A fight is ready to emerge in Sacramento around the idea of what defines an employee as opposed to a contract worker. This potential conflict is the result of a court decision referred to as the Dynamex ruling. This decision, A.B. 5, created by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) is the most recent endeavor to put the dispute to bed. In this case she’s hoping to settle the conflict with…

It’s finally arrived after all the discussion and back and forth. The suggested changes to federal hours-of-service (HOS) for the trucking industry has gone public, and the general consensus among most drivers is that the adjustments are unremarkable. However, a segment of independent operators applauded the flexibility it allows in extending the workday. On Wednesday, August 14, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, unveiled five proposals meant to relax driving…

The smog check is a fact of life for passenger car drivers in California, and it has been for a long time. Every other year drivers have to bring their cars into a smog check location to guarantee that they’ve been maintained and aren’t filling the air with pollutants. Oddly, even though heavy-duty diesel trucks rank as one of the biggest culprits for pollutions the state doesn’t require their owners…

A potential two-front trade war that’s brewing between the U.S. and China and Mexico could dramatically curtail the production of heavy-duty trucks. This grim forecast comes via trucking industry executives and prognosticators. They say if this two-front war is waged it will also chew into corporate profits and have a cooling effect on investment. Trucking industry insiders are deeply concerned about the overall impact of Donald Trump’s planned 5 percent…

Did you know that California has the biggest stockpile of electric cars in the United States? It’s true. Not only that, but it’s probably even a bigger share than you’d imagine. In fact, California possesses around 50 percent of the 1 million electric cars that have been purchased in the United States. This includes plug-in hybrids. In 2018, full electric, as well as hybrid cars, represented 8 percent of passenger…

Late on Wednesday, Tesla reported on their sales and deliveries from the first quarter of the year. And, they have delivered 63,000 electric vehicles. However, this is about a one-third drop from the previous quarter. But, the company believes that their profits from the first quarter may have been negatively affected by lower than expected volumes of delivery, as well as different adjustments in pricing. So, what was included in…

Age limits: one of the issues that the trucking industry has to deal with. But, that might soon change, if a new bill is passed by Congress. Many are crossing their fingers for this bill to go through, which would allow 18-year-olds to become drivers in the industry. Prospective drivers at that age wouldn’t have to wait until they are 21 to get a trucking industry job. Instead, they could…

Electronic logging devices, also known as ELDs, are the one of the latest new things in trucking industry technology. In fact, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) mandated the use of ELDs for most commercial truckers last December. The goal is to improve both road and personal safety. Since then, ELDs have been the talk of the trucking industry. While it seems…

Get ready… the Work Truck Show is coming back in March! The show, put on by the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), is set for March, in Indianapolis. And, it already has a full schedule planned. This is North America’s largest assembly of vocational trucks and equipment. In 2018, a record-breaking 13,570 industry professionals attended the show. Now, the NTEA plans to expand their available educational opportunities! As Steve Carey,…

Previously, a truck driver shortage was the biggest problem facing the trucking industry. Now, it’s the possibility of plummeting employment opportunities for American truckers because of AI trucking technology.  With over 4 million truckers in the United States, self-driving trucks are a scary concept for those whose lives revolve around transporting freight. Firstly, a key issue of the trucking industry is demographic. The average age of an over-the-road trucker is…