The White House Office of Management and Budget has completed the review of a final rule to mandate automatic emergency braking systems for light vehicles. OMB’s approval on Monday, April 22 means that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s final rule for light vehicle AEBs likely will be published in the coming days. Now, the question for truckers is how far behind is a similar rule for heavy vehicles. Background Last June, NHTSA issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to require AEBs on new vehicles weighing less than 10,000 pounds. Soon after, NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrie ..read more

Work continues at the Colorado statehouse on a bipartisan pursuit to implement additional rules for commercial vehicles traveling in the state. The Colorado Motor Carriers Association and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have concerns about the pursuit. The bill, SB100, focuses on truck chain rules, left lane travel and speed enforcement. Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, has said his bill would enhance the safety of commercial vehicles on Colorado’s highways during the winter months. Chain law The House Transportation, Housing and Local Government Committee voted to advance an a ..read more

Piling on decades of studies, recently published academic research further suggests that the quickest, most efficient route to safer highways is increasing truck driver pay. In his paper titled “Follow the money: Trucker pay incentives, working time, and safety,” Dr. Michael Belzer, economics professor at Wayne State University, expanded on his more than 25 years of studying truck driver pay. His latest research sends a familiar message to carriers: You get what you paid for. Focusing on intrastate carriers, Belzer looked at truck driver pay and safety data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safet ..read more

Is the false narrative of a truck driver shortage finally coming to an end? At the very least, the premise has endured significant blows in recent years and weeks. The history As you probably know, the American Trucking Associations has claimed a shortage of truck drivers since the 1980s. The group has maintained this stance when freight rates have been high and low, and even when turnover rates at large fleets have exceeded 100%. Regardless of the conditions at the time, ATA would say that more drivers were needed and that Congress needed to ease the path of entry to the driver’s seat to fix ..read more

The trend of cargo theft in Philadelphia continues to grow, with the most recent incident leaving the driver of the truck injured. Around 5:30 a.m. on Friday, April 19, police responded to a reported robbery in the 4300 block of Byberry Road in Northeast Philadelphia. The thieves made off with two pallets – nearly 100 boxes – of frozen snow crabs. Officials said the frozen crustaceans were valued at $30,000. According to reports, up to a dozen suspects used four vehicles to perpetrate the heist. The driver of the refrigerated truck was asleep in the cab and was made aware of the theft by a sec ..read more

Truck parking was a key component of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s webinar for motor carriers and truckers on April 10. FMCSA has provided further details on just how it is addressing an exacerbated truck parking problem due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. The agency said it has coordinated with the Eastern Transportation Coalition on truck parking impacts and has collected new locations from states to develop a map of parking options. That map will be distributed in the near future, FMCSA said. Businesses with large lots are being sought out fo ..read more

The Colorado General Assembly has voted to send to the governor a bill that would revise idling rules. State law has a uniform idling standard that prohibits a vehicle from idling for more than five minutes within any 60-minute period. Certain exceptions apply. Local governments are prohibited from enacting a resolution or ordinance concerning vehicle idling that is more stringent than the state idling standard. The Senate voted 22-12 to advance a bill that would authorize a local government to enact an idling resolution or ordinance that is identical to, or more stringent than, the state idli ..read more

A report commissioned by the Insurance Bureau of Canada emphasizes the importance of strong entry-level truck driver training standards, while also suggesting companies should continue training new drivers.The Canadian insurance association wanted to know which factors are impacting insurance costs for truck drivers. Unsurprisingly, age and experience play a major role. The report suggests that better truck driver training regulations can mitigate higher costs associated with experience. According to the report, younger drivers and/or drivers with less than three years of experience tend to be ..read more

Six senators are urging the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to get busy regulating autonomous vehicles, citing numerous high-profile crashes involving everything from Level 2 Teslas to Level 4 driverless Cruise vehicles. On Thursday, April 18, Sens. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) issued a letter to NHTSA Acting Administrator Sophie Shulman, urging the agency “to take more proactive and aggressive action to address the safety concerns of” autonomous vehicles. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Peter Welch ..read more

Police in Utah are turning to the public for help in finding three men responsible for a recent scam targeting truck drivers. In a Tuesday, April 16 Facebook post, the Willard City Police Department shared photos of three men suspected in connection to a robbery that occurred that afternoon in the parking lot of the Flying J. According to police, the individuals would approach drivers in the lot claiming to have just won the lottery and would tell the victims they were passing out cash to reward truckers. They then would ask how much cash the drivers had on them, promising to double the money ..read more