Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024:
Trucking Cares Foundation donates $25K to fight human trafficking
The Trucking Cares Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Trucking Associations, last week donated $25,000 to TAT, formerly known as Truckers Against Trafficking.
“The depravity of human trafficking is unfathomable. By partnering with law enforcement, motor carriers and truck drivers can vastly expand the reach of rescue efforts, bringing eyes and ears to every corner of the country,” said American Trucking Associations Senior Vice President of Federation Relations John Lynch. “The training that TAT provides harnesses truck drivers’ innate sense of compassion and routine vigilance to help them spot victims along their routes over the nation’s highways. This partnership has saved countless victims from exploitation. The Trucking Cares Foundation is proud to support TAT’s lifesaving mission through this donation.”
TAT is a nonprofit organization that educates, equips, empowers, and mobilizes members of the transportation industry to combat human trafficking. TAT also partners with law enforcement and government agencies to facilitate the investigation of human trafficking in order to aid in the rescue of victims and arrest of perpetrators.
To date, 1,824,807 transportation and law enforcement professionals have received TAT training.
“We are incredibly grateful for partners like the Trucking Cares Foundation, who championed this work early on and has faithfully grown in engagement and action over the years,” said TAT Executive Director Esther Goetsch. “Thanks to their faithful support, TAT can continue developing new training resources, assist companies in implementing more effective anti-trafficking initiatives, and, most importantly, reach more critical front-line workers with this life-saving information.”
California advances new driverless tech regulations
Two bills that include autonomous vehicle safety legislation have cleared procedural votes in the California Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees, as well as their chambers of origin, and now head to floor votes.
AB 3061, introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-17), would require autonomous vehicle (AV) companies to publicly report any vehicle collisions, traffic violations, disengagements, assaults, or harassment involving their vehicles to the Dept. of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The bill is critical to ensuring public transparency and accountability, especially as AV companies fail to publicly report major incidents on California roads. The California DMV has not tracked at-fault data for collisions involving AVs for several years.
AB 2286, introduced by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-4), would require a trained human operator behind the wheel of self-driving trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds and force companies in California to publicly report any vehicle collisions, traffic violations, disengagements, assaults, or harassment involving their vehicles to the DMV.
Penske debuts new used truck auction site
Penske Used Trucks has launched an online auction platform for used vehicles. This new auction site is designed to streamline the commercial equipment-buying process, providing a seamless and intuitive interface that allows buyers to easily find and bid on a wide selection of quality equipment from Penske.Auctions are held weekly, starting every Tuesday at 8 a.m. EST and ending on Thursday at 11:30 a.m. EST. The platform will feature a range of vehicles, including light and medium duty trucks, heavy duty tractors, semi-trailers, and specialized equipment.
To participate in the auctions, buyers must create an account on the Penske Used Trucks Auction site. Registration provides access to the platform and its benefits. For more information and to create a registered auction site account, visit www.penskeusedtrucks.com/auction.
