Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025:
ATRI calls for fleets to provide entry-level driver data for research update
The American Transportation Research Institute on Tuesday issued a call for motor carrier participation in new research analyzing the impacts of new entrant truck driver training on safety and retention.
The study will serve as an update to research published by ATRI in 2008 and, this time around, will focus on the efficacy of FMCSA’s Entry-Level Driver Training requirements.
Participating carriers are required to submit the following data points for each of their new-entrant drivers:
- Demographics – days employed, CDL training provider, total miles driven, etc.
- Driver-specific safety events – crashes, select violations, and select telematic events
For the purposes of the research, new entrants are defined as CDL drivers who have been driving professionally for 3 weeks to 24 months, and whose first professional truck driving job was with your carrier (i.e., they had no prior truck driving employer). Any driver who has met this definition since March 2022 could be included in the data collection.
In addition, participating motor carriers will be asked to report fleetwide averages for training and retention metrics such as hours of driving with a trainer and nights home per week.
Participating carriers must have employed a minimum of 25 new entrant drivers in the requested time period (March 2022 – August 2025). All data is strictly confidential, and ATRI is prepared to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement for participation in this research. All data will be anonymized and published in aggregate form only.
Motor carriers interested in participating can complete the motor carrier questionnaire here.
House passes bill to ease transition of military vets into trucking
A bill introduced earlier this year and cleared by the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee to strengthen both veteran employment opportunities and the American supply chain workforce has now passed the U.S. House and will move on to the Senate.
The Transitioning Retiring And New Service Members to Port, Ocean, Rail, and Truck (TRANSPORT) Jobs Act directs the Secretary of Transportation to work with other federal agencies to develop and release a plan that will identify:
- Barriers veterans face when searching for employment, during the hiring process, or in training to become supply chain employees
- Challenges supply chain employers face when recruiting, hiring, or retaining veterans
- Regulatory burdens employers face in the hiring of supply chain employees, especially for veterans
- Regions of the United States which have the greatest workforce need for supply chain employees
- Barriers and industry trends that directly or indirectly discourage veterans from pursuing, attaining, and remaining in supply chain careers
The plan should also highlight the specific knowledge, skills and abilities veterans possess that are critical for supply chain careers and any competency gaps that should be addressed, opportunities to expand or enhance existing initiatives for veterans to become supply chain employees, and ways to improve supply chain employer outreach programs and enhance existing training, mentorship, education, and advancement programs that would increase the participation and engagement of veterans in the supply chain workforce.
Finally, the plan should, in consultation with transportation industry stakeholders, recommend specific short- and long-term actions the DOT, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or the Department of Labor can take to help veterans become supply chain employees.
"No one is better trained or more mission-focused than our veterans, yet too many are left struggling to find meaningful employment after leaving the military," bill sponsor Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Michigan) said when he introduced the bill. "It’s time we tear down the roadblocks that stand between those who served and the jobs that need doing in our economy. The TRANSPORT Jobs Act is a critical first step in that process and achieves two goals at once -- supporting our veterans and strengthening our nation’s supply chain."
FMCSA ending acceptance of paper payments
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will no longer accept paper payments, such as checks or money orders, for any agency transactions, including fees for initial application of operating authority registration, reinstatement or legal name changes, civil penalty payments, and other fee-based transactions, effective Sept. 30.
FMCSA said it has actively engaged with stakeholders over the past several weeks to ensure broad awareness of this change and to support a smooth transition. The transition aligns with an Executive Order from President Donald Trump that mandated “the transition to electronic payments for all Federal disbursements and receipts by digitizing payments to the extent permissible under applicable law.”
Beginning Sept. 30, 2025:
- FMCSA will not process paper payments (such as checks and money orders) for any transactions
- Stakeholders must provide debit or credit card information to make payment
- For financial responsibility (insurance filing fees), entities should refer to their monthly invoice for instructions
- For operating authority registration related fees such as initial applications, name changes, and reinstatements, entities should visit the FMCSA registration website
Any checks received by the agency after the deadline will not be processed and will be returned, potentially delaying services. If submitting a paper application, applicants must complete the credit card information at the bottom of the form before submitting.
