January 28, 2015: DEA spying on cars; State trucking groups want higher fuel taxes; Burning natural-gas powered trash trucks explode.
Jan. 28, 2015
Here is a look at what is happening in the world of transportation this morning:
- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is apparently secretly tailing millions of cars electronically via a license plate tracking program, according to The Atlantic.
- As the New England area continues to recover from Winter Storm Juno – one of the worst January blizzards ever to hit the region, CNN says – New York and New Jersey officials are defending what many are calling their “overreaction” to the weather system, notes the New York Times.
- A New Jersey trucking company is facing $63,000 in fines due to a variety of workplace problems, reports NJ.com, from overloaded power outlets to blocked emergency exits.
- A truck driver and his company are found guilty of hauling an overweight load, the Long Beach Post says.
- Seeking Alpha suggests LTL carriers such as Saia may be in a much better fiscal position due to the crash in U.S. diesel prices than many think.
- WNEP 16 News profiles truck drivers who rode out the blizzard of 2015 in New Jersey truck stops.
- Paul Enos, CEO of the Nevada Trucking Association, explains how low fuel prices are a boon to trucking and the U.S. economy in an opinion column for the Las Vegas Review Journal.
- The head of the Nebraska Trucking Association is also calling for higher fuel taxes, according to The Grand Island Independent newspaper.
- A California truck driver is suing a local cartage carrier over unpaid wages and the employment classification of both himself and his fellow contractors, notes Law360.
- The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is rolling out a new tool to help truck drivers more easily research bridge heights while plotting delivery routes.
- A “legislative showdown” is apparently in the making out in Oregon over transportation funding, according to Oregon Live.
- Indianapolis firefighters dodge flying debris when the fuel tanks on burning natural gas-powered trash trucks begin exploding, reports the Indianapolis Star.
- All sorts of transportation firms are trying to leverage data to improve the “customer experience,” notes Forbes.
