Transport Topics

Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian and Amazon are in active discussions about ending the exclusivity provision of their delivery van deal, according to multiple media reports. Rivian is trying to remove the exclusivity terms from its Amazon deal due to a lower-than-expected order number for 2023. The two companies entered into an agreement in 2019 for Amazon to buy 100,000 delivery vans from Riv...

The national average price for diesel slipped 3.5 cents to $4.247 a gallon, according to Energy Information Administration data released March 13. Diesel’s national average price has fallen for the past six weeks, totaling 37.5 cents, and for seven of the 10 reporting periods in 2023. A gallon of diesel now costs $1 less on average than it did at this time a year ago. Learn more about your ad choi...

U.S. Class 8 retail sales in February jumped 35% from a year ago, and notched a slight increase from the prior month, Wards Intelligence reported. Class 8 sales for the month reached 20,136, easily besting the year-ago mark of 14,916 and outpacing January’s total of 19,932 units. Freightliner, a brand of Daimler Truck North America, led the pack with 7,368 trucks sold, accounting for a market-lead...

Class 8 truck orders rebounded in February, according to ACT Research. The orders in February hit 23,600 units, ending a month-to-month decline that started in October. Preliminary data from ACT showed orders rose 12% compared with the same period last year, when they reached 21,000 units. On a month-to-month basis, February orders jumped 28% from January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...

Trucking groups are renewing calls for the repeal of a World War I-era tax on the purchase of new trucks. American Trucking Associations, along with American Truck Dealers and the Zero Emission Transportation Association, are urging lawmakers to consider legislation that would undo the long-standing 12 percent federal excise tax, which can add thousands to new truck purchases. Since the start of t...

Love’s Travel Stops and Country Stores founder Tom Love died yesterday at 85 years old. He grew the company from a single location to more than 600 sites. Love and his wife and business party, Judy, in 1964 invested $5,000 to lease an abandoned service station in rural Oklahoma. Now, the brand operates in 42 states. A statement from the Love family read, in part, “He loved people, and that was evi...

Autonomous trucking company Embark Trucks announced March 3 it is winding down operations and is exploring a liquidation or sale. Embark said it is laying off 70% of its workforce — 230 employees — and is closing offices in Houston and San Francisco. It also indicated to the remaining 30% of the staff that they are being kept on to facilitate the company’s shutdown. Embark has had a rocky history...

Daimler Truck autonomous technology subsidiary Torc Robotics has signed an agreement to acquire Canadian artificial intelligence developer Algolux Inc. Torc cited its interest in Algolux’s intellectual property and expertise in computer vision and machine learning as reasons for the acquisition. Perception technology is critical in enabling Torc’s autonomous trucking system to correctly identify o...

The Federal Highway Administration has issued a final rule for minimum standards of electric vehicle chargers, but has chosen to not yet broaden the rule to include minimum standards for medium- and heavy-duty electric truck charging infrastructure. The agency said it did not want to issue a final rule for these trucks so as to not “pre-empt the pace of the technological innovation.” Learn more ab...

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance has scheduled this year’s International Roadcheck event for May 16-18, CVSA announced Feb. 28. This year’s event will feature an emphasis on anti-lock braking systems and cargo securement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. economy is poised for a short and shallow recession during the second half of the year, but circumstances specific to current economic conditions — including high interest rates, persistent inflation and a cooling housing market — make predictions more challenging than usual, said American Trucking Associations chief economist Bob Costello. Learn more about your ad choices...

Top Republicans on the congressional transportation committees applauded updated policy guidance related to the implementation of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law. A new memorandum from the Federal Highway Administration unveiled Feb. 24 affirmed state agencies’ active role in decision-making affairs specific to infrastructure projects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...

American Trucking Associations’ equipment showcase kicks off today and runs through March 2 in Orlando, Fla. The Technology & Maintenance Council Annual Meeting and Transportation Technology Exhibition features study sessions, discussions, product announcements and the latest in industry innovations on display. This year’s theme is Root Cause Analysis. Go to ttn.ws/2023tmc for Transport Topics’ fu...

Transportation committees on Capitol Hill are planning in-depth examinations of the circumstances surrounding the derailment this month of a freight train in East Palestine, Ohio. With the rail industry contributing a key role to the country’s supply chain, a look at freight connectivity will be among policymakers’ focus during a series of upcoming hearings in the Senate and House. On Feb. 3, abou...

The chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee is stepping up his push for the consideration of autonomous vehicle technology legislation during this session of Congress. Bob Latta, an Ohio Republican, has sought to establish a federal framework for assisting agencies and industries with the deployment of autonomous vehicles, and says other countries are getting ahead. “When we loo...

The national average price of diesel fuel continues to slide, falling 6.8 cents a gallon to settle at $4.367 a gallon, according to Energy information Administration data released Feb. 21. Trucking’s main fuel has shed 16.3 cents over the past two weeks and 24.6 cents since the Jan. 30 reporting period. A gallon now costs 32.1 cents more on average than it did at this time in 2022. Learn more abou...

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issued a few executive orders to accelerate 100% clean energy by 2035 and offer new incentives for heavy-duty electric vehicles. Murphy’s mandates include allocating $70 million to lower upfront consumer costs for buying medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles. Another part of his plan will be to launch activities with stakeholders to adopt the Advanced Clean Cars II i...

BP Products North America is acquiring TravelCenters of America in a $1.3 billion deal announced yesterday. The transaction, valued at $86 per share, expands the reach of BP’s fueling station and off-highway convenience store network to include TravelCenters’ 281 truck stop and travel center locations across 44 states. TravelCenters businesses operate principally under the TA, Petro Stopping Cente...

Florida lawmakers are readying a series of reforms aimed at frivolous lawsuits that target trucking companies and other small businesses in the state. The measures include eliminating one-way attorney fees and fee multipliers for all lines of insurance, modernizing Florida’s bad faith law, and installing protections to shield trucking companies and others from being subject to exorbitant lawsuit d...

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is fighting back after a federal court ruling in September put a stop to its trucks-only tolling initiative following a suit from American Trucking Associations and two motor carriers. The tolls, which were supposed to bolster infrastructure funding, were dismantled shortly after the ruling came down. The state department of transportation filed a brie...

January Class 8 sales were up 34.2% year-over-year. Sales hit 19,932 compared with 14,857 a year earlier. The latest sales figures came off a record high of 29,172 for December. Freightliner led the pack with the most sales, and all the major truck manufacturers saw an increase in sales year-over-year in January. In addition to the major manufacturers, Tesla sold 30 trucks. Learn more about your a...

U.S. Xpress Enterprises says it increased revenue but earnings fell during the fourth quarter of 2022. The truckload carrier posted a net loss of $10.5 million for the three months ending December 31st. That compared with a loss of $4.98 million during the same time the previous year. But total operating revenue increased 2.1% to $542.5 million from $531.6 million. Learn more about your ad choices...

The transportation sector experienced an estimated 20% jump in reported cargo thefts amid changing criminal tactics in 2022, with the largest portion of those coming in the fourth quarter. A study by CargoNet put the estimated total loss value in 2022 at $223 million. The average value of cargo stolen in an event was more than $200,000. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...

North American Class 8 orders in January hit 18,400 units, which was down 13.6% from the same period last year when they were 21,300. That’s according to Act Research. Supply chain issues early last year disrupted normal operations among truck makers, and orders didn’t start picking up steam until about midyear. September peaked at an all-time record of 53,700 units, and orders have been steadily...

Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh is leaving the Biden administration to become executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, according to reports. Walsh would become the first member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet to step down. Deputy Secretary Julie Su is expected to become acting head of the agency. Walsh led the agency as it attempted to require COVID-19 vaccines at wor...