Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025:
FMCSA's Sue Lawless to join Scopelitis law firm
National transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary announced Tuesday that Sue Lawless, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Acting Deputy Administrator and Chief Safety Officer, will join the law firm as its newest attorney on Oct. 1.
The firm said Lawless will help lead its DOT Safety practice in conjunction with partners, Tim Wiseman and Chris Eckhart, who are both based in the firm’s Indianapolis office. Lawless will be based out of the Scopelitis firm’s Washington, D.C., office, where she will join Prasad Sharma, former ATA general counsel, and Kim Mann, a past president of the Transportation Lawyers Association.
“Sue has been a leader on the front lines in shaping policy and influencing the law within the trucking industry for many years,” said Scopelitis President Greg Feary. “Scopelitis is quite fortunate to gain Sue’s superior foresight, skill, and knowledge. She is a perfect addition to our D.C. office.”
Prior to serving as the FMCSA’s Chief Safety Officer, Lawless served as the Director of FMCSA’s Motor Carrier, Driver, and Vehicle Standards Division. Lawless also formerly served as FMCSA’s Assistant Chief Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation.
Lawless received a Bachelor of Arts degree from McDaniel College and a law degree from the University of Baltimore.
FMCSA extends HOS waiver for Oregon wildfires
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended an emergency declaration that was previously issued by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek in response to wildfires in the state.
Kotek’s declaration allowed the Oregon Department of Transportation to issue an emergency waiver for truck drivers providing direct assistance to the emergency.
That waiver exempted truck drivers responding to the wildfires from Parts 395.3 and 395.5 of the hours-of-service regulations. It was originally set to expire on July 30.
On July 29, FMCSA determined that an emergency existed that warranted the extension of the governor’s emergency declaration.
The regulatory relief under the extension of the declaration applies regardless of the origin of the trip, so long as the carrier or driver is providing direct assistance to the state of Oregon. Direct assistance does not include transportation related to long-term rehabilitation of damaged physical infrastructure after the initial threat to life and property has passed, nor does it include routine commercial deliveries, including mixed loads with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of the declaration, FMCSA said.
With the extension, the waiver is now effective through Aug. 30, or until the end of the emergency -- whichever is earlier.
[Related: Oregon wildfires prompt HOS waiver for relief efforts]
NMFTA assumes control of Scheduling Standards Consortium
The National Motor Freight Traffic Association Inc. (NMFTA) announced Tuesday that it has assumed management of the Scheduling Standards Consortium (SSC).
SSC will now be part of NMFTA’s Digital Standards Development Council (DSDC) -- an industry-led initiative that includes both the Digital Less-than-Truckload (LTL) Council and the Digital Full Truckload (FTL) Council.
NMFTA assuming control of the SSC will build on its efforts to create standards that improve communication between carriers, shippers, technology providers, and third-party logistics providers (3PLs), the association said, by creating and sharing application programming interfaces (APIs) for a fully digital logistics process.
“NMFTA chose to move forward with this strategic and very intentional obtainment for a more streamlined and logistics-focused process that provides secure and dependable results,” said Debbie Sparks, executive director for NMFTA. “The current SSC members are enthusiastic about this strategy and champions our effort to ensure digital standards are developed.”
NMFTA’s digital efforts have mainly been recognized in the LTL space. In October of 2022, the association launched a first-of-its-kind electronic bill of lading (eBOL) standard, adopted by many LTL shipping companies.
Partnering with the SSC is a key opportunity to boost the association’s digitization efforts, engage industry leaders, and share knowledge that improves ease of use and visibility across the supply chain.
The SSC was formed in 2022 by J.B. Hunt Transport (CCJ Top 250, No. 3), Uber Freight and Convoy to help simplify the integration of systems across the fragmented ecosystem between shippers, carriers, and 3PLs to create a more efficient appointment scheduling process.
“The SSC was founded to create efficiency for everyone in the logistics industry,” said Stuart Scott, chairman of the Digital FTL Council and executive vice president and chief information officer for J.B. Hunt. “Given NMFTA’s expertise and history in standards development, it was an easy choice to seamlessly transition. J.B. Hunt and several other SSC council members are joining the Digital FTL Council to further our partnership and bring more digital standards to the logistics industry.”
