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…

Many businesses who rely on online job applications, including trucking jobs, are missing out on applicants who may not be as tech savvy as others. With almost all jobs requiring online applications now, job seekers with no computer, internet access, or “the digital-know-how to submit an application” are facing an uphill battle, despite many being suitably qualified. Read more…

The Next Generation in Trucking Foundation “is a grassroots nonprofit trade association with the focus of raising awareness about trucking careers, as well as partnering with and creating high school trucking programs.” The company hopes to offer a top-notch education that results in “gainful employment,” improving the lives of many young job seekers, and offering them a sense of independence they might not have had otherwise.  Read more…

Ottobock Bionic Exoskeletons, a leading manufacturer of exoskeletons, hopes to shape the future of logistics work by “making workplaces healthier, safer, more productive, and more attractive.” The exoskeletons “augment the human body and reduce strain during manual load-handling tasks, which reduces work-related injuries while increasing well-being and productivity.”  Read more…

A new UPS distribution center in southeastern North Carolina will bring over 60 new truck driver jobs to the area. UPS Inc. “plans to invest over $12.3 million in the small town of Holly Ridge to build a distribution center in Camp Davis Industrial Park to support a higher volume of package deliveries throughout eastern North Carolina.” The Vice President of UPS North Carolina, Mark Smith, went on to note that “the investment in Holly Ridge and surrounding communities allows us to meet current volume demands while positioning us for the future.” Read more…

Outside of the immediate decline when the COVID-19 pandemic began, February’s drop in truck transportation jobs is the largest since 2013. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has reported that “the truck transportation sector saw a decline of 8,500 jobs in February, coming in at 1,599,900 on a seasonally adjusted basis.” Outside of April 2020, at the start of the pandemic, “the only bigger one-month decline was 9,000 jobs in March 2013.” Read more…