Safety

Beginning Jan. 1, truck drivers being administered random pre-employment and post-accident drug tests will be screened for four additional synthetic opioids, the highly addictive drugs that likely will require medical experts to consider prescriptions that balance pain mitigation with safety performance.

WASHINGTON — A fast-approaching mandate on electronic logging devices would enhance safety across the trucking and freight sectors, Democrats on the House Small Business Committee said Nov. 29.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking approval from the White House Office of Management and Budget to study the safety effects of excessive motor carrier operator work commutes — primarily those exceeding 150 minutes.

Video: Cummins' Tim Proctor, left, talks with TT's Roger Gilroy about meeting the fuel economy needs of customers who are concerned about global warming.

Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive additional funds to help agencies there pay for highway infrastructure that was damaged by back-to-back hurricanes in September, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Nov. 22.

With the electronic logging device mandate quickly approaching, websites for ELD information and reviews have emerged to help carriers sift through the multitude of systems on the market and find the right fit for their operations.

After years of anticipation and debate, the federal mandate of electronic logging devices is nearly here.

To ease the trucking industry’s transition to the federal electronic logging device mandate, citations issued between Dec. 18 and April 1 for failure to comply with the new law will not be posted to motor carriers’ safety profiles. But carriers still could be fined, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration officials said Nov. 20.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Autonomous heavy trucks not only show promise to reduce crashes, but they also offer a potential to improve cargo security and driver recruitment, according to executives speaking here at a recent national safety and security conference sponsored by American Trucking Associations.