Driver issues

TravelCenters of America begins reopening dine-in restaurants

TravelCenters of America sign with truck

TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA) is slowly reopening dine-in restaurants at its travel plazas where allowed, but some changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic may never be reversed.

“We have already undertaken rolling some locations on and we’re doing it in a prudent and self-disciplined way,” TA CEO Jon Pertchik said on a first-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. 

That means fewer hours, about half as many menu items, and as little as 25% occupancy based on state-by-state guidelines. It also...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/travelcenters-of-america-begins-reopening-dine-in-restaurants

Trucker rally for fair rates gets White House attention

A weekend “May Day” rally in Washington by small-business truckers claiming they are being mistreated in the freight market during the coronavirus pandemic ended with a positive message from President Donald Trump.

Trump, who spent the weekend at the president’s retreat in Camp David, Maryland, acknowledged the demonstrators parked in their trucks directly south of the White House along Constitution Avenue.

“Thanks for the meeting at the White House with my representatives from the...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/trucker-rally-for-fair-rates-gets-white-house-attention

Today’s Pickup: Another ELD provider shuts down

ELD

Good day,

When the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate went into effect, there were more than 250 companies that self-registered their devices for compliance. Most expected that number to shrink over time, and it has. The latest company to abandon its ELD program is Continental.

The company announced it has stopped sales of its Roadlog product line. It will continue to support current users until Aug. 14, 2020, the company said, and provide transition assistance to other providers.

“Unfortunate...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/todays-pickup-another-eld-provider-shuts-down

Diesel set to be the ‘runt of the litter’ among oil markets

Diesel markets in the U.S. are starting to lag the rest of the oil barrel, with a surge in output in recent weeks sending inventories higher.

While the ultimate price of diesel will still be based mostly on what happens to the price of crude oil, all signs are pointing to a diesel market that is weakening under a market-driven decision by refiners through much of April to shift as much of their production as possible away from gasoline and jet fuel and toward diesel. While all markets have...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/diesel-set-to-be-the-runt-of-the-litter-among-oil-markets

Cancer advocate reminds truckers May is Melanoma Awareness Month

If you are friends with trucking advocate Ingrid Brown on social media, she says you can expect to see “friendly reminder” posts from her over the next couple of weeks to bring awareness that May is Melanoma Awareness Month.

While the American Academy of Dermatology Association usually offers free skin cancer screenings in May, the organization had to cancel them this month because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since being diagnosed with melanoma in 2017, Brown, a 40-year trucking veteran with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cancer-advocate-reminds-truckers-that-may-is-melanoma-awareness-month

Updated: Trump appointee reaches out to ‘Mayday’ trucker to set up possible meeting

Scott Jordan of Peculiar, Missouri, arrived at the nation’s Capitol early Friday morning with a mission – to meet with President Donald Trump and deliver his letter in person about how some small-business truckers are days or weeks away from shuttering operations because of low freight rates amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Jordan, the owner of Powerhouse Transportation, said he went to the U.S. Secret Service gate outside of the White House to ask for a meeting with the president and deliver his...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/updated-trump-appointee-reaches-out-to-mayday-trucker-to-set-up-possible-meeting

Amazon had a profit forecast but it will put it all into COVID-19 spending

Amazon plans on spending enough money on dealing with COVID-19 that it won’t turn an operating profit in the second quarter.

The online retailer and entertainment company laid out its plans to spend $4 billion on COVID-19 measures in the second quarter, with several of the steps supply chain-related.

“Under normal circumstances, in this coming second quarter, we’d expect to make some $4 billion or more in operating profit,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in a prepared statement disclosing...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-had-a-profit-forecast-but-it-will-put-it-all-into-covid-19-spending

TIA’s Voltmann, in video, defends brokers against anger over rates

In an extraordinary video, the head of the largest brokers trade association defended his industry from the online and on-the-highway criticisms from carriers facing increasingly weak freight rates.

Bob Voltmann, president and CEO of the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), took to YouTube with a roughly three-and-a-half-minute video in which he ripped views of the market that “some snake oil salesman would have you believe.”

“There’s a lot being said about truck rates and brokers...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tias-voltmann-in-video-defends-brokers-against-anger-over-rates

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