Truck drivers play an essential role in the world economy, but life isn’t easy for them. Drivers face a wide variety of issues and challenges that affect both them and the industry as a whole. For example, trucker issues contributed to the driver shortage, as qualified drivers leave the industry because of low pay and difficult working conditions. Other truck driver challenges include issues related to health and wellness. Truckers must deal with a lack of exercise, poor diet, extended periods without bathroom breaks, eye strain, cramped conditions, poor sleep — not to mention the mental toll of being away from home and family for days at a time. Though many drivers earn good wages, the physical and mental stress isn’t always worth it to them.
Check back here for the latest news and insights on driver issues, or visit our Trucking Industry News archive to find additional information.
Minnesota has reached a deal on compensation for Uber and Lyft drivers, and a California court seems to favor Proposition 22’s protections for gig workers from the state’s independent contractor law.
The Justice Department’s move to loosen restrictions on pot has drawn a strong reaction from large trucking companies that fear recategorizing the drug could lead to more crashes.
Getting a commercial learner’s permit at 17 would give disadvantaged students a faster path to truck driver jobs, Connell High School in eastern Washington told regulators.
A coalition of far-flung states has filed a lawsuit to fight California’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule.
The port at Norfolk, Virginia, has benefited more than any other port from the closing of the Port of Baltimore after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, according to visibility platform GoComet.
EBITDA losses at Uber Freight grew in the first quarter, but its president expressed strength in the company’s business model.
More than 3 1/2 years after a suspect in a series of staged accidents in Louisiana was slain, there are arrests in the case.
New Class 8 truck orders in April up from a year ago, down from March.
Truck transportation jobs posted a small decline in April after six straight months of relatively minor gains.
A requirement that motor carriers pass a written safety exam before being issued a DOT number will be delayed again as new drivers involved in fatal crashes are on the rise.
The one attorney who has pleaded guilty in the Louisiana staged truck accident scam has seen his sentencing delayed again.
Triumph Financial CEO Aaron Graft talked future opportunities as growth engine TriumphPay flipped to negative EBITDA in the first quarter.
The April State of Freight webinar tried to make sense of a trucking market that has now been in the doldrums for two years.
Five auto haulers are combining to launch an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Assertions that trucker wages will suffer unless CDL test-taking rules are relaxed in Florida did not sway trucking regulators.
Here are a few key takeaways from the Scopelitis Transportation Law seminar on the myriad of legal issues facing today’s trucking fleets.
Federal rules on personal conveyance are a big reason for continued hours-of-service violations, according to P. Sean Garney of Scopelitis Transportation Consulting.
The California Trucking Association and OOIDA plan to appeal a recent decision upholding California’s independent contractor law, AB5, to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
A new law in Minneapolis that was to go into effect May 1 on Uber, Lyft compensation has been delayed.
TCA executive David Heller sees the trucking industry as having made the necessary adjustments to deal with the Baltimore harbor closure.
A truck driver who filed a defamation suit because of the contents of a report on him came up short on appeal in federal court.
Regulators are weighing more options to help truckers deal with hours-of-service issues as congestion clogs highway arteries in the Northeast.
A proposed rule that could benefit team-driving operations in trucking would weaken highway safety, those opposing the plan told the FMCSA.
Teamsters members at Dependable Highway Express in Southern California have ended the union’s representation at the carrier.
Federal regulators have updated Congress on an FMCSA pilot program to recruit teen drivers, and the results are bleak.
The first data paints a mixed picture of how trucks and ships are diverting away from Baltimore in the wake of the Key Bridge collapse.
A waiver for truckers impacted by the collapse of the Key bridge in Baltimore and a preliminary timeline for repairs offer optimism.
Truck transportation jobs in March recorded an increase in the midst of a generally weak trucking market.
Daseke, known primarily for its flatbed operations, is now part of TFI International.
Truck lease purchase deals did not get many positive reviews at a recent gathering of a federal task force studying the deals’ impact.
A nuclear verdict in a fatal accident on Interstate 70 in Missouri has been upheld by an appellate court.
Regulations aimed at easing detention time burdens on truckers may need to take into account the Biden administration’s emissions policies, according to insurers.
Hauling autos into Baltimore is a big business that is going to scale back dramatically in coming weeks and months.
The trucking industry has a duty to the public, primarily to eliminate all truck crash fatalities and to increase the minimum insurance requirements.
The odds of winning the big AB5 independent contractor case on appeal, after last week’s smackdown in a lower court, are considered slim, observers say.
A new attempt to keep California’s independent contractor law AB5 from the state’s trucking sector was thoroughly rejected by a federal judge this week.
Uber and Lyft have declared their intention to pull out of Minneapolis after a minimum pay ordinance for app-based drivers survived a mayoral veto.
An NLRB rule on joint employee status that was widely feared by employers has been vacated by a federal court in Texas just before it was to take effect.
Truck transportation jobs in the monthly BLS report were slightly down, but that couldn’t be said for plunging warehouse numbers.
Pilot Travel Centers plans to add 35 travel centers, 500 truck parking spaces, and more than 30 maintenance and tire service shops.
Drayage carriers at the Port of Long Beach may be adding more internal combustion engine vehicles than zero-emission vehicles to prepare for California’s Advanced Clean Fleets rule. The Port of LA’s use of ZEVs is also low.
The Teamsters and Anheuser-Busch have reached a new five-year contract covering 5,000 workers across operations in the U.S.
An owner-operator claims ELDs, required by regulators to measure hours of service, are too expensive.
A case in Illinois involving BNSF Railway and a federal law on biometric information privacy has its settlement figure: $75 million.
The Texas Supreme Court has set a March 6 deadline for any parties that want to weigh in on the $90 million verdict against Werner Enterprises.
Financial data from Canadian bank BMO, a major lender to the trucking industry, showed further credit deterioration.
When Berkshire Hathaway bought the last 20% of Pilot Travel Centers, the deal valued the chain at significantly less than just a year earlier.
Routes, service and driver safety could be at risk if federal regulators allow California and Washington state laws to supersede federal work laws, according to FedEx.
Supreme Court considers that question and what it means for disputes taken to arbitration or to court.
Kimberly Fisk, the new COO of Triumph’s factoring group, sat down for an interview with FreightWaves as she begins the job.
Takeaways from the State of Freight webinar this month kick off with an “abysmal” February.
“Grabbing the Hammer Lane,” a one-actor show with trucking as a theme, is winning strong reviews.
The Teamsters, which have been mostly winning lately, saw their union kicked out by some workers in Wisconsin.
A federal task force wants contract details from truck drivers to help expose and combat predatory lease practices in the trucking industry.
Ryder has a plan in place to reduce its reliance on equipment leasing. Its progress could be seen in its earnings.
Texas leads the U.S. for the most traffic bottlenecks for truckers on ATRI’s 2023 Top Truck Bottlenecks list, with 13.
International Roadcheck through North America will take place in mid-May this year.
New Jersey’s leading insurance trade group says umbrella coverage is likely the way to go for fleets looking to meet the state’s new $1.5 million minimum.
The nation’s top truck safety regulator wants towing companies that overcharge truckers to be held accountable by the FTC.
There isn’t much sign of an upturn in Uber Freight’s latest earnings report.
Federal regulators are responding to complaints that the government is not doing enough to protect women and minority truck drivers.
A lawsuit that goes back to 2010 and opened the door for the ABC test in New Jersey has been settled.
U.S. Bank’s freight indices are down but at a rate that may suggest a balancing of capacity could be ongoing.
Tearing down the Interstate 81 viaduct in Syracuse, New York, and replacing it with an urban boulevard moved closer to fruition after a Friday court decision.
As the Bureau of Labor Statistics signaled in August, the annual revision of employment data shows fewer truck transportation jobs last year than initially reported.
Federal regulators are proposing to ease requirements for new truck drivers — but crash victim advocates warn safety will be compromised.
The latest agenda from DOT delays rules on truck speeds and automated driving systems.
Love’s plans on adding as many as 2,000 truck parking spots this year, less than in recent years.
TriumphPay came in at positive EBITDA in the fourth quarter, a full year ahead of schedule.
Drivewyze has launched a new service to push safety notifications live to ELDs and other devices.
The Haslam family has exercised its option to have Berkshire Hathaway buy the final 20% of Pilot Travel Centers it did not already own.
FMCSA is providing a rare glimpse into documents it will consider in formulating a significant safety rule.
The Teamsters had a good few months at the end of 2023 in their organizing efforts, racking up several victories.
The final Department of Labor rule on independent contractors was mostly unchanged but with some small wins for the trucking industry.
Berkshire Hathaway and the former owners of Pilot Travel Centers have settled their legal differences on the day trial was set to begin.
The Fair Labor Standards Act can be applied to team drivers for some of the time spent in the sleeper berth, according to a federal court.
The monthly BLS report showed a relatively modest gain for truck transportation jobs but another decline in warehouses.
Truckload carrier Prime is moving into the hopper business and took to YouTube to announce its expansion.
Relaxing CDL testing rules could get drivers on the road faster without risking safety, according to a training school group.
California won’t enforce its rule that only zero-emission vehicles can be registered as drayage trucks after the start of 2024.
It’s been a month since Sarah Schultz last saw her truck driver husband, David. “Any scenario you could run through your head is probably a possibility,” the Sac County sheriff said.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate, wants to address truck driver retention, broker fraud and parking.
A lawsuit challenging the waiver granted by the EPA to California for its Advanced Clean Trucks rule will be delayed.
There’s a new nuclear verdict against a trucking company and it comes out of a case in Georgia.
On this week’s Drilling Deep, we talk truck parking and weakening oil demand. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican presidential candidate, will speak at the World’s Largest Truckstop on Dec. 21.
Freight Ninja executives outlined ambitious plans to double locations by 2024, tackling the parking shortage with a focus on smaller trucking companies.
California has asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver to implement the Advanced Clean Fleets rule.
GlobalTranz prefers the Supreme Court not review its appellate court victory in a case involving a fatal accident.
Freight brokerage Convoy shut down in October. Carriers say the brokerage didn’t pay them for loads they completed.
The small rise in truck transportation jobs in November contrasts with more recent big swings.
Two of the most significant plotters in the Louisiana staged accident scheme were to be sentenced Thursday but it’s been delayed.
Trucking regulator reminds states of federal laws disqualifying convicted felons from having a CDL.
The first deadline for a little-noticed environmental rule affecting all trucks traveling in California is Dec. 31.
Local opposition and divided attention in Washington are hurdles that must be cleared before the trucking industry can get parking legislation passed.
CDL testing in Florida could get easier if regulators grant an exemption to driver instructors.
A government system that leaves most of the trucking industry without a safety rating needs an overhaul, carriers and brokers tell regulators.
The numbers out of BMO’s transportation sector, which are heavily loans to trucking companies, showed deterioration in credit metrics.
The Pilot vs. Berkshire lawsuit in Delaware has gotten personal, with the recent Pilot chairman accused of secret payments to benefit a sales price.
Artificial intelligence will probably change everything about our lives. For truck drivers, it could wipe away their economic stability.
