Trucking News

We are well into the busy summer season. So, in case you’ve been a little too busy to keep up with the headlines, we put together important trucking industry news.

Driver Logs, Regulations, & Enforcement

Trucking association raises concerns over Canada’s ELD mandate – The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) continues to support the ELD enforcement deadline but questions whether the mandate’s public key technology (PKI) system will be ready, as well as how ferry exemption hours of service, will be counted.

“We still want to see ELD enforcement going forward in January, but there are issues that people are not talking about that are serious issues that still need to be addressed, and the biggest one is the PKI system,” Mike Millian, president of PMTC.

January ELD deadline expected to hold firm: CTA – “The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) says the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators (CCMTA) has assured it that provinces and territories are committed to enforcing an electronic logging device (ELD) mandate beginning in January.

That deadline represents a delay in the rule that was first to be enforced beginning last month, largely because few devices were certified leading up to the original deadline. All ELDs used to meet the mandate must be certified as meeting underlying technical standards.”

A sharp rise in moving violations, as inspection numbers inch back toward pre-COVID levels – “With very few exceptions, inspection numbers took a nosedive in 2020 as law enforcement departments and truckers themselves sought to limit person-to-person contact. Some states continued that trend in 2021, perhaps to the delight of owner-operators seeking further relief from the risk of this one of a myriad potential delays to any haul.”

Truck inspection numbers approach pre-COVID levels – “Inspections/violations trends for 2022 show clearly what the COVID-19 pandemic did to state and federal roadside inspection programs, according to a decade-long annual CSA’s Data Trail investigation by CCJ’s sister publication Overdrive.

With very few exceptions, inspection numbers took a nosedive in 2020 as law enforcement departments and truckers themselves sought to limit person-to-person contact. Some states continued that trend in 2021, perhaps to the delight of fleets and drivers seeking further relief from the risk of this one of a myriad potential delays to any haul.”

Truck Parking and Safety

We might be having the completely wrong conversation about truck parking – “When Desiree Wood moved to Henderson, Nevada, in 2020, she expected her new home to be surrounded by desert land and mountains. What she found instead was trucks — a lot of them — parked all over vacant Bureau of Land Management lots. That’s because of the glut of warehouses in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb. One warehouse services Levi Strauss. Another belongs to Smith’s, a grocery chain owned by Kroger. The biggest warehouse complex is Amazon. So truck drivers flock to Henderson, shuttling jeans, grocery orders and Amazon packages to and fro. Wood was a full-time truck driver from 2007 to 2019, and she said she didn’t mind the trucks aplenty.”

Florida Seeks to Add Truck Parking Near Miami – “Florida is exploring project delivery options in an $18 million plan to add 135 truck parking spaces in a new truck travel center near the Golden Glades interchange and close to Miami.”

Arizona rest area to close to the public for months, but will remain open for commercial vehicle drivers – “Starting on Monday, July 11, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) will close the Sunset Point Rest Area along I-17 at mile marker 252 north of Phoenix for upgrades.”

Speed limiters won’t solve the root problem – “Through its NOI, the regulatory agency seeks answers to questions that suggest it is pursuing a pre-conceived, antiquated 1950s solution to a 2020s’ problem. It is clear from the NOI that the FMCSA seeks to apply statically set speed limiters by programming the truck’s electronic engine control unit. That in and of itself suggests that the very agency tasked with regulating the trucking industry knows little about the technology available in today’s trucks.”

CRA Announces New Initiative Aimed at PSBs and Driver Inc. – “The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently released a bulletin outlining efforts to increase oversight on Personal Services Businesses (PSBs) – a technical tax term for what many in the trucking industry believe is used as cover for companies who are engaged in the illicit practices as part of the Driver Inc. scheme.”

On the Lighterside

Check out this list of the top 15 truck stops in the U.S. – “A list of the best truck stops in America was recently released by Hale Trailer. The Hale Trailer team used a combination of factors to create their list of America’s top truck stops, including data from online review platforms like Yelp, Google, and Trip Advisor. Also factoring into the ranking — the truck stop’s proximity to national parks/monuments, the quality and variety of food offerings, the availability of truck stop amenities, and a “unique attraction bonus score” that factors in amenities or experiences that are unique to a particular truck stop location.”