Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Sept. 20, 2024:
House committee passes anti-freight fraud bill
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday approved two pieces of legislation related to trucking safety.
One bill, the Household Goods Shipping Consumer Protection Act, aims to combat freight fraud by clarifying the authority of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to assess civil penalties for violations of laws and regulations. It also requires that brokers, freight forwarders, and carriers provide a valid business address to FMCSA in order to register for authority.
The passage of the bill by the committee was applauded by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.
"Freight fraud committed by criminals and scam artists has been devastating to many small business truckers simply trying to make a living in a tough freight market,” said OOIDA President Todd Spencer. “OOIDA and the 150,000 small-business truckers we represent applaud the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee for its bipartisan approach in providing FMCSA better tools to root out fraudulent actors, which are also harmful to consumers and highway safety.”
The bill has been endorsed by the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), American Trucking Associations’ Moving & Storage Conference (ATA-MSC), OOIDA, the National Association of Small Trucking Companies (NASTC), Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), Institute for Safer Trucking (IST) and Road Safe America.
“Because of the broad industry support for these commonsense reforms, we hope this legislation will move to the full House of Representatives for a vote without delay,” OOIDA’s Spencer added.
The committee also passed the Motor Carrier Safety Screening Modernization Act, which would require FMCSA to establish guidelines for states to follow in reviewing challenges against citations and violations. Currently, states have the authority to establish their own review process.
According to OOIDA, nearly all states “have established a system where a review is conducted by the same person or agency who issued the violation, which creates an inherent conflict of interest.” The bill would require that a “Request for Data Review,” or “DataQ,” is adjudicated by someone other than the officer that issued the citation.
Both bills will move to the full House floor for consideration.
[Related: FMCSA pleads with Congress for more power to punish brokered-freight fraudsters]
J.B. Hunt testing nat-gas Cummins engine
J.B. Hunt is testing a truck equipped with the new Cummins X15N engine through a new Clean Energy program.Clean Energy
Renewable natural gas provider Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is launching a program to allow heavy-duty fleets to operate a truck equipped with the new Cummins X15N engine. The first company to participate in the program is J.B. Hunt (CCJ Top 250, No. 3).
The 2025 Peterbilt 579 day-cab tractor, branded in Clean Energy’s signature green and equipped with Cummins’ 15-liter X15N natural gas engine, will be available for fleets to test on their normal routes in up to two-week intervals. The fleets operating the demo truck will be able to utilize Clean Energy’s fueling infrastructure, which consists of more than 600 stations across North America, 200 of which have public tractor-trailer access.
“We are honored to have our esteemed collaborators at J.B. Hunt kick off our X15N demo truck program,” said Andrew Littlefair, president and CEO of Clean Energy. “J.B. Hunt is committed to reducing its carbon footprint, and trialing our new renewable natural gas truck will allow them to experience the engine’s impressive capabilities which can meet any demand and has the potential to decarbonize part of its operations.”
J.B. Hunt has worked closely with OEMs, fuel suppliers and infrastructure developers for more than 15 years to study the economic and operational viability of natural-gas powered vehicles and their potential impact on GHG reductions. Today, the company operates more than 180 RNG-powered vehicles on behalf of customers.
The new Cummins X15N engine is currently being tested by some of the country’s biggest and most demanding fleets, and orders have already begun. It is receiving high praise for its capability to haul heavy loads for a 700-plus mile range and is delivering on similar power and torque to its diesel counterpart the X15.
Clean Energy’s X15N demo truck program is expected to run through 2025 or longer as demand and interest grows. The truck will make its way through large and medium size heavy-duty trucking companies in California, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida and states in between.
Teamsters not giving presidential endorsement
After months of internal polling of rank-and-file members, the General Executive Board of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union has decided not to endorse any candidate for president in 2024.
The union said it “was left with few commitments on top Teamsters issues from either former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris – and found no definitive support among members for either party’s nominee.”
Polling data released by the Teamsters suggested strong support for former President Trump since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July. Prior to that, however, Teamsters polling indicated support for Biden.
From April 9-July 3, nearly 300 Teamsters local unions nationwide conducted town halls soliciting endorsement preferences from members via straw polls. The in-person voting was held prior to Biden’s withdrawal from the race. The Teamsters’ polling data shows members backed Biden 44.3% to Trump’s 36.3%.
Following the Republican National Convention and Biden’s campaign exit, the Teamsters commissioned a national electronic poll of its 1.3 million members, overseen by an independent third party. During a voting window from July 24-Sept. 15, rank-and-file Teamsters voted 59.6% for the union to endorse Trump, compared to 34% for Harris.
In the past week, following the Democratic National Convention and recent Presidential debate, the Teamsters commissioned independent polling firm Lake Research Partners to conduct the union’s final national survey. In the poll ending Sept. 15, Teamsters selected Trump by 58% for endorsement over 31% for Harris.
“The Teamsters thank all candidates for meeting with members face-to-face during our unprecedented roundtables,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business. We sought commitments from both Trump and Harris not to interfere in critical union campaigns or core Teamsters industries – and to honor our members’ right to strike – but were unable to secure those pledges.”
