FMCSA: Agency Will Reply to Anti-ELD Petition Filed by OOIDA

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Spokesman Duane DeBruyne has acknowledged that the agency has received a petition filed by the Owner Operator Independent Driver Association that seeks to delay implementation of the electronic logging device ELD mandate, which goes into effect Dec. 18.

OOIDA has said that its Aug. 29 petition points out 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.”

Queried by HDT as to whether or not FMCSA holds that states cannot enforce the new ELD rule until they too have passed into law specific ELD rules, DeBruyne replied that the agency is “presently preparing a fact-based response.” He also emphasized that “the congressionally mandated ELD rule did not change federal hours-of-service regulations.”

DeBruyne added that the ELD mandate is “estimated to save more than 25 lives and prevent more than 500 injuries resulting from crashes involving large commercial motor vehicles each year.”

The OOIDA petition states that “serious legal problems arise because states are attempting to enforce federal safety standards that have not been made part of state law.” Todd Spencer, OOIDA executive vice president, stated the association is “concerned about numerous states issuing citations for the violation of non-existent state laws.”

In its news release, OOIDA also referenced the action taken earlier this week by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. As reported by HDT on Aug. 28, CVSA sees no reason to delay the December start date for the electronic logging device mandate, but its members will delay implementing out-of-service criteria related to ELDs until April 1, 2018. In addition, CVSA said each jurisdiction will have discretion as to whether they actually issue citations in the beginning.

On Sept. 1, CVSA Deputy Executive Director Adrienne Gildea told HDT, “We are ...Read the rest of this story

Trucking Gives Generously to Help Houston Recover from Harvey

Photo via JMS Transportation Facebook Page

Trucking industry companies across the nation are pledging charitable support for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and the long recovery effort ahead.

The following is just a small sample of companies and people who have seen the destruction from Harvey's floods and decided to give support in any way they can.

In a joint effort, U.S. subsidiaries of Daimler, including Daimler Trucks North America and Mercedes-Benz USA, are donating $1 million in total to victims of the storm. The donation will be given to the American Red Cross to be used for immediate disaster relief, emergency assistance, and other services.

The Illinois Trucking Association is collaborating with the Texas Trucking Association and has contacted its members that have terminals near Houston to offer equipment, supplies, and money to the Harvey recovery effort. ITA has asked any members with trailers or available trucks and drivers to assist in taking supplies to the area. It also asked for collections of supplies to be picked up by ITA, and for monetary donations as well. Collection sites will be set up in Illinois at the following locations and dates:

Love's Travel Stops is giving $1 million total to the mid- and long-term relief and recovery efforts. Love's will give $500,000 to the United Way Harvey Recovery fund, which ensures that 100% of donations will be ...Read the rest of this story

FMCSA Suspends Certain Rules in 26 States to Help Fuel, Supplies Flow in Wake of Hurricane Harvey

FMCSA is suspending certain trucking regulations in 26 states and the District of Columbia to aide in the recovery effort from Hurricane Harvey. Image: FMCSA

To aid in the effort to bring supplies and fuel to the areas affected by Hurricane Harvey, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the State of Texas have temporarily suspended several trucking regulations.

FMCSA announced on Sept. 1 that due to an expected shortage of fuel products, including gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, propane and home heating oil, "due to refinery delays and interruption of delivery through pipelines as a result of damage from Tropical Storm Harvey," it has declared a regional emergency declsaration for 26 States and the District of Columbia. "Motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to the emergency transporting fuel products into and from these States and jurisdictions are granted emergency relief from Title 49 CFR Parts 390 through 399," the agency stated.

The suspended regulations include those concerned with driver hours of service, inspection, repair, and maintenance, hazardous materials transportation, driving, and parking, and other health and safety standards.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot (R) has issued a temporary waiver of the International Fuel Tax Agreement, suspending requirements that trucking firms track and pay tax on the amount of fuel used in Texas when delivering relief supplies and fuel into the state. The suspension is aimed at speeding up the movement of needed relief supplies and fuel into the state and immediately reducing the cost and administrative burden.

"As Texas begins the recovery process in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, it is important that Texans have access to much-needed resources, including gasoline and fuel." said Gov. Abbott. "Texans should rest assured that their state government is doing every possible to ensure the accessibility and affordability of the necessities allowing us to ...Read the rest of this story

Costco Drops California Fleet Accused of Abusive Labor Practices

Costco has dropped a California fleet accused labor abuses in the wake of a USA Today report on the trucking industry. Photo: Costco

USA Today raised eyebrows in June with an expose' alleging labor abuses at trucking fleets operating at the Southern California ports. Now the newspaper is reporting that in the wake of that story, Costco will no longer do business with one of the fleets highlighted in the story.

The newspaper reported that some port drivers were working long hours and taking home very little – in some cases none – of their paychecks after their lease payments and other expenses were deducted. The report claimed that in some cases drivers were being forced to work as much as 20 hours in a day, far past the maximum allowed by law, drivers alleging that their supervisors threatened to take their jobs or assigning lower-paying routes as punishment if they did not.

Now Costco, one of the largest U.S. retailers, has announced it will no longer do business with Pacific 9 Transportation.

Pacific 9 told USA Today that it had stopped leasing trucks to drivers before Costco ended its relationship, and the company had launched reforms to improve pay.

In the wake of the June report, the Harbor Trucking Association, which represents fleets at the ports, told HDT the cases reported by USA Today were cherry-picked for their extremeness or were not completely explained. "It focuses on a very small subset of the industry, and what we forget to point out is the 90-plus percent of drivers who prefer to be independent contractors and have made that business model work."

Costco's action comes on the heels of additional fallout from the story, USA Today reports, including four senators, led by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), sending ...Read the rest of this story

Economic Watch: Manufacturing Jumps as Employment, Construction Slow

Job growth slowed in August, according to government numbers released Friday, while other economic reports showed manufacturing hitting a six-year high as total construction spending unexpectedly slowed – and consumers are in the best mood since 2000.

Employers added 156,000 non-farm jobs in August, according to the Labor Department, less than analysts were expecting, while trucking payrolls fell. The nation's unemployment rate ticked upward from to 4.4% from the 16-year low of 4.3% the month before.

The department also revised downward its estimate of how many jobs were created in June and July by a combined total of 41,000.

Hiring has slowed from higher levels earlier in the year, but is better than it was in May and March, when 145,000 and 50,000 jobs were added, respectively. Employment growth has averaged 176,000 per month thus far this year, about in line with the average monthly gain of 187,000 in 2016.

The for-hire trucking industry shed 1,600 jobs in August, while the wider transportation and warehousing sector added 1,900, due to big gains in employment in the support activities for transportation, and in the couriers and messengers categories where e-commerce and last-mile delivery growth are having an impact.

Job gains occurred in manufacturing, construction, professional and technical services, health care, and mining. Manufacturing employment rose by 36,000 in August and has added a total 155,000 jobs since a recent employment low in November 2016.

While the latest number of job additions is a bit disappointing, what's likely to get the attention of Federal Reserve policy makers is the lack of wage growth in the report, according to Nathan Janzen, senior economist at RBC Economic Research.

“Despite ostensibly tighter labor markets, wage growth has been stuck at 2.5% over the last five months, similar to the 2.6% average increase last year,” he said. “The lack of further acceleration in ...Read the rest of this story

Minimizer Offers Insert-Style Version of Slick Plate

The Insert-Style Slick Plate from minimizer is a greaseless slick plate designed specifically for trucks that have Holland fifth wheels with built-in lube plate inserts.

These models include the Holland FWAL, FW31, and FW33 fifth wheels. The Insert-Style Plate joins the 5th Wheel Slick Plate, Trailer Slick Plate, and Slick Disk as Minimizers lineup of greaseless products.

By using the Insert-Style Slick Plate, truck drives and fleets no longer have to grease the fifth wheel's top plate.

"All of our products are Tested & Tortured to save you time or money," Kruckeberg said. "The Insert-Style Slick Plate does both. This product will save you money on grease and the messy time it takes to grease the fifth wheel plate."

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Trucking Ready for Harvey Recovery, Spot Market Data Suggests

Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Public Affairs - Visual Communications Division

Noel Perry, chief economist of Truckstop.com analyzed early data on Hurricane Harvey's impact to the trucking industry spot market in a recently released report, examining how the market is predicting conditions on the ground.

Interestingly, in the week leading up to Harvey, incoming truck traffic decreased by nearly 20%, which Perry says was the result of truckers not wanting to get stuck in the region. However, even as the storm made landfall, the trend reversed somewhat as emergency supplies began moving into the region in the first few days.

The storm's effects on the ground were undeniable, as all goods leaving the area came to a virtual standstill. Again in the early part of the storm there was a burst of outbound activity, but for now, it seems, nobody is producing anything in the Gulf region until there is some guarantee that traffic will be able to carry it.

“Early in the storm, there were two days of aggressive outbound moves in dry van, when people seemed to realize it was now or never," Perry wrote. "Currently? Loads are very hard to come by. As a result, outbound prices have fallen, down 16% overall for the last week."

Because of the lack of outbound traffic, inbound freight is coming at a premium, with prices currently up 25% moving into Texas. Because of the likelihood that there will be no freight to take out of the region, freight companies are adding cost to the front end, according to Perry.

With the waters finally receding from Houston and the recovery and rebuilding effort getting set to begin, the dry van market has been hot because of the trailer's versatility in transporting multiple types of goods. On the opposite end, reefers are way ...Read the rest of this story