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.
The latest government data reveals that an increase in truckers testing positive for drugs in 2021 was driven by cocaine and marijuana.
Michigan State’s Miller says the figures are undercutting any argument that the transportation industry is having trouble attracting adequate workers.
The seasonally adjusted jobs number for truck transportation has now been more than the previous high level for two consecutive months.
Also on the podcast: Some numbers that point to why the diesel market is climbing.
Nearly a year and a half into a tight truck market and carriers continue to raise driver wages. Midwest Carriers and CFI are the latest to announce increases.
The introduction of the entry-level driver training rule is a boon for truck safety and could help reduce the industry’s driver shortage and retention concerns.
Donations to Freedom Convoy 2022 had reached CA$10 million on GoFundMe, which paused the fundraiser and said it wanted to “ensure the funds are going to the intended recipients.”
Truckload carriers have been raising pay for 18 months now to meet heightened demand. But when this trucking cycle cools, don’t expect wages to follow in lockstep.
Trucking regulators have issued updated guidance that could help new drivers get on the road faster.
After investigators uncovered a variety of safety violations, Adversity Transport was issued a federal out-of-service order on Jan. 25 forbidding the company to operate.
As competition for truck drivers heats up, fleets need to take steps to improve their recruiting, hiring and onboarding processes to find candidates and get them into trucks.
WorkHound’s “feedback loop” is an anonymous way for quick driver comments to get into the hands of trucking companies.
A lack of restroom access for drivers still plagues the trucking industry.
North Dakota, spurred by the closure of key delivery companies, is looking at several steps to increase the number of CDL holders in the state.
Transportation Secretary Buttigieg is unveiling a three-year strategy to work toward zero fatalities and serious injuries involving cars and heavy trucks.
In an appeals court filing, OOIDA defended its support for changes in federal work rules for truck drivers.
The Biden administration is releasing $246 million in FY22 funding to help complete the Appalachian Development Highway System.
In the aftermath of Central Freight Lines’ abrupt closure five weeks ago, many of the company’s 2,100 employees, including 1,325 truck drivers, are struggling with paycheck concerns and questions about when or if they will receive vacation pay and unemployment benefits, while others claim they were subjected to unsafe working conditions at the company’s headquarters in Waco, Texas.
Zero-percent factoring will be able to provide relationships and data that can be used as a foundation for other trucking support businesses, according to BasicBlock’s CEO.
Triumph’s CEO Graft is not holding back, likening the automated deals to the invention of the telephone in terms of technical significance.
Carriers, truck brokers and leasing companies will see annual fees collected by states reduced by up to $15,000 per year.
Leveraging its nationwide network of more than 7,000 attorneys, TVC has a high success rate reducing or dismissing citations.
David Weil would have a key role in determining the federal definition of an independent contractor.
The Biden administration has rejected assertions made by safety groups that more flexible hours-of-service rules will make roads less safe.
Communicating expectations with drivers and customers lowers the sales risk in the volatile perishables market.
Another guilty plea last week brings the total to 30 for the U.S. attorney’s office.
Comments coming into FMCSA look to be mostly opposed to the Apprenticeship Pilot Program.
For years, the industry has asked for the ability to expand its driver workforce. FMCSA’s apprenticeship program is that opportunity, and now is time to jump on this opportunity.
Time is running out for trucking companies to upgrade or replace third-generation mobile devices to 5G network services or face possible violations if logging devices can’t function properly.
Jackknifed trucks were a problem during the recent snowstorm that shut down I-95; a senator thinks he has a solution.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is ramping up studies analyzing truck driver pay and unpaid detention time.
American Trucking Associations was one of the many plaintiffs in the lawsuit that challenged the OSHA rules on 100-plus worker companies.
There had not been formal guidance on truck driver status since the secretary of labor said they would not fall under the rule.
Private money can add parking better than public money because there is only so much that can be done with public spending on interstate rest areas.
A truckload carrier-backed study finds cocaine and opioid abuse by truckers are underreported at FMCSA.
Christenson Transportation announced Monday that it is expanding its freight network with the recent acquisition of Sharp Transport Inc.
An NLRB judge appears mostly critical of the trucking company’s behavior but ruled in its favor on the key legal question.
Host John Kingston dives into the surging price of oil and diesel.
The December report closes out a year with a gain of more than 44,000 jobs in truck transportation.
The Biden administration is attempting to bolster the truck driver workforce by allowing younger drivers into the ranks.
Lawrence Freight said its latest pay hike for company drivers will move annual wages to roughly $90,000 in 2022.
The case that spurred the NLRB action is not about a transportation company, but the independent contractor definition continues to be a big issue for trucking.
Carriers need to ramp up education efforts on Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse testing to help drivers understand the zero-tolerance approach to safety-conscious driving positions.
Safety officials warn that federal trucking regulations are not keeping up with industry changes.
After finding out that Central Freight Lines was shuttering operations, hourly employees, including 1,325 truck drivers, learned that their final paychecks weren’t mailed out as promised before Christmas.
TForce Freight has rolled back the speed reductions for some trucks based in Houston after drivers complained about running out of hours.
A national regulatory body has permanently banned the Chicago-based parent companies of K-Ratio X’s now-defunct fuel hedging program that targeted trucking companies from any futures trading.
Federal rules mandate the collection and maintenance of driver qualification files, but for fleets, managing this process can be cumbersome and fraught with potential liability.
J.B. Hunt Transport announced that eligible drivers and maintenance techs received nearly $10 million in appreciation bonuses on Friday.
A former Central Freight Lines employee claims the Waco,Texas-based less-than-truckload carrier violated federal law by failing to give 60 days’ notice of its planned shutdown to nearly 2,100 employees and truck drivers, who found themselves without jobs two weeks before Christmas
DOT officials aim to solve tightening constraints on truck parking by arming local officials with new information.
In its third pay hike of 2021, Forward Air rolls out its biggest pay package for independent contractors ever.
The Biden administration is taking a series of actions aimed at bolstering the truck driver workforce that includes assessing compensation.
Federal regulators have once again denied a request to exempt small truck brokers from bond requirements.
Analysts, industry insiders and some of Central Freight Lines’ executives and drivers liken the LTL carrier’s demise to a “five-year death spiral” after the company lost a major customer, then acquired two failing companies.
A group of 14 senators is asking President Joe Biden to exempt truckers who cross the U.S.-Canada border from an upcoming mandate to avoid putting more strain on the supply chain.
The effects of port congestion on independent contractors may be underplayed in a recent driver satisfaction survey.
OMB’s 2022 agenda for regulatory agencies includes proposals from FMCSA on ELDs and carrier safety ratings.
Also on the podcast: The market for diesel exhaust fluid.
A Mississippi-based trucking company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy on Tuesday, more than a year after its operating authority was revoked by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
At issue was a test given to job applicants, with the higher rate of female failure viewed as a “disparate impact.”
Federal investigators have charged a second man in connection with an ongoing probe into an alleged CDL scheme in Pennsylvania
A manager’s comments regarding possible closure of the facility if the Teamsters won is cited by an NLRB administrator as a reason for a new vote.
Difficulties finding trailers is starting to rival the effects of the driver shortage at the nation’s largest fleets.
Montreal-based Fuel Transport offers a $7,800 COVID-19 vaccination bonus for truckers as the cross-border mandate looms.
During a Stephens conference presentation before investors, CEO Fuller also discussed the unique driver retention tool at Variant called the “squad.”
If the rise in truck transportation costs between September and October continued for 12 months, it would translate to an increase of more than 40%.
The former CFO of Roadrunner Transportation Systems was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a complex securities and accounting fraud scheme on Tuesday.
Using a combination of the Safety Management Cycle and the 5 Why’s helps fleets identify the root cause and eventually end patterns of FMCSA violations.
Federal regulators are keeping in place a work-hour exemption giving truck drivers more time to haul pandemic-related freight.
The owner of a small Delaware-based trucking company described his driver, who was recently arrested and charged with holding a woman captive in his truck for nearly eight months, as “religious” and “a nice guy.”
South Carolina and Ohio appear to be taking the most significant steps in conjunction with the release of the governors’ call for less regulation.
The latest hours-of-service waiver is set to expire on Christmas Eve.
Despite reports that congestion issues are easing on the water at California’s major ports, drayage truckers claim this isn’t the case for them as efficiency issues continue to plague terminal operators.
On this episode of Net-Zero Carbon, Tyler Cole, director of carbon intelligence at FreightWaves, chats with Desiree Wood, founder and president of REAL Women in Trucking, about truck driver issues […]
The clock is ticking for truckers to upgrade or replace their third-generation (3G)-reliant ELDs — or face possible hours-of-service violations — as major cellular providers move to 5G network services in 2022.
The union must now negotiate a contract with XPO, a process that can take a long time.
U.S. truck drivers will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter Canada starting in January as an industry group warns of a “perfect storm” for the cross-border supply chain.
Unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers contemplate whether to get COVID-19 vaccine ahead of U.S. border mandate amid fears thousands won’t.
Truck drivers who started in their 50s and 60s share how they got into the industry, along with their experiences on the road.
FMCSA has approved 92,000 new motor carrier applications through October, smashing 2020’s full-year record.
SCOTUS’ request for input on the CTA case suggests it is interested in the question of state versus federal preemption, and trucking attorneys are happy as a result.
SCOTUS is calling on the Biden administration to weigh in on the legal issues.
The election still needs to be certified by the NLRB.
While a federal appeals court has halted enforcement of the Biden administration’s COVID vaccine mandate, companies should familiarize themselves with the requirements regardless.
California officials are trying to address a perceived shortage of truck drivers by making it easier to get a license.
ATA’s suit comes just a few days after what it says was a “major victory” with the Labor Department secretary’s statements regarding trucking and the vaccine rule.
Last week’s conclusion that solo drivers aren’t under the vaccine rule is turning to this week’s questions about team drivers.
Solo drivers working for large trucking companies will likely be exempt from the Biden administration’s vaccine requirement, the industry’s largest lobby group has confirmed.
If independent owner-operators are included, Convoy analyst Terrazas says employment is probably at 2019 levels.
The TCA calls the mandate “disastrous.”
As the industry prepares for the new entry-level driver training rule to go into effect in February, fleets that train their own drivers and schools face new challenges in complying.
Federal regulators have vastly improved the ability to keep unsafe drivers off the road but the trucking industry is scrambling to make up the shortfall.
The front-month price of ultra low sulfur diesel on the CME commodity exchange is at its lowest level in several weeks.
Regulators are urging carriers to take action to ensure their ELDs remain legal after mobile networks transition out of 3G.
Arkansas-based carrier’s trucking segment posted revenue of $113M and brokerage division posted revenue of $81M in Q3.
Also on the podcast: The growing tie between high natural gas prices and what you’re paying for diesel.
North Carolina-based carrier’s third pay raise in a year comes amid unprecedented freight volumes and demand for drivers.
An ATA survey reveals a driver vaccination rate of 50%, with more than half of the unvaccinated saying they will not get a shot under any circumstance.
In his speech, Chris Spear touted the ATA’s role in the infrastructure act now before Congress.
