Upcoming Events:
- November 12th, 2024: Drug & Alcohol For Safety Supervisors Seminar
- November 16th, 2024: Stuff the Truck
- December 11th, 2024: Surviving a DOT / Compliance Seminar
- December 18th, 2024: HazMat Seminar
Announcements:
2023/2024 Driver of the Year (Richard L. Power)
2024 Truck Driving Championship Grand Champion (Robert Bjelland)
Events and Announcements:
Tuesday, November 12th, 2024
Wednesday, December 11th, 2024
Stokes Trucking is excited to once again partner with Alta Bank in 2024 to support the annual Stuff the Truck event! We are collecting non-perishable food items to help families in need through CAPSA and the Cache Community Food Pantry this Thanksgiving. You can drop off donations at Alta Bank locations in Logan, North Logan, or Lewiston between now and November 15th. We will also be collecting donations at the truck before the Utah State vs. Hawaii football game on November 16th. All food items must be non-perishable. If you’d like to contribute financially, you can donate directly to CAPSA [here] or to the Food Pantry [here].
Let’s come together to make a difference this holiday season!
Wednesday, December 18th, 2024
Resources:
Samba Safety
Utah Trucking Association 401K
News:
ATA President Calls on Carriers to ‘Stick Together, Get Loud and Kick Ass’
Unified advocacy by trucking carriers is critical to the industry’s success, whoever wins the presidential election, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said Monday. ATA will stay engaged, lead the discussion and influence policy, legislation and regulation, Spear promised executives during his keynote address at the group’s annual Management Conference and Exhibition. “Let’s stick together, get loud and kick ass in 2025,” Spear said.
The Economy is Again Trucking’s Top Concern, Driver Shortage Continues to Fall
For the second consecutive year, the economy is the transportation industry’s top concern, according to American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) 20th annual Top Industry Issues report released Saturday at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference and Exhibition in Nashville. The impact of rising operational costs bundled with a lingering freight recession and stagnant rates put the economy as a top concern for motor carriers and drivers, said ATRI President and Chief Operating Officer Rebecca Brewster, adding recovery from two recent hurricanes and a looming presidential election will likely add more near-term uncertainty.
Renewable Natural Gas Best Diesel Replacement, Experts Say
Renewable natural gas (RNG) is not only the ideal but also the long-term solution to dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the freight transportation industry, a panel of industry experts told media and other attendees today at the American Trucking Association’s (ATA) annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Biden Unveils $612 Million in Post-Hurricane Aid
President Joe Biden announced $612 million in recovery aid for areas stricken by hurricanes Milton and Helene as he surveyed the aftermath of Milton in Florida. This funding will not only restore power, but will make the region’s power system stronger and more capable and reduce the frequency and duration of power outages while extreme weather events become more frequent,” Biden said Oct. 13 during a stop in St. Pete Beach.
Accident Data Suggests U.S. Roads are More Dangerous Than Ever
Each year since 2021, there have been more than 40,000 traffic fatalities annually in the U.S., and while the 40,990 deaths in the U.S. last year were the lowest over the three-year period, it is still more than 8,000 higher than a decade earlier. For every 10,000 vehicles on the road each month, there is an average of 84 commercial vehicle collisions in the U.S. – one collision for every 120 vehicles, according to Motive’s findings. Hamish Woodrow, Motive’s head of strategic analytics, added that most crashes in the country occur on weekdays between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.
FMCSA Guidance on Buying and Selling MC Numbers
Is it legal to sell an MC number? Trucking businesses obviously get bought and sold all the time. Think of big, publicized transactions with lots of lawyers going over the paperwork. But then there’s a gray, or maybe even black market for MC numbers to help fraudsters evade detectionfrom carrier vetting software or even the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration itself. Some shady operations offer trucking companies up to $30,000 for an MC number with a good history and relationships with big shippers like Amazon or J.B. Hunt.
New FMCSA Rule Mandates CDL Downgrades for Drug Violations
Beginning Nov. 18, federal trucking regulators will require state driver licensing agencies to downgrade a truck driver’s commercial driver license once a driver fails a drug or alcohol test and is placed on prohibited driving status. The new requirement is part of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse II regulation, intended to make it more difficultfor drivers to continue operating after receiving a drug or alcohol violation, according to Bryan Price, chief of the agency’s drug and alcohol programs division.
2024 International Road check Results Lead to More Questions
According to CVSA, 9,299 vehicles were placed out of service in North America during International Road check. A total of 3,387 of these were placed out of service for defective service brakes, the top vehicle violation in North America over the course of the event. “Defective service brakes can prevent a driver from stopping quickly and/or completely,” CVSA said on its website. “When brakes fail, the results can be catastrophic, not only for the driver, but for everyone on our roadways.
What Clearinghouse-II Will Bring in November
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is entering its next phase on Nov. 18. After the November compliance date for the Clearinghouse-II final rule, state driver licensing agencies will remove commercial driver’s license (and commercial learner’s permit) privileges from any commercial drivers with a “prohibited” status in the Clearinghouse. If prohibited drivers complete their return-to-duty process, SDLAs will restore their privileges. The change does not affect carrier compliance but better coordinates state and federal law enforcement.
The Cargo Theft Playbook: Essential Tips to Prevent Freight Loss
Cargo theft and freight fraud have been skyrocketing in recent years, as anyone in trucking is well aware. The federal government is working to slow down that trend, but in the meantime, shippers, brokers and carriers have to do what they can to protect themselves.
Feds Announce Funding of Parking, Infrastructure Projects
This week, the feds took a step, and made it public via media release. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced more than $4.2 billion in funding from the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda through two major discretionary grant programs, the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) grant program and the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program, both of which have historic levels of funding thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, according to the release.
FMCSA Says Fighting Fraud Will Improve Safety, With First Look at New Registration System
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration held another “stakeholder day” to get input from trucking industry professionals on its new registration system. It hopes new architecture and procedures will stem the rising tide of cargo theft and various forms of fraud in freight transactions.
Three Strategies to Improve Driver Recruitment
The No. 1 most posted job in the United States is truck driver, and company driver job postings are on the rise. According to a driver survey from Conversion Interactive Agency, in partnership with People. Data. Analytics (PDA), company driver job postings increased by 51% from April to September. With competition for drivers on the rise, Conversion Interactive Agency offered some guidance to give carriers an edge in talent acquisition.
Business Bankruptcies Rise in 2024
Business bankruptcies in recent quarters have soared to yearslong highs for the U.S. economy. Federal data showed that in Q2 2024, these fiscal woes were the highest since Q2 2017 for firms seeking to liquidate assets or reorganize their finances. Loans at BMO, including those of transportation customers, were flagged as impaired at increasingly higher levels, and those risks are expected to remain elevated for multiple quarters, the bank reported in August.
ATA Truck Tonnage Fell 2.1% in September
The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.1% in September after rising 1.7% in August, the associations announced Tuesday. “Freight has been very choppy this year, but despite the latest drop, tonnage is up 1.8% since hitting a low in January,” says ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “No doubt, the climb has been slow and difficult as manufacturing activity remains flat, but the trend is up, not down.”
CVSA Releases 2024 Brake Safety Week Result-August 25th-31st
Certified inspectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. conducted 16,725 inspections on commercial motor vehicles as part of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s(CVSA) North American Brake Safety Week, Aug. 25-31, which revealed that approximately 87% of the commercial motor vehicles inspected did not have out-of-service violations and were deemed safe and permitted to proceed on roadways.
Economy Grows at Solid 2.8% Pace on Strong Consumer Spending
The U.S. economy grew at a healthy 2.8% annual rate from July through September, with consumers helping drive growth despite the weight of still-high interest rates.
Analysts Say Trucking Conditions Will Begin to Improve — But Slowly
The Cass Freight Index showed a 1.7% decrease in shipments for September, following a 1.0% August increase. September shipments were down 5.2% from the same month of 2023. The Cass Freight Index for Expenditures, however, rose 2.4% in September from August levels. Shippers paid more for freight transportation, even though diesel fuel costs declined during the month.
Ransomware Remains Top Cybersecurity Concern for Trucking Industry
Insurance broker Marsh had 252 total ransomware incidents reported among its client base in 2023 and 113 in the Q1 and Q2 of 2024, but the insurer is seeing more non-ransomware-related claims as well.
Biden to Announce $3B to Reduce Carbon Emissions at Ports
President Joe Biden is set to visit the city’s main port Oct. 29 to announce the grants, which officials say will improve and electrify port infrastructure at 55 sites nationwide while supporting an estimated 40,000 union jobs, reducing pollution and combating the climate crisis.
