Selected COVID-19 and trucking industry news that may impact your business.
As of June 10, 2020:
FMCSA extends emergency hours-of-service waiver until July 14
Land Line
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended its emergency declaration yet again. The declaration, which provides relief from hours-of-service regulations for commercial motor vehicle drivers responding to the COVID-19 outbreak, has been extended until July 14. It had been set to expire June 14. Read More
FMCSA to allow some truck drivers to skip drug testing as they return from layoffs
CDL Life
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued a waiver that will relax drug testing requirements for some truck drivers for the next few months. On June 5, the FMCSA issued a three month waiver to ease drug testing requirements for some drivers in order to help with the transition back to work for drivers who were laid off or furloughed during the COVID-19 crisis. The FMCSA says that this will cut down on administrative burdens and costs for trucking companies. Read More
FMCSA Narrows Definition of COVID-19 Relief Loads
HCT Truckinginfo
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended its COVID-19 emergency declaration allowing for the exemption of truck drivers and motor carriers from hours-of-service rules and certain other regulations if delivering relief loads – but it has narrowed the definition of relief loads. Read More
Truckload freight recovery picks up speed
American Trucker
Spot truckload freight markets continued to gather momentum last week as load-to-truck ratios increased for dry van, refrigerated, and flatbed freight, said DAT Solutions, which operates the industry’s largest load board network. Truckload rates followed suit, rising on most lanes just in time for June, typically a peak month for the spot market. Read More
Watch: Analyst forecasts strong rebound after coronavirus
CCJ
In his keynote presentation to attendees at the CCJ Virtual Symposium late last month, Donald Broughton, managing director and principal of Broughton Capital, shared his firm’s outlook for the trucking industry as the nation’s economy begins its post-COVID recovery. Read More
TMC Survey Shows COVID-19 Impacts on Maintenance Operations
Transport Topics
A survey conducted by American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council in March and April found that the COVID-19 pandemic had little impact on the readiness of the technician labor force for fleets and service providers. Read More
Driver turnover spiked in Q1 before COVID-19, then hit all-time lows
CCJ
Driver turnover rates spiked early in the first quarter of 2020 before they trended down in March to all-time lows, according to new research by Stay Metrics, which provides driver retention tools for motor carriers. Read More