Arkansas Trucking Association

A collaboration between the Arkansas State Police and Arkansas trucking industry is helping address a backlog of trained, professional truck drivers that are urgently needed to fill a deficit of some 80,000 truck driving jobs nationwide.

On April 6, President Biden formally nominated Robin Hutcheson to become administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Hutchenson has served as acting administrator since Jan. 19, and previously served as deputy assistant secretary for safety policy for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Prices at the grocery store and gas pump continue to rise as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports 30 of the 38 commonly traded commodities are priced higher now than a year ago.

Among the most inflated prices are turkey breasts (166.5% higher) and chicken breasts (87.3% higher). Chicken processors like Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s increased production in February, but ongoing supply chain issues and labor shortages only beleaguer their inability to keep up with demand.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues and fuel prices soar at the fastest rate ever recorded by the Energy Department, President Biden on March 31 announced an unprecedented release of crude oil from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

FedEx Corp. founder Fred Smith will become executive chairman effective June 1 and current President and Chief Operating Officer Raj Subramaniam will be promoted to President and CEO.

"Over the course of five decades, Fred built FedEx from the ground up into one of the most iconic and innovative companies the world has ever known," said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. “His contributions have not only benefited our industry; they have helped transform our economy and forever changed the way we all live."

Against the backdrop of three Class 8 trucks on the South Lawn of the White House, representatives from trucking joined President Biden and other leaders on April 4 to tout the administration’s progress on industry workforce initiatives.

President Biden said the programs, “allow aspiring drivers to earn while they learn, while making this essential job more attractive to potential drivers regardless of age, background and gender.”

Online pet supply retailer Chewy has begun operating a portion of its linehaul needs through its own middle mile fleet and network in a bid for more reliable and less expensive transportation, CEO Sumit Singh said on the company's most recent earnings call.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is withdrawing two notices of proposed rulemaking regarding commercial driver’s licenses due to concerns from industry stakeholders.

One rule would have allowed states to use a third-party skills test examiner to administer the commercial driver’s license skills test to applicants to whom they had also provided skills training. However, some states worried about potential fraud with no mechanisms in place to verify a person taking the knowledge test in one jurisdiction is in fact the same person taking the skills test in another and the potential for conflict of interest or examiner bias.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College were selected as education partners for Amazon’s Career Choice program, which provides Amazon’s hourly employees in central Arkansas with access to more than 180 accredited degree programs.

During this year’s Operation Safe Driver Week, July 10-16, law enforcement in the U.S., Canada and Mexico will be on roadways issuing warnings and citations to commercial motor vehicle and passenger vehicle drivers engaging in unsafe driving behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving, following too closely, improper lane change, drunk or drugged driving, etc.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced the launch of Clean Transport, a new program that will allow its customers to acquire carbon offset credits equivalent to the emissions created by their shipments.

“J.B. Hunt is committed to leading the industry toward a low-carbon future,” said Craig Harper, chief sustainability officer and executive vice president at J.B. Hunt. “Many of our customers are working towards short- and long-term sustainability goals, and Clean Transport will serve as a great extension of the efforts they’re already taking to reduce the carbon footprint of their supply chain.”

New timelines have been announced for three Tesla Inc. products, including an electric semi.

“We’ll be in production with Cybertruck next year, we’ll be in production with the Roadster, and with Semi,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on stage at the company’s “Cyber Rodeo” on April 7 in Austin, Texas.