Roses & Razzberries – July 2025
RAZZBERRIES for the continued onslaught of scam attempts targeting toll road customers as well as fuel card accounts. The toll scams extend to states that don’t even contain told roads, i.e. Missouri and New Mexico, and even a fraudulent email purportedly from the Indiana Department of Transportation seeking payment of a Texas toll tag balance. Any email or text believed to be a scam should be deleted immediately. Truckers Advantage fuel card holders have also received scam emails appearing to be from WEX, OOIDA’s fuel card partner, or Fleet One. Do not click any links within these messages and report the scam to the Federal Trade Commission and the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
ROSES for the Federal Highway Administration’s announcement that it will make bridge improvement a priority. According to FHWA’s 2024 National Bridge Inventory Data, more than 83,000 out of the 147,000 bridges received marks of fair or below. Additionally, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave America’s bridges a C and the roads a D+ as part of its 2025 report card. “While we have made progress advancing these priorities, the current state of our critical infrastructure must be further improved,” FHWA Administration, Sean McMaster, said. One of the ways to improve the nation’s infrastructure more quickly, McMaster said, is to streamline the process for getting projects approved and completed.
ROSES for the demise of Nevada legislation that would have doubled the minimum liability insurance requirement for truckers in the state. Under this legislation, Nevada-based truck drivers would have been required to carry $1 million of minimum liability insurance by January 2026. Additional increases to $1.25 million and $1.5 million would occur in January 2028 and January 2030. Following pushback from trucking and insurance groups – including OOIDA, which sent a Call to Action to Nevada members – the bill was pulled from consideration just days after it was added to an Assembly Growth & Infrastructure Committee hearing.
RAZZBERRIES for hundreds of layoffs recently announced by Mack Trucks. The layoffs at the Greensboro, N.C.-based truck manufacturer’s Lehigh Valley Operations Center could affect as many as 350 workers. The round of layoffs is part of a larger move to downsize by parent company Volvo Group North America. “Heavy-duty truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes and the impact of tariffs,” said Kimberly Pupillo, a spokesperson for Volvo Group North America.
RAZZBERRIES for the results of a recent study that underlined lingering issues slowing the expansion of truck parking across the country. Analysis by the American Transportation Research Institute indicated 37 states have fewer than one public truck parking space for every private-sector spot. About 40,000 of the more than 300,000 truck parking spaces across the country are located at public rest areas, with an average of nearly 600 public spaces per state. With the private sector controlling most parking, the accepted ratio of public-to-private parking is one-to-four. Most states are not meeting that expectation. A solution to the problem is dedicated funding, but states face challenges in acquiring this funding – as well as in community pushback (NIMBYs) and in finding suitable land. LL