California lawmakers put forth a high-profile bill that would ban the operation of heavy self-driving vehicles without a human on board. Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry(D-Winters) exclaimed: “‘The callous disregard for these stewards of our highways and freeways, motivated by profit, is simply appalling. My motivation, on the other hand, is my commitment to Californians’ safety on the roads, and that safety is best protected by keeping well-trained human beings in the cab of 80,000 pound vehicles traveling at high speeds. When this industry proves to me, my colleagues, and our constituents that human-less trucking, and driverless school buses, are safer than our model in California, they will have the support to proceed’”. Read more…

Trucker Down, an organization that assists truck drivers and their families who are going through financial hardships, is set to hold a silent auction on Tuesday, May 23, in partnership with Dormie Network. There will be a plethora of exclusive memorabilia for auction, “ from an actual piece of coal that was recovered from the Titanic to exclusive vacation packages, autographed NFL gear and much more.” Read more…

Building from the “Phase 2” greenhouse gas standards established in 2016, the EPA “is proposing a new and stronger set of greenhouse standards for heavy-duty vehicles for model years 2027 and 2032.” Coming hot on the heels of the EPA’s new national clean air standards to decrease smog-and-soot forming emissions,  trucking professionals are decrying the move as a “regulatory blitz on small-business truckers.” Read more…

With 16,800 trailer units having been booked during March, preliminary trailer orders “decreased sequentially and were lower against longer-term comparisons,” though overall demand is solid, according to ACT Research. Jennifer Mcnealy, director of commercial vehicle market research and publications at ACT Research, claims: “orders pulling back in March is a month earlier than normal seasonality would suggest, but near record-level order backlogs are easy to point to in explaining away the earlier-than-expected deceleration.” Read more…

The Minnesota Trucking Association has launched “a coordinated, ongoing social media campaign to encourage young people and their parents, mid-career changers, womens, and under-represented populations to consider a career in the Minnesota trucking industry.” The impetus for the campaign was the fact that finding drivers and technicians had become a huge challenge for the state.  Read more…