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Optimistic outlook for 2021, but trucking not ‘out of the woods yet’

The biggest risk as the industry moves ahead in 2021 is what will happen with the pandemic. Trucking is also staying focused on regulatory initiatives to come from the incoming Biden administration.

As trucking kicks off 2021, there is a lot of reason for optimism, according to Avery Vise, vice president of trucking at FTR Transportation Intelligence. A strong rebound in the consumer economy is expected to continue, with more than 5% growth expected among all truck freight segments, Vise projects.

Although FTR’s outlook for 2021 is bullish, Vise told American Trucker there are still looming risks of concern.

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Drug Clearinghouse deadline nears for fleets and owner-operators

Employers of CDL drivers and O/O’s who don’t register with the FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse by Jan. 6 will be flagged during roadside inspections and other inquires.

With the new year comes the second full year of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrations’ Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse, the national database of commercial driver substance violations created to remove loopholes that allowed violators to continue operating trucks. According to data from the first 10 months of its existence, thousands of fleets and owner-operators still need to register with the database or face non-compliance repercussions.

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What truckers need to know about new HOS rules

The new hours of service rules officially take effect on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 12:01 a.m. EDT across the country, which means they will go into effect at 9:01 p.m. PDT on Sept. 28. Here’s a look at what’s changing and how it affects you.

New federal hours of service (HOS) rules — designed to give commercial drivers more flexibility — take effect across the U.S. at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

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FMCSA proposes pilot program to pause 14-hour clock

Regulators are requesting public input on a Split Duty Period Pilot Program, which would allow commercial drivers one off-duty break up to three hours that would pause a truck driver’s 14-hour driving window.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is seeking public comment on a pilot program that would create hours of service (HOS) regulatory relief by allowing participating drivers to pause their on-duty driving period with one off-duty period up to three hours.
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What drivers need to know about new HOS rules

Four major updates to hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers take effect on Sept. 29, changing how long-haul drivers are required to take breaks and extending the distance short-haul drivers can travel in a day.

In just over a month — at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 29 — revised hours-of-service rules go into effect for commercial drivers across the country. The new rules create more flexibility for drivers while keeping a focus on highway safety, according to Joseph DeLorenzo, the acting associate administrator for enforcement at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

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Safety first! Always kick the tires (and check brakes, lights, etc.)

Pre- and post-trip truck inspections are vital. Here are three ways for drivers and fleets to avoid complacency.

In my former life with the State of New Mexico’s Motor Transportation Police, I was always shocked by the number of commercial drivers who didn’t make time to do proper pre-trip inspections before getting on the road. Part of this oversight is an inherent trust drivers seem to have in their truck operating well on their last run or with the driver that drove the truck last. The other part was simple math – the less time spent outside of the truck, the more time on the road. Unfortunately, these pre- and post-trip inspections, also known as “kicking the tires,” is the easiest action operators and drivers can take to protect themselves and others.

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ELD compliance: How and why it can pump up your profits

Ways trucking fleets and owner-operators can leverage the Internet of Things for gain.

Today’s transportation industry faces increasingly stringent regulatory standards. The highest-profile example is the looming electronic logging device (ELD) deadline; by December 16, 2019, all carriers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ELD mandate must be equipped with self-certified devices registered with the FMCSA. In addition to the sweeping ELD mandate, many fleets are or soon will be subject to a wide range of more specific regulations.

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California Mandates Smog Checks for Heavy-Duty Trucks

Truckers will have to have their rigs smog-checked and certified in order to operate legally in California under a bill signed into law by the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.

The measure, Senate Bill 210, makes California the first state with a smog-check program for medium- and heavy-duty trucks. It provides the industry a few years of relief before the smog checks begin, though. The estimated startup date for an operational program is 2023.

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FMCSA’s new requirements for entry-level driver training

The new rules in CDL schools will go into effect by February 7, 2020.

Instructional Technologies Inc. (ITI), a provider of training solutions for the transportation industry, has released the name of its new training program for drivers wanting to obtain a CDL: On Ramp Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT). This new system adopts new requirements demanded by FMCSA and will be fully operational by February 2020 for state, public, and private CDL schools.

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Bill would broaden ‘agricultural commodity’ definition for Ag hauler HOS exemption

These are questions that trucking companies hauling agricultural goods and commodities have long asked: what exactly counts as an agricultural commodity to be transporting where the driver is then exempted from the federal Hours of Service (HOS) regulations and by extension, having to use electronic logging devices (ELDs), and why are some agricultural goods left out? Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) on Tuesday reintroduced the Agricultural Trucking Relief Act (H.R. 1673) to clarify the definition of “agricultural commodity” to include a broader range of agricultural products.

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