Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Nov. 13, 2023:
Teamsters gain more traction at 10 Roads Express
Drivers at 10 Roads Express (CCJ Top 250, No. 39) at three terminals in Iowa and Nebraska have voted to join the Teamsters, the union announced Nov. 9.
The 36 drivers who joined the Teamsters operate out of locations in Carter Lake, Iowa; Council Bluffs, Iowa; and Omaha, Nebraska. 10 Roads Express is headquartered in Carter Lake, where the two days of voting in the union election took place.
10 Roads Express declined to comment on the drivers’ decision to unionize and the Teamsters’ efforts within the company.
This organizing effort comes after other votes to join the union at 10 Roads earlier this year in Kansas as part of a national organizing effort by the Teamsters at the company. In June, 10 Roads drivers at the company's Edgerton and Colby, Kansas, terminals voted to join the union – the first votes in what was then a new national organizing effort by the Teamsters at the company.
[Related: Another Top 250 carrier unionizes]
Iowa extends harvest proclamation increasing weight limits another month
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has once again extended the state’s harvest proclamation, allowing haulers of certain commodities to be overweight on certain highways.
The proclamation is effective through Dec. 11 and allows trucks transporting corn, soybeans, hay, straw, silage, stover, fertilizer (dry, liquid and gas), and manure (dry and liquid) to be overweight, up to 90,000 pounds gross, without a permit.
The waiver is applicable to loads transported on all highways within Iowa (excluding the interstate system) and those which do not exceed a maximum of 90,000 pounds gross weight. Other stipulations that must be met to take advantage of the exemption:
- The load cannot exceed the maximum axle weight limit determined under the non-primary highway maximum gross weight table in Iowa Code § 321.463 (6) (a) and (b) by more than 12.5%
- The load cannot exceed the legal maximum axle weight limit of 20,000 pounds
- Drivers must comply with posted weight limits on roads and bridges
[Related: Certain Iowa ag haulers get temporary weight exemption]
Drivewyze expands into eastern Canada
Weigh station bypass service Drivewyze has announced its PreClear service is now available in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, joining Ontario and Alberta, which also have Drivewyze PreClear bypass service in their provinces.
The service is also available in 44 U.S. states, combining to offer bypass opportunities at more than 900 locations.
The Newfoundland and Labrador service allows all Canadian plated subscribed trucks to have bypass opportunities at six locations, serving nine sites, throughout the province, including:
- Channel-Port aux Basques Hwy-1 NB
- Channel-Port aux Basques Hwy-1 SB
- Foxtrap Hwy-1 SB
- Goobies Hwy-1 NB
- Goobies Hwy-1 SB
- Grand Falls-Windsor Hwy-1 SB
- Pynn’s Brook Hwy-1 NB
- Pynn’s Brook Hwy-1 SB
- Labrador West Route 500 WB
Carriers are rewarded for their safety ratings with weigh station bypass privileges. A bypass means trucks over 4,500 kg (9,920 lbs) do not have to enter weigh stations, saving trucking companies time and money by reducing delays and associated fuel costs when a truck pulls in and out of a station.
Brian Mofford, Drivewyze’s VP of Government Experience, said the bypass sites represent the busiest areas for truck traffic, especially the Foxtrap location, which is just outside of St. John’s. “Highway 1 is the main thoroughfare across the Island, and most trucks take this route,” he said.
