Punjabi Trucking Magazine - July - September 2023

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FROM THE EDITOR

Raman S. Dhillon

As we all know that trucking industry is going thru tough times, but also we all know that correction was needed. We need to understand the needs of our businesses and make sure to implement proper guidelines. There are lots of issues which are upcoming and threatening our small trucking businesses. Broker transparency, speed limiters, fraud, theft, detention time, use of restrooms etc. We need to pay attention to all of them and understand and learn to raise voice for your rights. For the moment there is a small positive step happen that there is agreement happen between CARB and Engine Manufacturing Association to delay Jan 2024 deadline for new emission engines to Jan 2027 as set up by EPA. We need to understand that this is the time for our truckers to join forces and fight for their rights.

Appointment for Julie Sue is still pending. As we said in previous issue that it’s going to tough for her to win this nomination because of her role in making and enforcing AB-5 in California. We can clearly see that this year is going to be the toughest one in the trucking industry. We have seen big giant trucking companies are in big trouble. We ask our readers to understand this industry very closely, then make decisions to make moves to grow. I think this is the time to do downsizing, and that is really a big issue with our Punjabi Community. Just want to ask our community to ask for help if you think that things are getting out of hand, and there is nothing wrong with that. Please share with your family if you have any issues and stay strong because we will bounce back even stronger. Drive safe and Stay Positive.

EDITOR

Raman S. Dhillon press@punjabitruckingusa.com

ASSOCIATE-EDITOR

Sunny Vraitch

CONTENT MANAGER

Rhea Randhawa

OFFICE MANAGER

Rahul Salaria info@punjabitruckingusa.com

ADVERTISING SALES

Raman S. Dhillon sales@punjabitruckingusa.com

MAGAZINE LAYOUT

Ranjit Singh Bhamra

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Maxx Printing, LLC

Harshpal Brar

TRANSLATIONS

www.MyTekHub.com

CONTRIBUTORS

Rhea Randhawa

Pash Brar

Michael Smith

Mandeep Kaur

Ravinder Dhillon

Rupinder Kaur

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Jessie Dhillon

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New ATRI Study Examines Marijuana’s Impact on Trucking Industry

Currently, 23 states have legalized recreational marijuana and others are not far behind. Approximately half of Americans are only a short drive away from a marijuana dispensary. Yet, there is very little hard data about the relationship between marijuana and highway safety.

That may be changing as the government begins to spend more money on research. In 2018, $143 million was spent and it is assured that more will be spent under the banner of the 2021 infrastructure bill which includes language about producing an analysis of marijuana’s impact on road safety.

A recent study on the topic by the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) concludes, “While there

is growing acceptance and availability of the drug in the U.S., there exist significant knowledge gaps regarding the relationship between marijuana use and public safety. The impacts of impairment on individual drivers and overall highway safety have yet to be adequately documented through research.”

ATRI is a not-for-profit research organization with ties to several large trucking companies and the American Trucking Associations. According to its website, its “primary mission is to conduct transportation research, with an emphasis on the trucking industry’s essential role in a safe, efficient and viable transportation system.”

The new report, published in June, chronicles the history of marijuana

legalization and decriminalization. It points out that one of the major reasons for lack of research on the issue is that marijuana has only been legal in some states for a few years. In fact, as far as the federal government, marijuana remains a Schedule I drug which has no medicinal or practical purpose.

The report also looks at marijuana and highway safety. The study found that use of marijuana can cause impaired coordination, distorted perception, memory, and problem-solving difficulties.

According to the report, “Of particular concern for those operating a motor vehicle are decision-making capabilities as well as reaction times, which can be slowed by marijuana.”

In citing a 2021 research study, the ATRI report said, “Peak marijuana effects were found to impair ‘driving performance and driving-related cognitive skills (e.g., lateral control, tracking, divided attention).’ The study also offered evidence that drivers should wait five hours after inhaling marijuana before operating a vehicle.”

The report concludes that the U.S. has two potential “pathways” in its handling of marijuana usage and highway safety.

“Pathway One” is to basically do nothing and keep marijuana a Schedule I drug. The report points out that since 2020 over 100,000 truck drivers have been relieved from duty for testing positive.

If laws remain the same, the trucking industry will continue to hemorrhage drivers. In addition, as more states legalize, the trucking industry will be in the middle of a number of conflicts between states and the federal government over the issue.

“Pathway Two” would focus on the following solutions: “Develop a Nationally Recognized Marijuana Test and Impairment Standards; Protect a Carrier’s Choice to Screen for Marijuana and Develop Greater Knowledge of Marijuana’s Impacts on Highway Safety through Federal Research and Data Collection.”

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Bobby

Trusted

Trucking and punjabi’s Mental health

The current research shows that this is not a great time to be a Owner Operator Truck Driver. There are many factors that influenced today’s trucking market, but the major one is the end of the Covid pandemic. The demand for work for owner operators has significantly decreased, and the owner operators are having a hard time finding work or they are getting work that pays significantly less. What does that mean for the drivers?

The two major effects are financial and emotional and/or psychological. These two can create a very stressful situation for the drivers and their families. Even though the impact is on the whole industry, here I would like to focus on how it is affecting drivers of our community? Our punjabi trucking community, which in large is male and both young and middle age. The young drivers might have a different emotional impact than the older drivers but the financial stress could be the same. In our culture not doing well in a business is not greatly accepted or looked down upon. I do understand that we all want to do well and be successful and not being successful is

not an option. This might be the reason most of us feel bad about the situation and take it as our own personal fault, when it is not. Are you able to see or understand this?

In today’s market economic turmoil is occurring very frequently these days. In the last twenty years there have been at least 4-5 times that I have experienced or been through. So knowing this volatile market, how are we handling these ups and downs? Are we prepared for both ups and downs or not? How can we be prepared for this? How is it impacting our life, I mean your life as a truck driver? How is it affecting your health, especially your mental health? Again research shows that currently drivers are going through a mental health crisis. Mental health always has this taboo in our society and normal emotions like anxiety and depression are labeled as something wrong with you. How can we overcome this and seek help when we feel that way? Sharing those emotions with your loved one is also not understood or looked down in our culture. So where should we or you go? I bet most of you don’t even feel comfortable talking about this to your

partners, siblings, parents or your best friends. If you do kudos to you.

What I want to do here is to help you find some resources to deal with this crisis or problem. A platform where we can openly talk about this and find solutions. The first most important step here is to accept it, then to talk about it with other people who are experiencing the same stress. There are also other resources to deal with it that we can explore and have access to. Work or job stress has always been the major stressor for people all over the world, especially here in the U.S. YOU ARE NOT ALONE, and everyone feels stressed sometimes in their personal or professional life.

Please share your concerns here and ask questions, and I will make every effort to find solutions or find a resource to help you out. Let's talk about it, cause not talking or addressing will not take this away.

( To ask your questions please text us at 559-701-8000)

Your Health Coach Rupinder Kaur, RN MSN Ed.

Clean Truck Partnership Promises Collaboration and Flexibility in California’s Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles

Looking to advance the development of zeroemission vehicles (ZEVs), the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the world’s top truck manufacturers have agreed to work together to further the deployment of clean trucks in the state.

The companies include Cummins Inc., Daimler Truck North America, General Motors, Ford Motor

Company, Hino Motors Limited, Isuzu, Navistar, Volvo, and Paccar Inc. It also includes the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA).

According to CARB, the agreement, labeled the Clean Truck Partnership, provides flexibility for manufacturers to ultimately meet the state’s climate and emission reduction goals.

By working together, California air quality regulators and truck manufacturers will work toward developing the technology, infrastructure and supply chain that will meet the state’s ambitious clean air goals.

CARB noted the partnership “marks a commitment from the companies to meet California’s vehicle standards that will require the

sale and adoption of zero-emissions technology in the state, regardless of whether any other entity challenges California’s authority to set more stringent emissions standards under the federal Clean Air Act.”

The main goal for manufacturers is to be collaborative with CARB in the introduction of new regulations that would move California to a zero-emission future. In the past, manufacturers have been blindsided by new CARB mandates.

“This agreement reaffirms EMA’s and its members’ longstanding commitment to reducing emissions and to a zero-emissions commercial vehicle future, and it demonstrates how EMA and CARB can work together to achieve shared clean air goals,” said EMA President Jed Mandel. “Through this agreement, we have aligned on a single nationwide nitrogen oxide emissions standard, secured needed lead time and stability for manufacturers, and agreed on regulatory changes that will ensure continued availability of commercial vehicles. We look forward to continuing to work constructively with CARB on future regulatory and infrastructure efforts designed to support a successful transition to ZEVs.”

timelines, targets, and technologies.”

Likewise, Truckload Carriers Association President said the partnership will force carriers and drivers to “experience the pain points of this ill-suited compromise. As we have continued to point out, the issues of reliability, affordability and achievability of these regulations must remain at the forefront of these conversations.”

The main points of the agreement include:

CARB will align with EPA’s 2027 regulations for nitrogen oxide emissions. CARB also will modify elements of the 2024 NOx emission regulations for which manufacturers will provide offsets as necessary to maintain California’s emission targets.

CARB commits to providing no less than four years of lead time and at least three years of regulatory stability before imposing new requirements.

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trucks as reasonably possible in every state that has or will adopt CARB’s ACT regulations, even potentially exceeding any future U.S. EPA Phase 3 Greenhouse Gas requirements, irrespective of the outcome of any litigation that has been filed or may be filed challenging the waivers or authorizations for those regulations or CARB’s or any state’s overall authority to implement those regulations."

The American Trucking Associations (ATA), however, was not as enthusiastic over the partnership. In a press release on the ATA website, President and CEO Chris Spear said, “We’ve long advocated for a single, national standard that respects and preserves interstate commerce. However, the trucking industry shouldn’t be strong-armed by the government into an agreement with such terms. Our association represents motor carrier members— the paying customers who will inherit the costs of this agreement—and we will not roll over nor relinquish our right to litigate with any party when our interests are threatened. It is clear that America has lost its way when the government bullies the private sector to succumb to unachievable

Truck manufacturers commit to meeting CARB’s zeroemission and criteria pollutant regulations in the state, regardless of any attempts by other entities to challenge California’s authority. As such, the OEMs and EMA have agreed that they will not legally challenge or support others’ legal challenges to any state’s adoption of CARB's regulations.

OEMs also committed to “putting forth their best efforts to sell as many zero-emission

A spokesperson for Cummins Inc. said the manufacturer was pleased with the agreement, especially the flexibility the partnership promises. “We also welcome CARB’s commitment to collaborate in the further development of ZEV infrastructure needed for our customers to adopt these technologies,” said Shelley A. Knust, Vice President of Product Compliance and Regulatory Affairs. “These actions will enable Cummins to improve product availability for our customers, while delivering significant emissions reductions.”

NHTSA Announces Proposed Rule to Mandate AEB Systems in Passenger Cars and Light Trucks

As a “key component” of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) National Roadway Safety Strategy, the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requiring all new passenger cars and light trucks to include automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology within three years.

“Today, we take an important step forward to save lives and make our roadways safer for all Americans,” said DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Just as life saving innovations from previous generations like seatbelts and airbags have helped improve safety, requiring automatic emergency braking on cars and trucks would keep all of us safer on the roads.”

\ Although traffic accident fatalities dropped slightly last year after a 16-year high in 2021, over 42,000 Americans lost their lives on U.S. Roads.

According to the NHTSA, the new rule “would save at least 360 lives a year and reduce injuries by at least 24,000 annually. In addition, these AEB systems would result in significant reductions in property damage caused by rear-end crashes.”

While 90% of new passenger vehicles already come equipped with AEB systems, Ann Carlson, NHTSA chief counsel, says that the new rule would lead to even more effective braking systems that would allow a vehicle to fully avoid a crash at up to 50 mph if the driver never touched the

brakes. If slight braking, that speed goes up to 62 mph.

“With this proposal, we could change a high-speed crash from a deadly one to a lower-speed crash with minor injuries or just property damage,” Carlson said.

Carlson also noted that the new rule would require AEB systems to identify pedestrians and bicyclists in low light conditions. Pedestrian deaths have increased more than 50% since 2013. Two-thirds of those deaths could potentially be prevented by AEB.

The proposed rule has a 60-day comment period before a final version of the rule will be published.

New CDL Training Programs to be Established at Georgia and Wyoming Colleges

Looking to make it easier for new truck drivers to get started, a technical college in Georgia and a community college in Wyoming are taking advantage of state and private funding to expand their commercial driver license (CDL) programs.

Columbus Technical College is using money from Georgia’s Emergency Education Relief Grant, a fund for students who were impacted by the pandemic as well as money from the state’s Technical College System.

In Wyoming, Laramie County Community College received a $556,920 Pre-Hire Economic Development Grant earmarked specifically to train people who want to become truck drivers.

The grant covers tuition and the costs of the CDL certification program for more than 100 students. Applicants who complete the course will be provided job placement assistance and must agree to work in Wyoming.

“The starting pay is one of the best for blue-collar jobs,” Michael Geissler, Laramie College CDL program director, said during an open house at the college on May 20. “This state and nation rely heavily on its trucking industry to keep our economy moving, so the job stability and competitive pay and benefits are outstanding.”

In Columbus, a groundbreaking ceremony for a new CDL training facility next door to the U.S. Army base Fort Moore was held on May 1. The new training facility will be particularly important for transitioning military personnel who want to be trained as truck drivers after leaving active service.

“Columbus Tech is very excited to announce this new project in the city,” said College President Martha Ann Todd during the ceremony. “We believe this addition will serve as a workforce entry point for both exiting military, veterans and residents of the Chattahoochee Valley as they receive the training and

resources needed to fulfill workforce gaps in current critical fields.”

Additional money is being contributed by successful Columbus businessman Jack Pezold who last year sold his string of 20 McDonald’s restaurants in the local area. He said, “This groundbreaking represents the Columbus community’s commitment to providing access to good-paying jobs for soldiers returning to civilian life while also encouraging them to remain in the Valley area.”

The new CDL facility, scheduled to open later this year, will also house the future Veterans Education Career Resource Transition Workforce Development Center. The CDL program will train as many as 350 drivers a year.

The college was awarded $1.77 million in January 2022 from the state to spend on a driving pad, mobile classroom, trailers, and simulators.

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Truck Parking, Railway Safety Legislation Show Bipartisan Support

Two important pieces of legislation involving the nation’s transportation sector are currently working their way through Congress.

First, the House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently passed the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act. The legislation now moves to the entire House for a vote. The bipartisan legislation was sponsored by Reps. Mike Bost (R-Illinois) and Angie Craig (D-Minnesota).

The bill provides for spending appropriations through the Department of Transportation (DOT) to improve truck parking for the next three years. According to a summary of the bill, “DOT must provide competitive grants to states, metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, and tribal governments for projects that improve the safety of commercial motor vehicle operators and provide parking for commercial motor vehicles.”

“I grew up in a family trucking business,” said Bost. “I understand how difficult, and oftentimes dangerous, it can be when America’s truckers are forced to park in an unsafe location.”

He added, “By expanding access to parking options for truckers, we are making our roads safer for all commuters and ensuring that goods and supplies are shipped to market in the most efficient way possible.”

In the Senate, a companion bill is working its way through the committed process. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) and Mark Kelly (D-Arizona). President Biden will likely sign such a bill when it hits his desk.

In a reaction to the recent railway derailment in Ohio that spilled several types of toxic chemicals near the town East Palestine, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) is reintroducing the Railway Safety Act which would promote safe railroads by putting more

scrutiny on railroad regulatory agencies who oversee rail carriers such as Norfolk Southern, whose train was at the center of the accident.

The bill’s bipartisan sponsors include both Ohio Senators, Sherrod Brown (D) and J.D. Vance (R). Brown said, “We built a broad, bipartisan coalition that agrees on these common-sense safety measures that will finally hold big railroad companies like Norfolk Southern accountable.” The bill has yet to be considered in a committee.

While President Biden was pleased with the bill he said, “We need to do even more, like require state-of-the-art braking systems, provide more funding for federal safety inspections, invest in worker safety, fortify state emergency management and response, and hold companies like Norfolk Southern accountable not just for the immediate damage, but also the long-term health and economic damage to communities like East Palestine.”

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Texas Blessed as Autonomous Truck Developers Test New Technologies

Famous American frontiersman Davy Crockett once said, “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas.” Likewise, today’s autonomous truck developers have made the vast highways of Texas the testing grounds for their new technology. Companies such as Volvo, Gatik, TuSimple and Einride have all set up shop in North Texas near Fort Worth.

Why Texas?

North Texas is particularly inviting to driverless truck testers because of its central location on the transportation network, long stretches of highway and, possibly most important of all, the state’s loose regulations. Unlike California, where the state’s assembly has recently passed a law which would ban testing of driverless trucks unless there is someone in the cab (the bill still needs the support of the state’s senate and governor) Texas has no such restrictions.

In April, Volvo Autonomous Solutions opened an office in Fort Worth and plans to partner with Aurora Innovation Inc. to put a fleet of autonomous trucks on one lane delivering between Fort Worth and El

Paso and another between Dallas and Houston.

AllianceTexas

Just a few miles up the road from Fort Worth, the planned community of Alliance, Texas regards itself as a global logistics hub labeled the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone which encourages testing, scaling, and commercialization of new technologies such as autonomous vehicles.

Middle mile autonomous deliverer Gatik, which also has offices in Palo Alto and Toronto, expanded to Alliance two years ago and currently operates deliveries to Sam’s Club warehouses throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Its new partnership with Kroger grocery stores has driverless trucks delivering goods from customer fulfillment centers to Kroger stores across North Texas.

Even troubled San Diego-based TuSimple, which has had front office upheaval in recent months, has set up shop in Alliance, as has the Swedish company Einride. With all of these companies, a human is in the cab, for now.

“DFW (Dallas/Fort-Worth) has really become the spot for autonomous trucking in the U.S.,” said Ian Kinne, director of logistics innovation at AllianceTexas developer Hillwood. He notes that Texas is attractive to selfdriving truck innovators because of its high volume of freight and the state’s lack of regulatory oversight.

On Interstate 45 between Dallas and Houston both Google subsidiary Waymo and California-based Kodiak Robotics have been testing autonomous trucks along the 240-mile route which features plenty of empty stretches, making it a less than desirable road for many human drivers.

Critics

One expert, however, disagrees with the Texas approach to driverless vehicles. Carnegie-Mellon University professor Phillip Koopman has recently written the book, How Safe is Safe Enough: Measuring and Predicting Autonomous Vehicle Safety. Koopman has been studying driverless technology for 25 years.

On Texas’ decision to avoid

regulations on self-driving vehicles, Koopman said, “The government probably made that decision for jobs and economic growth. But the cost of that decision is you’re potentially putting other road users at risk, and there’s no way to figure out how safe it is. That’s the trade-off that’s been made.”

Obviously, the investors of these companies hope for future profits, which Koopman says, puts pressure on companies to make progress.

“One hopes the companies are responsible,” Koopman said. “Some have proven they are. Some have proven they are not. Under that kind of financial pressure, even the best leadership might find themselves with pressure to deploy even if they’re not ready. That’s a tough position to be in.”

How does a robot truck work?

Most developers use computer mapping to plan the route of a driverless truck. Sensors gather data while on the road and store that information to better travel the same route again.

At Volvo, the company can then simulate pop-up scenarios that would alter road conditions. These changes might include construction zones, weather, and obstacles such as pedestrians or animals.

Caren Wende, Volvo’s head of marketing and communications, said “We repeatedly train the virtual driver and hardware on these different scenarios and validate the results with real-world driving so we know that the vehicle will behave safely in these situations.”

At Gatik, its short-haul trucks are in constant communication with the company’s remote monitoring centers where employees watch over each truck and can provide remote assistance when needed.

Richard Steiner, head of policy and communications, said “Gatik’s remote supervision system has been developed to leverage human intuition, which ensures our autonomous fleet remains fundamentally independent, while safeguarding certain advantages of human-to-vehicle collaboration.”

Despite these innovations, Koopman continues to argue that we just don’t have enough knowledge to know whether autonomous trucks are safer or as safe as human drivers. He said, “They could be safer. I’d be delighted if they were, but we don’t know. We can’t set policies assuming they’re safer because there’s no data.”

Regardless, some companies such as Gatik have already gone fully autonomous (no human in the cab) in Canada and in Arkansas where it has partnered with Canadian grocer Loblaw and retail giant Walmart.

“Safety is table stakes, front and center of everything we do,” said Steiner. “It runs deep within the fabric of the company. We always commence operations with a safety driver on board for safety, validation, and verification purposes as we ramp up towards driver-out on every single new route.”

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According to investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley, 18 of the 21 trucking firms it consistently follows will miss earnings estimates for the second quarter of this year (April-June). The good news, however, is that for most trucking companies it is the bottom of the cycle, and the rest of the year looks slightly better, or at least back to normal.

The news is not a surprise as top full truckload (TL) carrier KnightSwift recently announced its operating margin was down by about one thousand basis points year over year, saying it has experienced “persistently soft demand.”

“The quarter began with most companies reporting on 1Q calls that there was virtually no spring seasonal pickup and while this improved somewhat going into the end of the quarter, the lift was likely too little, too late to save the quarter,” said Ravi Shanker, Morgan Stanley transportation equities analyst.

Shanker does see some improvement and believes that if the trend continues trucking companies will “sound more confident in underwriting a 2H restocking driven upcycle, though the magnitude of the bounce may still be TBD.”

He also labeled the second quarter as “the storm before the calm” as spot

rates remain flat and cost savings by the major companies were put into full effect to avoid losses.

In the second half of this year, Shanker predicts TL companies should see better prospects while less-thantruckload (LTL) carriers could be in for continued softness in the market. Shanker said, “LTL stocks may have the most to lose this earnings season.”

Likewise, third party logistics companies could see a tougher second half of 2023, especially if spot rates rise. Higher spot rates would make brokers pay up for capacity compared to their contractual agreements where rates are determined year over year with high single to low double digits.

Brokerage Terms Remain Unchanged in New Final Regulatory Guidance

Definitions for the term’s “broker” and “bona fide agents” remain mostly unchanged in the final regulatory guidance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Brokers have come under scrutiny in recent years because of fraud committed by individuals posing as brokers and cheating carriers.

Language in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Act mandated FMCSA to review and clarify the definitions of “broker” and “bona fide agents.” The agency was asked to consider the impact of new technology, especially since many carriers have adopted digital freight brokerage software, on how brokers do business.

The final guidance indicated the definition of “broker” in current federal regulations is adequate. In fact, a cumbersome rule making process would be needed to make major changes to the definition.

“Handling money exchanged between shippers and motor carriers is one factor that strongly suggests the need for broker authority, but it is not an essential requirement for one to be considered a broker,” the agency said in a recent announcement.

As for bona fide agents, the agency determined that role could be played by an employee of a motor carrier or contractor and should perform its job in a pre-written contract between shipper and carrier.

“While FMCSA has determined that the definition of ‘bona fide agent’ is adequate, FMCSA clarifies that the term ‘allocating traffic,’ which appears in the definition, means any exercise of discretion on an agent’s part when assigning a load to a motor carrier,” said FMCSA. “If an entity representing more than one carrier exercises such discretion, it would not meet the

definition of ‘bona fide agent.’”

To clarify further, FMCSA said, “If a bona fide agent represents only one motor carrier, it will assign all loads it sources to that particular carrier and thus, no exercise of discretion is necessary, and there is no dispute that the agent is not a broker. However, an agent representing multiple carriers should be careful to structure its agreements to avoid the possibility of allocating traffic.”

Some industry analysts believe this is a good first step but more needs to be done to protect trucking companies. Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA) Vice President of Government Affairs Chris Burroughs said, “As we said when the FMCSA released its interim guidance, we thought it was a positive first step, but the guidance did not go far enough to address the growing concern of unlawful brokerage activities in the marketplace.”

He concluded, “The final guidance reaffirms that statement, and the association will now strategize how to improve on it so that it creates a level playing field for licensed entities that are doing business the right way.”

American Trucking Associations commended FMCSA for reaffirming the current definition of broker. They also found appropriate the idea that the “fundamental nature of brokerage is not impacted by changing technology.”

TIA has been

sounding the alarm for a few years about the increase in unlawful brokerage firms. These fake companies are without proper registration and do not comply with regulatory requirements.

The infrastructure bill also asked FMCSA to examine the role of dispatch services and the extent to which they can be considered brokers or bona fide agents, and to clarify the level of financial penalties for unauthorized brokerage activities applicable to a dispatch service. FMCSA, however, indicated investigating dispatch services was not part of their regulatory scope.

“The existing registration statutes do not authorize FMCSA to regulate any entity in the transportation industry other than motor carriers, brokers and freight forwarders,” FMCSA said. “If a dispatch service or other entity does not meet the criteria for inclusion in one of these categories, FMCSA is unable to require registration or otherwise regulate that entity.”

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ATRI Study Shows Trucking Industry Lost Over 100,000 drivers to Marijuana Impairment Since 2020

Anew report from the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), “Impacts of Marijuana Legalization on the Trucking Industry,” responds to the increasing acceptance of marijuana usage in the U.S. and its consequences for truck drivers. Currently, 23 states representing about half of the U.S. population have made recreational marijuana legal.

The report indicates that “more than 100,000 drivers tested positive and were removed from duty” in the last three years. Many of those drivers have not returned. The report places most of the blame on increased legalization and acceptance of marijuana throughout the nation.

“Based on Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse data, marijuana use clearly has an impact on the availability of truck drivers,” the report said. “Data confirms that most have not completed the return-to-work process and instead opt to remain outside of the interstate trucking industry.”

The report continues, “Furthermore, truck drivers who do successfully return to duty may still find it difficult to find truck driving employment, based on carrier survey data indicating that a segment of carriers will not hire truck drivers who have tested positive.”

The report also documents the

frustration of many in the industry over testing. There is no definitive realtime testing for marijuana impairment. Enforcement officers are still limited to standardized field sobriety testing (SFST).

The report said, “The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) indicates that “every state has laws dealing with alcohol-impaired driving and drug-impaired driving. But unlike the laws for drunk driving, those that address drugged driving are nuanced, difficult to enforce and prosecute, and vary substantially by state.”

Most tests for driver impairment were designed for alcohol related incidences and they often do not detect marijuana impairment. Blood and metabolite tests are more accurate but there is currently a lack of uniformity for those tests from state to state.

The report indicates, “There are severe challenges to overcome with biological measurements of marijuana driving impairment, and, while current behavior-based SFSTs have been shown to lack sensitivity to marijuana impairment, this approach may be the standard if biology-based impairment tests are not developed.”

Because of current trends in state legalization, and the possibility that federal legalization is a possibility, the report concluded that unless laws

are changed, the trucking industry will continue to lose drivers. It proposes two “pathways” which the federal government can take on the issue.

First, it can basically do nothing and see thousands of drivers move out of the industry every year because of positive drug tests.

Second, it can ease restrictions and even remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I drugs—Schedule I drugs are deemed to have no medical use and are highly addictive. The argument for removing marijuana from this list is that the drug has been proven to provide medical solutions for some problems (such as relief from nausea caused by chemotherapy).

The report concludes, “Prior to any federal legalization action, the report identifies several protections that must be in place for employers in safetysensitive industries. These include the development of a nationally recognized marijuana impairment test and impairment standards, as well as provisions that protect a carrier’s ability to screen employees for drug use.”

ATRI also asks drivers to take the survey at the end of the report. The survey will only be “presented in an aggregated, non-identifying format.”

Underride Guards are Topic of New NHTSA Advisory Committee

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 100 Americans a year die when their passenger vehicle slides under the chassis of a commercial tractortrailer. Such crashes also cause over 400 serious injuries annually.

Because of these grim numbers, the agency has launched a committee of trucking industry and highway safety stakeholders to research side underride protection for commercial trucks. The Advisory Committee on Underride Protection has 16 members with an ultimate goal of providing a report to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. It also fulfills a requirement in the 2021

In addition, the Biden administration has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comments on the issue. There are no existing laws which require big trucks to install side underride guards.

The committee has representatives from a wide variety of areas of expertise, including owner-operators, insurance executives, researchers, accident reconstruction analysts as well as safety groups such as the

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA). Representatives from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), trailer manufacturers Utility Manufacturing and Wabash, component-manufacturer Hendrickson USA, and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union are also on the committee.

The committee voted Adrienne Gildea, CVSA’s deputy executive director as the committee’s chair.

Most trucking advocates, including the ATA and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have looked skeptically on any law that would mandate side underride guards on heavy trucks.

“Our general stance on this is to look at preventing the crash from happening in the first place, versus mitigation after the fact,” said ATA Vice President of Safety Policy Dan Horvath. “Our fleet members are spending $10 billion annually on safety investments.”

OOIDA President Todd Spencer is on record opposing a mandate on guards. In April, after the announcement of the proposed

rulemaking, he said, “The rush to mandate every gadget marketed as a safety device over the objections of professional drivers is a major reason crash rates continue to rise.”

Spencer further noted that “Proponents of side underride guards have never demonstrated how these devices will perform in highway conditions, yet we’re wasting more time reviewing another potential regulatory mandate where the costs outweigh the benefits.”

He concluded, “To make matters worse, we now have an advisory panel in place that gives more influence to representatives who have no clue how to operate a heavy vehicle than those who understand the serious operational challenges and hazards created by side underride guards. Are we the only ones who see why this is not the way to develop sound regulations?”

Committee member Lee Jackson, a traffic crash reconstruction expert, said, “Already we’re kind of bouncing around, and I just want to say that we really have to know the topic in advance and really stay on topic. Otherwise, we’re not going to get anything accomplished.”

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Cal Assembly Passes Bill to Require Human Operator in Autonomous Trucks

Noting that it is prioritizing public safety, job security and infrastructure needs, the California State Assembly recently passed AB 316, a Teamsters’ union supported bill that would require a trained human operator to be onboard any autonomous vehicle weighing over 10,000 pounds.

The bill, which passed in the assembly with a bipartisan 69-4 vote, will now move to the state’s senate and must get that body’s agreement as well as a signature from the governor to become law.

The bill comes just as the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is considering a regulatory framework that would allow for autonomous vehicles (AV) over 10,000 pounds to use California roads as soon as next year without consent from the legislature.

"I am thrilled that over 60 of my Assembly colleagues supported AB 316 on the floor today. This joint effort with the Teamsters and Labor Federation will slow the profit-

motivated drive to human-less trucking by putting the Legislature between venture capital, well-paid jobs, and public safety," said the bill’s author Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters).

AB 316 would not stop the DMV from permitting the testing of autonomous heavyduty trucks but would mandate that the trucks always have a human in the cab. Several assembly members have been dissatisfied with the DMV’s decisions regarding autonomous vehicles.

“Unfortunately, the DMV has failed to keep track of problems that are occurring right now with the autonomous vehicles that are on the road,” said Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), pointing out the problems that have occurred with driverless cars, including shutting down in the middle of the street or crashing into roadside emergency vehicles.

The Teamsters’ Union called the vote a victory for the state’s truck drivers. “In our view, autonomous vehicles are a direct

threat to good, middle-class jobs,” said Peter Finn, western region vice president for the Teamsters. “The purpose of why these autonomous vehicles are being created and why big corporations want to use this technology is for one reason only, and that’s to cut their labor costs.”

Autonomous vehicle industry experts, however, called the bill misguided and say it will hurt California economically. Driverless trucks are already on the road in Arkansas, Texas, and Nevada. Experts argue that autonomous trucks can be safer than human driven vehicles because they eliminate human errors caused by distracted behaviors such as texting and eating.

“I think what’s oftentimes unfortunately lost in the debate is that this human-driven status quo is incredibly tragic and getting worse,” said Mufaddal Ezzy, senior director of state public affairs for technology company Aurora. “There’s an opportunity here for autonomous trucks to really help make an impact on that.”

New Study Shows Hair Testing Reveals Far More Positives for Dangerous Drugs

According to new data from a research team at the University of Central Arkansas, hair follicle testing discovers ten times more positive results for drugs such as marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine when compared with urine testing.

The new study is part of an industry backed multi-year project commissioned by the Trucking Alliance which has tested nearly one million drivers in the last five years. The new study found that hair tests reveal more positive results across all drugs, in every age range, and in every state.

The Trucking Alliance, which is made up of ten of the largest trucking companies in the U.S. including Knight, Swift and J.B. Hunt argues the results prove that the Department of Transportation should be using hair testing exclusively in pre-employment drug screening.

Federal regulations do not allow trucking companies to

submit hair test results to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse without also providing positive urine or saliva tests.

The study compared the differences between results from hair and urine tests given to nearly 90,000 drivers. The number of positives from hair testing was startling. For example, hair tests for marijuana revealed 2,123 positives while the urine tests identified only 292 positives, a difference of 1,831. Similar results were shown for other drugs.

“This study concludes that our family and friends are driving alongside thousands of truck drivers who use illegal drugs,” said Trucking Alliance Managing Director Lane Kidd. “If airline pilots had similar drug test data, all planes would be grounded.”

One of the researchers, Doug Voss, a professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, believes the study should provide proof that hair testing is essential for the trucking industry. Previous research by Voss and his team have predicted that if every truck driver had to take a hair follicle test, over 275,000 would be taken off the roads.

Some groups, however, have questioned the Trucking Alliance study. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has contended past studies from the Trucking Alliance on hair testing lacked validity.

In response to the new research results, OOIDA said, “We suspect these latest findings are the result of more dubious research,” OOIDA said in response. “They’re probably hoping no one takes a closer look, but that’s exactly what OOIDA will do to expose the flimsiness of their claims.”

OOIDA argues there “are still unresolved scientific and technical questions for this method of drug-use detection.” Proposed guidance on hair testing from the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to be issued this year.

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Battery Swapping Could be Future for Electric Vehicles

As the U.S. transportation sector transitions from gasoline powered cars and trucks to electric battery vehicles, at least one startup is providing a potential solution to the problem of charging the batteries for all of these vehicles.

San Francisco-based Ample Inc. is leading the way in using battery swapping as a way to get EV’s back on the road in as little as five minutes. The idea is not a new one. About ten years ago another company, Better Place, thought that simply swapping out batteries in a matter of moments would be more appealing to motorists than waiting hours for their dead battery to gain a full charge.

Better Place even collected nearly a billion dollars in funding for the idea, getting investments from Morgan Stanley and General Electric. Although the company was way ahead in developing new technology, it was, unfortunately, probably too far ahead of its time. It turned out the Better Place’s sophisticated swapping stations could only work with one model of car.

At the same time, Tesla had just built a network of fast charging stations that worked for their cars, which remain the highest selling EV on the market in the U.S.

Ample, however, believes it has solved that problem by partnering with various EV makers to develop interchangeable battery packs and a uniform plate which holds the battery in place. In May of this year the company showed off one of its new high tech swapping stations at a warehouse in San Francisco.

A car drives into the demo station where it is raised a few feet off the ground while a robot slides under and determines the location and configuration of the car’s battery. The robot unlocks the spent battery, shuttles it away and then brings back a fully charged battery. The car is lowered and on its way. The process takes five minutes.

The stations cost about $100,000 and fit in a shipping container. There are now over a dozen Ample stations in the Bay Area and Europe. The stations change about two-hundred batteries a day, mostly from Uber drivers who have Nissan Leafs or Kia Niros.

In addition to working with these two brands, the company has partnerships with other EV makers. Parked in the warehouse during the recent demonstration were a Fiat 500 and a Citroen van made by Stellantis, along with the Niro, a Nissan Leaf,

Fisker Inc.’s Ocean SUV and an urban mini-car made by German manufacturer e.Go.

Ample Co-Founder Khaled Hassounah wants his company to be the “gas station of electric.” He said, “We’re going to be a lot cheaper than fast charging. If you can charge at home, you should. But if you park on the street, if you live in a condo building or drive for a fleet, that’s not possible.”

Another big advantage to Ample’s business model is that it puts less stress on the electrical grid than fast charging stations. After Ample replaces a battery, it slow charges it over several hours. This has led government agencies who are scrambling to find more energy sources to embrace Ample’s model.

“We have this dense urban environment, very crowded streets and competing desires for electrical grid capacity as well as just for curb space,” said Tyrone Jue, San Francisco’s chief climate and sustainability officer. “If we’re going to say that every home needs a charger and every home needs to upgrade their circuit panel, we’re not going to reach our climate goals,” he added.

FMCSA Report Outlines the Agency’s Concerns About Third-Party CDL Test Administrators

In a new report to Congress from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Commercial License Division, the agency explains its decision not to issue a permanent waiver for flexibility on commercial driver’s license (CDL) knowledge tests and its plans for new testing oversight which it will reveal in an upcoming proposed rule.

At the height of the pandemic in April 2020, FMCSA provided a waiver allowing certified third-party skillstest instructors to also administer CDL knowledge tests without completing the training that is required for those who usually conduct the testing.

That waiver was intended to help state agencies which had experienced reduced staffing and closures caused by the pandemic. At a time when the nation needed new drivers on the road, it made sense to streamline the process by allowing third-party instructors to give the tests.

But, in the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, Congress required a report examining the impact of third-party skills test examiners.

In “The Third Party Commercial Driver’s License Skills Test Examiners Report to Congress,” FMCSA said its biggest concern about making the waiver permanent was a “lack of regulatory requirements for states to audit and monitor the operations of third-party knowledge examiners to ensure that third parties administer the knowledge tests equitably and without fraud, which requires regulatory oversight by states and, when applicable, FMCSA.”

According to the report, third-party examiners will need the same training and record-check requirements as the DMV employees who administer the tests.

The reports said, “Should the [waiver] be made permanent now,

without additional safeguards, the integrity of the CDL knowledge testing program, and the safety benefit derived from CDL knowledge testing, would be undermined by the absence of state oversight and training and qualification requirements for third party knowledge examiners.”

FMCSA is drafting a new rule that will propose minimum regulatory standards and safeguards for states that opt to allow knowledge testing by third parties.

“The proposed standards will include states’ examiner training and record check requirements, as well as the states’ required oversight and monitoring of third party testers and examiners,” the report said. The standards will apply to all third-party knowledge examiners, including any new third-party skills test examiners.

Daimler and Toyota Get Together to Create ‘Future of Commercial Vehicles’

In an effort to pursue the development of alternative power technologies, Toyota Motor Corp. and Daimler Truck Holding AG have agreed on a merger of Toyota’s Hino Motors and Daimler’s Mitsubishi Fuso.

The combination of the two heavy duty truck manufacturers into one publicly traded holding company will be owned jointly by Toyota and Daimler. Daimler continues its move toward zero emission trucks with this move following in the footsteps of the launching of the all-electric medium-duty truck manufacturer Rizon.

"This close collaboration will enable us to accelerate the decarbonization of the transportation industry, creating an even stronger Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturer," said Karl Deppen, Mitsubishi Fuso's

CEO. "Under the two well-established brands of Fuso and Hino, we will continue to take a leading role in serving customer needs in Japan, Asia, and beyond."

The merger creates a “globally competitive” Japanese truck maker with Southeast Asia as a key focus for joint operations. The company will develop hydrogen, autonomous, connected, and electrified technologies.

Fuso has recently stopped selling trucks in the U.S. and Canada where it sold only 5% of medium-duty commercial trucks. In contrast, its market share in Europe and Asia is much stronger so it makes sense to point the new company toward further developing these markets.

Daimler CEO Martin Daum noted

the merger "is a crucial step" toward sustainability. "The planned new company will be a major force in Southeast Asia and an important associate of the Daimler Truck family," he said.

Likewise, Toyota CEO Koji Sato labeled the collaboration “a partnership for creating the future of commercial vehicles in Japan” and “achieving carbon neutrality by strengthening new technologies and of changing the future of commercial vehicles.”

Toyota has long sought to capture the zero-emission market. It’s partnership with Paccar on hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) Class 8 trucks is about to bear fruit as Paccar recently announced its flagship trucks, Kenworth T680 and the Peterbilt 579 will be fully FCEV powered.

New/Old Proposed Rule Would Require New Carriers to Pass Proficiency Test

Along-lost petition from nearly fifteen years ago has been resurrected by the Biden administration which would require new motor carriers to pass a standardized proficiency test in order to begin operations.

Filed by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) in January 2009 the petition was originally part of a 1999 law to improve safety performance for new carriers. It was called the New Entrant Safety Assurance Program. The petition led to an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) in August 2009, but the new rule was never followed up on.

Advocates argued in 2009 that “new entrant motor carriers possess the knowledge and capability to comply with applicable federal motor carrier safety requirements and, consequently, conduct safe operations.”

Now, the Biden Administration has proposed a Supplemental Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a New Entrant Safety Assurance Process

rule which is scheduled for August. The proficiency test is part of that process.

The original 2009 ANPRM, which would be the model for the new one, asked for feedback on the following eleven areas a new test would cover:

• Information on the feasibility of establishing the exam as a component of the New Entrant Safety Assurance Process.

• Information about analogous types of exams used in the motor carrier or other industries that could serve as models for a new entrant proficiency exam.

• Recommendations on testing protocols.

• Recommendations on how the agency should administer the exam.

• Recommendations on which motor carrier employees the agency would require, and the feasibility of motor carriers retaining those employees through the duration of the New Entrant Safety Assurance Program.

• Information on the costs to develop, maintain, implement, and administer the tests.

• Information on the impact to new entrants if the agency requires the

exam as a requirement for beginning operations.

• Information on how the tests would increase carrier knowledge on regulations.

• Information on how any increase in that knowledge would help carrier safety.

• Other general comments related to the establishment of a test as a component of the New Entrant Safety Assurance Program.

• Information on the particular needs of small carriers in setting up an assurance program.

When the original ANPRM was released in 2009, trucking stakeholders had varying opinions. The OwnerOperator Independent Drivers Association opposed such a test saying that it would only prove “that the applicant found someone with an understanding of the pertinent regulations sufficient to take the test and get a passing score.”

In contrast, the American Trucking Associations supported the proficiency test requirement as well as requiring new entrants to complete safety training prior to receiving an operating license.

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Dreaming big and actualizing them into reality are two different things. Achieving goals requires a lot of skills and qualities. It takes immense courage, determination and ability to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of success. Matthew Hoelscher is a prime example of an individual who has successfully made a name for himself in the construction, agriculture and transportation industry, inspiring others to pursue their version of the American dream. Matthew Hoelscher's story is an excellent place to start if you're seeking inspiration and motivation.

Rewinding: It All Starts From the Farm

Matthew is the founder and CEO of SONSRAY. Matthew's creative imagination and unwavering strength have been instrumental in his accomplishments. From being raised on a farm to fetching his dreams, he has done a remarkable job. Growing up, he was surrounded by heavy machinery, and unintentionally,

Living the American Dream: Sonsray's Expansion Across 5 States

Matthew became familiar with the heavy equipment and acquired an excellent knowledge of them. Upon his family's motivation, he went to college and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and got a job in sales in the transportation industry.

Vision To Think Big

As Matthew was into the transportation industry in 2009, he saw an opportunity in refrigerated trailer rentals and spared no time to seize it. After a tiring year of asking for referrals, he decided to give it a shot and start his own company, and that’s how SONSRAY came into being. The name holds a high place in Matthew’s life as it reflects his love for his SONS and daughter RAYne. By 2010, Sonsray Rentals & Leasing trailers were running on the road with ten established locations. Each continues to assist customers with transporting refrigeration and trailer equipment via the sister company Sonsray Fleet Services. In 2012 Matthew saw through an opportunity to open 12 existing construction equipment locations and invested in it. They have now grown into 15 locations and operate as Sonsray Machinery. Additionally, Matthew expanded his business into the agriculture industry and acquired 5 existing agriculture equipment locations in 2021.

Dream It. Work for It. Live It.

Matthew Hoelscher is living the life of what dreams are made of. He is the proud and sole owner of the Sonsray Group and cherishes spending quality time with his family. Matthew sets an example for emerging entrepreneurs and exemplifies how one can easily balance work and family life. Matthew resides in Redondo Beach, California. Despite his formal image as a CEO managing five companies, Matthew enjoys engaging in fun activities such as surfing and basketball and spending time with his loved ones.

A Family of Millions

From workers and employees to customers, SONSRAY is a family of millions. Starting from nothing but a clear vision and some expertise, today, there are 33 Sonsray locations on the West Coast and East Coast, stretching from the borders of Mexico to Canada in 5 states. SONSRAY is proudly providing customers with world-class equipment and aftermarket support. In 2014 Sonsray was established to house the divisions under one corporate roof. Sonsray Rentals joined the family in 2019 to better serve customers interested in machinery rentals. The utmost priority of the SONSRAY group is to look out for its customers and support them in the best way possible in the construction, agriculture, equipment rentals, transportation and trailer rentals, and leasing businesses.