Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

ATA backs proposed bill to loosen DOT regulations on younger drivers

Act would encourage more participation in Save Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program

us-capitol-477987_1280.jpg

Two freight industry groups are supporting a bipartisan bill in Congress that would help alleviate a chronic truck driver workforce shortage by supporting new career pathways and training standards and by loosening U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.

That support comes from the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA), who back the DRIVE Safe Integrity Act, introduced by Representatives Rick Crawford (R-Alabama) and Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).


According to the ATA and IFDA, the new bill builds upon strong, bipartisan support for the DRIVE Safe Act over the last few Congresses and the inclusion of the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program in the bipartisan infrastructure law. The 2021 infrastructure law included a nationwide pilot program modeled after the DRIVE Safe Act to create a pathway for young drivers to operate interstate with rigorous safety and training guardrails in place. ATA says that Save Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program was capped at 3,000 participating drivers at any one time, but fewer than a dozen driver participants have enrolled.

In the ATA’s view, that shortage of participation is partly due to “extraneous USDOT requirements for program participation that were not included in the bipartisan infrastructure law.” The proposed DRIVE Safe Integrity Act would urge DOT to take corrective actions and provide progress reports to Congress.

And upon the sunset of the pilot program, the new bill would direct DOT to review the safety data and issue regulations for a permanent apprenticeship program for commercial drivers between the ages of 18-20.

“By directing DOT to steer the Safe Driver Apprenticeship Pilot Program back to the course Congress originally intended and providing a path forward to a new trucking workforce to safely enter the workforce, this bill will ensure our industry has the talent it needs to meet the economy’s growing freight demands in the years to come,” ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said in a release.

Other voices in the sector argue that the purported shortage of drivers is simply a function of inefficient operations such as half-filled trucks and of high turnover triggered by frustrating working conditions like loading delays, nights spent away from home, and mediocre wages. 

But the ATA has long held that the trucking industry is facing a shortage of more than 78,000 truck drivers, coupled with a need to hire 1.2 million new drivers over the next decade to meet increasing freight demands


 

 

 

The Latest

More Stories

Stampin’ Up!’s Riverton, Utah, distribution center

Stampin’ Up!’s Riverton, Utah, distribution center

Picking reimagined

What happens when your warehouse technology upgrade turns into a complete process overhaul? That may sound like a headache to some, but for leaders at paper crafting company Stampin’ Up! it’s been a golden opportunity—especially when it comes to boosting productivity. The Utah-based direct marketing company has increased its average pick rate by more than 70% in the past year and a half. And it’s all due to a warehouse management system (WMS) implementation that opened the door to process changes and new technologies that are speeding its high-velocity, high-SKU (stock-keeping unit) order fulfillment operations.

The bottom line: Stampin’ Up! is filling orders faster than ever before, with less manpower, since it shifted to an easy-to-use voice picking system that makes adapting to seasonal product changes and promotions a piece of cake. Here’s how.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

autostore AS/RS at toyota materal handling site

New AutoStore AS/RS at Toyota Material Handling’s DC will increase parts volume and fulfillment speed

With its new AutoStore automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) system, Toyota Material Handling Inc.’s parts distribution center, located at its U.S. headquarters campus in Columbus, Indiana, will be able to store more forklift and other parts and move them more quickly. The new system represents a major step toward achieving TMH’s goal of next-day parts delivery to 98% of its customers in the U.S. and Canada by 2030, said TMH North America President and CEO Brett Wood at the launch event on October 28. The upgrade to the DC was designed, built, and installed through a close collaboration between TMH, AutoStore, and Bastian Solutions, the Toyota-owned material handling automation designer and systems integrator that is a cornerstone of the forklift maker’s Toyota Automated Logistics business unit. The AS/RS is Bastian’s 100th AutoStore installation in North America.

TMH’s AutoStore system deploys 28 energy-efficient robotic shuttles to retrieve and deliver totes from within a vertical storage grid. To expedite processing, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced software determines optimal storage locations based on whether parts are high- or low-demand items. The shuttles, each independently controlled and selected based on shortest distance to the stored tote, swiftly deliver the ordered parts to four picking ports. Each port can process up to 175 totes per hour; the company’s initial goal is 150 totes per hour, with room to grow. The AS/RS also eliminates the need for order pickers to walk up to 10 miles per day, saving time, boosting picking accuracy, and improving ergonomics for associates.

Keep ReadingShow less
US Bank truck shipments Q3

U.S. Bank: truck freight shipments and spending slow their decline

Truck freight shipments and spending continued to contract in the third quarter, albeit at a slower pace than earlier this year, according to the latest U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index.

“The latest data continues to show some positive developments for the freight market. However, there remain sequential declines nationwide, and in most regions,” Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank director of freight business analytics, said in a release. “Over the last two quarters, volume and spend contractions have lessened, but we’re waiting for clear evidence that the market has reached the bottom.”

Keep ReadingShow less
nimble smart robots for fedex

FedEx picks Nimble for fulfillment automation

Parcel giant FedEx Corp. is automating its fulfillment flows by investing in the AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology firm Nimble, and announcing plans to use the San Francisco-based startup’s tech in its own returns network.

The size of FedEx’s investment wasn’t disclosed, but the company was the lead investor of Nimble’s $106 million “series C” funding round, announced last week. The round was co-led by existing shareholder Cedar Pine LLC.

Keep ReadingShow less

Logistics gives back: October 2024

For the past seven years, third-party service provider ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.


Keep ReadingShow less