Truck drivers play an essential role in the world economy, but life isn’t easy for them. Drivers face a wide variety of issues and challenges that affect both them and the industry as a whole. For example, trucker issues contributed to the driver shortage, as qualified drivers leave the industry because of low pay and difficult working conditions. Other truck driver challenges include issues related to health and wellness. Truckers must deal with a lack of exercise, poor diet, extended periods without bathroom breaks, eye strain, cramped conditions, poor sleep — not to mention the mental toll of being away from home and family for days at a time. Though many drivers earn good wages, the physical and mental stress isn’t always worth it to them.
Check back here for the latest news and insights on driver issues, or visit our Trucking Industry News archive to find additional information.
OOIDA made its case before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as it fights alone against California’s AB5 applying to trucking.
The CEO of Truckstop said in an interview that fighting freight fraud is challenging given that nobody goes to jail over it.
Freight fraud was the consistent theme at the opening session of the annual meeting of freight brokerage’s biggest group, the Transportation Intermediaries Association.
Mack Trucks went big to introduce its new long-haul truck, the Pioneer, launching it in New York City.
Truck transportation jobs in March rose by the largest amount since the start of 2022.
Independent owner-operator pay rose in 2024 but not by a lot, according to the president of ATBS.
Proficient Auto Logistics has acquired a Pennsylvania auto hauler.
A truck driver has won a victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that traces back to a failed marijuana test.
Federal transportation officials at the Mid-America Trucking Show discussed a deregulatory approach that aligns with the Trump administration’s policy of eliminating 10 regulations for every new one introduced.
A Rochester, New York-area truck company owner got almost four years in prison for lying to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
On panels for both small and large carriers, the talk at the Truckload Carriers Association was of coping with a freight recession as a turnaround remains elusive.
American Trucking Associations economist Bob Costello foresees negative impacts on freight markets from new port fees on Chinese ships calling at U.S. ports.
RXO is involved in a legal case that could become another precedent in the question over when brokers can be held liable after a theft or accident.
The bankruptcy of Kal Freight will be completed through Chapter 11, after creditors reached a settlement.
TransForce has a new CEO, and the supplier of drivers is looking to expand into smaller fleets.
Kal Freight is likely to be going out of business, but just how that will happen is a subject of dispute in bankruptcy court.
Truck transportation employment continued to fall in February and is now more than 15,000 jobs below year-ago numbers.
With success in cutting down the number of overweight trucks on a key highway, New York City looks to expand use of weigh-in-motion technology around the state.
New England may be the first location in the country to see an impact from the tariff on imported Canadian oil.
A large stretch of interstate 40 in North Caroline, shut by Hurricane Helene, is reopening this weekend.
The numbers in Canadian bank BMO’s quarterly earnings suggest credit problems in trucking may have hit bottom.
The trucking industry has been hit with another nuclear verdict, this time in Los Angeles.
The State of Freight webinar for February focused on the market uncertainty brought about by the first month of the presidency of Donald Trump.
LTL carrier XPO has filed suit against two workers who had a noncompete but went to Central Transport.
Driver recruiting specialist Tenstreet announced Monday it has acquired driver visibility and communications platform TextLocate.
PS Logistics hangs on to its debt rating at Moody’s, giving a look at the finances of the privately held flatbed operator.
Ryder System’s outlook doesn’t see a lot of gains from a stronger freight market, so it is looking to more structural changes.
New CEO Reid Spitz said 90% of HDVI’s customers saw improvements in key safety metrics like speeding or harsh braking in their first year working with the company.
With the Jack Cooper closing set to roil the market for auto haulers, Proficient met analysts on a momentous day.
Jack Cooper’s end came just a few months after it was reportedly talking about some form of financial support from GM.
Auto hauler Jack Cooper is closing after recent contract difficulties with Ford and GM.
The Jack Cooper-GM relationship has been severed, with GM no longer providing cars to the auto hauler.
The annual revision to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ employment report showed a lot fewer jobs in truck transportation than earlier thought.
RXO’s stock price was pummeled Wednesday after the release of its earnings
Two U.S. senators are asking Ford to explain why it canceled its contract with auto hauler Jack Cooper.
Uber Freight recorded its ninth consecutive quarter of negative EBITDA.
A Georgia-based carrier has filed for bankruptcy protection, citing a weak freight market.
The ping-pong question of how the National Labor Relations Board defines independent contractors is on hold, for now, in a key trucking case.
In the first State of Freight webinar for the year, intermodal and politics were on the agenda.
Love’s Travel Stops built a new travel center in California even as diesel was targeted for phase-out; now that’s not an issue.
Western Express prevailed in federal appellate court in a case involving a Virginia wreck from 2018.
Trucking-focused bank Triumph Financial had a solid EBITDA performance at its Payments unit, but a lower bottom line.
In an Illinois case involving gathering biometric data from truck drivers, telematics provider Lytx has settled for $4.25 million.
Bombshell in Louisiana: a guilty plea in staged accident murder and an accusation against two others.
Rig on Wheels CEO Kameel Gaines will celebrate 15 years of recruiting truck drivers with a virtual event on Jan. 24.
A New Mexico carrier came up short in its lawsuit against the Biden administration’s independent contractor rule.
In a case involving 3PL giant TQL, the Supreme Court has again chosen not to review the issue of whether a broker is liable when a carrier it hires is held liable in an accident or other incident.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a slight decline in truck transportation employment in December, wrapping up a down year in the sector.
Jack Cooper has lost its contract to haul vehicles for Ford Motor Co.
OOIDA is looking at the issue of leased independent owner-operators as it keeps up its legal fight against AB5 in California.
Chris Jamroz doesn’t mince words about what he found at Roadrunner, but a new ownership structure launches its next phase
Surveying the issues in the strike against Amazon by the Teamsters union and defining an “employee” can get tricky.
Even though actual congestion hours decreased, a jump in truck operating costs – including a 12% increase in driver compensation – drove record costs attributed to congestion.
The Teamsters are making gains at Amazon and among the company’s direct service providers, but the e-commerce retailer says not so fast.
A controversial drug-testing regulation affecting truck drivers and motor carriers is now scheduled for release under the Trump administration.
TQL isn’t satisfied with its victory in a federal appeals court; it wants the Supreme Court to take up the question of broker liability.
The latest indictments in the Louisiana staged accident case have pulled in two attorneys and two New Orleans law firms and eight persons in total.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation is launching a $31 million project to increase truck parking statewide.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined previously to review cases involving the question of broker liability after serious trucking accidents but has been asked to weigh in again.
The Rhode Island truck tolling plan got a mixed verdict in a federal appeals court but has new life.
Bureau of Labor Statistics data on truck transportation jobs showed one of the bigger gains in a long time in November.
TriumphPay is in the middle of a rollout of LoadPay, a payment tool aimed at owner-operators.
Regulators are modifying their truck-crash data system but without a change owner-operators contend would have ensured drivers are not unfairly targeted.
Federal regulators are considering a waiver that carries potential cost savings for truck drivers and agricultural aircraft operators.
MyMechanic’s newly appointed president, James Lovecamp, recently spoke with FreightWaves on persistent issues in maintenance and repair.
Trailer manufacturer Great Dane has reached a settlement with the DOJ over the company’s hiring practices for noncitizens who are in the U.S. legally.
A former driver for Walmart has won an almost $35 million verdict against Walmart after he was fired following an injury.
Echo Global has been removed as a defendant in a fatal crash case, another victory for brokers seeking to avoid liability.
Innovative Logistics Group’s Adam Wingfield says new enforcement power over truckers with drug violations could be a freight capacity game-changer.
At FreightWaves’ F3: Future of Freight Festival, trucking-focused attorney Matthew Leffler said the $100 million-plus Werner case is “the most important case facing the trucking industry now.”
In a new rulemaking governing broker-motor carrier contracts, regulators stop short of an out-right ban on transparency waivers sought by truckers.
Safety and trucking capacity changes resulting from new CDL restrictions could hinge on how effective each state is in implementing the regulation.
A Florida jury awarded $125 million in punitive damages and $16.5 million in other damages against a small trucking company that no longer exists.
California’s attorney general’s office has filed a brief against OOIDA’s attempts to block the AB5 independent contractor law from the state’s trucking sector.
Proficient Auto Logistics had warned of a weak quarter. The numbers released Friday proved that projection correct.
A group with trucking interests as a key driver has been formed in Texas to push new tort reform.
The number of truck transportation jobs in the U.S., as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is only slightly off from where it was a year ago.
Roughly 6% of CDL holders may be involved in predatory lease contracts with their carriers, according to a federal task force.
Uber Freight posted a wider EBITDA loss but showed improvement in revenue in the third quarter.
A federally authorized study on driver retention finds turnover results from trucking companies’ economically driven policies.
Werner CEO Derek Leathers delivered a surprisingly positive outlook for the trucking market.
Interstate traffic in North Carolina and Tennessee is still dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Helene.
DHL is signing up for hydrogen trucks to be used in Illinois.
October’s SONAR webinar looked at key factors in earning the Shipper of Choice distinction.
Trucking and marijuana use was the background issue in arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this week regarding a driver who was dismissed for failing a THC test even though he hadn’t used marijuana.
The TriumphPay payments network turned in a positive EBITDA performance in Q3, a key benchmark for the company.
The annual ATRI survey of top industry concerns reveals a big gap between what drivers and carriers worry about.
OOIDA and load board operator have teamed up in a deal that will give OOIDA members a discount.
A demand spike in truckload markets can leave independent drivers particularly vulnerable to fraud and theft.
Recent Department of Labor action against logistics company Cargomatic is part of a broader crackdown against what the Biden administration calls “coercive provisions” in employment contracts.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed a small drop in trucking jobs in September but an enormous one at warehouses.
A second front will be opened in the legal battle over whether Amazon is a joint employer of drivers along with its delivery service partners.
Major interstate closures are continuing in both North Carolina and Tennessee after Hurricane Helene.
A driver blew the whistle on a trucking company that fired him for refusing to haul an oversized load without a safety escort.
Congress has approved legislation to expand opportunities for veterans looking to start a truck driving career.
Data released by CVSA on International Roadcheck supports earlier numbers that suggest plenty of drivers stayed home.
A deal between Relay Payments and Love’s Travel Stops means the payments provider will cover about 75% of the diesel market.
A decertification effort by a small group of unionized workers at a Werner unit in New Jersey has ousted the United Food & Commercial Workers union a year after it was certified.
The basic per diem rate allowed by the IRS for payments to transportation workers is rising by $11 in fiscal year 2025.
Technology alone is not enough to retain drivers, according to a panel at Trimble’s technology conference Insight. Human intervention still matters.
