trucking legislation

Is Allowing Teenage Truckers to Haul Interstate Cargo the Answer to the Driver Shortage? Industry Groups Say Yes

December 10, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“Regulatory flexibilities, especially during emergencies, are vital to supply chain continuity,” wrote a coalition of trucking industry groups in a recent letter to President Joe Biden.

This statement comes as part of an overarching request to ease federal truck driver testing requirements in an effort to find a solution for the current ongoing truck driver shortage in the United States. This particular request calls for methods of allowing teenage drivers to begin entering the industry as interstate truck drivers.

In fact, new legislature implemented by Biden will allow drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 to operate commercial motor vehicles across state lines as part of a three-year pilot program. This program–which became part of the new infrastructure bill as a way to help the trucking industry meet demands at a time where the driver shortage has reached 80,000 truckers–has received strong opposition from industry safety advocates. The most prevalent argument against the new rule? Teenage drivers are involved in car accidents and crashes at a rate of four times more than their older counterparts.

“Allowing teens to drive big rigs across state borders in the face of research showing that this age group has significantly higher fatal crash rates is reckless and dangerous,” said co-chair of Parents Against Tired Truckers, Russ Swift. “An empty store shelf is not as tragic as an empty chair at Christmas dinner because your loved one needlessly died in a crash caused by a teen trucker.”

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety president Cathy Chase agreed, noting that allowing such young drivers to operate CMVs would allow for “inexperienced, risk-prone teenagers” to bring higher safety risks to everyone on the road.

In addition, more flexible hours-of-service regulations have been extended during the pandemic and the shortage, continuing from a Trump-era exemption allowing drivers to extend their on-duty periods to 14 hours and to be able to split their rest breaks how they’d like. Initially, truckers were limited by the Department of Transportation to driving only 11 hours a day with at least one mandatory half-hour break in the first eight hours of their on-duty period. This flexibility arguably worsens the ongoing issue of truck driver fatigue, which reduces overall safety on America’s roadways.

“Long workdays, excessive driving hours, and unreasonable delivery demands jeopardize the safety of truck drivers and motorists,” said president of the Truck Safety Coalition, Dawn King.

Still, the trucking industry stays convinced that the most practical way to ease the shortage, boost the economy, and meet rising e-commerce demands is to lower the minimum age of transporting this cargo.

“Older drivers are leaving and retiring, and we’re not bringing in younger drivers to replace them fast enough,” said John Stomps, CEO of Total Transportation of Mississippi, noting that he believes this is the only way to help the current strain on the country’s supply chain.

Executive vice president for advocacy at American Trucking Associations, Bill Sullivan, has tried reassuring these safety advocates that trucking companies will prioritize safety when they onboard such young interstate truckers.

“The last thing any of our members want to do is do this unsafely,” he said. “We want to produce a driver who is at least as safe as a21-year-old.

The coalition of trucking industry organizations that wrote to Biden about pushing forward regulation relaxations are also working to ensure truck drivers are not mandated to become vaccinated against COVID-19, claiming that truck drivers spend the majority of their work days alone. Because of this, they believe a mandate would be unnecessary and may cause more truckers to leave the industry itself.

“We’re not anti-vaccine, but in our survey of 120,000 truckers, 50% were vaccinated and 50% weren’t vaccinated,” said Sullivan. “37% of all drivers said they would go to a company that doesn’t have a vaccine mandate or leave the industry altogether.”

These added flexibilities may help ease the long-term truck driver shortage and help the industry meet the current demands of the country, but it’s clear that keeping shipments efficient is more important to many industry members than the safety of truckers or other drivers with whom they share the road.

Legislation lowering the minimum age for operating commercial motor vehicles across state lines is highly likely to come to fruition, industry experts believe.

HOS Regulation Waivers Extended Once Again

December 6, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Because of COVID-19 continuing to wreak havoc across the United States, regulatory waivers are being extended by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regarding the permitted work time for truck drivers.

For commercial truckers driving property-carrying trucks, the maximum driving time has been extended once again–this time until February 28th, 2022.

“Although the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the U.S. following widespread introduction of vaccinations, persistent issues arising out of COVID-19 continue to affect the U.S., including impacts on supply chains and the need to ensure capacity to respond to variants and potential rises in infections,” said the FMCSA.

Because of this, commercial carriers and drivers are eligible for the hours-of-service regulation waiver, particularly those working to haul COVID relief-related medical supplies as well as any transportation regarding medical care services and other necessary pandemic response efforts.

“Therefore, a continued exemption is needed to support direct emergency assistance for some supply chains,” continued FMCSA in its waiver announcement. “This extension of the modified emergency declaration addresses national emergency conditions that create a need for immediate transportation of essential supplies and provides necessary relief from the [Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations] for motor carriers and drivers.”

Still, the hours-of-service waiver is limited to transporters of public safety-related goods such as masks, hand sanitizer, soap, medical gloves, disinfectants, vaccines, kits for the administration of vaccines, and vaccine-related ancillary supplies. Additionally, the waiver includes the transportation of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethyl alcohol, food, paper products, and the emergency restocking of any distribution hub, as well as the transportation of livestock and livestock feed. Commercial drivers and carriers with current out-of-service orders are excluded from this waiver.

This emergency regulatory waiver declaration was first announced by FMCSA this summer in an effort to provide regulatory relief in regards to the maximum driving time mandates for both passenger-carrying vehicles and property-carrying vehicles. This declaration was initially designed to ease the strain on the United States’ supply chain, while the White House worked to find additional methods of expediting freight movement.

To do so, the Biden Administration implemented a specific task force that brought about new ways of keeping the country’s freight moving efficiently during the pandemic era; COVID-19 has been blamed as the major factor in commercial supply chain disruption.

Previous hours-of-service relaxation efforts allowed truckers to extend their daily driving time by two hours when working in inclement weather and to drive a total of 14 hours instead of 12. Additionally, drivers were originally allowed to divide their mandatory 10-hour rest breaks into 5-5 or 6-4 hours periods with further control of that time usage–whether they decided to use that particular time to rest or not.

Many safety advocates have lamented these flexibility-boosted waivers, citing the issue of truck driver fatigue—an issue that has become more serious than what recent statistics have shown. In fact, the National Transportation Safety Board has focused heavily on fatigued driving, going as far as to add the overall reduction of fatigue-related traffic accidents to its ‘Most Wanted List’ of safety boosts for 2019 and 2020.

“Drowsy driving does not leave telltale signs,” said the board. “It is widely believed to be underreported on police crash forms.”

The trucking industry has also had a history of high levels of spending in regards to congressional lobbying and campaign contributions related to added flexibility for both truck drivers and their companies, explained FairWarning.

“These [proposals] are opportunities for drivers to be pushed to their limits further, to drive without resting,” said Truck Safety Coalition executive director, Harry Adler. “It’s more [of an] opportunity for a driver to operate while fatigued, which is really detrimental.”

If government proposals like these “are going to keep the highways as safe as–or safer than–they currently exist,” the American Trucking Association needs to dive deeper into the reality of trucker fatigue, said vice president of ATA safety policy, Dan Horvath. “We are not quick to give an immediate response. We really do take the time to do a thorough review, to work with our members.”

Industry Experts Focus on Workforce Updates as Supply Chain Struggles, Jay Stefani Weighs in on Safety Concerns

December 1, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

At the recent U.S. House of Representatives transportation panel, President of American Trucking Associations, Chris Spear, explained that finding solutions to current nationwide supply chain concerns should come primarily from trucking industry workforce improvement policies.

Federal transportation policymakers were urged to consider supply chain improvement proposals at the hearing by a variety of leaders in the transportation industry. Some of these potential initiatives brought to light during the discussion included an industrywide workforce development project and other methods of combating the ongoing truck driver shortage.

In fact, ATA’s Spear noted that training-focused funding throughout the most important sectors of freight would be paramount to overcoming the shortage of 80,000 drivers–especially with these problems so exacerbated by the pandemic era and the boom of e-commerce and accessibility issues that came with it.

“The COVID-19 pandemic brought with it the temporary closures of state [departments of motor vehicles] and truck driver training schools, which dried up the already-fragile pipeline of new drivers entering the trucking industry,” he said in a push for funding from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “This pipeline is still slow and inefficient today. As a result, companies working throughout the nation’s supply chain are facing higher transportation costs leading to increased prices for consumers on everything from electronics to food.”

President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes an apprenticeship pilot program that has been strongly supported by ATA, as it will allow trained drivers under the age of 21 to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce. The initiative also allows for the implementation of a training program for even younger drivers (between 18 and 20 years old) to drive Class 8 trucks across multiple states.

“The driver shortage is a looming threat that, if unaddressed, could destabilize the continuity of trucking operations with ripple effects across the supply chain that will be felt by everyday Americans,” lamented Spear, emphasizing the need for these apprenticeship programs.

Regardless of a shortage, keeping safety the priority is imperative when bringing these new and young potential truckers to the industry.

“There is nothing wrong with trying to increase the number of truck drivers to meet the needs,” said Levinson and Stefani’s Jay Stefani. “But along with the push to hire more people, there needs to be an equal increase in safety and training programs. Bringing in new drivers means bringing in inexperienced drivers–drivers who don’t have a lot of miles behind them.”

It should also be common sense that allowing these truck drivers to enter the industry in the midst of the winter season’s inclement weather is something to be avoided, as well, Stefani added.

“That is especially critical when you consider hiring inexperienced drivers right when winter is upon us,” he continued. “Driving a tractor-trailer in snowy, icy conditions is not the same as driving your four-door sedan in that same weather.”

Still, many industry experts made clear their desire to focus on efforts that would work to boost the supply chain as it stands.

“[Transportation Intermediaries Association] members continue to be industry leaders in the technology space, as they must constantly innovate to address an ever-evolving and growing industry,” said CEO and president of TIA, Anne Reinke. “For example, our members utilize the latest technology to facilitate the movement of freight from one point to another. These solutions include maximum freight visibility with real-time data, automation in the back-end office, and utilizing artificial intelligence.”

It’s also important to look toward the supply chain’s relationship with the current environmental regulations at hand, according to Association of American Railroads’ president and CEO, Ian Jefferies. At the panel, Jefferies asked Congress to make sure federal regulations set forth through the National Environmental Policy Act won’t hinder any new infrastructure coming about.

“Federal agencies should promulgate regulations that allow for careful, thorough consideration of the environmental impacts of proposed projects but in a time-limited manner that does not cause unnecessary delay,” he said. “Such an approach would expedite projects that enhance supply chain fluidity but would not prevent comprehensive, effective environmental reviews from taking place.”

These upcoming infrastructure projects are part of Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

“The bipartisan law will modernize our ports, our airports, [and] our freight rail to make it easier for companies to get goods to market, reduce supply chain bottlenecks–as we’re experiencing now,” said Biden, “and lower costs for you and your family.”

Vaccine Mandate for Transportation Workers Likely, Industry Experts Worry

November 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The trucking industry is facing concerns that a federal vaccine mandate for truck drivers may exacerbate the long-lasting truck driver shortage. Now, the worry lies with mandating vaccines among all transportation workers.

“We are encouraging the vaccinations and we are working–corporate America in general–is working aggressively to try to protect their workforce and work with their workforce to make vaccines available,” said Derek Leathers, CEO of Werner Enterprises at the 51st annual Baird Global Industrial Conference. “We’ve done on-site vaccination clinics, we’ll continue to do that. But the mandate was a great concern to us.”

Early in November, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a mandate that private companies with 100 or more workers would need to require employee vaccination or weekly testing. However, the rule has been challenged and subsequently stayed by a federal court, although it was scheduled to go into effect in January.

American Trucking Associations, along with other industry groups, have challenged the legislation, even though the rule would offer exemptions for those working remotely or who have minimal contact with other people. This rule would indeed apply to solo-working truckers.

“When we saw the final rule come out, our interpretation right away was that, clearly–minimum contact and remote work is excluded–you just described the American truck driver,” said Leathers. “We do believe they should be excluded.”

The argument here, according to Leathers, is that truckers typically have lower infection rates than the rest of the country, although testing and vaccinations should be required for large groups of truck drivers gathering for meetings or events.

Additionally, the driver shortage may worsen should a mandate be implemented, as many truckers entered the industry due to the autonomy available in that particular career path. The trucking demand following the pandemic era’s e-commerce boom has also boosted demand to unprecedented numbers, furthering the shortage itself.

“Demand is obviously strong,” said Leathers. “If you go back to the summer of 2020 and, really, through now, we’ve seen volumes that, more often than not, mimic what a traditional peak season has looked like. Certainly, by [Quarter] 2 of this year, we saw pre-load levels and volume levels that were very close to what a traditional peak would look like. The network can only handle so much more.”

Therefore, retaining the truckers the industry still has is of the utmost importance.

“We also know there’s a group that chose to be truckers because of an independent spirit,” Leathers added. “Mandating things for groups like that can be disruptive at a time when the supply chain can ill afford any more supply chain disruptions.”

The current high demand in overall freight will likely continue deeply in 2022, allowing the current obstacles to continue on–especially given a probable strong peak season coming soon.

“On the supply side, I think the driver shortage is here.,” said Leathers. “It’s real, it’s not getting better, it’s as difficult as I’ve ever seen. The OEM manufacturing issues are probably more real than I’ve ever seen. It’s a bit of a different ingredient to the cycle that we haven’t seen in past ones.”

The federal infrastructure bill will also likely bring about higher freight demand, although the industry doesn’t expect to see change due to the new legislation until later in 2022.

Additionally, many trucking companies haven’t been able to meet demands for truck replacement levels as the supply chain disruptions, along with the truck driver shortage, have led to a semiconductor chip shortage, as well.

“On the demand side, more workers are coming into the workforce each month,” noted Leathers. “You’ve got GDP growth that is still very strong, a lot of savings rates that have increased during the pandemic. You put all that together, and we think it’s definitely stronger for longer and certainly have confidence well into 2022. In my personal opinion, I think this goes through 2022.”

The mandate will also bring heightened strain as it would affect all transportation workers, in addition to many truck drivers.

“We have a lot of mechanics, a lot of warehouse folks–so, it’s going to cause a lot of disruption if that vaccine mandate stands,” said J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.’s chief operating officer and president of dedicated contract services, Nick Hobbs. “We’ve been prepared in case the mandate came out and was going to stay effective.”

Global Trucking Leaders Meet in Geneva to Discuss Pressing Transportation Problems

November 27, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The International Road Transport Union, consisting of global transportation leaders, met in-person for the first time in two years to discuss the current obstacles regarding the environment, supply chain exacerbation, and the truck driver shortage.

“It was an opportunity to come together and discuss issues similar to what we do at [the annual Management Conference and Exhibition meeting],” said President of American Trucking Associations, Chris Spear. “We probably did not have one meeting that did not center around the driver shortage issue. It’s chronic around the world, and I think it’s amplified by the pandemic and the pressure it has put on the returning workforce.”

IRU held its November meeting in Geneva for industry experts around the globe; attendees included ATA’s Chairman, Harold Sumerford Jr. and Chief Economist, Bob Costello, along with Spear. Other transportation leaders from North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa were also in attendance.

The truck driver shortage continues to be the current highest-priority issue in the United States trucking industry, as we are still currently short of 80,000 needed truckers–mostly for over-the-road work. This sector of the industry causes truck drivers to be on the road for days on end, which isn’t a very enticing job opportunity, especially given the work-from-home options now available to so many Americans post-pandemic.

ATA’s Costello noted that these problems are not unique to North America by any means, especially with so many drivers retiring early following the COVID-19 era or just reaching retirement age with so few younger drivers entering the industry.

“Not only do other countries have these issues, but they’re for the same reasons–it’s a high average age of drivers,” said Costello. “One of the things we talked about is that the European Union and the IRU are trying to lower the age for drivers from 21 to 18, like we just did in the infrastructure package.”

For drivers under the age of 21 to be trained to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, a pilot program has been launched as part of President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill.

Other countries are looking for ways to find similar solutions to help ease the shortage as much as possible.

“China has a labor shortage–a driver shortage–and it’s for the same reasons–lifestyle and time away from home,” added Costello. “We’re all very similar in that regard.”

Additionally, the issue around safe parking availability continues to be a major problem for American truckers–something that is also highly problematic in Europe, as observed by ATA.

“We saw this, personally, when we were driving on the highway,” said Costello of the parking problem in the EU. “There’s a lack of safe and secure parking in Europe. The trucks were lined up, even worse than they are in the U.S.”

American truck drivers and freight rail workers should look toward boosted collaboration with international counterparts, as well, Costello added.

“[These international industry members] were very interested in the much more collaborative modes in the U.S., and I explained to them that trucks and trains are much more complementary than competitors,” he said.

Still, global supply chain backup obstacles won’t see major solutions until later in 2022, many industry experts agreed.

“There are a lot of things we do not control, like a ship being stuck in the Suez Canal,” said Spear. “There are a lot of things that need to right themselves. We need to get people back to work, across all segments of the economy, not just trucking.”

To fix these issues, ATA has improved its collaborative efforts with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Spear noted.

“We at ATA have demonstrated here in the U.S. our willingness to shape sound, lasting policies with our federal regulators,” he said. “We have been at the table. We are moving our industry in this direction.”

These efforts come after the European Union adopted carbon dioxide emission-reducing standards for new commercial trucks starting in the model year 2025, with even stricter targets coming for the year 2030.

“Europe is moving so quickly, and there is a growing disconnect between their ability to meet those technology timelines for adoption,” said Spear. “We have to have this conversation. They need to stop — in the U.S. and Europe — chasing rainbows and unicorns and start having a realistic discussion [about] how we can go green, and how quickly we can actually do and manage those expectations with the American people and the European citizens, respectively.”

Truck Drivers Likely No Longer Exempt From Vaccine Mandate

November 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Truck drivers had been exempt from an interim rule requiring all employees in large private companies to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but that may be changing soon.

“These are treacherous times for employers,” said C. Eric Stevens, a shareholder and employment law attorney. “Government mandates are a politically charged issue…[vaccines are] a very important issue for transportation.”

The final ruling that will require employees of companies (including trucking companies) of more than 100 to be vaccinated or undergo regular COVID-19 testing is currently being challenged in court, although the law is set to be implemented on January 4th of 2022.

Still, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals granted an emergency stay of the requirement on November 6th, and the American Trucking Associations–along with various other industry organizations and state trucking associations–filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration regarding the mandate on November 9th.

In the lawsuit, the trucking groups claim that the mandate would be detrimental to the transportation workforce and the American economy itself, and that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is overstepping its power by implementing such a requirement.

“Given the nationwide shortage of truck drivers, it is vital that our industry has the relief it needs to keep critical goods moving, including food, fuel, medicine, and the vaccine itself,” said ATA President, Chris Spear. “We continue to believe OSHA is using extraordinary authority unwisely, applying it across all industries at an arbitrary threshold of 100 employers that fails to factor in actual risks. We are weighing all options of recourse to ensure every segment of our industry’s workforce is shielded from the unintended consequences of this misguided mandate.”

As of now, the White House is recommending that businesses adhere to this requirement, although there is still confusion regarding how a trucking company would do so if ultimately required.

“How we manage exemption requests, that’s a hot-button issue,” said Stevens. “How do you obtain proof of vaccinations? That becomes tricky based on the size of your company and what state you are operating in–or state you operate in.”

Industry leaders are also being put under quite a bit of pressure with the current confusion at hand, Stevens added.

“What’s left for you is that you have federal guidelines that conflict with state guidelines, and you have state guidelines that say, ‘If you violate our state guidelines, you very well may be sued by individuals that are adversely affected,’ regardless of what the federal government says,” he said.

While the final ruling is determined, motor carriers should begin issuing their own internal requirements that are in the best interest of their employees, Stevens continued.

“When someone says they don’t have a COVID policy, I say, ‘Yes, you do. It may just be the way things are, but yes, you do have a COVID policy. And you might want to have one that’s a little more formalized.’”

Regardless, many state leaders have expressed concerns about the mandate, and have been working to challenge the law itself. Some of these officials include state Legislature members, Attorney General Herbert Slatery, and Governor Bill Lee.

“Many states, including the one that we are currently in, have enacted [their] own laws,” said Stevens during his presentation at the 18th annual Conversion Interactive Agency Recruitment and Retention Conference. “Often, the states feel the need to combat the federal government’s actions, and we have competing state laws and federal laws. OSHA takes the position that OSHA preempts state laws, and those states disagree with that. So, there are some issues to be aware of.”

For those in strong opposition to this mandate, it’s clear that avoiding supply chain disruption is much more of a priority than driver health and safety. Executive Vice President of Advocacy for ATA, Bill Sullivan, explained his concern that requiring truck drivers to become vaccinated will likely cause many of those truckers to either leave the industry, join a smaller company, or retire early. When ATA released a survey among its member fleets, it found that over one-third of drivers who responded noted that they would either leave their companies or quit their jobs altogether if their current companies chose to, or were made to, require a vaccine.

“Even if only 4% [of drivers] quit, that would be a catastrophe,” said Sullivan. “We agree with the president’s goal. We aren’t anti-vax. We are encouraging employees to be voluntarily vaccinated.”