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Browse stories from the iTrucker archive.

News · Dec 24, 2019

Starsky Robotics seeks potential buyers as autonomous startup struggles to raise funds

Story by: Clarissa Hawes @ FreightWaves.com Autonomous trucking startup Starsky Robotics is in talks with potential buyers, including some with its rivals, after failing to raise new funding to stay afloat, a former employee claims. The 3-year-old startup is best known for its Level 4 autonomous trucking technology that uses truck drivers as remote operators to navigate the first- and last-mile segments of a trip. Autonomous vehicle rivals including Embark, Cruise, Tesla, Nicola and Amazon are l

News · Dec 24, 2019

Starsky Robotics downsizes its OTR fleet, blames 2019 freight recession

Story by: Clarissa Hawes @ FreightWaves.com It appears autonomous trucking startup Starsky Robotics’ over-the-road trucking (OTR) company is a victim of this year’s freight recession While Starsky Robotics says it remains committed to developing Level 4 autonomous vehicle technology, the company’s over-the-road trucking fleet is not faring as well. Starsky recently decided to downsize the OTR fleet. The 3-year-old startup is best known for its fully unmanned truck trip on a 9.4-mile stretch of p

News · Dec 23, 2019

Malware hits Truckstop.com sites, services shut days before Christmas (with video)

Story by: Michael Angell, Bulk and Intermodal Editor @ FreightWaves.com Truckstop.com said a computer attack (malware) shut down access to many of its online services, forcing customers to find workarounds during the final shipping rush before Christmas. The outage has been ongoing since Friday, Dec. 20, according to some sources. Truckstop.com notified users publicly Saturday, Dec. 21 that it was “experiencing technical difficulties” and was working to resolve the issue as fast as possible. In

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News · Dec 22, 2019

Truckers hail House passage of USMCA

Story by: Noi Mahoney @ FreightWaves.com Truckers, union officials hail House passage of US-Mexico-Canada trade pact (USMCA) The U.S. House of Representatives approved the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on Dec. 19 by a 385-41 vote. American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said cross-border trade is key to the U.S. economy. “By the nature of our work, truckers know the significance of this victory. Cross-border trade with our neighbors has become a cornerstone of the Ame

News · Dec 20, 2019

Knight-Swift takes second swing at FMCSA driver-record exemption

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com Knight-Swift Transportation [NYSE: KNX] is appealing to federal regulators that it be exempt from having to provide certain record-keeping requirements for its drivers citing onerous and unnecessary costs. A letter from Knight-Swift attorneys recently made public by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) explains that Knight Transportation’s first attempt at the exemption, in a request filed in October 2016 be

News · Dec 20, 2019

Trucking company smacked by Jury with $70.5 million 'nuclear verdict'

Story by: Clarissa Hawes @ freightwaves.com A California jury awarded a Bakersfield family involved in an August 2017 crash with a trucking company more than $70.5 million in damages on Dec. 19, 2019. “Nuclear verdicts” are described as jury awards in which penalties exceed $10 million. According to court documents, Tomasa Cuevas and her two children, Alex and Maritza, were traveling to shop for school clothes when a tractor-trailer driven by Amarjit Aulakh of RAI Transport of Bakersfield, Calif

News · Dec 20, 2019

Ohio-based GDS Express abruptly ceases operations

Story by: Clarissa Hawes @ FreightWaves.com Former employees of GDS Express of Akron, Ohio, were still on the job early Dec. 20 working on getting approximately four drivers home after news broke that the carrier was shuttering operations just days before Christmas. A driver, who didn’t want to be named, told FreightWaves on Dec. 20 that of the four drivers still out on the road, two will make it home today and the other two drivers currently have enough fuel and money to make it home in the nex

News · Dec 20, 2019

Heniff Transportation and Superior Bulk Logistics to merge

Story by: Todd Maiden @ freightwaves.com The planned merger of Heniff Transportation and Superior Bulk logistics could create the largest tank carrier in the U.S. Private equity firm Olympus Partners announced that it has acquired liquid and dry bulk carrier Superior Bulk Logistics (SBL) with the intention of combining that company with one of its other portfolio companies, bulk liquid carrier Heniff Transportation Systems. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Heniff was provided capital

News · Dec 19, 2019

Trump to sign off on 2020 transportation spending bill

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent @ FreightWaves.com President Donald Trump is expected to avoid a replay of last year by signing off on a $1.4 trillion fiscal year 2020 spending package that averts a government shutdown had Congress failed to meet a Dec. 20 deadline. The massive funding measure — approved by the House of Representatives on Dec. 17 and by the Senate on Dec. 19 — includes $86.2 billion for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), roughly the same amount allot

News · Dec 19, 2019

Carriers who didn't change AOBRD for ELD risk hefty fines and being placed out of service

Story by: Ashley Coker, Editor @ FreightWaves.com Carriers who didn't change AOBRD for ELD risk hefty fines and being placed out of service Many carriers delayed the transition to electronic logging devices (ELDs) under the automatic onboard logging device (AOBRD) grandfather clause. That clause expired earlier this week, and those carriers must now be running ELDs to avoid fines on the highway. About 2% of surveyed carriers reported holding onto their AOBRDs throughout November and into early D

News · Dec 18, 2019

Trucking company owner received 18-month sentence for tax fraud

Story by: Clarissa Hawes @ FreightWaves.com This isn’t the first time trucking company owner Gerstenberg has pleaded guilty to tax crimes. And he's secured a new job at a New Jersey-based trucking company. A Pennsylvania trucking company owner was sentenced to 18 months in prison for orchestrating an elaborate $750,000 tax fraud scheme, according to prosecutors. Michael Gerstenberg, 51, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Dec. 13, after previously ple

News · Dec 18, 2019

Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse: What drivers need to know

Story by: John Gallagher, Washington Correspondent @ Freightwaves.com One of the biggest regulatory changes to affect the ability of a driver to get a job with a trucking company — or keep their job if they’re an owner-operator — will start in January 2020 with the implementation of the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. Below is a summary explaining what every driver should know before and after employers start using the database as part of the hiring process.What is the FMCSA Clearinghouse?