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Browse stories from the iTrucker archive.

News · Jan 9, 2020

Second court puts big hit on imposing AB5 against California trucking sector

Story by: John Kingston @ FreightWaves.com “California cannot simply eliminate that business model and force truck drivers to be employees. This is a win for trucking companies and independent truckers nationwide.” Applying the restrictions of AB5 in California to the trucking industry runs afoul of federal law, according to a court case just handed down. That may read exactly like a story from last week. But it’s a new development. On a day that saw New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo call for AB5-like

News · Jan 7, 2020

CES 2020: Virtual Visor precisely blocks blinding sun

Story by: Alan Adler @ FreightWaves.com Largely unchanged since its invention nearly a century ago, the lightly regarded sun visor often frustrates drivers as much as it shields glare. Higher-riding truck drivers are so susceptible to sun coming directly at them that they spend hundreds of dollars to affix exterior drop visors that resemble the bill of a baseball cap. German auto supplier Robert Bosch is showing an invention at CES 2020 in Las Vegas called Virtual Visor that replaces the traditi

News · Jan 6, 2020

Loss of DHL contract leads to New York carrier shut down

Story by: Brian Straight @ FreightWaves New York Express and Logistics will shut down after losing a contract with DHL, the company said in a filing in New York state. The company completed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act filing in New York, citing the loss of a contract with DHL as the reason for the shutdown of New York Express and Logistics in Latham, New York. In all, 48 employees will be affected as of March 31, 2020. The filing, entered into the New York WARN dat

News · Jan 6, 2020

Registration overload floods Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com The Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse is off to a dismal start for drivers and carriers frustrated by delays and error messages as they attempt to register in the system, according to sources contacted by FreightWaves. The clearinghouse, which the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) opened for background queries Monday, Jan. 6, is expected to close a major loophole that had allowed drivers with drug or alcohol viola

News · Jan 6, 2020

Michigan trucker faces charges in deadly Indiana pileup

A truck driver has been charged in a deadly Sunday crash in Indiana that authorities say appears to have resulted from distracted driving. The wreck, which involved a semi and eight other vehicles, happened shortly after 11 a.m. on Interstate 65 northbound, near the Zionsville exit, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office. Mathew Lewis Small, 34, of Grandville, Michigan, faces three counts of reckless homicide, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. Small said he had looke

News · Jan 6, 2020

UPS identifies two drivers killed in Pennsylvania Turnpike crash

Story by: Nate Tabak, Canada Correspondent @ FreightWaves UPS identified two of its drivers as among the five people killed in Sunday morning’s crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Daniel Kepner, 53, and Dennis Kehler, 48, were driving together in a tractor-trailer out of the company’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, operations center. “Our drivers will be missed and our thoughts and prayers go out to their families,” UPS said in a statement to FreightWaves. Kehler had 28 years of service with UPS, whi

News · Jan 5, 2020

Police probe deadly ‘chain reaction’ crash of trucks, bus on PA Turnpike

Story by: Nate Tabak, Canada Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com The Pennsylvania Turnpike crash that killed five people and injured about 60 Sunday morning involved a tragic succession of events in which two tractor-trailers struck an overturned tour bus before a third crashed into the first two. “It was a kind of a chain reaction-type crash,” Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steve Limani said during a news conference. The bus overturned into an embankment about 3:40 a.m. after failing to negotia

News · Jan 5, 2020

Five people die after trucks hit crashed tour bus on Pennsylvania Turnpike

Story by: Nate Tabak, Canada Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com Sixty people injured in pileup after three tractor-trailers loaded with parcels crash into bus that had struck an embankment in Westmoreland County. At least five people died and 60 were injured on the Pennsylvania Turnpike on Sunday morning after three tractor-trailers hit a tour bus that had struck an embankment, authorities said. The accident occurred about 3:40 a.m. as the bus traveled downhill in a curve in the Turnpike’s westbou

Coalition_warns_against_1-credit-Flickr-Elvert-Barnes

News · Jan 5, 2020

Coalition warns against U.S. Postal Service privatization

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com An alliance of consumer advocates, postal workers and community groups is pushing back against efforts by the Trump administration to overhaul the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) by eliminating the agency’s service requirements or by privatizing it. Calling itself the “Grand Alliance to Save Our Public Postal Service,” the coalition on Jan. 6 plans to demand the USPS Board of Governors appoint a postmaster general who will “maintai

News · Jan 4, 2020

Class 8 truck orders tumble to decade low

Story by: Alan Adler @ FreightWaves.com Softer economy and 2018 buying frenzy dropped hammer on 2019 bookings. Orders of new Class 8 trucks tumbled to their lowest annual level in a decade in 2019 as a softening economy and a booking frenzy in 2018 combined to clobber orders. Year-over-year new truck orders fell again in December, though the 20,000 bookings were up 14% over November, according to ACT Research. “Overbuying through 2019 and insufficient freight to absorb the ensuing capacity overh

News · Jan 4, 2020

Drivers are safer but insurance costs continue to rise

Story by: Zach Strickland, FW Market Expert & Market Analyst @ FreightWaves.com Chart of the Week: Insurance Expense for Dry Van Carriers, Unsafe Driving Violations – USA SONAR:INSURE.VCFOO, VIOUSD.USA According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) — the branch of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) responsible for governing commercial truck operation safety compliance — violations for unsafe driving are down 2% year-over-year through November. Over the same time, i

News · Jan 4, 2020

Carriers advised to update drug-test practices after rule change

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com In addition to preparing for a jump in costs for drug testing their drivers, carriers should also be ensuring that their drug-testing policies and procedures have been updated to reflect the doubling of random drug testing rates, according to compliance consultant J.J. Keller. The random drug-test increase from 25% to 50% of the average number of a carrier’s drivers was made public by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administr