UPDATED June 26, 2014: YRC Freight has submitted a proposed change of operations to the IBT which would re-open distribution centers in Memphis and Houston, and reclassify Seattle as a distribution center. The change will be heard on July 23, and the company wants implementation on August 17.

One effect of this change would be to allow the use of purchased transportation in and out of these three terminals.

119 dock, switcher, road, mechanic, and office jobs will be affected. Losing terminals will be Dallas, Nashville, Jackson, Miss., Little Rock, and Portland, Oregon. The company is proposing a follow the work bidding process. Memphis retains the “retreat rights” from a previous change.

Click here to read the proposed change of operations.

The accident involving a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. driver and comedian Tracy Morgan’s entourage has yet another industry organization weighing in about potential hours of service changes.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters sent an open letter to the US House of Representatives saying any steps to “delay, revise or replace the current hours of service 34-hour restart provision” or allow increases in truck size and weight, “especially they size of double trailers from the current 28-ft. to 33-ft.” should be opposed. In particular, the letter cites two potential floor amendments to the Transportation Housing and Urban Development (THUD) FY’15 bill.

Click here to read more at Truck News.

A deadly pileup involving a tractor-trailer early Saturday morning is likely to shine a spotlight on a recent move by the Senate Appropriations Committee to weaken federal truck safety rules.

Details are still emerging about the crash, which killed comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair and critically injured actor Tracy Morgan. A truck driver, Kevin Roper, has been charged with death by auto and four counts of assault by auto in connection with the accident.

Click here to read more at The Huffington Post.

June 2, 2014: Road check inspections will be happening all over North America June 3-5. Expect to see federal, state, local or in Canada, provincial inspectors making thousands of “road checks” over the next few days.

Click here to read more.

The newest hire at trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc. is a recruiter whose job is to find drivers.

Chief executive James Welch revealed the hiring Wednesday during an industry panel discussion held in New York by Wolfe Research. He said it was the first time the Overland Park company had put a recruiter for drivers on its payroll.

“We have a lot of applications for drivers, but they can’t pass the drug test. They can’t pass the background checks,” Welch said. “Or they don’t have the mental faculties that you want to put behind an 80,000-pound rig going down the road.”

Click here to read more at The Kansas City Star.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) moved Monday to crack down on trucking firms who press their drivers to skirt safety rules. 

The proposed rule is the latest in a series of steps by the Obama administration to tamp down on dangerous practices in the trucking industry. 

Click here to read more at The Hill.

It was just after 2 p.m. and two truck drivers were hanging out at a burger joint in Carson, hoping their phones would ring. When a call comes in, they go to work. When the phones are silent, the stress and the bills pile up.

That's the daily routine for Byron Monzon and Santiago Aguilar, who had reported for duty at 6 a.m. Wednesday to their truck yard near the Port of Los Angeles. They never know how many loads they'll haul from one day to the next, and they don't get paid for waiting. They each had one quick delivery at 7 a.m., and they might not get another before calling it quits around 8 p.m.

Click here to read more at the Los Angeles Times.

You wouldn't think that the old saw, "Good help is hard to find," had anything left to it, what with last week's unemployment report out of the U.S. Department of Labor showing unemployment in America is still 6.3%. The fact that hourly wages in America grew a measly 1.9% over the past 12 months tends to suggest there's little slack in the jobs market, too. (After all, if it was hard to find good help, wouldn't it stand to reason that employers would be paying through the nose to attract workers?)

In one industry, they may have to: trucking.

Help wanted
America as a whole may be slogging through 6.3% unemployment these days, but according to industry analyst FTR Transportation Intelligence, there's currently a 4.3% "driver shortage" in the trucking industry today -- a negative unemployment rate.

Click here to read more at The Motley Fool.

It’s a few minutes into a run carrying a load of scrap copper from the Port of New Jersey to a waste transfer station outside Philadelphia, and Miguel Tigre reaches over the dash of his maroon-and-yellow cab to grab a folder stuffed with the receipts squeezing him dry. He reels off calculations: He gets paid $400. It’s about 150 miles round-trip, and his truck gets 5.2 miles per gallon, so that's $180 in fuel. Tolls are $20. Taxes take about a quarter off the top -- but then there's insurance for the truck, and any repairs, which came to $22,000 last year.

All told, that amounts to $32,000 in take-home pay per year, which is barely enough to cover rent and food for him and his wife, who doesn’t work. Then there’s child support and car insurance. Tigre, a stocky 56-year-old with the paunch that comes from sitting for 12 hours a day, says he can’t afford health insurance -- he’s diabetic, and pays $100 a pop out of pocket for regular doctor’s visits, plus $300 a month for insulin. And retirement? Tigre laughs, harshly.

Click here to read more at The Washington Post.