NATSO

OOIDA will push for more truck parking in next Congress

Legislation to improve truck parking capacity that is likely to die in the current Congress will be a priority once the new one convenes in January, a major owner-operator group has confirmed.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), which worked to get bipartisan truck parking legislation introduced in March incorporated into a major infrastructure package passed by the House of Representatives in July, will likely see both efforts come up short as no action on either bill is...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/ooida-will-push-for-more-truck-parking-in-next-congress

The Daily Dash: Roadrunner exits truckload business and a startup designs road for autonomous vehicles

Roadrunner leaves truckload space

The Daily Dash is a quick look at what is happening in the freight ecosystem. In today’s edition, Roadrunner Transportation has fully exited the truckload business, and a startup hopes to build a road for autonomous vehicles only. Plus, NFI makes a large acquisition, and taking a cross-country trip with the head of NATSO.

Don’t call us a truckload carrier

Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. (OTC: RRTS) no longer operates in the truckload space. The troubled carrier has completely divested its...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-daily-dash-roadrunner-exits-truckload-business-and-a-startup-designs-road-for-autonomous-vehicles

8 questions on truck stop issues with NATSO CEO Lisa Mullings

NATSO's Lisa Mullings and family

Lisa Mullings uniquely understands truckstop and travel plaza owners. After selling the family home in 2014, Mullings and her family traveled 40,000 miles in a 30-foot Airstream trailer, meeting hundreds of NATSO members along the way.

“In addition to talking to our members, we got to talk to a lot of professional drivers as well,” Mullings told FreightWaves in an interview. “We have a much bigger appreciation for how hard it is for drivers on the highway. Car drivers don’t realize how difficult...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/8-questions-on-truck-stop-issues-with-natso-ceo-lisa-mullings

Pilot joins list of truck stop chains requiring masks

Pilot Co. joins a growing list of truck stop chains and retailers requiring customers to wear masks.

Pilot Co. is joining a growing list of major truck stop chains that will start requiring all customers to wear face coverings, except children and those with a medical condition that prevents them from doing so, at all of its locations to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Knoxville, Tennessee-based truck stop chain has 950 retail and fueling locations in the Pilot Flying J travel center network that operate in 44 states and six Canadian provinces.

Customers at Pilot Co.’s locations will be...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/pilot-joins-list-of-truck-stop-chains-requiring-masks

NATSO, ATA urge wearing masks at truck stops

NATSO and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) are urging all who pass through highway travel plazas and truck stops to wear masks to reduce the spread of COVID-19. 

The call from the two groups tied to trucking followed an edict from Love’s Travel Centers earlier this week. The operator of 520 locations requires face coverings in beginning next Wednesday.

President Donald Trump is now encouraging the wearing of face coverings after ridiculing masks and declining to wear one in most public...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/natso-ata-urge-wearing-masks-at-truck-stops

Breaking News: House approves trucking insurance increase and hours-of-service delay

A major infrastructure package that includes provisions to hike truckers’ insurance coverage to $2 million and delay the September 29 start date for new federal hours of service (HOS) changes was approved today by the U.S. House of Representatives.

The $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act, which passed the Democrat-controlled House largely along party lines by a vote of 233 to 188, was derided by Republicans in the chamber as a “wish list” partisan bill heavy on climate-change related proposals that...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/breaking-news-house-approves-trucking-insurance-increase-and-hours-of-service-delay

Truck stops join owner-operators in rejecting Dems’ highway bill

Travel plaza and truck stop operators are no longer backing U.S. House Democrats’ federal infrastructure proposal after a provision was included to allow electric vehicle charging stations at interstate rest areas.

“It is incredibly shortsighted for lawmakers to focus on installing electric vehicle charging at rest areas with taxpayer dollars … rather than to partner with the thousands of exit businesses already investing in electric fuel,” Lisa Mullings, president and CEO of NATSO, the trade...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truck-stops-join-owner-operators-in-rejecting-dems-highway-bill

NATSO wants to short-circuit electric charging at rest areas

CHarging stations and trucks

The fight over allowing food trucks to keep selling their fare at state-run rest stops is spilling over to another commercialization issue — allowing installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargers. 

NATSO, the trade group for travel plaza and truckstop operators, is asking House Democrats to remove an amendment in the highway reauthorization bill that would allow electric vehicle charging stations at interstate rest areas. 

Congress prohibited states from offering commercial services at rest...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/natso-wants-to-short-circuit-electric-charging-at-rest-areas

As truck stop restaurants reopen, will drivers pull up a seat?

TravelCentes of America Dining Room

As the human and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic mounts, America is adapting to   changes at dine-in restaurants, including travel plazas dotting the nation’s highways.

“You’d never in the regular course of business, without something like COVID, shut down your restaurants and then try to reopen them in a different way,” said Jon Pertchik, CEO of TravelCenters of America (NASDAQ: TA). “It’s given us an opportunity, if you want to look for a silver lining, to really test ourselves.”

With...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/as-truck-stop-restaurants-reopen-will-drivers-pull-up-a-seat

DOT doubles progress in human trafficking fight

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) more than doubled a goal staked out earlier this year to get 100 pledges in 100 days to raise awareness of human trafficking in the transportation sector.

Over 200 companies and organizations answered the call for the effort that DOT Secretary Elaine Chao made in January. Those that have signed on to the effort “are joining the Department to ensure that America’s transportation systems are not hijacked to facilitate human trafficking,” said U.S....

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/dot-doubles-progress-in-human-trafficking-fight

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