Truck Driver Issues

More workers in truck transportation in 2022 than earlier estimate

The January employment report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released in early February, is watched not just for the change in jobs numbers from December, as is the case in the other 11 months of the year.

More importantly for labor economists, annual revisions to the underlying model are implemented and they can result in big swings in the estimates of employment levels in some sectors. And that is what happened in truck transportation and warehousing in the figures released Friday. 

Data...

FMCSA proposes new requirements for driverless trucks

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WASHINGTON — The federal government is taking the next step toward regulating highly automated...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/fmcsa-proposes-new-requirements-for-driverless-trucks

More centers, more opportunities for more money: Walmart offers more driver training 

If a Walmart employee working the floor of a store wanted to make more money by getting behind the wheel of a truck in the retailer’s private fleet, the company did not have a route to make that happen.

That employee seeking to join the fleet would need to take an outside CDL course on his or her own and pay for it out of pocket. Another hurdle was an outside driver needed to have 30 months of experience and a solid safety record before he or she could become a driver in the Walmart fleet, with...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/more-centers-more-opportunities-for-more-money-walmart-offers-more-driver-training

Triumph’s open-loop system hits a milestone, even as payments’ EBITDA loss widens

In a quarter in which Triumph Financial recorded a better-than-forecast performance by some measures, the company’s open-loop network also hit a milestone of another sort.

According to SeekingAlpha, Triumph’s (NASDAQ: TFIN) GAAP EPS was 67 cents per share, and that beat consensus by 3 cents. Fourth quarter revenue of $112.84 million beat forecasts by $2.68 million. 

The company’s stock, down about 47% in the last year, responded positively, moving up from about $52 at the close Wednesday, when...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/triumphs-open-loop-system-hits-a-milestone-even-as-payments-ebitda-loss-widens

Trucker Path survey finds carriers responsive to drivers’ home time needs

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A survey of nearly 1,000 drivers by driver mobility provider Trucker Path asked a simple question:...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/truckerpath-survey-finds-carriers-responsive-to-drivers-home-time-needs

Driver tax credits, truck parking capacity part of new bipartisan bill

Truck drivers would be eligible for up to $10,000 in tax credits, along with training incentives, as part of new bipartisan legislation aimed at retaining and recruiting drivers.

The Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking (SHIP IT) Act, introduced on Tuesday by U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., and Jim Costa, D-Calif., also incorporates truck parking funding and an hours-of-service exemption for livestock haulers — long-sought measures by drivers and carriers.

The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/driver-tax-credits-truck-parking-capacity-part-of-new-bipartisan-bill

Uber Freight cutting about 150 jobs, all in brokerage operations

Uber Freight is laying off 3% of its workforce, and all of the job losses are coming in its digital brokerage activities.

In a memo to staff, obtained by FreightWaves and confirmed by a spokesman for Uber Freight, CEO Lior Ron said the cutbacks would impact about 150 employees. The Digital Brokerage division is separate from the Transplace operations that Uber Freight acquired in 2021. 

“As you know, the logistics market is currently facing a number of headwinds which has impacted our customer...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/uber-freight-cutting-about-150-jobs-all-in-brokerage-operations

No jail in latest sentencing for Louisiana staged accident scam

Three participants in the Louisiana staged accident scam received sentences of probation but no jail time late last week.

Additionally, the three were sentenced on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. All other defendants in the case who pleaded guilty were indicted on charges of mail fraud.

The three defendants sentenced were Lucinda Thomas, 67; Mary Wade, 58; and Judy Williams, 62.

But a statement from the office of the U.S. attorney for Louisiana’s Eastern District, Duane Evans, also...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/no-jail-in-latest-sentencing-for-louisiana-staged-accident-scam

Walmart expands in-house driver hiring, training program

Walmart Inc. said it has expanded its in-house driver training program to include associates located within a 50-mile radius of an office where transport workers are hired.

The expanded initiative comes nine months after the retail behemoth (NYSE: WMT) launched a program allowing its supply chain employees to obtain their commercial driver’s licenses. Since the program began, 56 workers have been trained, obtained CDLs and are behind the wheel of Walmart trucks, the company said Wednesday.

Walmart...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/walmart-expands-in-house-driver-hiring-training-program

CTA makes new legal pitch for AB5 injunction using human element 

The California Trucking Association (CTA) has filed its request for a new preliminary injunction to block AB5 from the state’s trucking sector — again — using an argument that at times seems more economic than legal: The law won’t work.

CTA’s 32-page brief with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California was filed Wednesday. The request for a new injunction against independent contractor law AB5 in trucking was made in front of the same court and judge, Roger Benitez, that...

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