News

Message from Connecticut DOT The Route 8 Commodore Hull Bridge will be open for overweight permitted travel, effective Oct. 29. This includes tractor-trailer combinations up to 160,000 pounds on 8 axles, divisible loads, and self-propelled cranes. The announcement is posted in the Bulletin section of Connecticut DOT’s OS/OW permit site, which carriers connect to through…

From the Scopelitis Firm. On October 3, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Oliveira v. New Prime Inc ., a case concerning the use of arbitration to resolve disputes with owner-operators. The plaintiff, who worked as an owner-operator, alleges that New Prime “misclassified” him as an independent contractor but in fact treated him…

From Bloomberg via Transport Topics. Crude posted the biggest decline in eight weeks as a risk-off sentiment spread through global markets. Futures tumbled 3% in New York on Oct. 11. Investors eyed a sixth day of U.S. equity losses along with heightened volatility. Meanwhile, domestic crude stockpiles rose for a third straight week as refineries…

From FreightWaves. As the volatility in oil prices continue, there have been different opinions on its future with some predicting a three digit rate in a few years while a few hopeful of a downturn. Banking major Barclays has a rather interesting take on the situation, reasoning out that the prices would fall to around…

From Transport Topics. Four House Democrats have asked the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General to investigate a glider truck study by a Tennessee Tech University researcher. The study already is the subject of a research misconduct investigation by the university. “Despite conclusions suggesting that glider vehicles emitted similar levels of pollution as conventional vehicles, it…

MTAC is pleased to announce that Curtis Thomas, who is the Regional Field Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), will be speaking during the afternoon session of the MTAC Annual Meeting. In this role, Mr. Thomas is responsible for leadership, oversight, training effectiveness, and coordination of policy and program delivery of a…

Message from the Connecticut DMV. The Connecticut International Registration Plan (IRP) is implementing a new electronic system through which it will process applications. The anticipated implementation is mid-December 2018. While we don’t expect any significant inconvenience as a result of this transition, we thank you in advance for your patience and cooperation during the period when…

MTAC has filed comments with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in response to their Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding federal Hours of Service (HOS) rules. In the ANPRM, FMCSA asks for responses to several questions. MTAC’s comments are responses to many of those questions, and were formed from information provided by…

By Bob Pitcher, State Laws Newsletter Annual registration for the Unified Carrier Registration program by motor carriers and other businesses subject to it commonly begins on October 1 for the following year. Not this time! Like last year, with the 2018 registration season, 2019 registration has been delayed. And for the same reason: the Federal…

The American Transportation Research Institute today released the findings of its 2018 update to An Analysis of the Operational Costs of Trucking. Using financial data provided directly by motor carriers throughout the country, this research documents and analyzes trucking costs from 2008 through 2017 – providing trucking industry stakeholders with a high-level benchmarking tool, and…