Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, July 26, 2023:
Teamster leadership okays new deal with TForce
Teamsters local leaders unanimously endorsed the new tentative agreement between the Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee (TNFINC) and TForce Freight on Monday, ensuring a strike that was set to kickoff Monday is unlikely to take place. The more than 7,000 membership union previously had authorized a strike at TForce Freight, formerly UPS Freight and now a subsidiary of TFI International (CCJ Top 250, No. 4), if the two sides didn't reach an agreement by the July 31 expiration of their contract.
The contract will now go to the membership for ratification, and includes boosts wages (the highest wage increases in the history of the Teamsters’ national freight contract), improved benefits and job protections for union members.
"The gains achieved over the next five years by our members at TForce will pave the way for the entire freight industry,” said Sean M. O’Brien, Teamsters General President and TNFINC Chair. “Teamsters have again demonstrated that our tenacious, fighting spirit is the key to securing the best contracts.”
Upon approval, the agreement will go into effect August 1, 2023, and expire July 31, 2028. The Teamsters represent approximately 7,800 local cartage drivers, road drivers, and clerical workers with TForce Freight at 126 local unions.
FMCSA revokes three ELDs
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on Tuesday removed All Truckers ELD, PrimELD and Secure ELD devices from its list of registered Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) and placed these ELDs on the Revoked Devices list due effective July 25 to the companies’ failure to meet the minimum requirements established in 49 CFR part 395, subpart B, appendix A.
Motor carriers using an affected device must discontinue use and revert to paper logs or logging software to record required hours of service data, and replace the revoked ELD with a compliant one before Sept. 23. Beginning Sept. 23, 2023, motor carriers who continue to use the revoked devices listed above would be considered to be operating without an ELD. Safety officials who encounter a driver using a revoked device on or after September 23, 2023 can place the driver out of service.
Reached by CCJ on Tuesday, PrimELD said via email it was "trying to restore compliance with FMCSA."
No contact information for All Truckers ELD was available and its website had been taken down. Secure ELD did not reply.
The batch dropped from FMCA's registry this week brings the total number of revoked ELDs this year to seven.
Titanium Transportation Group expands in Jacksonville
Titanium Transportation Group has secured a strategic brokerage office location in Jacksonville, Florida, marking the company’s seventh location in the U.S. brokerage services business.
"Today’s announcement re-affirms our commitment to U.S. expansion in our asset-light brokerage business and places us in a strong position to achieve our goal of opening 10 U.S. locations by the end of 2024," said Titanium Transportation Group CEO Ted Daniel. "Brokerage services continue to be an attractive driver of our business and we are committed to strategically expanding our footprint. Jacksonville has a strong manufacturing sector with proximity to the I-95 and I-10 corridor, making it an ideal location for expansion. By leveraging our technology and systems, in addition to low start-up costs, our U.S. brokerage expansion will drive strong return on invested capital and organic growth.”
Titanium Transportation operations in Jacksonville are expected to start during the first quarter of 2024.
