Severe weather, largely flooding, has caused an emergency in Texas. The declaration that was first issued on April 26, then amended with the addition of 59 at-risk counties on April 30, will remain in effect through May 13. Portions of southeast Texas were under a flood watch for as much as 93 consecutive hours, according to the National Weather Service. A briefing from local officials was scheduled for Monday, May 6 in Harris County. A total of 88 counties are included in the Texas order that provides relief from FMCSR 395.3 and FMCSR 395.5  for property-carrying vehicles responding to t ..read more

Operating a motorcycle between traffic lanes is a maneuver many professional drivers and others have witnessed through the years. The practice is commonly referred to as lane splitting or lane filtering. Legalization of the maneuver in certain circumstances has turned into an annual topic at statehouses around the country. Advocates argue the maneuver is beneficial because it saves motorcyclists time and fuel, in addition to reducing their risk of getting rear-ended in stop-and-go traffic. But some in the trucking industry have raised concerns about motorcyclists attempting the maneuver around ..read more

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is working to spread the message of how the general public can safely share the roads with large trucks. FMCSA’s Our Roads, Our Safety Week launched Sunday, May 5 and continues through Saturday, May 11. “Our Roads, Our Safety Week is a national, annual safety observance dedicated to raising awareness on how to share the road safely with large trucks and buses,” FMCSA wrote on its website. “Together with the larger safety community, FMCSA is committed to sharing safety tips, resources and materials that help improve road safety and reach zero road ..read more

The KC Scout traffic and travel service has reported it was the victim of a cyberattack on April 25. Now, the bi-state initiative between the Missouri and Kansas Departments of Transportation is saying it could take months before its services are completely restored. KC Scout utilizes some 400 cameras to monitor highways in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Those cameras have proven particularly critical for truckers in adverse weather conditions. The service not only provides real-time travel information but also is a reliable source for verifying with a dispatcher whether a trip should be p ..read more

After a strong start to the year, trucking jobs are beginning to stabilize as megacarriers’ first-quarter earnings reports reveal a continuation of the freight recession. According to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 300 trucking jobs were eliminated from the economy in April. This marks the first monthly decline since last October when nearly 3,000 jobs were lost. David Spencer, vice president of market intelligence at Arrive Logistics, told Land Line that asset carriers are being pressured to provide lower contract rates compared to a year ago. Weak rates are being ref ..read more

May is National Military Appreciation Month, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is looking to salute veterans and active-duty service members. For the past 17 years, during the week leading up to Veterans Day, the Association’s Truckers For Troops campaign has helped to raise money for veteran organizations, as well as for care packages to send to U.S. troops stationed overseas. This year, OOIDA is launching Mission: Military Appreciation – a two-week event leading up to Armed Forces Day on May 18 – to continue the show of support for those who have served our country. The ..read more

A rulemaking aimed at taking drunk and distracted drivers off the road received more than 18,000 comments, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told a Senate subcommittee this week. In January, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking about requiring impaired-driving prevention technology on new passenger vehicles. The rulemaking, which does not apply to commercial motor vehicles, was required by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. According to NHTSA, 13,384 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes in 2021. NHTSA s ..read more

Work is complete at the Colorado statehouse for a bipartisan pursuit to implement additional rules for commercial vehicles traveling in the state. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has concerns about the legislation. The Senate voted to agree to House changes to a bill, SB100, that focuses on truck chain rules, left lane travel and speed enforcement. It now heads to the governor’s desk. Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, has touted the bill as enhancing the safety of commercial vehicles on Colorado’s highways during the winter months. The Colorado Department of Transportation suppo ..read more

A Texas trucking company is closing the doors to its Grand Prairie headquarters – laying off 157 employees in the process. In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter submitted to the Texas Workforce Commission on Tuesday, April 30, Arnold Transportation Services announced it would be shuttering operations at the company’s headquarters located at 3375 High Prairie Road in Grand Prairie. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website, the Texas-based trucking firm had 341 drivers and 402 power units. Arnold Transportation was acquired by Canada-based ..read more

An aftermarket train horn just cost a trucker nearly $2 million after a jury found him negligent in a case that left a construction worker with permanent hearing loss. A jury in a Hinds County, Miss., court recently awarded Robert Kelly $1.8 million in his lawsuit claiming a train horn installed on a truck caused him to lose his hearing. The complaint filed against Jerry Garland claims the truck driver was negligent in blasting the excessively loud horn. The already unusual case took a surprising turn when Kelly sought damages for a completely unrelated loss of vision that occurred during liti ..read more