Owner Operators

Tony, a 550-lb, 12-year-old Bengal-Siberian tiger that lives in a 40 by 80 foot pen at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, La. may soon need a new home.

Tags: Tiger Truck Stop, Tony the Tiger, Truckstops, Louisiana

The used truck market enjoyed a second consecutive month of improved volumes in March as the auction market roared back to life in March, growing 126% giving the overall market a 4% boost month over month.

Tags: Auction, ACT Research, Used Truck, Dealers

The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Trucking Industry Mobility & Technology Coalition will sponsor a free webinar on the benefits and consequences of GPS navigation systems used by commercial drivers.

Tags: GPS, US DOT, TIMTC, Training, Safety, Navigation

The DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced that increased maximum civil penalties are now in effect for violations of federal hazardous materials transportation regulations that lead to death, serious injuries or extensive property damage.

Tags: Regulations, Hazmat

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a notice in the Federal Register seeking comments on allowing another Mexico-based carrier in the long haul cross-border pilot program.

Tags: FMCSA, Cross-border trucking, Mexico

Rates on one of the nation’s biggest spot freight markets took an across-the-board decline last week while load volume barely edged higher.

Tags: Rates, DAT Transcore, Spot Rates, Spot Freight

Traffic congestion on U.S. roadways is back after two consecutive years of declines, with traffic congestion up 4% in the first quarter compared to 2012, according to traffic information provider Inrix in its sixth Traffic Scorecard Annual Report.

Tags: Traffic Congestion, Highways, Inrix

Efforts by federal officials prohibiting all interstate and haz-mat truckers from texting while driving, along with many state having such laws for all drivers, may do little for safety on the roadway, based on new research.

Tags: Texting, Research, Drivers, Safety, Driver Distraction

Truckers looking for increasingly hard to find parking spaces may be getting some help from the American Transportation Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Transportation. ATRI is working with multiple partners to test a new system for truck parking management.

Tags: U.S. DOT, ATRI, Truck Parking

The latest group to endorse higher truck weights has no direct connection with the trucking industry, but rather is a self-described as an “independent non-partisan advocate for overburdened tax payers.”

Tags: Truck Weights, Congress, Washington D.C., ATA

Another week and another decline in the price of fuel, with diesel hitting its lowest level since last August. New figures released by the U.S. Energy Department show the average retail cost is down 5.5 cents over the past week.

Tags: Oil Prices, Diesel Prices, Gasoline Prices, Fuel & Oil

Spot market freight volumes reported by the DAT North American Freight Index finished the first quarter of 2013 up 7.7% compared to the first quarter of 2012 and rose 11% over the previous quarter.

Tags: Rates, Spot Freight, DAT Transcore

Higher fuel taxes in Vermont are almost a forgone conclusion, with the state Senate on Friday approving a hike in an overwhelming decision.

Tags: Vermont, Fuel tax, Legislation

A trucking company has filed what is the first known lawsuit against truckstop operator Pilot Flying J stemming from allegations of fraud against its customers.

Tags: Truckstops, Pilot Flying J

Trucks will have to be rerouted from the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill., for approximately 70 days beginning in June, turning a 6-mile trip from Wickliffe to Cairo into a 80-mile detour.

Tags: Illinois, Kentucky, Highways, U.S. 51, U.S. 60, U.S. 62

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Friday morning handed down a blanket dismissal of a bid by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters union to overturn the pilot.

Tags: Cross-border trucking, Mexico, NAFTA, OOIDA, Teamsters

Details have started to emerge following a raid by the FBI and IRS on the Knoxville, Tenn., headquarters of the truckstop chain Pilot Flying J.

Tags: Pilot Flying J, Truckstops, diesel