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Browse stories from the iTrucker archive.

News · Jun 1, 2020

According to the officials tanker driver wasn't targeting protesters

By: iTrucker / Mario Pawlowski Officials said that Bogdan Vechirko a truck driver from Minnesota, who was arrested last Sunday for "targeting protesters by trying to drive his tanker-truck through them" wasn't actually targeting people. According to Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington, “From the traffic cams we know the driver of the tanker truck was on the freeway already, he was on I-94 already and he turned onto 35 before we got barricades or trucks there to block off his acc

News · Jun 1, 2020

Self-driving startup partners with CVS on autonomous medical delivery

Story By: Linda Baker, Staff Writer at FreightWaves.com The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating a shakeout in the autonomous vehicle industry, but that doesn’t mean well-capitalized companies aren’t moving full speed ahead with new ventures. To wit, self-driving company Nuro has announced a pilot project with CVS Pharmacy, in which the Silicon Valley startup will deliver medications via autonomous robotic vehicles in several Houston neighborhoods. The pilot will launch this month. Deliveries wi

News · Jun 1, 2020

Evaluating the damage in the trucking sector after a weekend of riots (with videos)

Story by: John Kingston at FreightWaves.com The trucking sector is looking over the landscape of rioting and looting in numerous American cities and counting up the impact on operations. By far the most disastrous interaction between a truck and the protesters occurred in Minneapolis. A tanker truck appeared to have sped toward a group of protesters on a bridge on Interstate 35. “Very disturbing actions by a truck driver on I-35W, inciting a crowd of peaceful demonstrators,” the Minnesota State

News · May 31, 2020

Semi-truck tanker attempted to drive through the crowd on I-35 W in Minneapolis, driver arrested (with video)

By: iTrucker / Mario Pawlowski According to the article in the minnesota.cbslocal.com- "Minnesota Department of Public Safety says a tanker truck driver is in custody after speeding through protesters on the Interstate 35W Bridge in Minneapolis Sunday". "The Department of Public Safety says that as of yet, they are not notified of any injuries and that medics haven’t been called, which could be a good sign but it’s too soon to be sure. "MnDOT footage appears to show the crowd already having spli

News · May 31, 2020

Amazon curtails some services, highways closed, as protests impact freight and drivers safety

Story by: Brian Straight at FreightWaves.com As protests over the death of George Floyd continued around the country on Saturday and into this morning, many turning violent, their impact is now spreading to the freight world. Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced that it is recalling drivers and adjusting routes in several cities affected by protests, including Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. According to Bloomberg, Amazon sent delivery drivers in Chicago and Los Angeles a message advising

News · May 30, 2020

Trucker sacrifices home time to protect family from coronavirus pandemic

Story by:Clarissa Hawes at FreightWaves.com It’s been 81 days since truck driver Mike Baker has been home, but says he plans to stay out on the road until scientists give the U.S. the all-clear that the coronavirus pandemic is over. Baker of Weymouth, Massachusetts, is headed to Georgia with 5,000 cases of Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls. He admits it’s been a lonely few months living in his truck, but said he tries not to focus on it too much. “Prior to COVID-19, I got home about every six weeks, bu

News · May 29, 2020

Appeals court revives CRST’s driver-poaching lawsuit

Story by: Clarissa Hawes at FreightWaves.com A divided federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit by CRST Expedited Inc. alleging rival motor carrier TransAm Trucking Inc. poached drivers who had signed noncompete contracts with CRST. In a 2-1 split, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa’s July 2018 order granting summary judgment to TransAm and remanded the case for further consideration. Judge Bobby E. Shepherd, w

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News · May 28, 2020

FMCSA yet to receive evidence of "price gouging" by freight brokers

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent at FreightWaves.com Despite widespread complaints by small business truckers that they are being price gouged by freight brokers colluding against them, the industry’s top regulator has yet to see formal evidence backing their case. “It’s a hot topic now – there were protesters here in D.C., and the President has spoken on some of these issues,” Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Acting Administrator Jim Mullen told attendees of

News · May 26, 2020

Clarification on PPP loan forgiveness rules issued

Story by: John Kingston at FreightWaves.com The release late Friday, May 22, of clarified rules on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) cleared up some aspects of the program, left some others uncertain but also drove home the point that for the first recipients, the end of the money isn’t that far away. The primary purpose of the clarification issued by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was to reiterate earlier interim rules about qualifications and payback provisions for the PPP, w

News · May 26, 2020

Are the delivery drones efficient enough to replace last-mile cargo vans?

Story by: Morgan Forde at supplychaindive.com Brief: Using electric, autonomous drones for package deliveries can result in "operational costs [that] are at least 70% lower than a van delivery service," Pedro Pacheco, a senior director analyst at Gartner, said in a company research note published Tuesday. These cost savings come from avoiding traffic. Drones can cover greater distances in shorter amounts of time, thereby saving fuel, cutting costs-per-mile and reducing their carbon footprint, Pa

News · May 25, 2020

Canadian heavy hauler ENTREC filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in the US

Story by: Nate Tabak, Border and North America Correspondent at FreightWaves.com Heavy hauler ENTREC is seeking additional financing to continue operating as it pursues buyers or investors while under creditor protection in Canada and Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the United States. ENTREC will ask a judge in Alberta today to allow it to borrow up to C$30 million (about US$21.5 million) and to approve its plans to market its Canadian and U.S. trucking and crane businesses, according to a court filing

News · May 23, 2020

Microsoft and FedEx join forces in technology and logistics partnership

Story by: Linda Baker, Staff Writer at FreightWaves.com Microsoft (MSFT) and FedEx (FDX) will join forces in a multiyear technology and logistics partnership, including using artificial intelligence (AI). The companies announced this week. The collaboration, to involve new product development, will combine the global digital and logistics network of FedEx with Microsoft’s intelligent cloud, and could eventually reshape e-commerce as we know it. “Together with Microsoft, we will combine the immen