National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (NTDAW) is Sept. 10-16, 2017, but Love's Travel Stops announced it is turning that week into an entire month. Throughout September, thousands of drivers will win $100 in My Love Rewards points and one driver will win $10,000 in points.
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...Read the rest of this storyFollowing massive flooding generated by Hurricane Harvey in the Gulf Coast region of Texas, in part due to the storm dumping over 50 inches of rain in some locations, U.S. military teams fanned out to conduct search and rescue operations while efforts to re-open vital Texas sea ports and truck in relief supplies shifted into high gear.
...Read the rest of this storyTo say that James Arthur Haslam II loves football is a little like saying Mount Everest is a big hill.
Indeed, for most of his young adult life, all Haslam did was live and breathe football 24/7.
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...Read the rest of this storyWith National Truck Driver Appreciation Week just around the corner – running from Sept. 10 through Sept. 16 this year – fleets are no doubt preparing special events such as cookouts and contests to celebrate the work commercial motor vehicle operators perform day in and day out.
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...Read the rest of this storyPhoto: Port Houston
">Photo: Port Houston
">Chassis provider CIMC Intermodal Equipment is sending up to 600 40-foot gooseneck chassis to the Houston area this week as replacements for equipment damaged by Hurricane Harvey flooding.
The Port of Houston opened last Friday, but current chassis being operated in the Houston area to unload shipping containers could be out of service for weeks due to flood damage to electrical, brake, wheel-end and other components. Replacement parts to fix these chassis will likely be delayed for some time, as parts availability is expected to be curtailed.
CIMC IE has been receiving requests from intermodal fleets to help replace damaged chassis since Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast last week, according to the company. The chassis being sent to Houston will be available to these operators at standard pricing, according to the company.
Port Houston late last week announced it was largely undamaged by Hurricane Harvey and would reopen Sept. 1. Strong currents in the area last week placed restrictions on vessel movements into the port; however, the Port Commission felt that it was important to restart operations as soon as possible.
Until floods completely recede, the Houston area will likely need some time to return to normal, and the storm's effects on transportation have been far-reaching.
“Employees are on site, facilities are back online, and we are ready to operate,” added Roger Guenther, Port Houston executive director. “We are restarting this economic engine again to power the region, state, and nation.”
Meanwhile, the effects of Harvey continue to be wide-reaching and the Southeast U.S. is bracing for potentially another record-setting storm.
In the latest pricing numbers from the Energy Department, average diesel fuel prices in the U.S. jumped over 15 cents last week to nearly $2.76 per gallon, its highest average price since July 2015. While the price increases were highest in ...Read the rest of this story
Is that an AOBRD or an ELD? Photo: Roehl Transport
">Is that an AOBRD or an ELD? Photo: Roehl Transport
">Whether you've got your electronic logging devices in the trucks already, on order, or you're still researching your options, there are many questions out there regarding just what's going to happen at the roadside when the ELD mandate goes into effect Dec. 18.
So we talked to Joe DeLorenzo, director of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Office of Enforcement and Compliance, about some of the most important aspects of enforcement that fleets and drivers need to know.
First of all, he emphasized that the government is ready and able to start enforcing the new rule.
One of the most common misconceptions about the ELD mandate is that the government is not ready to begin enforcement, DeLorenzo said. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and FMCSA together decided recently to announce a phased-in approach in the first six months, where drivers will not be put out of service if they don't have an ELD. However, they could still be cited and fined; each jurisdiction will decide on its own how strict that initial enforcement will be.
The move is “a recognition of the fact that this is a big change,” DeLorenzo said. “We've done this type of enforcement on other major rules to allow everyone some time.”
However, he also cautioned carriers not to take unfair advantage of that approach. “If FMCSA sees we're seeing persistent violations by a major carrier taking advantage, they could be subject to an investigation and penalties.”
But What About State Rules and eRODS?The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association recently filed a petition with the FMCSA asking it to delay implementation, contending that “26 states have not yet incorporated an electronic logging regulation into state law and are not authorized to enforce the rule until they do so.”
The state of Oregon's recently enacted $5.3 billion transportation funding legislation was met with a mostly positive assessment by the state's trucking group for adding highway capacity while increasing accountability within the government.
The bill was officially signed into law in mid-August by Gov. Kate Brown. She then went on a five-city celebratory signing ceremony tour around the state to highlight different aspects of the law.
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