trucking legislation

Convoy Trucking Proving the Industry Must Adapt

December 18, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

2019 has been a tough one for the trucking industry. Through continuous storylines covering the driver shortage to serious concerns regarding the overall business prospects for trucking companies, the industry has truly been struggling. Despite all the noise, there have been several companies who have been able to cut through the tension and make a name for themselves. Recently, it was announced that Convoy, an on-demand digital trucking platform, has raised $400 million in funding, which will help it escalate its business model and bring it to market. What exactly is a digital trucking platform? For starters, Convoy’s intention is to cut shipping costs by creating a streamlined alternative to the large amount of wasted space that occurs in most long-haul trucks. The goal is to digitally connect shippers with trucking companies. Think Uber for truck drivers; something we have already seen in the market with Uber Freight.

While the news of Convoy’s new round of funding may not appear monumental, it really is a sign that the industry could seriously pivot within the next decade. For instance, back in August of 2019, The New York Times wrote a piece about Convoy’s emergence within the industry and had the opportunity to speak with Silpa Paul, a commercial vehicle analyst for Frost and Sullivan, a prominent research company specializing in consulting for companies. In that piece, The New York Times stated that “Ms. Paul estimated that services like Convoy’s were expected to grow rapidly, from posting $210 million in broker fees in North America in 2017 to $6.7 billion in 2025.” Further, Paul had determined that the streamlined efficiency would likely not bear on a loss of trucking jobs, because there was already such a severe shortage, as announced by the American Trucking Association. For an industry struggling as much as the trucking industry is, companies finding the potential to garner billions of dollars certainly provides a few bright spots.

Moving forward, Convoy understands that although it has produced the necessary funding to evolve its business model and become a national brand for many shippers, it also faces competition from the likes of Uber Freight. That’s why it is fascinating to see where this brand goes next. According to Tech Crunch, “the company launched in 2019 an automated reloads feature that allows truckers to book multiple loads at a time. It also added Convoy Go, which allows drivers to bring their truck cab and hook up to a trailer pre-filled with cargo.” These advancements are really where we will see how profitable and transformative these digital freight shipping apps will be. While long-haul freight is likely to be where the money is for Convoy, the reality is that there are drivers throughout the industry looking to independently move freight. Allowing for drivers to bring their truck cabs to pre-filled cargo shipments truly changes how the industry functions.

Changing Industry May Bring More Challenges than Previously Believed

There is much to be said about Convoy’s business model and how it; coupled with Uber Freight, will have a tremendous impact on the industry as a whole. Unfortunately, it seems to go unnoticed that some of Convoy’s investors happen to singlehandedly turn the industry on its head already. Currently, Jeff Bezos serves as a primary investor for the company, being that both Amazon and Convoy are located in the same city and largely have the ability to overlap their business models; it’s a genius move by the billionaire. Unfortunately, we have already written about how Amazon is threatening the industry by bringing its shipping and delivery in-house to save on costs. With Class 8 tractors now on the roads for the company, a start-up with the ability to handle the “spot market” with the click of a button seriously threatens small companies. Sure, there is already a driver shortage and Convoy argues that it won’t be taking jobs, but rather rendering shipping more efficient by ensuring that freight is carrying up to its capacity. The issue is that there are many small trucking companies throughout the United States and a majority of their business relies on the “spot market” to turn a profit. In 2019, the spot market has been down. Some may argue that these new apps will help alleviate this issue; however, the long-term ramifications due to who actually has a “say” within companies such as Convoy may present far more issues for the industry and its ability to support small and medium size trucking companies in the next decade.

FMCSA Plans to Delay Implementation of Entry-Level Driver Training Rule

December 17, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Entry-Level Driver Training rule, which was originally set to be implemented on February 7th, 2020, will now be delayed another two years.

The ELDT will eventually mandate that commercial driver applicants finish a particular section of training (required in 49 CFR part 380) before obtaining a Class A or B commercial driver’s license, an upgrade to a class B or Class A CDL, or adding a hazardous materials (H), passenger (P), or school bus (S) endorsement.

This rule comes in response to the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” or MAP-21, a federal transportation reauthorization bill which plans to aid the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in reducing crashes and injuries that involve large trucks and buses.

These changes are meant to further standardize driver training, as well as ensure school districts are complying with federal laws to keep students, staff, and other drivers safer on the road.

In a recent announcement of extension at the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services conference, FMCSA Administrator Larry Minor explained that the new intended deadline to comply with MAP-21 regulations is now February 7th, 2022.

The official notice is “in the pipeline,” according to an anonymous DOT official. “The whole thing is going to be delayed. It’s mostly due to the failure of the states aligning their systems with the federal system.”

The formal announcement of the delay is expected by mid-December.

The delay is “disappointing,” says vice president of training program development for Instruction Technologies Inc., Laura McMillan. “Our reaction is that, my goodness, the industry has been waiting for standards and a professional-level curriculum for over 20 years. If this industry wants to raise the professional image of truck driving, it begins with how we educate new drivers and prepare them for the field.”

However, Don Lefeve, Commercial Vehicle Training Association President, remains optimistic.

“We do believe, based on conversations, that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety has a grasp of the problem, and we’re hopeful that they can implement it before the two-year delay period,” he said. “But we’re very disappointed that this is not going to be rolled out on time…There are still a lot of substandard programs that will remain in existence (until then).”

As of now, the ELDT has general training guidelines in place, but doesn’t quite specify how exactly to train drivers or even the number of training hours required. The overall intention is to standardize these topics at a national level in order to increase road safety.

The original implementation outline explained that ELDT would create a baseline for training requirements for new Class A and Class B CDL license holders, but changes would not apply to existing drivers. Any driver who was not changing their license or adding an endorsement, and who had completed training before February 7th, 2020, would be grandfathered into the rule and would not need to meet MAP-21 training baselines. After February 7th, new trainees would have needed to comply with the ELDT requirements.

Instructional Technologies Inc.’s McMillan, who has been working on an ELDT curriculum subcommittee, says the current system problems are not limited to the state’s individual regulations.

“The reality is that the training provider registry is not even available,” she explained. “It’s interesting that federal regulators would characterize that this is a state problem and that the states can’t comply when the federal system is not up and available. There seems to be a lack of ownership for this entire issue.”

McMillan also says schools and carriers were supposed to be able to self-certify by October 1st, but that registry, which was set to be the first aspect of completion for the required curriculum, is still not up and running.

Director of safety policy for American Trucking Associations, Dan Horvath, said he is not particularly surprised by any of this.

“We felt that to not delay the whole thing, to at least go forward with the requirements for training the driver [was something that] needed to go through,” he said. “We felt [that] that’s the whole point of the ELDT rule to begin with. We understand that the verification process on the back end would be a nuisance, but not enough to delay the whole rule. However, having said that, we did see that the majority of the comments on the delay were [saying] to delay the whole thing.”

Out of the 1,200 comments made on the rule over the summer, the majority of those who weighed in–comprised of people from state trucking associations, state police, state departments of motor vehicles, and school officials–wanted a delay of full compliance until 2022.

For example, the Minnesota Trucking Association said the rule should be postponed until all systems “from top to bottom” can fully comply with implementation.

“The MTA believes that partial implementation increases the odds for errors and unintentional non-compliance,” said the association. “Motor carriers are concerned that despite their best efforts to comply, state and federal information technology systems will miss information and place the carrier at risk.”

New Bill Introduced to Support Female Truckers

November 28, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Lawmakers are introducing new legislation that will aim to support women working in trucking.

The Promoting Women in Trucking Workforce Act would work toward directing the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to create a Women of Trucking Advisory Board, which would potentially break down the obstacles many women face while entering the industry. It would also work to collaborate with trucking companies, trucking associations, and other organizations in order to put into place new education and training techniques, as well as to develop mentorship and outreach programs for female-identifying employees in the trucking world.

Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who both serve on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, introduced the act on November 14th.

According to the Department of Labor, women made up about 47% of the civilian labor force in 2016. However, the Women in Trucking Association’s data show that less than 8% of truck drivers are women.

The bill would make sure the FMCSA administrator submits a report to Congress in full detail of the board’s findings and proposals.

“In Wisconsin, we make things, and we need to ensure we have a strong workforce to transport our goods to market,” said Sen. Baldwin. “Women currently make up less than 10% of the truck driving workforce, and removing the barriers that get in the way of women pursuing and retaining careers in trucking is key.”

Sen. Moran explained that the current truck driver shortage not only highlights a strong need to find new ways to recruit and retain drivers, but that there is a specific need to motivate more women to jump into the industry.

“Because women are substantially underrepresented in the trucking industry,” he said, “Congress should explore every opportunity to encourage and support the pursuit of careers in trucking by women.”

Moran has also helped lead a method of promoting women in aviation, which was included in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018.

The American Trucking Associations and the Women In Trucking Association are supporting the new legislation. ATA President Chris Spear said in a letter to the senators who introduced the bill, that although women are still underrepresented in trucking, the overall number of female truck drivers has increased by 68% since 2010.

Spear also noted that women tend to work more safely as truck drivers in comparison to their male counterparts. For example, the American Transportation Research Institute’s Crash Predictor Model was updated to show that men are 88% more likely to have a reckless driving conviction. Additionally, the research showed that men are 20% more likely to be involved in a crash.

The Women In Trucking Association’s president, Ellen Voie, was able to offer her own input on the new legislation, and said she was beyond happy to have her voice heard.

“By creating an advisory board to utilize the expertise and resources of the [FMCSA] and the members of the board, we can increase the opportunities for women as drivers, technicians, owners, trainers, and in other relevant career roles,” she said. “This’ll help us at a much higher level. It’ll also get other people involved.”

This bill comes soon after the FMCSA announced in July its plan to research violent crimes against women and minority truck drivers in the U.S., an assessment which the agency says will help to increase the number of qualified potential drivers.

“FMCSA needs to explore and validate the problem of harassment- and assault-related crimes, especially against female and minority male truckers for two reasons,” said the agency in its July 23rd announcement. “First, there seems to be a perception among these sub-populations of truckers that they are more vulnerable than others. Second, there is a critical shortage of truckers, and helping these sub-populations of tuckers protect themselves from crimes could draw more truckers from these sub-populations, while stemming turnover, to alleviate the shortage.”

The FMCSA is currently seeking White House approval to begin assessing the scope of this issue, and has since started collaborating with nonprofit research group Battelle to execute the study. As of now, the agency cites documentary and anecdotal evidence of these crimes, but does not yet provide methods of how women can protect themselves.

The Women in Trucking Association is now working with FMSCA to help the study get up and running, and is offering an anti-harassment employment guide to carriers that are working to address these issues among driver teams of all genders.

October Trucking Conference Tackles Marijuana Legalization, Cybersecurity

November 24, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

SAN DIEGO — We recently reported on the American Trucking Associations’ 86th annual Management Conference and Exhibition, which took place at the San Diego Convention Center in early October.

A main topic of discussion was of course the upcoming changes proposed in regards to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service rules, which the ATA fully supports.

Another big issue at hand included the legalization of recreational marijuana as more and more states are hopping on board–which continues to push the trucking industry and its current challenges to their limits.

In response, the ATA recently endorsed a set of policies related to marijuana, such as relaxing federal regulations on cannabis studies.

A working group from the ATA, which researched state legalization efforts and their impact on impaired driving and road safety has inspired the association’s Board of Directors to support the increase of marijuana research, especially regarding drug testing technology. According its recommendations, the group has said it aligns with “lifting federal restrictions on marijuana research” in order to continue this kind of research.

At the management conference, the American Trucking Associations explained that it also supports maintaining employers’ rights to test employees for marijuana usage, and that it advocates for the improvement of testing methods, investigation into impairment standards, and further research on the drug’s effects.

Although it is currently unclear what actions the ATA is pushing for in regards to lifting blocks to research, there is an understanding that rescheduling cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act will be an important tool in reaching that goal.

However, ATA’s Controlled Substances and Driver Health and Wellness Working Group do have a few recommendations, such as developing a policy that ensures employers can test all drivers for marijuana, implementing legislation changes to permit drug testing using “alternative specimens” like hair and saliva as opposed to just urine samples, as well as the use of oral fluid testing.

“ATA has long been an advocate for reducing impaired driving–in all its forms–so it only makes sense that we would call upon state and federal governments to consider the impact of increased use of marijuana on our roadways,” said ATA President Chris Spear in a press release. “As an industry that operates in all 50 states and across national borders, we need all levels of government to help us keep our roads and drivers drug-free.”

Spear also mentioned cannabis policy in his conference keynote speech, giving a look into the ATA’s reasoning around establishing such a working group.

“Eleven states, D.C. and Canada have now legalized the recreational use of marijuana, all while our federal government turns a blind eye,” he said. “And guess who gets caught in the middle?”

The ATA has even more controversial endorsements, such as the establishment of a “marijuana victim’s compensation fund,” which would be funded completely by dispensaries, manufacturers and growers. It also recommends the adoption of both state and federal legislation that would “require that each time marijuana is dispensed to an individual, it is reported to the state.” However, these policies do not explain who would qualify for compensation, how the funding would be sourced, or how prescription drug monitoring could legally be put into place.

An additional attention-grabbing topic of conversation at the event included that of cybersecurity, as transportation organizations have become a major target for ransomware attacks.

“This is why we’re doing a session on cybersecurity,” said Ken Craig, vice president of special projects at McLeod Software, as he referenced Forbes’ data showing that the transportation industry currently ranks fifth on the list of the most cyber-attacked industries.

Sharon Reynolds, chief information security officer for Omnitracs, said that small trucking companies are often the biggest targets for hackers as they typically have unsophisticated protection software. Larger companies who do have high-quality protection are still a large target, though, as they often pay hackers highly to disable their computer systems.

Saunders said motor carriers need to start conducting annual assessments of their systems, as well as to begin applying software patches and implementing an incident response plan.

CEO of RunSafe Security Inc., Joseph Saunders, also weighed in, recommending truckers initially protect personal information on both employees and customers, and start educating their employees about phishing scam threats and protecting accounts payable information.

As for computer protection quality right now, “by the time you get the notice, you’re in deep yogurt,” said panel moderator Craig.

Hours-of-Service Changes Highlighted in October Trucking Conference

November 18, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

SAN DIEGO — At the American Trucking Associations’ 86th annual Management Conference and Exhibition early last month, industry leaders contemplated how federal regulation and international trade policy changes will affect truck drivers, carriers and manufacturers.

The most prevalent issue discussed at the event–which ended up brining 2,764 attendees to the San Diego Convention Center–appeared to be the changes coming to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s hours-of-service rules.

These new regulations would bring increased flexibility to the previously mandatory 30-minute rest breaks and time splits between off-duty and on-duty hours for truck drivers. It would also allow for extended duty time during inclement weather by two hours and would lengthen the maximum on-duty period from 12 to 14 hours.

The ATA strongly supports these regulations.

“What we submit will be laced with a lot of justification, as we always do,” said ATA President Chris Spear during the event’s closing press conference.

The proposal for these regulation changes sparked from the Trump Administration and trucking lobbyists’ beliefs regarding rules becoming excessively strict around truck drivers working in heavy traffic and poor weather, as well as concerns for drivers’ abilities to complete deliveries on time.

Once these rules do soften, truckers will have to stay on the road for hours longer, and proper safety measures will fall onto drivers’ shoulders to self-regulate.

Without a way to make sure truck drivers will get the necessary amount of rest to drive alertly, lenient regulation doesn’t make much sense–especially after a July PBS report which found that 60 truckers involved in fatal crashes back in 2017 were asleep at the wheel or extremely fatigued.

At the closing press conference, both Spear and ATA’s chairman, Randy Guillot, explained the association’s intent to mark tort reform as a major industry priority.

“I’m excited that we’ve moved tort reform up to the highest level of priorities here at ATA,” said Guillot, who is also the president of Triple G Express Inc. “I think we’ll see a lot of activity with that topic this year.”

In Spear’s October 7th keynote address, he explained his plan to fight against trial lawyers who target trucking companies and often secure large jury awards. Spear believes most of these cases are not settled fairly, and claims the ATA always quickly compensates those involved in cases in which the association is at fault.

However, Spear and the ATA have been known to handpick specific cases in order to spotlight situations that they hope will bring public attention and pushback against lawsuits opposing the trucking industry.

For reference, in a recent Transport Topics interview, Spear referenced a case from 2014 that involved a pickup truck and a tractor-trailer. The pickup crossed a median on a Texas interstate and collided with the trailer. One passenger of the pickup was killed in the crash and another was left paralyzed. Their family argued in court that the trucker was driving recklessly in inclement weather and should have pulled over. The jury awarded the family nearly $90 million.

Although Spear believes the truck driver was not at fault (even though court documents from the case show Werner Enterprises, the trucking company, staying quiet about its blatant disregard for safety policies), it clearly makes little sense to relax regulations regarding truck drivers working in dangerous weather, like the driver in this case, or to allow for drivers to potentially work while even more fatigued than they already are.

If safety regulations call for even less rigidity around truckers driving in storms or under the influence of extreme exhaustion, wouldn’t the number of nuclear verdicts against truck drivers increase? Isn’t that in direct contradiction of what Spear and the ATA want?

Additionally, placing tort reform as a high-priority issue would mean recoveries awarded to those harmed by lack of trucking industry safety would potentially decrease even further. Of course, the American Trucking Associations wants to spend as little in payouts as possible, but why is profit a bigger priority than the safety of everyone on the road? Decreasing truck driver safety with hours-of-service regulation flexibility will clearly make for many more cases against the industry, which is obviously counter-productive for the ATA.

It appears the ATA needs to spend much less time fighting for regulations that work against itself.

Amazon Threatening the Trucking Industry Once Again

November 14, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Over the years, Amazon has slowly but surely built an entire fleet of delivery and transportation vehicles to maintain its foothold on the behemoth of a business it has created. According to Business Insider, Amazon reportedly has an incredible number of vans used for the “last mile” of delivery, bringing product from the company’s warehouses to our doorsteps, with over 100,000 vans nationwide. As one could clearly understand, one company maintaining as much volume and control over the delivery of its own product certainly effects the ability for drivers to gain valuable work from a multitude of manufacturers and retailers. However, up until this point, there has been one key aspect of Amazon’s business that has allowed for drivers and the trucking industry to breath easy; the company has long welcomed third parties for shipping its product that goes beyond that “last mile.” Unfortunately, the trucking industry now may be facing a harsh reality, one that sees Amazon bringing all of its delivery resources in-house and creating a fleet that handles the entire delivery process for its business.

As we recently wrote, the trucking industry is already facing a steep drop-off of its own workforce due to retirement and an overall lack of incentives to take on the grueling job. Additionally, the industry has found it much more difficult to keep large fleets of trucks on the roads for trucking companies as retailers and manufacturers continue to consolidate and tighten their grip on shipping costs. That’s why the most recent sightings and word of Amazon’s branded Class 8 tractors are certainly cause for concern. Just last year Business Insider wrote an article on how Amazon was playing a significant role in the driver shortage. At the time of that piece being written, the online publication noted that “Amazon only operates 300 semi-trucks – FedEx, by contrast, operates more than 20,000 semi-trucks.” Additionally, in 2017 it had then been reported that the company was also reportedly attempting to bring 30,000 drivers into its company for solely its “last mile” services. Fast forward two years and we are not only seeing the driver shortage as be far more of an issue, but the trucking industry as a whole has been negatively affected. Most importantly, this is all prior to Amazon actually using the thousands of semi-trucks it has now purchased in 2019.

Amazon’s past decision to lure trucking industry drivers to its company has clearly had an impact on the industry as a whole. Unfortunately, the driver shortage is likely the least of trucking companies’ concerns at the moment. For example, in its article from 2018, Business Insider noted that the move by Amazon led some trucking companies to “primarily target the ‘spot market,’ which is for shipping agreements made only a few days before goods are shipped.” The reason for the trucking fleets to move to the spot market was primarily because this area in the market was far more lucrative than signing a third-party contract that could result in the manufacturer spending far more than is necessary over a longer period of time. At this time, the industry is suffering due to “spot market” rates crashing, not necessarily due to a driver shortage. Overall, while there have only been a few sightings of Amazon’s new tractors, the reality is that one of the world’s largest retailers is about to take the next step to maintain complete control over all of its business.

It cannot go without being said that the ramifications of Amazon bringing its delivery in-house will hinder much more than just the trucking industry. Large decisions such as these have ripple effects that will ultimately affect us all. Earlier in 2019 we wrote about how the trucking industry is losing many drivers, thus forcing older drivers to continue past retirement and potentially hiring drivers who may not actually be all that qualified or properly trained for the job. Such instances then potentially lead to older, overworked, and improperly trained drivers that are asked to drive thousands of miles across the country. Clearly there are circumstances that lead to traffic collisions and fatalities on the road, but decisions such as this, although rightfully made, certainly don’t make them any less likely to occur.