Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, April 25, 2024: Georgia man pleads guilty to CARES Act fraud, falsifying FMCSA records Roderick Billingslea, a Georgia-based former fleet owner, pleaded guilty on April 11 to one count of wire fraud and one count of falsification of records in a federal investigation. A Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Small Business Administration OIG investigation revealed that Billingslea devised a scheme to defraud SBA by using false statements and fraudulent pretenses related to a loan/grant request for CARES Act funds. As a result ..read more

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced more than $1 billion in funding and incentives it hopes will spur the transition to zero-emission heavy-duty trucks. The White House in March laid out its plan to establish a charging and refueling infrastructure network for zero-emission commercial trucks, an initiative that seeks to maximize the impact of charging infrastructure investment by guiding development toward high-volume-priority corridors and existing freight hubs.  The plans made public Wednesday support the corridors' development and President Biden’s goals for a car ..read more

Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, April 24, 2024: Heavy-duty pickup dealership owner sentenced for ‘deleting’ emissions The owner of a New York dealership specializing in diesel pickups was fined $50,000 and sentenced to four years of probation after previously pleading guilty to Clean Air Act violations for “deleting” emissions systems. Matthew R. Talamo, 38, of New Haven, New York, was sentenced this month for actions in his operation of Southern Diesel Truck Co. and Southern Diesel and Off-Road LLC in Oswego, New York. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District ..read more

I was talking to a fed-up driver. His company left him sitting all day waiting on a load, then finally dispatched him 670 miles with a delivery time the next morning. To make matters worse, he would have to deal with Atlanta rush hour because he was dispatched so late. He was mad because he would not be paid for waiting, even though he was available for dispatch. He was fed up because his miles were consistently under 3,000 miles a week. He was fed up because the company treated him like a machine, a truck that could just be turned on and used whenever they were ready, left sitting idle when t ..read more

David "BudMan" Singh pulls a 53-foot stainless spread-axle reefer with his 2015 Kenworth T660, featuring an 86-inch Studio Sleeper. He's nicknamed the rig "Ghost." It was originally equipped with a Paccar engine, but Singh replaced that with a 12.7-liter Detroit Series 60. The truck boasts a few customizations, including a chrome and wood grain interior, RLK drop visor and window chops, and chrome around the sleeper windows. He also plans to add stacks on the back of the cab. For the trailer, Singh has added quarter fenders, a stainless rear impact guard with a custom light plate, a stainless ..read more

Trent Cameron has been running the roads across the United States of late. "I’m on the road 24/7 trying to find places for us to anchor our next Outpost," he said, making reference to the new name for a company that got its start in November 2021 as Semi-Stow. Cameron was among founders with a vision to deliver on the truck parking needs of individual owner-operators, small fleet owners and even large fleets.  He's seen the truck parking crisis up close on those runs, with operators "parked in unsecure locations, exit ramps, facilities with no security," he said. Dedicated, publicly avail ..read more

Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, April 23, 2024: New state law establishes heavy-duty towing guardrails, bans boots and other devices Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on April 19 signed a bill into law that aims to cut down on predatory towing practices targeting commercial vehicles in the state. With the new law, Mississippi joins Maryland, Florida, and other states that have recently made similar efforts to rein in egregious rates and other predatory practices. The new law establishes a Commercial Vehicle Towing Advisory Committee within the state’s Department of Public Safety’s Public ..read more

The trucking companies left unpaid when broker Convoy went under, and then again when Flexport bought the company's technology and relaunched the app with its own brokered freight, may finally have some way to get paid -- albeit a reduced amount, months late.  Jennifer Chrestman of Tucker Albin & Associates, the debt collection firm associated with the National Owner Operators Association, recently said that Hercules Capital, the publicly traded VC bank with a $2.7 billion market cap, has been talking settlement.  Convoy's collapse famously directed carriers and their o ..read more

Trucking news and briefs for Friday, April 19, 2024: Driver fined $19K for overweight violation, later arrested for violating OOS order The driver of a tractor-trailer found to be 63,000 pounds overweight on an Oregon roadway was fined more than $19,000, placed out of service due to insufficient rest and fatigue, and later arrested for continuing to operate. According to the Washington County (Oregon) Sheriff’s Office, deputies specializing in commercial motor carrier enforcement on April 10 conducted a traffic stop of the truck at the intersection of NW Jackson School Road and NW Shadybrook R ..read more

The Atlas Van Lines company held its first-ever Bravo PVO Truck Show and Conference event in Arlington, Texas, in late March -- intended as a networking, educational and appreciation event for the many "professional van operators" (PVOs) doing business within the nationwide Atlas network of agents.  "The PVO Truck Show is a celebration of the dedication and hard work of our professional van operators," the backbone of the van line's service to customers. That's according to Fleet Corporate Resources Director Aaron Chenoweth, who added the company takes "pride in honoring not just their&nb ..read more