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.
California’s AB5 law will remain blocked from implementation in the state’s trucking sector for now as the Supreme Court remains silent.
The benchmark diesel price used for fuel surcharges has been delayed and won’t be released this week but will be effective June 20.
With millions of truck drivers on the roads every day, it is up to carriers to ensure they uphold the values and safety-first focus of the professional trucker. And it all starts with training.
Two listening sessions in the next two weeks will kick off the Biden administration’s effort to create a new federal definition of independent contractor status.
Jamie Hagen chats with James “The Rooster” Bowen on what it takes to move from company driver to owner-operator.
A regional NLRB decision says an STG unit in California that had been owned by XPO treated workers like employees, and it has ordered a unionization vote for them.
An effort by Uber and Lyft to have voters define the companies’ drivers as independent contractors has been blocked by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
FreightWaves SONAR data can be indispensable, particularly in this environment.
FreightWaves presents the Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit on Wednesday, June 15.
Dock-to-driver programs can be a steppingstone for someone who can’t afford truck driving school.
The FMCSA is looking to the public to help settle a controversy over what constitutes freight brokers, agents and dispatch services.
Data from a recent survey shows that supply chain executives are paying greater attention to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The California Trucking Association filed its brief to the Supreme Court, laying out arguments why the court should review AB5 in the state’s trucking sector.
Truck transportation job gains posted in May were up more than 13,000, the third time in the last four months they’ve exceeded 10,000.
It’s another entry point into the business: being a dispatcher. Laura Weston joins Drilling Deep to talk about that route.
The tentative agreement will be reviewed by union leaders June 16, with a ratification vote to follow.
Police said the truck driver admitted using a meth pipe as he damaged a shopping center and totaled two vehicles, including his.
Truckload carrier C.R. England suffered a data breach last fall and this week informed its customers of the potential impact.
Two more individuals were sentenced for their involvement in the Louisiana staged accident scam, showing the wide divergence of punishment so far.
A case involving C.H. Robinson before the U.S. Supreme Court got the same recommendation from the solicitor general as the better-known AB5 lawsuit in California.
A major shipper lobbying group has concerns over trucker overtime pay legislation.
The solicitor general has advised the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear the appeal of a lower court decision that would require adoption of the AB5 independent contractor law in the state’s trucking industry.
The Small Fleet & Owner-Operator Summit takes place on June 15, 2022.
Drayage trucks in California with engines made before 2010 will have to be shut down at the end of the year on the road to zero-emissions vehicles.
Distracted driving is a problem. The product offered by NoCell is designed to reduce it, but there is some resistance.
Fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck jumped 13% in 2021, hitting a “crisis” level, according to federal regulators.
The reconstruction of a key portion of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway had a more than $200 million budget for 2023 but has seen that allocation cut sharply.
Elk Grove Village, next to O’Hare airport, has pushed back against more truck parking on its streets with a big jump in fines.
As diesel prices spike and spot rates plunge, independent drivers wonder what their next move should be.
With CVSA’s annual International Roadcheck fast approaching, now is the time for carriers and drivers to prepare for the inspection process.
FMCSA has added three fuels to its list of energy products that can be transported beyond normal HOS rules, but will the larger rule be extended soon?
A proposal to give truck drivers overtime pay would ultimately slow freight movement and impact the speed of e-commerce deliveries.
Federal regulators told Congress that insurance companies are refusing to share data about the costs of claims from truck and bus accidents.
AskWaves has reviewed the latest comments on a proposal allowing oral fluid instead of urine to test for drugs — the trucking industry mostly likes it.
The monthly BLS report on employment showed that truck transportation jobs were up sharply in April after an unexpected decline in March.
Aided by the acquisition of Transplace last year, Uber Freight posted positive EBITDA for the first quarter.
On an earnings call with analysts, Covenant Logistics execs talked about the strong quarterly performance but noted that costs beyond fuel continue to rise.
The trucking industry is looking to pull young people into the industry through a new group. FreightWaves talks to the organization’s president.
Federal regulators plan to require truckers to limit their truck speeds by using electronic engine control devices.
A Wisconsin trucking company reveals how it has shifted into a higher training gear under President Biden’s 90-day trucker apprenticeship challenge.
A three-judge panel heard arguments in a petition to overturn some of the changes in trucking hours-of-service rules implemented two years ago.
Freight brokers, just like the truck drivers they serve, are in hot demand. A recruiter in the business discusses why. Also: diesel breaks another record.
The Biden administration is pushing states to take a clean-energy approach to expand truck parking with new infrastructure money.
Three more individuals were sentenced in the Louisiana staged truck and bus accident scheme, with two receiving probation and a third sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
Transflo, a supply chain platform with multiple capabilities, is bringing in two veteran executives to steer the company forward, with its current CEO moving up into the chairman’s position.
The funds will be used to hire 13 driving instructors.
Regulators are moving ahead with an apprenticeship program for under-21 drivers despite attempts by trucking and safety groups to modify it.
The amount of safety technology available for trucks continues to rise, but some measures of highway safety are getting worse. Trucking executive and broadcaster Rick Larkin sits down at the FreightWaves Enterprise Fleet Summit to discuss this disconnect.
Independent contractor law AB5 has been blocked so far from being implemented in California’s trucking sector, but the question is before the Supreme Court and its ultimate ruling may eventually make the statute the law of the land in the Golden State.
After an overhaul in truck driver training, schools are now looking for more instructors to help kick the industry into higher gear.
Experts discuss how the future of driver recruitment and retention relies on feedback in this fireside chat during FreightWaves’ Enterprise Fleet Summit.
FreightWaves Founder and CEO Craig Fuller explains the boom and bust cycle of the trucking industry.
Under pressure to move more cargo faster, truck drivers are filing complaints with the FMCSA at a record pace.
A mother-daughter team has pleaded guilty to participating in a staged truck accident in New Orleans in 2018, joining 33 others who have made the same plea.
Truck brokerages have been barred for years from getting a key terrorism-related Customs designation that allows for easier passage; that may soon change.
How did truck drivers do in 2021? Their tax returns tell the story. And how jet fuel is impacting the price of diesel.
Private equity firms are looking hard at trucking brokerages, and the owners of those companies need to keep their risk profile in check. Photo: FreightWaves
The company has boosted first-year wages 7%-25% and launched a program to train supply chain workers to obtain CDLs.
Carriers interested in conducting driver training for both property carrying and passenger carrying commercial motor vehicles must now meet requirements set forth under FMCSA’s entry-level driver training rule, including registering their programs with the TPR.
Federal regulators are standing up a new task force to study predatory truck leasing and its effect on driver safety.
The Biden administration praised strides made to boost trucking jobs — but could a freight recession undercut progress?
There is a new guilty plea in the Louisiana staged accident scheme, as well as a jail sentence for another participant.
FreightWaves Founder and CEO Craig Fuller provides commentary/analysis on the trucking industry’s “driver shortage.”
The decline in truck transportation jobs is the first in almost two years, but it comes after upward revisions in the two prior months.
Businesses and independent contractors opposed David Weil’s return to the Wage and Hour Division.
Werner Enterprises asserts that a five-year waiver affecting its driver trainees will fill cab seats and improve safety.
Getting paid for getting drivers on board is the economic value proposition of the Ambassador program.
AskWaves reviews the legal history of the independent contractor law and the lawsuits that challenged its implementation.
Those charged in the latest guilty pleas connected to the Louisiana staged truck accident scheme are all accused of being operatives, and with one exception, the attorneys who were allegedly involved have not been indicted.
A spot survey of companies seeking drivers at the big trucking conference reflects a wide divergence of pay packages.
RoadSync has diversified, but lumpers and maintenance costs while on the road remain a key market for the company.
Also on the podcast: diesel is kicking crude’s butt.
Dispatching is marked by mostly smaller companies, and Trucker Path already comes in at a larger-than-normal size.
Craig Fuller analyzes the state of the U.S. truckload market.
CEO Barkoff isn’t revealing much about the next initiatives at the 4-year-old Relay Payments, which has attracted significant investment.
After a panel discussion extolling better relations between shippers and carriers, a question sets off a discussion on current selection processes.
Sites in Kansas, New Hampshire, Vermont and Utah now are using the Drivewyze system to reduce manual processes in truck inspections.
The founder of the fundraising arm of the People’s Convoy says trucking organizers may “wrap up the federal convoy this week” amid dwindling donations to protest government mandates regarding COVID-19 and other political issues.
A separate bill keeps all of the state’s 47 rest areas open to allow for truck driver stops.
Building geographic scale and expanding a book of business is not the main driver, Muessig says. Instead, it’s access to scarce assets.
The U.S. DOT found that the truck parking shortage exists in every state and region, but it did not include dedicated funding for truck parking in the recent infrastructure bill.
“The Biden DOL will have little choice but to apply the Trump rule or face opposition,” says attorney Greg Feary.
Trucking stakeholders have called for creating more parking across the United States.
The $12 million from Level Equity draws the previous biggest investment in WorkHound, which was just over $2 million.
Federal overseers have not set a specific time frame to further evaluate states’ ability to provide adequate truck parking.
Have you ever wondered how much you could make as a truck driver? Or how much you could make driving for someone else?
A Kansas truck stop less than 2 years old already is recognized as one of the best in the country.
Regulators have eliminated a driver requirement to provide employers with an annual list of traffic violations.
The truck driver shortage in the U.K. and Europe is getting worse with cross-border traffic being interrupted by the Ukraine crisis and Ukrainians going home to defend their country.
The cost of truck transportation, measured in the PPI, continues to climb.
It’s a race: Will rates and surcharges keep up with rapidly rising price of diesel?
A Kansas-based trucking company, cited several times for safety violations for both its drivers and equipment, recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
A District of Columbia lawmaker tells law enforcement that a security fence around the Capitol should be removed quickly following trucker demonstrations.
The load board at Truckstop.com remains the core business but integrating it with other operations is seen as providing opportunity.
A federal proposal allowing trucking companies to use oral drug testing will reduce costs but could prove less effective against “lifestyle” drug users.
There’s a lot of bad information out there about the state of the oil market.
The Biden administration has outlined 62 policy initiatives affecting trucking, rail, and maritime in a one-year vulnerability assessment.
More than 22 years after Oregon truck driver Roger Kelly was fatally shot while parked for the night in a dirt lot near the Best Western Hotel in Fernley, Nevada, his murder remains unsolved.
Drawing on the intense media attention gained by defiant Canadian truck drivers and opponents of government mandates regarding COVID-19, some U.S. truckers have launched their own cross-country effort, the “People’s Convoy.”
Truckload carriers continue to pay up for drivers. Dry van carrier Cargo Transporters announced another increase to its pay package.
