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

Iowa has an emergency order in place through May 29 following a severe weather event on April 26. The Des Moines Register reported six tornadoes touched down throughout the state, including multiple “large and extremely dangerous” storms. This emergency temporarily suspends regulatory provisions of the Iowa Code pertaining to the procurement of goods and services, hours of service for disaster repair crews and additional requirements for the transportation of loads related to disaster repairs. Clarke, Crawford, Harrison, Mills, Polk, Ringgold, Shelby and Union counties suffered significant dam ..read more

A bill that would increase motor carriers’ minimum liability insurance to $5 million would “destroy the trucking industry,” a member of Congress said. Last December, Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill., introduced the Fair Compensation for Truck Crash Victims Act. The bill would inflate existing minimum insurance levels from $750,000 all the way to $5 million – a 566% increase. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who owns a family trucking business, told Land Line Now that HR6884 would be devastating to small-business trucking companies and the nation’s consumers. Collins said it must be kept in mind that ..read more

Truck parking concerns are the focus of legislation in multiple statehouses. Available truck parking continues to be an issue nationally. New data, however, suggests significant improvement when it comes to availability nationwide. A Jason’s Law survey from 2019 showed there were about 313,000 truck parking spaces across the nation. The figures include 40,000 spaces at public rest areas and 273,000 at private truck stops. Georgia A bill on the Georgia governor’s desk would create a statewide freight and logistics implementation plan. The 20-year plan would include annual updates to state lawma ..read more