announced that Johnny Jones will immediately take over as CEO of Lipsey Trucking while also serving as president and CEO of Lipsey Logistics. Lipsey will no longer have any ownership or control of the business, according to the statement. “The news of Mr. Lipsey’s arrest was disruptive to the business when it happened and that was why we moved quickly to make management changes to protect our business,” a spokesperson for Lipsey Trucking and Lipsey Logistics told Transport Topics. “We are having ongoing conversations with many of our customers, who we are committed to serving.” Jones and Lipsey have worked together since 2010 with Lipsey Logistics developing a business hauling water, ice and other supplies under contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Lipsey Trucking, based in Chattanooga, Tenn., started in 2017 and operates a fleet of 82 tractors and 425 trailers, according to registration data on file with the U.S. Department of Transportation. The two companies employ about 200 people and generate combined annual revenue of more than $300 million. In the company’s statement, Lipsey is described as “principally an investor” in the company with limited involvement in day-to-day operations. “Regardless, we would like to assure the public that his exit from the business is immediate and permanent, and that he will have no ownership of or control over the companies going forward,” according to the statement. Lipsey transferred all of his voting shares in the company to Jones and did not receive any compensation for relinquishing his ownership in the business, the spokesman said. “While the allegations relate to personal matters and have nothing to do with our business, the company takes them seriously and does not wish for them to distract from our operations,” the company said in its statement. The company also said that John White, who joined the Lipsey organization in February as the head of a new flatbed business called Lipsey Transport, will be asked to take on the added role of president of Lipsey Logistics in October. The delay is due to contractual obligations from his prior employment. White worked for more than a decade at U.S. Xpress Inc. in Chattanooga, and served as chief marketing officer from 2013 to 2018. Prior to joining U.S. Xpress, White served in sales and marketing positions at Swift Transportation, MS Carriers and J.B. Hunt Transport Services. Source of article and more great articles click here
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Trucking industry files appeal on toll lawsuit | |
The trucking industry is appealing a federal judge's decision to throw out its lawsuit against Rhode Island's truck-toll program. The American Trucking Associations Inc. and its fellow plaintiffs — Cumberland Farms, M&M Transport Services and New England Motor Freight — filed a notice of appeal Thursday to have the case heard by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The move comes barely a week after U.S. District Chief Judge William Smith tossed the suit, saying the challenge should be brought in the state court system rather than the federal judiciary. Rhode Island Trucking Association President and CEO Chris Maxwell declined to elaborate on the filing. "In the end, it was headed to federal appellate court either way," he told WPRI 12 in an email. The toll program is a central pillar of Gov. Gina Raimondo's RhodeWorks infrastructure plan, a 10-year effort to do nearly $5 billion of bridge and road work, funded in part by new tolls on large commercial trucks. The industry argues the tolls unfairly single out tractor-trailers. R.I. Department of Transportation officials have said the first two gantries are beating their expectations so far, though the delayed rollout of the full fleet of 14 planned gantries means less revenue has been coming in than initially expected. An additional 10 gantries are supposed to start coming online starting as soon as May. Drivers must register with new drug, alcohol clearinghouse | |
The federal CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which will be a database of truck drivers who have failed or refused a drug or alcohol test, takes effect in January 2020, and drivers intending to transition to new jobs or ensure a clean record within the clearinghouse will need to register as users. Joe DeLorenzo, director of enforcement and compliance of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, spoke Thursday at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. 
Joe DeLorenzo, FMCSA’s director of compliance and enforcement, spoke Thursday at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. The clearinghouse will record all drug test failures conducted for pre-employment screenings, random drug tests, and post-crash tests, said DeLorenzo. Carriers will be required to submit failed tests to the clearinghouse, and they’ll be required to query the database before hiring drivers to ensure they haven’t failed a drug test in the previous three years. The onus will be on drivers to register within the Clearinghouse so that they can consent to allow carriers to query the database for their records, said DeLorenzo. Registration is slated to begin in October, he said, and it is required for any driver looking to a new driving job in January 2020 and later. Though registration and consent to queries are only required when a driver is beginning a new job, DeLorenzo encouraged all drivers and owner-operators to register as users to ensure their testing information is accurate. Also included in the Clearinghouse will be whether drivers completed the return-to-duty process if they have failed a drug test. Only positive tests will be filed to the clearinghouse, and no information will be available about negative tests, he said. But should any inaccurate information be uploaded to the Clearinghouse, registered users will know and can file a DataQ request to correct it. Beaumont, Texas Petro adds Black Bear Diner | |
Truckers visiting the Petro Stopping Center in Beaumont, Texas (Exit 848 at I-10) now have more dining options thanks to the recent addition of a Black Bear Diner. Black Bear Diner offers homestyle meals such as chicken fried steak, corned beef hash, slow-cooked pot roast, apple cobbler, and more. The restaurant can seat 126 guests and is open daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. “We are excited to be adding another Black Bear Diner to our collection of brand offerings. From the unique and fun décor featuring carvings and murals of bears to the hearty delicious menu items, we believe Black Bear Diners offer our customers something different on the road. And, anytime we can bring a new full-service restaurant to one of our locations we do, so we can offer traveling motorists and the local community the opportunity to sit down, relax and enjoy their meal,” said John Ponczoch, senior vice president of TravelCenters of America and leader of the TA Restaurant Group. Truck crash sets 3,000 piglets loose on Illinois highway, killing about 100 of them | |
This March 22, 2019 photo provided by the Illinois State Police shows piglets at the scene of a crash involving over 3,000 of them on Interstate 70 near Casey, Illinois. (Photo: Illinois State Police via AP) A livestock hauler overturned in eastern Illinois on Friday dumping nearly 3,000 pigs on the highway and killing about 100 of them, according to Illinois State Police. The crash happened on Interstate 70 between the city of Casey and Greenup, officials said. Casey is about 100 miles west of Indianapolis. A photo released by state police shows some of the surviving pigs wallowing in the mud next to the vehicle. "Troopers are on scene assisting with corralling the spa goers!," the tweet made by police said. Illinois State Police say the surviving pigs were recaptured and have continued to their destination in Indiana. The crash, which occurred around 8 a.m., happened because the driver had fallen ill, The Tribune-Star reported. The driver was cited for improper lane usage. “Here’s Trooper Jenkins hamming it up with a customer this morning!” the agency captioned a photo on Facebook that thanked officers. The photo shows a female trooper carrying a small white pig with a man in the background carrying a piglet in each arm. This is far from the first time that a crash set pigs free on a highway. On March 1, a crash in Illinois caused pigs to run wild on Interstate 57 near the city of Champaign. That truck was carrying 178 pigs and shut down part of the freeway. In 2017, dozens of pigs were set free after the truck carrying them crashed and exploded outside Dallas. That same year, there was a similar occurrence when a tractor-trailer overturned on an interstate highway in Kentucky. Hundreds of piglets were also killed after a tractor-trailer carrying thousands of them tipped over in Ohio in 2015. Area truckers plan 'slow-roll protest' on I-44 | |
Area truckers are aiming to protest trucking industry regulations they believe to be unfair and overreaching with a planned “slow roll” protest Wednesday on highway systems throughout Missouri. Then on April 12, Black Smoke Matters, a Facebook group made up of thousands of truckers from around the country, is calling for a nationwide trucking strike to bring awareness to what it says are the issues truck drivers face on a daily basis. An estimated 30,000 truck drivers will be participating in the strike by taking anywhere from a day to the following week off from their normal routes to call attention to what the group say are overwhelming regulations, roadway safety problems and a lack of adequate driver training. A Black Smoke Matters-Missouri branch has formed in support of the movement and dozens of area truckers are hosting their own statewide protest Wednesday, including in Joplin. Truckers will meet at 9 a.m. at Joplin 44 Petro and roll out at 10 a.m. where they’ll be traveling to and from Springfield on Interstate 44 at minimum highway speed, which is about 45 mph. Billy Bogar, of Lamar, is helping to coordinate the local effort. The truck owner-operator leases with a carrier, and has been driving on and off for the trucking industry for 20 years. “We’re trying to make a lot of changes here because industry standards are just crumbling and our roadways are getting more dangerous because of regulation,” Bogar said. “We want to call attention to the April 12 movement and over-regulation in the business. We’re out here to help everybody, not just truckers.” Bogar said one of the biggest problems facing the trucking industry is the lack of proper driving training with megacarrier companies. He mentioned how the companies' driving schools have cheat lines on the asphalt to assist drivers with the test and that they’re being trained by unqualified instructors in only a few months before they’re placed on the road. The group is also speaking out against electronic logging devices, or ELDs, which are installed in every truck’s data port to record driver speeds and track hours of service and location. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration began working on ELD mandates in 2015 and fleets had until December 2017 to implement the system. Truckers are allowed to drive for 11 hours in a 14-hour period. Bogar said this is a problem because drivers are now racing a GPS and an ELD to make their required time. “Your clock doesn’t stop and that’s a big problem,” Bogar said. “It’s distracted driving at its finest. Now, you have an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer racing the clock when he or she should be concentrating on the road around them.” Brian Adams, of Farmington, has served as an owner-operator, company driver and run a trucking company during his 20 years in the industry. He agrees with the concerns of BSM and is leading a slow roll from Cape Girardeau to St. Louis Wednesday at the same time as Joplin’s to raise awareness. Another issue he's fighting for is additional truck parking and rest areas. Pre-apprenticeship recruits aspiring truckers ages 21-24 | |
A pre-apprenticeship trucking program in Shreveport, Louisianan is recruiting young adults ages 21-24 for its class. The Department of Community Development, Bureau of Workforce Development, and WIOA Youth Program created the program with Diesel Driving Academy to prepare young aspiring truckers for their driving careers. Participants will have the opportunity to get their CDL from Diesel Driving Academy before transitioning into a one-year apprenticeship at Schneider Trucking. The pay for the program is $9 an hour for 95 clock hours through Diesel Driving Academy. Training begins April 15. The program is available through the end of June. Participants must have a clean driving record, no felony record, and can pass a drug test and a DOT physical. |
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