Safety

For years, truckers have been complaining that inspectors do not always submit reports to federal regulators giving them credit for no violations or “clean” roadside inspections.

Nearly eight out of 10 large trucks and buses did not have any critical violations during an unannounced special brake inspection day across the United States and Canada earlier this year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance announced on July 12.

Using public lands along highway rights of way and optimizing weigh stations were common suggestions from stakeholders during listening sessions about truck parking hosted by federal transportation officials.

California environmental officials are working on a plan to require truck and engine manufacturers to extend emissions system warranties up to more than four times longer than current regulations require.

Federal regulators have the statutory authority to issue permits for U.S. longhaul operations to Mexico-domiciled trucking companies despite poor participation by Mexican carriers in a three-year pilot used to demonstrate their safety, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Under legislation signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in April, California motorists will start paying higher gas and diesel taxes in November to provide funding for, among other state transportation projects, reducing the backlog of road and bridge repairs.

A decision by federal trucking regulators to adopt sweeping recommendations of an elite academic panel’s study assessing the way truckers are safety-rated has been mostly well received by the industry; yet some truckers admit they are a bit baffled by the complex “item response theory,” or IRT, approach to revamp the federal Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

Ryder System launched a preventive maintenance program for its pre-owned vehicles, the Miami-based company said. Under the program, customers can finance or prepay for their selected preventive maintenance plan when they purchase a pre-owned vehicle, the company said.

Years of pleas from parents whose son was killed by a speeding tractor-trailer, buy-in from some truckers and the promise of fewer highway deaths convinced U.S. officials in September to propose requiring speed-limiting devices on all large rigs.

The trauma from a mass shooting at a United Parcel Service distribution center has made going back to work almost unimaginable for many of the nearly 40 workers who witnessed the June 14 massacre.