Roses & Razzberries – February 2023
RAZZBERRIES to the alleged trucker-ticketing scheme in the city of Joliet, Ill. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the city claiming its practice of ticketing truckers of overweight and overlength vehicles has generated millions of dollars of revenue. At issue here is the city adjudicating the cases itself, which avoids a legal requirement that commercial truck moving violations be judged by and reported to the state. Joliet has a sizeable anti-trucking history, including battles against truck stops as well as complaints about truck parking.
ROSES for the opening of a total of seven Love’s Travel Stops, which include much-needed truck parking. The locations opened were in Morris, Ill.; Lancaster, Ohio; Loudon, Tenn.; Carthage, Texas; Patterson, Calif.; Muscatine, Iowa; and Normal, Ill. In all, these Love’s stores will provide approximately 520 truck parking spaces. Separate diesel bays, CAT scales, showers, laundry facilities and expanded food options are among the amenities offered. As is customary for the company with the opening of a new store, Love’s also made a $2,000 donation to local school districts in each of the locations where a new store was opened.
RAZZBERRIES for the recent finalization of the EPA’s strict clean air standards for heavy-duty trucks. The program will begin with model year 2027, and increases the current standard by 80%, according to the EPA. “If small-business truckers can’t afford the new, compliant trucks, they’re going to stay with older, less-efficient trucks, pass along upgrade costs to consumers, or leave the industry entirely,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer said. “Once again, EPA has largely ignored the warnings and concerns raised by truckers in this latest rule.” OOIDA contends the cost outweighs the benefits, and new technology should not be mandated.
ROSES for the bipartisan Trucker Bathroom Access Act, introduced by Reps. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa. This legislation requires shipper and receiver facilities that have restrooms accessible to their customers and employees make those same restrooms available for truck drivers who are delivering or receiving a load. It would not require businesses to construct new restrooms. “American truckers are this nation’s backbone, and we owe them a debt of gratitude for the tremendous contributions they made during the pandemic,” Nehls said.
ROSES to the news of a recent pension fund bailout under the 2021 American Rescue Plan. As a result, $36 billion will go toward the pensions of union truck drivers and warehouse workers. In recent years current as well as retired union truck drivers and warehouse workers have seen their benefits drop by more than 50%. This pension bailout covers more than 1,000 employers and 350,000 employees and retirees, according to a White House news release.
ROSES for a proposed network of medical clinics to serve truck drivers. Interstate Health Systems has plans to establish primary care, urgent care and telemedicine services along the nation’s interstate highway system. According to company reports, funding is in place to open 60 medical clinics over the next two years. In addition, the company plans to build more than 300 urgent care medical clinics near truck stops and travel centers serving professional drivers, the traveling public and people living in rural areas. Executives with Hirschbach Truck Lines, Coyote Logistics and Forward Air are among the private investors for the medical clinic network.
RAZZBERRIES to a fraudulent commercial driver’s license scheme that included falsifying skills tests for commercial driver’s license applicants. Fernando Guardado Vazquez was sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to 11 months of incarceration and 36 months of supervised release for his role in the scheme. Of the 215 fraudulent CDLs issued, 197 went to Cuban nationals, 11 to U.S. citizens, two to Mexican nationals, one to a Dominican Republic national, one to an Ethiopian national, one to an Iraqi national, one to a Puerto Rican national, and one to a Ukrainian national. Vazquez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services fraud. LL